PART 2

May 9, 2013
Greetings and God’s bless you.
The 2nd part of my testimony, I think, is very interesting. I mentioned previously that Doctor Jesus showed up in the middle of the night (in my bedroom) on April 8, 2013 and performed some much needed open heart surgery on me. He then began to explain to me over the next few weeks exactly what He had done for me that night. Almost immediately I understood that the Lord wanted me to NEVER FORGET what He had done for me that night. I was trying to remember the biblical term the Israelites would use when God wanted them to remember something significant He did for them. My lovely wife reminded me that the word I was looking for was “MEMORIAL”. Jesus wanted 4/8/13 to be my own personal Memorial Day. Over the next few days, for some reason, I felt that God was leading me to do a study on numbers and the Biblical meaning behind certain numbers. I spent some time looking at the numbers 6, 7 and 8… but mostly, I was interested in the number 13 (I won’t get into all of that right now, but I will say my Bible study on the number 13 turned out to be very interesting). Anyhow, my son asked me during our family Bible study time one night what the number 8 means in the Bible. I told him that the number 8 represents “new beginnings”. He then said that God had given me a new beginning in my life on the 8th. I almost fell out of my chair because I hadn’t even thought about that until he said it. But wait… the story gets better!

The next Sunday during the sermon at my church, the Pastor was talking about the children of Israel and their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness after God had brought them out of bondage in Egypt. Immediately I felt as if the Lord was telling me that what happened to them was exactly what was happening to me. It was as if God was speaking to me and saying that my life (right up to this point) has mirrored and is continuing to mirror what the Israelites went through thousands of years ago in the Bible. My head was spinning. When I got home later I opened up my Bible so I could take a closer look at just what exactly Jesus was trying to show me.
God began to show me that my original salvation experience (back when I was 19 years old) was similar to how he brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. Like the Israelites, I was a slave too… not to Pharaoh, but I was a slave to my flesh, the world and Satan. In fact, there were multiple times in the first few weeks after I had given my life to Christ that Satan (or his demons) continued to come in my room and try to torment me and get me to go back to my old life - just like Pharaoh attempted to try and bring the Jewish people back into bondage after they had left Egypt. Every time I would try to go to sleep at night I could feel something heavy (and evil) sitting on my chest, and I couldn’t speak and I could barely breathe. I would run out of my room and sleep on the couch the first few times this happened, until my sister Jacqueline (who was a strong Christian at that time) told me to stop running scared from the Devil and to cast him out of my room in Jesus’ name and tell any and all demons that the blood of Jesus Christ was against them. Well, it worked, and ultimately, God delivered me the same way that he delivered the children of Israel from Pharaoh and his armies when he drowned them in the red sea in Exodus chapter 14.
The next 4 years of my life (age 19-23) I was on fire for God and very zealous for Christ and He showed up in my life in some truly amazing ways – like He did for the Israelites in Exodus Chapter 16 and 17 providing them with manna, quail and water from a rock. Unfortunately, at around the age of 23, I became very rebellious towards God, the same way that the Israelites did when 10 of the 12 spies they sent into the Promised Land returned with an evil report. Just like the Israelites longed to go back into bondage in Egypt (Numbers chapter 14 verses 1-4), I began to long for the things of this world at that time. The children of Israel made a golden calf idol and began to worship it; my idol was alcoholism, drunken partying, pornography and having sex outside of marriage. At that time, my life was a complete and total train wreck. I thought that once I got married at age 27 that my life would be magically changed, and that once my wife and I started having children I would settle down and get my act together. No such luck! I continued for years to live a lukewarm Christian life and continued to consistently dabble in sin and the perpetual shame cycle that goes along with it. Don’t get me wrong, there were times during the past 20 years