Nothing shall by no
Means harm you
Luke 10:19b
Angels hovered in mid air above the old church . Jerub and Barziel stood behind Pastor Jacob as he read from Comfort's journal . Both re-called everything that had happened that day.
If only Comfort could have seen into the spirit realm, she would have written far more than what her grandson and the prayer team read and perceived in their mind's eye.
The Master himself had been there that day in the cave. Unknown to Comfort, HE had stood right beside her. It was the reason the demon could not approach the woman.
They had clashed swords with their evil counterparts, cutting them down like grass, assisted by the power of prayer. The only regret for Jerub and his brothers were the vessels. Most of them had died in the battle.
All of these men and women, had heard the word of GOD through one of the FATHER's children at one point or the other in their lives.
HE had reached out to them, presenting them with a choice . Even though two of them had doubted, ..in the end, they had all rejected the gospel, personally .
But to the angels surprise, the same two that doubted and almost re-considered to receive the gospel, were the very two who had survived their spiritual attack long enough to accepted him before they died.
How the Angels had rejoiced that day for these two souls.
Celeb and Yuri, had been instructed by the Holy Spirit to personally take Somadi and Patu home to the FATHER . If only Comfort's team had seen these two in their glorious form and not the twisted, burnt up bodies lying on the hospital beds.
Now it was about to happen all over again, but this time, they were hoping this vessel would stay alive and fulfill his destiny in Christ. There were too many souls attached to this one, and many awaited his healing powers through GOD.
Jerub remembered when Zebu had been born, Arimel had been sent to be his guardian angel . But Zebu's mother, Doris, had not wanted the child.
She was a prostitute in the red district of town, always high on marijuana and struggling to make ends meet.
Immediately Doris gave birth in her one room apartment, she had hurriedly cut the cord that bound mother and child, with a razor blade, bore down and pushed, until the fetal membrane came out and quickly placed both her child and the placenta into a rice sack.
Emotionally, she was so detached from what had just taken place, ..no remorse, ..no heart rending cry or pity for her new born baby, just anger and selfishness.
Arimel, the Angel guarding the child had expected this. And he had known what she was planning, ...to drown the babe in the river in honor to the Water goddess.
Doris was Sa'omiwa , a member of the goddess cult. A sacrifice like this would definitely bring success and wealth. For it was pure and untainted.
Arimel had done his best to discourage her that day not to drown the boy, speaking into her heart to have mercy on her own flesh and blood, but to no avail.
Her heart was as hard as stone.
She had reached Krotoa river and without any hesitation, cast the crying sack into it.
Immediately, Arimel had grabbed the sack and threw it back unto shore.
Doris had screamed out in confusion when she saw this happen. She knew very well the consequence of a rejected sacrifice by the goddess. Poverty, or even worse, the abominable sickness ...madness .
Zebu's mother had thrown the sack in three more times, crying profusely and hoping each time, that Omiwa would accept it. And each time, the sack had been thrown back to the sandy shore.
Still, Arimel had been patient . He lovingly nudged her spirit to seek help at the Italian mission in town. Unwanted babies were left there all the time, and she wouldn't have to worry of taking care of him by herself.
She finally heeded to Arimel's nudging that day and dropped the baby off at the mission.
Jerub's only anger towards Doris was the crazed letter the woman left behind.
What Doris had witnessed at the river made her conclude that her child was a bad omen and should be drowned or killed.
Unfortunately, the sisters at the mission had documented the note along with the circumstances of how he came to be with them.
At the age of ten, the lad had come upon the note in High Reverend Sister's office cabinet, and unknown to all around him, ..the letter became the cause of his rebellion.
On reading the letter, Zebu had felt unloved and dejected, ..how could a mother hate her own child so much as to wish him dead.
This turn of events had complicated everything. The boy who once never missed church service suddenly refused to be tutored in the ways of GOD . He became depressed and miserable, never allowing anyone to get too close to him.
Eventually, he started hanging out with the wrong crowd in town.
