Nobody But JESUS!

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Revelation 12:11

You may be asking, what do I mean by the title, Nobody but Jesus?  Well, I’m glad you asked.  With an unexpected loss of a loved one, a demonic attack against my body, having to serve as a caregiver, working on projects and looking at evil, wicked and ungodly people, and other things that I am not at liberty to speak on right now, let me tell you, it was a rough season. But I’m still standing because of nobody but Jesus! He has been my Rock, my Fortress, my Strong Tower. He has been my Wonderful Counselor, Comforter, Great Physician and my Therapist!  He is a Keeper!  He is the Bishop and Shepherd over my soul and a promise keeper indeed!  He is my Sustainer! He is my EVERYTHING! There are truly no words to describe HIM or MAGNIFY HIM!  There are no words that can really articulate what He means to me!

 

I thank GOD for the EFFECTIVE, SINCERE, HOT, FIERY PRAYERS of RIGHTEOUS MEN AND WOMEN THAT AVAILS MUCH 

(James 5)!  

 

It all started back in February. I went to my parents’ house to bring them some chicken from Boston Market. After warming up their food, I ate a small piece of the outside of the chicken.  It was kind of hard. Had I known what would have transpired from eating that small piece of hard chicken, Lord knows, I would have left that crap alone.  Lord have mercy! Trust me; it wasn’t even worth the forthcoming suffering. When I got home, it felt like it got stuck in my chest.  Let me tell you; it was the worse feeling ever.  My husband and I kept praying, and I kept drinking lots of water, trying to get it down, but it would not budge.  I thought I was going to have to go to the hospital or urgent care.  After continuing this for a few hours, it eventually went down.  Praise God! However, from there on, things got worse.  I couldn’t eat any solid food or swallow any pills for almost 40 days. This was the kicker, not being able to swallow any pills.  So, every time a doctor would give me medication in pill form, I couldn’t take it.  I had to call and ask them if I could get it in capsules or in a pill that I could open and pour on my food. It was getting tiresome. My body was super sensitive at the time.   I was stressed about taking any kind of pharmaceuticals or eating food, period. I would go into a panic attack because I had an allergic action to almost everything.  It was like a nightmare, but God held me up with His mighty right hand and outstretched arms!  What a mighty and awesome God we serve!!  Nobody but JESUS!!!

 

I went to various doctors, specialists, Urgent Care and went to the hospital twice. I lost 46 pounds.   I was losing weight really fast.  My mother told me that I was losing weight too fast like I could stop it.  This made me really nervous.  I didn’t want to look like a skeleton.  (I had prayed for God to help me lose weight, but not like this).  I will be more specific with my prayers from now on. 

 

We have to be mindful to speak life and not death.  For the Bible tells us that life and death are in the power of our tongue, and we will eat the fruit thereof.  Now, I never speak negativity over my life, but I did prior to this incident. I had to rebuke it and bind it quickly when I realized what I said.  Sometimes we can speak curses playfully and jokingly out of ignorance and wanting to be comical. However, I couldn’t help but wonder if what I said contributed to this physical attack. Thank God He knows that we are but flesh.

 

I contacted a lady who is a prayer warrior from a church I use to attend, and she prayed with me and suggested that I drink some holy water that a friend had given to her from a Pastor out of town.  She shared different testimonies of healing.  She even sent me a picture of her nephew, who the doctors had given up on. He had lost a lot of weight but was healed by the LORD and could eat a full meal a day after drinking the water. My faith was pumped up like it was on steroids. I couldn’t wait till the next day to get some solid food into my belly. I needed something that would stick to my stomach. I felt like I was starving. I was praying that I wouldn’t suffer malnutrition due to not getting enough nutrients through the little broth and small amount of my protein shakes that I could ingest. I collected the water from her and began to take sips throughout the day, saying, “in the name of JESUS,” with every sip.  I drank it for about two weeks, but still no healing.

 

I had no bowel movements for weeks.  Not to be gross, but my bowels were mainly mucus.  They are normal again. Praise God! 