that I felt close to God; unfortunately, those times and seasons never lasted for long and I kept finding myself separated from the Lord, lost and defeated in my Christian walk. Which brings me to the really good part of the story… I kept on reading in the Bible up to the point where Joshua took over as the leader of the Israelites after Moses died. The Lord showed me that on 4-8-13 He led me out of the wilderness and He took me by the hand and led me across the Jordan River into the Promised Land (figuratively speaking of course). I like how the King James Version of the Bible puts it in Joshua Chapter 3 Verse 17 that “all the people were passed CLEAN over Jordan” (After what Jesus did for me that night I definitely feel clean). Imagine my surprise (and shock) when the Lord next took me to Joshua Chapter 4 Verse 8; the 4 and 8 reminded me of the day Jesus told me to remember forever 4-8-13. The part that sent a chill up my spine was in Joshua 4:8 the children of Israel are following God’s instructions on setting up a memorial so they would never forget that God had miraculously cut off the waters of the Jordan River so they could pass over into the Promised Land. When I picked my jaw up off the floor, I began to thank God that I now had a Memorial Scripture (Joshua 4:8) to go along with my new Memorial Day (4-8-13). Another significant thing that God showed me was that Jesus himself had been baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, and that was the formal start or new beginning for Jesus’ earthly ministry. By now, as you can imagine, I was very interested to see what was up next in the Israelites Promised Land story, and how else did it match up with what I went through on 4-8-13. Jesus next led me to Joshua 5:2. This is the part where God told Joshua to make sharp knives and circumcise the children of Israel that had been born in the wilderness over the past 40 years of their wanderings. “Alright Lord”, I said, “but what’s that got to do with me”? Then I felt like Jesus was telling me he had to deal with two things in my life on 4-8-13, one was my flesh, and the other was my heart. The Lord told Joshua after all the people had been circumcised that “this day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you”. God was simply saying that before the children of Israel could receive their inheritance in the Promised Land that the old flesh must be rolled away. That is the reason why God called that place Gilgal; Gilgal is a place where the flesh gets dealt with (and my flesh, up to that point, had been completely out of control). Egypt was to the Israelites what the world had represented to me; the love I had for this world had to be put off (removed) from me so that I could walk in the NEW LIFE that God wanted me (and all of his children) to have. Well guess what… Jesus not only wanted to deal with my flesh problem on 4-8-13, He also wanted to deal with my heart problem. The Lord took me to Deuteronomy 30:6 where it says: And the Lordyour God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lordyour God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. Also, in Romans 2:28-29 the Apostle Paul wrote: For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God. God performed a spiritual circumcision on my heart on 4-8-13. He cut away from my heart the lies of my flesh, the lies of this world and the lies of Satan. He cut away from my heart every falsehood that I had been believing about myself for years and replaced it with the truth of God! Jesus also poured his healing oil of gladness into the wounded and tortured places of my heart, soul and spirit. Once he did all of that, the Lord said to me “Now you are ready to receive your inheritance, just like the Israelites were ready to receive theirs after they had their Gilgal experience”. At this point, I’m asking myself, “What sort of amazing love is this that Jesus has for me (and for all of us) that He would go to these great lengths to reach, rescue, save and heal us”? God’s love for us is definitely off the charts!
Next up in the story is where Joshua met a “man” in Joshua 5:13-15 who referred to himself as “Captain of the host of the Lord”. I believe that this person was actually Jesus Christ himself. There are a lot of Bible experts out there who have studied this passage and come to the same conclusion. The main reason that I believe that this was the Son of God was that when Joshua fell on his face and worshipped him in verse 14 the Captain of the host of the Lord did not discourage Joshua from worshipping him. If this person had simply been an Angel, he would have said what Angels always say in the Bible every time someone tries to worship them; something to the effect of “Don’t worship me, I’m just a fellow servant like you… worship God”. Well, I felt like Jesus was saying to me that just like He had showed up and made a personal appearance for Joshua, He showed up for me as well in a very personal way on 4-18-13. I get the feeling that Jesus would have told me to take off my shoes because I was standing on Holy Ground just like He said to Joshua, but it was the middle of the night and I wasn’t wearing shoes at the time.
