Story: No condemnation

Story: no condemnation

They said he was demon possessed, and wanted me to remove the demons.  I was in India standing in a mud brick building with thatched roof, looking into the eyes of an Indian man.

His wife stood next to him.  The church was sitting on the floor behind them.  I was in front with the Indian pastor, who was translating for me.  I had no idea what to do.

It was January of 1999 and my wife was two months pregnant with our son, Noah.  She was next to me in that mud brick building with a thatched roof.

The windows were just square holes.  How did we get there?  Months before I was praying and Jesus told me that Ileana and me were to go to India, and visit all the churches our Indian pastor friend had planted.

We didn’t have the money to go, but somehow miraculously the money showed up in our bank account.  Even with the money in the bank, Ileana still didn’t want to go.  She told me to ask my friends to go with me instead.

I knew she would be the one to go with me, but I honored her request and asked my friends.  You’d think someone would have wanted to go on a free trip to India, but all of my friends were busy people with other commitments.

Ileana was praying and Jesus confirmed to her that He would protect her, and her pregnancy, while in India.

I was about to find out why this man and his wife were standing in front of me.

My Indian pastor friend who was translating had planted the churches we were visiting.  I called him Pastor George, and He was over all the pastors of these churches.

With animation the pastor of this small church talked with him, and then Pastor George explained to me what was happening.  He asked me to cast out the demons in this man, who was in front of his wife and the entire congregation.  Everyone was waiting for me to respond.

I was praying and listening to Jesus in my mind. He was so clear and specific as I heard His thoughts in my mind.  The church was quiet.  I couldn’t hear the noise from the forest outside because I was so focused on Jesus.

I asked Jesus in my mind if the man was really demon possessed.  Jesus told me that he wasn’t.  I asked Him what to do next.  Jesus told me to have them read Romans chapter 8 verse 1 out loud to the entire congregation.

He also said that the man should shout out the words “praise the Lord” in his language after the reading of the verse.

I told Pastor George that Jesus had just told me the man wasn’t demon possessed, and he said, “No, the pastor and his wife and all of them have confirmed that the man is possessed, and have seen him act differently under the influence of demons.”

I asked pastor George to ask the pastor to read the verse out loud.  After the verse was read, the man accused of being demon possessed said praise the Lord.

I could barely hear him. He seemed to be completely broken with no reason to truly praise the Lord. I felt like his eyes were telling me, “Why are you asking me to do this? What reason do I have to give praise to the Lord?”

Everything went silent. I asked Jesus in my mind what to do next.  He said, “Have the pastor read it again.  Ask the man to say praise the Lord louder.”

So they did.  Once again I asked Jesus in my mind what to do next.  Jesus said to do it again.

Hear the words, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  Then the man sheepishly said, “Praise the Lord!”

Each time the pastor would read the verse, I would ask the man to speak louder.  After ten times or so, Pastor George wondered how many times we were going to do this over and over.

As he asked me the question, I heard in my mind Jesus say, “You are to do it once for everyone in the building, for they all have unfairly condemned this man.  He is not demon possessed.”

Hear the words, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Then the man shouted, “Praise the Lord!”

As we approached the end of doing this over and over again, the man was so full of joy and tears ran down his face.  The congregation was standing.

Many were shouting along with the man, “Praise the Lord!”

The accused man realized the Lord was confronting everyone in the room, not just him.  Even his wife was crying.  The spirit of condemnation was being kicked out, and they didn’t even realize it.

The truth sets you free.  Hear the words, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”