 

In the meantime, I was still providing caregiving duties.  I was weak. I was tired. I was totally stressed out.  I was drained, but I stayed in God’s face!  I stood on my healing scriptures. I took communion when I could get it down. I stayed under my tallit (prayer shawl), and I reached out to prayer warriors for prayer. I would get on a 6 am prayer call almost daily, and whenever a word of healing was spoken, I would grab hold of it and stand on it with every fiber of my being.  It was hard work! There were days when I felt like I would pass out because my body was so weak, but God!

 

I called places to inquire about getting vitamin IVs to go in my arm because I lacked the necessary nutrients. My body began to reject almost everything for a while. I could only take sips of water at a time.  I didn’t want to become dehydrated.  It was a chore to keep the water down, stay focused and positive, and stay in the Word of God.  I ate the Word of God; I slept the Word; I diligently sought and stood on His Word. I meditated on God’s Word day and night and night and day!

 

I was managing until after about 21 days without solid foods. I would have given anything for pizza or a cheeseburger.  Oh, my goodness!  I was tired of watching others eat and enjoy their meals.  I would cry out like blind Bartemeus – Thou Son of David, have mercy on me (Mark 10:47)!

 

I watched my husband eat some of my favorite foods for a while before I couldn’t bear it anymore.  While I was eating chicken broth, he was eating pizza.   I had to repent, but there were many days when I wanted to slap my husband upside his head for eating and smacking in front of me and telling me how good the food was.  I spent my birthday at Urgent Care while giving all of my food gift cards to my husband and watching him devour the food like a savage. Finally, I started to get really irritable and cranky.

 

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of all their troubles! Psalm 34:17

 

I am an alternative medicine kind of girl, always seeking out natural herbs and remedies, but even that couldn’t help me this time.  I could always rely on my herbal supplements, but my body was rejecting almost everything for a time.  Oh my God!  I had to literally trust God to save me.  All I had to rely on was JESUS.  Nobody, but JESUS!

 

That old serpent and adversary was tormenting me with negative thoughts. I couldn’t sleep in my normal position. I had to sleep with my head elevated, or else I would feel so miserable, so I wasn’t sleeping as well as normal.  Throughout this ordeal, after eating anything, I had to stay up for at least 4 -6 hours before going to bed.  All of this was taking a toll on me.

 

I was experiencing anxiety attacks.  I had to take progesterone and magnesium spray with me everywhere to rub my skin to help calm me down.  It was downright frightening.  I had never had anxiety like this.  It was worse when I was riding in the car and before going to bed. It was out of control, like panic on steroids.  It took so much out of me.  I was having heart palpitations and had to see a cardiologist for a series of tests. I thank God they didn’t find any issues.  Hallelujah!

 

He sustained me through this very scary and difficult ordeal as only He alone could do.  There comes a time when “Nobody, but JESUS” can help you!  Mama, daddy, husband, children, or friend cannot help.  The doctors were limited to what they could do, and some simply didn’t care. Some of them were terrible.  With all due respect, every health care worker is not a hero. I’ll leave that alone as another blog for a different day. However, there are some god-sent doctors, and one of them I must give kudos to is my new doctor, Dr. Dang. Right off the bat, she was able to help me navigate my symptoms.   May God’s permanent blessings rest upon her and her family.  Also, my precious husband, Pastor and everybody who stood in the gap for me!  

 

The doctors wanted me to do invasive testing, but I didn’t feel comfortable with this. My husband kept telling me to hang in there and wait on the LORD.  He kept telling me to trust God and have faith that He was going to heal me.  This all sounded good for a while, but then I got tired of hearing that.  I told him God uses the doctors to do their part, and I would just have to do what I have to do. Finally, after almost a month without solid foods, I didn’t want to wait anymore.  I told the LORD that He needed to make haste to help me heal me and not delay. Around the 40th day, I could smash up certain soups with meat and eat it.  Hallelujah!!!  I was ELATED, HAPPY, and beyond ECSTATIC!   Who would have thought that I would be this excited to eat soup?  

 

Hebrews 6:12 - We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who, through faith and patience, inherit what has been promised.

 

 

My husband truly prayed, fasted, encouraged me, and weathered this storm with me when I wanted to give up.  I thank God for him. Lord, knows I do! I spent many days in tears, crying out to God to make haste to help and heal me!  