Now, for the final and most exciting part of the story (yes, it actually still gets even better). Let me say, however, that this next part in my journey hasn’t happened yet. Like the children of Israel, I have come out of the wilderness, crossed over the Jordan River, had my Gilgal experience and my encounter with the Lord (just like Joshua) but I am not at the city of Jericho just yet. So, here I now stand in the Promised Land - healed, set free, delivered and filled with the joy and peace of God! I believe that what is coming up next for me and for all of those that love Jesus and have accepted him as their Lord and savior is Jericho. If you are a follower of Christ you have probably heard the story of Jericho before… The Israelites walked around the city of Jericho one time each day for six days in a row, and on the seventh day they walked around it seven times and then seven priests blew seven trumpets, all the Israelites let out a great shout… and the mighty walls of Jericho fell down.
The Lord began to, at this point, show me how this past event is very much symbolic of an event that many of us Christians have been waiting for with great anticipation. If you look in your Bible at 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 the Apostle Paul is writing about an event called the rapture of the church. Before we (the believers in Jesus) are literally snatched away from this earth and caught up in the clouds to meet Jesus in the air, there will be a loud trumpet blast from heaven and Jesus will descend from heaven with a great shout (with the voice of the archangel). In Joshua 6:16 the Israelite priests blew the trumpets and gave a loud shout and Joshua told them “the Lord had given them the city”. And that, my friends, is exactly what the Lord will give those of us that are caught up to meet him in the air… he will give us that heavenly city… the New Jerusalem that is mentioned in Revelation 21:2.
Yes, I believe that the city of Jericho is a type of metaphor for that heavenly, holy city… the New Jerusalem that all of those that have given their lives to Christ stand to inherit. Isn’t it interesting, if you look at Joshua 6:5 in the King James Version of the Bible, it states that after the priest’s trumpet blast and the great shout of the people, the Israelites shall ascend up into the city. The New International Version of the Bible says “the people will go up, every man straight in”. Why does it use that language… ascend up… go up??? I think the Lord is trying to tell us something. At the rapture we aren’t just going into that heavenly city, we are going to ascend up into heaven to get there. Also, if you look at Joshua 6:19 where it talks about the silver and gold of Jericho going into the treasury of the Lord, that speaks to our eternal reward that the Lord has waiting for us in paradise.
The disturbing part of what the Lord has shown me about all of this is that this story has a double (terrifying) meaning for those who don’t know Jesus. Those people that were living inside the city of Jericho when the walls fell represent those people that are currently living in the world today that aren’t saved that will have to endure the great tribulation. The seven days that the children of Israel walked around Jericho represent 7000 years of human history that will be lived out on this planet. Right now mankind has approximately 6000 years of history on earth, and with the 1000 year millennial reign when Jesus returns to rule the earth (Revelation 20:4) will equal 7000 years (see 2 Peter 3:8). The seven times that the Israelites marched around the city on the 7th day represents the final 7 years on earth before the 2nd coming of Jesus (also known as the great tribulation). The world will be ruled with an iron fist by the man of sin called the antichrist (or the beast) spoken of in Revelation chapter 13. Everyone on earth who was not taken up in the rapture to heaven by Jesus before the great tribulation begins will have to live through the 7 most horrifying, bloody, desperate years this planet will ever know. That is precisely why everyone living in Jericho when the walls fell (men, women, young, old and all the animals) were destroyed with the edge of the sword; this was to illustrate just how terrible the time of God’s judgment will be on the earth during the great tribulation. In Joshua 6:18 when God warns Joshua that the people are to keep themselves from the “accursed thing”, I believe that He’s speaking about the beast (aka the antichrist). God says if they were to take of the “accursed thing” (which I believe is the mark of the beast) they would make themselves accursed. There is a warning in Revelation 20:4-6 that if you take the mark of the beast you have condemned yourself to death, hell and eternal separation from God. That is why when Achan took the “accursed thing” unto himself in Joshua chapter 7:1, his punishment was death (just like it will be for anyone who takes the mark of the beast).
You might be thinking to yourself, how does Rahab the prostitute mentioned in Joshua 6:17 fit into all of this, and who does she represent during the end times? Remember when Rahab hid the two Israelites spies who had come to scout out the city of Jericho? Since Rahab helped the Israelites they told her to place a piece of scarlet thread in her window, so when the Israelites took the city, she, and all of those in her household, would be spared. Rahab represents those people in the future great tribulation period that will refuse the mark of the beast and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior! The scarlet (or RED) thread she put in her window represents the blood of Christ covering and protecting future tribulation believers and guaranteeing them eternal life with God! Now, that’s amazing! Even during that 7 year great tribulation nightmare, there will still be many people saved and covered by the powerful (life saving) blood of Jesus – this is also mentioned in Revelation 20:4.
Ok, this final part of the story that the Lord revealed to me completely blew me away; I never understood this part before even though I had read it many times in the past. In Joshua 6:24 the Israelites burned the city of Jericho and all of its inhabitants with fire. In verse 26 Joshua cursed the man who would ever try and rebuild the city of Jericho. Joshua said “if a man ever tried to rebuild the city of Jericho his firstborn son would die at the laying of its foundations (the beginning of the project), and his youngest would die at the setting up of the gates (the end of the project). This curse was actually fulfilled about 500 years later in 1 Kings 16:34 when a man by the name of Hiel of Bethel attempted to rebuild the city of Jericho, and just as Joshua had pronounced his oldest son died at the start of the project, and his youngest son died at the completion of the project. WHY IN THE WORLD did this happen?! The answer that the Lord showed me was this: Remember how I said earlier that Jericho is symbolic of the New Jerusalem? Well, what do we know about the New Jerusalem? In Hebrews chapter 11 verse 10 it says that Abraham looked forward to going to that heavenly city whose builder and maker is God. God is the architect of that heavenly city called the New Jerusalem. It says in Revelation 21:2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Man will not have to lift a finger to design, fabricate or build anything in the New Jerusalem; it is an inheritance prepared for us by God himself. God was preparing the children of Israel and all of those that have been brought into the family of God (by having faith in Jesus) for this concept of inheriting a city from him that we won’t have to build with our own hands. That’s why in Joshua 24:13 God said to Joshua: I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant. And that is why Joshua put a curse on Jericho… because of what that city represents. Jericho is a type and shadow of the city (New Jerusalem) that all of God’s children will inherit when we all get to the true Promised Land which is heaven. No wonder Hiel’s sons died when he tried to rebuild that city with human hands when you know what the city of Jericho actually represented.
And finally, the burning of Jericho and all of its inhabitants after the walls fell was symbolic of something also. Look up 2 Peter 3:10-13 and it says: 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. I am still amazed and completely overwhelmed with everything God has recently done for me and revealed to me. Jesus is beyond amazing, and his love for us is truly astounding and limitless. Thanks for letting me share part 2 of my testimony with you. I pray that you will draw strength from it, and be encouraged in the fact that: The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