Zebu was introduced to Cobra and the tramp of a man had opened up the boy to devious and evil acts, filling his head with worldly things.
Even then, Arimel still guarded the boy, trying to win him over to do good. But the boy had made his choice.
Eventually greed and selfishness, had come into him. The demons enslaved the boy's heart, corrupting it even further.
But it was not too late. For if Doris, his mother, could eventually give her life to the Savior, then there was a big chance of reconciliation when the battle for his soul was won.
Doris was one of Pastor Jacob's sheep now . Since his assignment here, Jerub had noticed her for the past one month. She came to Church with her husband and two little girls.
He was happy to see Doris out of the Water cult and settled with a good man.
Suddenly, Jerub felt a dark presence, it's stench littered the air like rotten eggs.
He wondered for a brief second how it had passed through the sentinels unnoticed.
Before Jerub could react, Barziel was already in flight, soaring right above the Church.
His hawklike eyes, trying to locate the fiend who dared to enter their vicinity.
Before Jerub followed his brother at arms, he left a shield of fire around their human charges, and all around the Church, sealing the place up from any spiritual attack.
====
Ruzmeth and two of his croonies, had been sent by their new Master, Ethjab, to spy on the going ons at the old church.
Ethjab's instructions were clear; follow and observe what the Pastor and his visitors were up to without being detected.
His master wanted to nip their enemies' plans in the bud as soon as possible. They were all aware of the history between the Prince and Jacob's descendant, and his master wasn't going to underestimate them again.
Unfortunately,the evil spirit now realized he and his cohorts had been sent on a suicide mission.
There were angels all around.
The only reason they had gotten so close to the church, was because of the newspaper vendor who made his delivery trips around that area.
The man was so spiritually filthy, there were already fifteen evil spirits dwelling in him alone.
The angels couldn't force these ones out of their Vicinity except the host gave his life to Christ. But these fiends knew very well to stay with their host and not wonder anywhere near the holy ones.
Ruzmeth and the two other spirits, had hidden within the evil lot, evicting themselves as soon as the newspaper man rounded the corner that led to the back of the old church.
Their target was the Pastor's home. The church was too guarded, and there was no getting around Hareb . The Mighty angel would dice them into cubes with his flaming sword.
The three malevolent spirits dashed into the cemented floor of the front yard, sensing the searching eyes of guardians around them.
Deep in the hard earth, Muziag complained bitterly, "what have we gotten ourselves into now?, ..I told you we should have gone back to the master and lied about this mission".
"Shut up, Muziag," Ruzmeth screeched, his bat-like tongue spitting out green saliva on his companions, "you know as well as I do, Lord Ethjab would find out one way or the other if we ever lied to him, ..and the punishment would be unbearable, I can assure you of that".
"It is true" said Gugk, with a frightened look on his beak like face, that beast of a Prince once tore out my beautiful feathers one by one, just so my screams could entertain him and his brothers".
The two evil Spirits snickered at Gugk. The ugly bird like creature was so ugly with his dowdy grey feathers that everyone nicknamed him 'Vulture'.
Ignoring his crony, Ruzmeth floated upwards, his head, slightly out of the carpeted guest room floor, his green glowing eyes, sweeping three hundred degrees across the room, .."We have to move now and gather as much information as possible before we are discovered".
As if rehearsed, Muziag floated out of the ground, swiftly dashing towards the sitting room, while Gugk went into the kitchen.
Ruzmeth remained in the guest room, observing the lady sleeping on the bed. Quickly, he drifted to where her head lay on the pillow, slightly touching her forehead.
Ruzmeth gently inserted a taloned finger into the woman's forehead, trying to probe the woman's brain. He needed to unlock that part of her right lobe that locked away information from past discussions and anything she had seen or witnessed recently.
But there was nothing. The fiend kept hitting a brick wall. Something was definitely blocking the woman's mind from being manipulated by the spirit.
