On Thursday evening April 13, 2013, I attended the Conference on the Holy Spirit at the Bradley Epworth Church in Peoria, Illinois. My intentions on going were to reconnect to the Holy Spirit and enrich my own spirit following the death of my wife, Pamela in November of 2012, and to get healing for my broken heart, the sadness that I felt each morning when I awoke, and for the pain in my knee following a surgical procedure. I started journaling my cries out to God for my healing. They included things like asking God how long I would have to suffer with this knee pain and how long I was to suffer with this broken heart and crying each day. Thursday?s service was great with praise music, prayer, and scripture teaching. However, ?great? was nowhere near the description for the next two days that followed.

    On Friday evening, Kevin Basconi was continuing his teaching about ?Open Heavens?. As I listened to him, I prayed that God would open the heavens of healing that night. During the healing portion of this service, Kevin looked my direction and said ?Someone up front is going to have a healing of an arm or leg.? I just knew he was including me in that prophetic declaration. Later, he again looked at people in the front rows of the sanctuary and said, ?Broken hearts are going to start being healed tonight.? Again, I knew I was included in that promise. By the time I had finished journaling about these promises, we were invited to come forward to accept the Sacrament of Holy Communion. I felt the love of Jesus Christ as I closed my eyes and looked into His. The elements warmed my body as I took them in. I enjoyed the closeness of Jesus as we finished the evening?s service with songs of praise and prayer. On my ride home, all I could do was give God praise and honor. The 30 minute drive went by quickly and I was so excited about what God had in store for us during Saturday?s service.

     I got up an hour earlier than I had planned because of the anticipation of the day?s events. On my trip into Peoria, I was praying, when God spoke to me and said that a young lady named Kaylie would sing a song today that would finish the healing of my heart. I had met Kaylie a few months earlier at the church as she sang and played the keyboard during one of the Encounter God Saturday worship services. God had spoken to me that day, that Kaylie?s singing would start the healing of my broken heart that very day. Words would show me how this was to begin. I talked to her about that before our morning teaching session started. She seemed to be dumbfounded that anyone would tell her that she was going to be a part of this kind of healing, especially by someone who was old enough to be her grandfather. But while she was playing and singing with the other members of the group that afternoon, God revealed the acts of humility and gentleness as those words. Later, as we were beginning the second 2-hour of soak and prayer time, Kaylie said to me that she had never received any words to tell me. However, I informed her that I did and when it had happened. She had this big smile on her face as she was amazed at what I had told her.

    So, on this final day of the Conference on the Holy Spirit, I arrived with such great expectations of getting my heart healed that morning. I would see Kaylie there, and through one of the songs that she would be singing, I would feel the fullness of love in my heart again. Ah, but God had a surprise for me when I got to the church. I entered the sanctuary and immediately found the music director. I said, ?Kaylie is singing this morning, right?? His answer was devastating to me. ?No, she is not. She probably won?t even be here today.? I know my jaw dropped open. I walked away totally defeated. I sat down in my usual up-front seat. I took out my journal and began to write-out my cries to God about my disappointment of what He had promised to me this morning. As my tears flowed upon the paper of my journal, God spoke these words, ?My son, Kaylie does not have to be here to sing the song I have put in her heart. Wherever she is and whenever she begins to sing the words of my song, your heart will be healed.? Wow!! I finished my paragraph that had started out as a cry of deep disappointment, with the reassuring words that God had said to me to fulfill His promise. We were in the midst of the morning?s teaching session, and at 10:38 my heart was, as John Wesley wrote,  ??..strangely warmed?.?.  What a wonderful feeling in my heart. All I could do was praise God,.?and praise God. Later, as I stood up to sing, I noticed that the pain was gone from my knee also. I stomped my foot and patted my knee, but NO PAIN. ?Thank you, God? were the words I sang. I am not sure what song Cinde Lucas was playing, but ?thank you God? fit in perfectly. I thought I had had my expectations met for coming to the conference and that the rest of the service would be calm and focused on quiet prayer. But as you will see later, I was wrong!! Another praise God.