May God bless you and keep you safe in his care,

Donald

Captain Don,

Welcome to the family. And thank you for the blessing your testimony is. I have always thought Jericho was a rapture story. Note Rahab, the Prostitute , was to tie the scarlet ribbon as a sign of where she and her family were located when the Jews took the city after the walls fell. The Scarlet thread represents the Blood of Christ that saved her and her family. She goes on to become part of Jesus' geneaology--His grandmother or great Grandmother. I forget which now but always loved that story. It so represents how completely He saves us and makes us righteous through His shed Blood on the cross. He completely covers our sins and erases the stain on our souls. What a beautiful love story. How blessed to be reminded so personally of your own Memmorial moment.

Salvation is the blessing of the moment. It takes a life time to create a Saint. How true this statement is. No wonder patirnce and perseverance are acconted as fruit of the Spirit. He is our All in All. Providing for us. All we need to do is to surrender our hearts to Him and humbly come to ask for forgiveness. He does all the work. How can we not be in awe at this. We can do nothing else but surrender to him and worship Him for all of eternity.

So many souls are in danger yet. They need our prayers and time is short. Your testimony reminds us time is short and we want no one we know to miss the Rapture, the most monumental event in history! Come to them lord Jesus. Remove blinders and set hearts on fire for You as we pray for more souls for the Kingdom and Your Glory!! May they come to realize how much they need You; that You are the only Way, the Truth, the Life. Amen

Hi Captain Don, thanks for sharing- I feel like we are "spirit brothers" we are about the same age and were both born again at about the same age too! I enjoyed reading about how the Lord is working in your life :)

Welcome Captain!! What a powerful testimony. Bless you for sharing this
with us. Your experience with Jesus confirms what many of us have
been feeling lately about the soon return of Jesus Christ. The
Lord is revealing to us the shortness of the hour. That we are
to pray for the lost and for Israel His Chosen. Our Lord God Almighty
is about to intervene in the affairs of man to bring about
the end of this Age and His Millennial Reign.

God Bless you Captain
and again WELCOME....

I am not one to read long posts (ADHD) but could not stop what a true blessing your testimony is.

Thank you for sharing with us and giving me hope that with prayer my husband will also come to find the Lord, his story is very similar to yours.

What a wonderful and awesome testimony! That is so interesting! I can really relate to what you said here:

Captain Don my dear brother,

Thank you for that awesome, transparent and honest testimony that truly came from your heart. I was so impressed with what God has done in your life and the miraculous changes he has made in transforming your mind more likened to God's image. What a moving testimony.. God is great and is already using your testimony to help others that have suffered just like you to come to Christ. I enjoyed reading your wonderful testimony that will touch and transform the hearts of many..

You are right, time is of the essence and the Rapture is imminent. God has done and is going to continue to do mightily things here on earth prior to his coming so that the people will wake up to the season that we are presently in. The clock is ticking fast and we will be in Heaven soon with our Father.. In the meantime, you are diligently occupying as a courageous faithful saint and doing the will of your Father.. You are an Inspiration my dear brother and I cannot wait to meet you and give you a great big hug in Heaven. Welcome to the Body of Christ and welcome to the RITAN family.

May God continue to bless you and your family and continue to use you as his vessel to honor the Kingdom of God.

Blessings,
AngelWings7

Thank you for sharing Donald! We serve an AWESOME Lord. There is no word really to describe Him and His greatness...Praise our God.

Loved this from your testimony:
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

He is coming soon! Looking forward to meeting you in the air. Maranatha!

I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate and thank you for posting your testimony here. It was good for my heart to read your words today! Bless you & Welcome!
Your Sister in Christ,
Patti Day

Don, what an AWESOME testimony! That really blessed me. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. WOW. You are a living testimony of Phillipians 1:6

"Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ...."

AMEN! Jesus truly is the Good Shepherd. He will go after that lost sheep until He finds him. Jesus did not let go of you all those years you were trying to find an escape from your troubled soul. He knew the behavior was a symptom of the great pain that you were trying to mask and run away from, and He healed you and brought you back. PRAISE THE LORD!!

Victory Chanter,

Thanks so much for the kind and thoughtful response to my testimony. I was wondering if anyone else out there had ever seen a connection between the story of Jericho and the rapture of the church other than myself. I completely agree with the quote you included "Salvation is the blessing of the moment. It takes a life time to create a Saint." I am definitely a work in progress (thank the Lord for his two twins... MERCY & GRACE). It's funny that you should mention the fruit of the Spirit, as our Lord Jesus is currently teaching me how to walk in the Spirit daily, and how the fruit of the Spirit should be a by-product that serves as evidence of that walk. Lastly, I place my faith alongside your faith that the lost will be reached with the good news of the gospel before it's too late. I pray that a boldness would rise up in the body of Christ like never before and that we would reach out to everyone that we can with this truth and hope that we carry around inside of us... that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And that He's coming back for his Bride very soon. God bless you and keep you safe in his care.