 

My meals now consisted of malto-meal, soup broths, certain protein shakes, and water.  There were days when I couldn’t get much food or water down.  I was diagnosed with thrush and dysphasia, which made my mouth extremely dry and difficult to swallow.  It was terrible.  I never experienced anything like this before. Nonetheless, I knew things could be worse.  I had to fight and pray against the spirit of fear.  It was major spiritual warfare!  We had to put on the whole of armor of God.  The adversary was trying to tell me that I will never be able to eat my favorite foods again or my favorite lattes.  JESUS, not my lattes, please, sir!  I was reading comments and posts online about people not being able to eat solid foods.  People were saying how they would give anything to eat a hamburger again.  My husband kept telling me - you are going to eat steak, hamburgers and anything you want again!  He kept speaking life and healing to my body and kept going into our prayer room!  I thank God for a godly husband who could go to God and intercede on my behalf.

 

As I moved throughout the days and nights, driving, cooking, cleaning, etc. I would declare, “In the NAME OF JESUS!” There is supernatural power in that name. There is HEALING, DELIVERANCE, MIRACLES, SIGNS, WONDERS, BREAKTHROUGH in that name. I didn't only declare this once or twice. I was consistent. Like Jacob, I refuse to let Him go until He blessed me (Genesis 32:26)!

 

I would put on my praise music and bask in it.  I got in the presence of the LORD JESUS!  I got off the phone and social media.  When you are looking for a healing, you have to put out the negative people, doubters, and naysayers like Jesus did with Jarius' daughter that was brought back from the dead (Mark 5:21).  It was no joke.  This was a very serious time for me.  I laid on my scriptures and audio healing scriptures day and night. You have to eat, sleep, read and diligently seek His Word until you get that breakthrough and answered prayers!

 

It’s amazing how people can take a doctor’s prescriptions as directed, sometimes three or four times a day, but when it comes to standing on God’s scriptures on healing, they will do it only once and expect instant results. Sometimes, God heals immediately, and sometimes we have to endure the sickness for a season and for some even for a lifetime.   

 

I called and went to numerous Holistic places for some relief but found none.  I prayed day and night consistently - LORD, bring me some relief! Please, LORD! I kept writing in my journal - LORD JESUS, bring RELIEF NOW! The relief finally came. Nobody but JESUS! Three weeks ago, I enjoyed eating meatloaf and pizza, but I couldn’t eat the hard crust.  I ate homemade smothered chicken, a Five Guys burger, and I made a homemade banana pudding that was good to my soul. I was able to eat my favorite foods once again and my favorite iced mocha/caramel latte. Recently, I ate a steak.  Oh, my goodness. God, you are so awesome.  I give you praise, honor, and glory!  

 

Like the one leper, I return to you LORD JESUS to say THANK YOU! THANK YOU!  THANK YOU! Also, a special thanks to Dr. Dang for her kindness, concern, patience, and correct diagnosis.   

 

You shall live and not die but declare the works of the living God 

(Psalm 118).

 

Like many, I didn’t have the best earthly physicians or the best health insurance, but I had the GREATEST Physician ever, Dr. JESUS.

 

Key things that helped me get through this:

Effective prayer - Call on prayer warriors and the elders (James 5)

Pick up your sword – The Word of God (Ephesians 6)

Standing on healing scriptures (Proverbs 3:8)

Put out negative folks (Mark 5) – Surround yourself with people who have faith and who believe in God’s miracle-working power!

Praying in the spirit – Building myself up in my most Holy faith, praying in the spirit (Jude 1:20).

Keep a repentant and clean heart – (Psalm 51).

Laughter is like medicine.  Make sure to do your best to get your daily dose (Proverbs 17:22).

 

I don’t know why the Lord permitted this to happen.  However, I know that the scriptures say, “All things work together for good to those who love the Lord.”  I do know what the devil meant for evil God will turn around for good.  Because of the weight loss, I pretty much had to go out and buy a new wardrobe.  I’m truly grateful for that.  

Prior to this ordeal, I had begun eating better and cooking my own food, and I will continue to eat healthier because my body is the temple of the living God.  

 

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:38).

Devine M.