He had to give it to the woman, she had a strong will to resist, but he would just have to push deeper into her brain. Not many could resist Ruzmeth's powerful skill at retrieving information for his masters.
Bianca was in the sitting room with Solomon, the two had become fast friends over the weeks that had passed by.
They were having some fruit juice and toast bread, when Solomon suddenly froze . He looked over at Bianca in terror as his eyes began to redden. Bianca at first thought the man was jesting but later realized Solomon was choking as tears ran down his cheeks in quick succession.
Bianca dashed forward and caught Solomon in her arms before he landed on the floor. She screamed for her sister who was in the guest room, sleeping.
Lydia began to moan in her sleep as the evil spirit probed deeper with his clawed finger, into her subconscious mind. In a dream,
Lydia saw herself fighting off a black bat. The creature was screeching and hovering over her head, trying to claw at her face. In her hand was a white bible and she kept hitting the bat with it .
Lost in his frustrations, Ruzmeth didn't notice the growing light behind him in the far corner of the bedroom.
Shazil, Lydia's guardian was right behind him, a blazing two edged sword, pointing at her query. By the time he felt the angel's bright aura, it was too late. Ruzmeth screamed as the blade slashed through his mid section, cutting him in two halves. Sulfuric smoke filled the air as Ruzmeth's hideous form, evaporated.
In her sub- conscious, Lydia began to hear a familiar voice, calling out to her. It was urgent, needy, crying out for help. And it sounded so far away.
Bianca was beside herself. Her sister was no were in sight and Solomon was hardly breathing.
Then she heard the Holy Spirit's calm voice,..instructing her to get the anointing oil bottle on the dining table.
Micahi, Bianca's guardian held the fiend off, disallowing Muziag from further strangling the farmer . Celeb had already vanquished Gugk, who had been in the kitchen.
The evil spirit had been trying to poison the food stuffs in the fridge and cabinets .
Gugk only had to spit upon anything digestible to poison it and cause a terrible sickness upon the whole household . It was his specialty.
Bianca stood up and seized the oil from the center of the table. She poured almost the whole content on Solomon, urgently reciting psalm ninety- one from memory as she hurriedly rubbed the oil all over his face, neck and chest.
Gradually, Solomon began to come-to. The tight squeeze on his neck had stopped, but he was drained of energy.
He glanced up at Bianca, slightly nodding his head in appreciation.
He couldn't explain what just happened to him, but he was sure glad it was gone.
Inside the guest room, Lydia's guardian spoke gently into her ear, "Lydia, get up, ...bind every evil from this place now and cleanse it in the name of our LORD".
Lydia suddenly flew up from the bed, her head almost crashing into the mirror on the wall.
She could finally hear her sister 's distress cries from the sitting room area.
And instantly, she knew what to do.
Bianca heard the door to the guest room slam shut, and a frantic Lydia, running towards her. Lydia stepped over two on the dining floor and went outside of the house,without looking back, much to the surprise of Solomon.
He had been expecting Lydia to assist her sister in lifting him off the ground. But Bianca wasn't surprised at all. She knew what her sister was about to do.
As Lydia stepped into the front yard, she turned and faced the bungalow, lifted her hands in the air and shouted out a prayer. It was short, precise and filled with authority, "greater is HE that is in us than he that is in the world, every spirit of evil, I command you to leave now in Jesus name!".
Solomon felt it first. A strong dusty wind began to gather within the house.It moved around in a circular motion, knocking pictures off the wall, and as if directed.
It headed straight for the open door, nearly knocking the door off it's hinges.
Each one of them saw it move out and head up, steadily climbing into the air towards the mountains, the evil within, ..tossed violently as it was sent back to it's sender.
Lydia heard running footsteps behind her and turned back to see Pastor Jacob,David and Amari coming round the narrow path beside the church.
They heard the commotion and had witnessed everything from the back office window that faced the bungalow. They had even seen the strong wind that blew out of the house, ..a big surprise to Jacob but not to the rest.
