I know this is a strange title. My favorite Bible teacher of all time is Kenneth Hagin. If there is one man I wish to emulate, it is he. He has all the traits I love. He is very down to earth. He is VERY funny. He is very strong. He had an amazing story.He was born with a deformed heart. He was an invalid at the age of 16.. He was told by all his doctors that he had no hope. He was left to die. One doctor told him that all he could hope for was a miracle or he would die. His heart was so deformed that when he drank a cold drink, he would feel it in his chest. The heart valves that were supposed to be closed were open. At the age of sixteen, he died three times. He talks about going down, down, down. He went to a place of darkness so dark that one could not see his own hand next to his face. When he had descended all the way down, he saw the portals of Hell. He saw fire. On one side of him was a demon who was going to escort him in. Then, he heard a voice. He did not know the language but it seemed like hell shook and he rose, up, up, up, until he went back into his body. He had this experience three times until he called on God to save him. When he did, he went back into his body and knew that he was Born Again.
He was still an invalid. He was so weak that he could not get out of bed. The doctors told him that he had no hope. He had a Bible but no one who could really help him to understand it. He read that Jesus died to heal him. He slept with that Bible on his chest. It was his only hope. He pulled himself out of bed and said that he was going to school. He was so weak and thin that he could barely walk but he forced himself to walk two miles to his school. He almost fainted in class.
The female teachers were so afraid that he would die in their classes that they contacted the principal. They wanted him taken out of school because they were afraid. Kenneth told the principle that he was walking by the faith that God would heal him. He wanted to go to school. The principal let him attend class. Sometimes, he was so weak that he virtually blacked out. He could not see the teacher of the students. However, every day, he went to class. Every day, he walked the two miles to school and back. He was so skinny that his clothes hung off him. He did not have money for new clothes. He looked a fright but he would not give up. After many months, he started feeling better and one day, he realized he was well. He lived into his eighties. He died in the most amazing way possible. God told him to eat his breakfast and that he would die on that morning at 10AM. He ate his favorite breakfast, strawberries, sat on his easy chair and died. I listen to him on U Tube. I have bought many CDs too. My favorite is Spirit, Soul and Body from which I tool the article about selling your soul to the devil.
If you listen to his Near Death Experiences, write to me and tell me what you think. Oops, I forget the reason for this article. It was that Kenneth says that God’s spirit leaves a child at the age of reason. It can be different for different children. I think God’s spirit left me when I was 13-14. All of a sudden, I was confused. I could not figure out things that I had previously. I was very clear thinking prior to this. My thinking was so foggy and I could not figure out what was happening inside me or with others. I went into a fog. I think a big part of this was that God’s Spirit left me at 13.
Jesus simpily gave the man strength to prevail, but that’s HIS story.
Not EVERYONE is given such strength.
The Apostle Paul says: One person is given to honor, and one person is given to dishonor.