Captain Don

Email: Captaindon95@yahoo.com

Donald, thank you very much for posting that. God touches all of us in different ways. When we feel His love and warmth like that, it is so amazing. I am closer to our Lord now then in my entire life. I feel so blessed to be chosen by Him and to have my RITA family. Good luck to you and keep looking up, we are going home soon. I can't wait to read part 2.

Perhaps Today, part 2 was right below part I. The Lord showed Don amazing parrelles in that one!

Greetings everyone from me... Captain Don. Wow! I am completely overwhelmed at the response so far to my testimony. I said it before and I'll say it again, "I love the body of Christ". I wanted to respond to everyone's message individually, but decided that's probably not too realistic. So, I'll just respond to all of you wonderful members of my new RITAN family in this single response.

Remnant Navi: I consider it a joy and an honor to be counted as your "Spirit Brother". God bless you and thanks for taking the time to read my testimony.

Morningstar: Blessings to you as well. I absolutely believe that the return of Jesus is literally right around the corner. My 12 year old son came in our room in the middle of the night a few days ago and said he couldn't sleep because he was too excited about the rapture. I love it! Thank you for mentioning the importance of praying for Israel and the peace of Jerusalem. It seems like I have been doing that a lot lately, as well as praying for America, and all of the nations in the middle east surrounding Israel. I ask that everyone reading this would remember to pray for our fellow Christians and the unsaved that have yet to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior living in the Arab countries surrounded Israel.

DaphsGram: I know all about that (ADHD). Thanks for hanging in there with my looooong testimony. I'll be praying for your husband. I'm living proof that there is hope.

Shiloh: Thanks for your response. I never thought that I would have a similar experience to Paul when he was on that road to Damascus and Jesus showed up (literally out of nowhere). Thankfully Jesus was quite a bit more loving and gentle with me than he was with Saul. When the Lord shows up like that it definitely changes you forever. Also, thank you for the nice welcome to the RITAN family.

AngelWings7: Thanks for the confirmation that what Jesus did in my life is not for me alone. I have to share with others about the reality of His love, and how completely and beautifully he can transform lives for the better. I'm with you 100%, we have to reach out to as many people as we can with the truth of the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord; because before we know it... in a moment... in the twinkling of an eye... we will be in the clouds, transformed and enjoying the greatest family reunion of all time.

TakeMeHome: Maranatha indeed! There is truly no one like our Lord. I guess that's why every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. If I don't see you in the air, we'll touch base at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Patti Day: I'm glad you were touched by my testimony. I give God all of the glory... because without him none of us would have anything to testify about. Be blessed in Him always.

Lisaleenie: God is so good and so faithful! Thanks for the Philliapians 1:6 passage (I've always loved that verse). You hit the nail right on the head... Jesus shepherds his flock so amazingly. If you want to be in good hands, forget Allstate and look to the Good Shepherd. I'm so thankful that we are never, ever alone when we choose Jesus. He will be with us always and forever. Be blessed my sister and keep looking up.

Well, that's it for now... God bless us, each and every one.

Captain Don

Email: Captaindon95@yahoo.com

I'm grateful the Lord allowed my words to speak to you Don. It's all His doing. The glory is His! The Holy Spirit illuminated this insight for you. Praise God!!

so glad you came here and shared your testimony, dear brother in Christ ~~ what a wonderful witness of the power of Jesus to save! I love your tender heart on fire wanting to live for Jesus ~~ ~

our God's Light living through you, reveals a satisfaction only Jesus gives. As as He promised, He is the Living Water abiding, His Spirit faithful to protect and secure His own . . and Jesus shall lose none!

Many blessings, Don ~~ thank you for sharing with us~ isn't wonderful to know we're never alone when Jesus is our Lord and God ~~