    Our teacher, Kevin, and his wife Kathy, began asking anyone at the service to come forward and experience the open heavens, because it had been revealed to him that one opening was present in the room. Most everyone took the opportunity to experience this wonderful blessing. The row I was sitting in was the last to come forward. I was sitting with a fellow clergy member. I let him go first as I knew he had an afternoon meeting to attend at his church very shortly. When it was my turn, I started walking forward towards where Kevin and Kathy said the opening was. A few feet away from the opening, I felt a coldness come over my body. That was very strange, since it was actually warm in the room, too warm for the sweatshirt I was wearing. I started to take another step, when God opened my spirit eyes and I saw a mass of people walking around outside in a state of hopelessness. I started to cry and my legs felt weak. I couldn?t take another step closer to the ?opening?. Then God revealed to me many widow ladies that were in a large room. As each one turn her face towards me, I could see the tears running down her cheeks as she cried out in pain and emptiness the name of her departed husband. I remember dropping down to my knees and asking God why He was showing me this. My tears increased as I told God that there were too many of them for me to help. Then my eyes were opened to an orphanage where there were rows and rows of beds with children in them. As I looked at the beds, the children were crying and reaching out with their arms and hands as if they wanted me to hold them to my chest. I remember falling on my face and telling God to show me no more, that I couldn?t take this anymore. I yelled to Him to stop this. I was just overwhelmed with the tragedies of this world. I saw no one helping these people. All they seemed to want was someone to care. I tried to get up off the floor, but I couldn?t move yet. Then God had me look down upon a huge mass of people who were wearing labels. They were placed at the fringe of a cliff and outside a walled city. I asked God who these people were. He said they were people, men and women, that society has forgotten, and to read their labels. I saw words like, ?No self-esteem, divorce anger, child or spousal abuse, severe grieving, uneducated, poverty, and neglect?. There were so many of these people. There was not a spot anywhere to stand. God lowered me to the earth, but I kept saying there are too many for me to help. I begged Him to stop showing me these things because I was only one person and could not deal with all the people. As I was finally able to open my eyes to the surroundings in the sanctuary, Kevin asked me if I still wanted to walk through the ?opening. I told him that I definitely wanted to, but my legs and feet would not move. They were so weak that I couldn?t even crawl through. I remember 2 guys said they would lift me and drag me through if I wanted. I agreed and as I crossed through Kevin told the people that I had received a double mantle from the high priest, Melchizedek. I am not sure if I heard correctly, but that is what I thought I heard him say. Anyway, these 2 guys dragged me to a chair so I could sit. It was at this time that I realized that I had sweat through both of my shirts. I had a large U-shaped wet spot on the front, and the whole back of my shirt was sweat through. One of the people there said that my face was ?beet red? like I was having a stroke. I had to sit there for about 15 minutes before I had enough strength to get back to my seat. I immediately wrote in my journal about the experience. God has revealed since this happened that my calling in my ministry is to all these that He showed me. I will always have these people before me and He will help to point them out to me wherever I go. The very next day, He laid on my heart a family who needed groceries, and 3 days later, a lady at Wednesday night worship who needed some money for an upcoming expense that she did not know about yet. God also provided the finances for me to do those acts.

     The night after the conference, I took none of my pain meds I needed to control my knee pain and help me sleep. I slept a full eight hours without waking up once. I have not taken any pain meds since and I have no pain in that knee. I awake refreshed with no sadness to start the day. My heart is full of joy. The humbleness and gentleness have restored my smile again and my outlook on life. I praise God each day for the opportunity to serve Him.    

      What a wonderful God we have and it is amazing how He uses common people like me to serve Him in such blessed ways. Praise God and Amen.

 

Pastor James Reed