Lydia's gift was the double edged sword. Many that wielded this power were mostly in a deliverance ministry. It was a mighty weapon to fight the enemy with and it's manifestation could easily be witnessed and seen by visible eyes as it happened.
Bianca walked out clumsily from the bungalow, struggling to support a stressed out Solomon on her strong feminine frame. David rushed forward and took him from Bianca's hands, while Jacob ran into his home to check if there were any damages.
Thirty minutes later, they had all settled down in the small garden. Strangely the wind had not broken or disheveled anything in the house, except some pictures on the wall, which Amari and Bianca had placed back.
Everyone was thinking the same thing. 'How did any evil penetrate their defenses'.
The deliverance team sealed the whole compound and church premises each night with prayers and worship.
The answer had come from Amari. She related to all sitting about her vision while she napped in the church office that morning.
She had seen the LORD in a great light. He instructed an angel called Jerub to stand down, ..he and the angels protecting the team.
"It was the LORD who allowed the enemy to penetrate our stronghold" Amari said smiling . They all looked at her in amazement.
"But why would the LORD do such a thing," Solomon asked, not seeing any point to the whole frightening experience, .." I nearly died you know" the farmer partly shouted out, but controlled himself when Bianca patted his shoulders out of compassion.
" I am sorry you feel that way Solomon" Lydia said sympathetically, "But we are in the business of spiritual warfare and rescue missions for the LORD,..we are used to this kind of situations. The LORD allows it to keep us on our toes, ..we can't be too relaxed when our adversary never rests. The devil is always looking for whom to destroy".
Bianca sat down on a wicker chair beside Solomon, and continued were her sister left off, "you see, no harm would have come to any of us, and it doesn't happen often, but when it does, the FATHER wants to reveal or warn us about something" .
Solomon still wasn't happy about what he was hearing . He just stared at her, his mouth agape, .. 'How can these people go through this sort of thing as if nothing strange just happened . It was all too scary for him, ..like a horror movie. Damn it, ..and he was just beginning to fall in love with her..'
Bianca knew what was going through Solomon's mind. He really didn't know what her prayer band did, but had just experienced a crash course in what they dealt with on their missions.
"While you were struggling for breath" ,Bianca continued, "the LORD opened my eyes and I saw an angel battling an evil spirit, ..It was trying to poison our food and water. And the LORD told me to sanctify the whole kitchen before we eat anything tonight.
Bianca smiled as Solomon still stared at her in amazement, "Imagine if we all developed food poisoning at the same time. Our adversary knows very well that any spiritual sickness would surely slow us down.
"At the beginning of our ministry, Amari said quietly, "we encountered these kind of spirits, sent to delay our work by causing sickness and accidents,..our David here can testify to that".
David nodded, affirming what Amari said. " It was in Togo. We were conducting a deliverance session on a woman when I excused myself to get a drink in the kiosk beside her house. And immediately I drank the bottled water, the attack began, ..I kept vomiting until they rushed me to the hospital. It was hell on earth.
" The doctor found nothing wrong with him, nor the next hospital he was later transferred to that evening, continued Bianca. " All our attention left the woman and was now diverted on David .
That night while we gathered to pray for him, it was revealed in the spirit what had happened and how he had been poisoned through the bottled water. We dealt with the situation by casting out the demon and it's poison, however, it had taken David almost two weeks to recover physically".
" I see," the farmer said, suddenly realizing how dangerous the prayer team's missions were.
"Well,"..Pastor Jacob said as he stood up and looked towards the mountains. "The enemy has drawn the battle line with us. We have to be more alert and ready to face him. Two weeks from now is the first week of December and the Holy Spirit has been laying it on my heart to prepare towards any date of that week".
"And we will be ready in Jesus name" Lydia replied. She stood up and glanced over at her sister and Solomon, .."but right now, I have to speak to Solomon alone concerning some pressing issues," and with that she gently pulled a confused Solomon up and led him into Pastor Jacob's sitting room, leaving everyone else in the garden.
========================to be continued ==================
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