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Overcoming Unclean Spirits

Sis Ellen Chiou, October 10, 2013

Hallelujah, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I testify. I would like to testify about how I came to Christ in the True Jesus Church and how the Lord Jesus saved me from the disturbance of unclean spirits.

Paralyzed from an Accident

During the framing of my current home in Huntington Beach, I came to supervise or check on the progress of the construction. While checking, I was climbing on the second floor where I want to ask them to build an extra closet in the attic. And when I was climbing up the stairs, I didn't know that the framing of the second floor ground was not yet complete. There was only insulation sponge and no wood panels underneath the floor joists.  So then I slipped in between one of the small framing square and air dived to the master bedroom floor. Then I lost my consciousness and was sent to the hospital. After that, I found out that I became a paraplegic from the waist down.

After injury, the doctor said that I had only 1% chance of recovery. This is because they found that my spinal cord has been completely severed. During surgery, my spinal cord was reconstructed and steel pins and a steel cast were used to keep my spinal cord rigid in place. I was in Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach for 6 weeks then transferred to St Jude hospital of Fullerton for a three month rehab.  During rehab, one of the hooks that bolt the rods of my spine popped out. I cannot feel the pain but I sensed that the movement of my body was not the same. No one believed me when I tried to explain. Later, I joined a private rehab where they use electric stimulation for 4 hours daily; this really killed my back. I had to lay down for 16 hours a day. After 3 years of numerous tries, I finally asked a doctor to remove my steel spinal cord support column because it became very painful. After removal, I no longer have any support in my back and life was never the same again.

 

Trying Alternative Medicine

I could not believe that I would never recover. Out of desperation, I tried ALL of the alternative medicine I could get my hands on. For instance, I tried Buddhism and connected with 一貫道 (I-Kuan Tao or “IKT”), which is a new religious movement from China that incorporates elements from Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. I also went to worship at various temples, and in different countries like Thailand and received different “blessings”, ceremonies, charms, talismans, and incantations.

During that time, I also tried something called Harnessing Human Energy using Qi Gong (the practice of aligning posture, breathing, and mental focus to guide the “qi” or life energy, through the body). I practiced this form of meditation for 5-6 years to see if my nerves could be regrown. Using meditative training, I utilized my inner breath awareness, visualization, mantra, and mental focus on qi circulation, to empty my mind and balance the qi in my body.

 

Spiritual Disturbances from Practicing Qi Gong

After practicing Qi Gong, I found that I could be refreshed physically after only 4 hours of sleep. But I also noticed in the fourth or fifth year of my Qi Gong meditation practice, spiritual disturbances started. I was not aware that in Qi Gong meditation, there are actually spiritual influences at work. These spirits are demonic "spirit guides" that enter when one meditates. While meditating, one is supposed to empty one’s mind and to try to find “oneness within themselves” so they can find that “intrinsic life energy.” In this way, one can develop the human potential, by accessing higher realms of consciousness, and thus awaken one’s “true nature.”

While emptying my mind, I felt that I somehow opened some kind of spiritual window so uninvited spirits started coming in to my life to disturb me. These were things that were beyond my comprehension and control. Since Qi Gong traces its origins to Chinese Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, it has its roots in idolatry and mysticism. It seeks a more super human state, by relying on certain invisible forces, the practice which relates to idol worship, I personally experienced that Qi Gong is not merely a health exercise, but a form of idol worship which is not clean and not pure.

During these periods, I feel more and more spiritual disturbances, everywhere I went. Anything I attempted to do was unachieved—things did not go smoothing. I felt like I am locked inside four
walls without windows, and the space between the wall and me was shrinking. Every day, I felt I was close to suffocation.

 

Finding the True Jesus Church and Receiving the Holy Spirit

One day my boss told me he converted to Christianity from traditional serious Buddhism family. After conversion, he testified that he feels great because "he can pass all his problems and worries to our Lord Jesus." So he invited me to join him at his church in San Gabriel. I told him I was willing to try but his church is too far away from my house.

Later, I met a member of True Jesus Church (“TJC”). He told me that the TJC is very spirit oriented or (“很靈”). So I asked to be brought to this church since I felt that my spiritual disturbances had to be combatted by a more powerful spirit.

Arriving at TJC, I still remember how I was totally shocked and unnerved by the way people prayed in Holy Spirit and spoke in tongue. After calming down for a few days, I thought to myself, since my issues were spiritual problems, I need to return to TJC to find my help.


After attending a few services, I then was able to attend the Spiritual Convocation at TJC in Cerritos. During the second evening of the Cerritos evangelical night, I went up to pray in the front. I saw how others were praying around me and I began to admire their prayer. I wanted to be able to say “Hallelujah” and be able to praise God like them in the Holy Spirit. 

During the third evening of the evangelical night, I suddenly started to sing and experience the joy of the Holy Spirit. Amazingly after prayer, the preacher announced that some have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Then he announced my name as someone who received the Holy Spirit. 


How was my experience of receiving Holy Spirit? It was very joyful! This was a happiness that came from deep in the heart, a happiness that I never felt before in my real life. That evening, though I had previously so much bitterness and sadness, yet I felt like “a flower was growing from within my heart.” I felt like Lord Jesus wanted me to experience the REAL joy in Christ. 


Receiving Water Baptism

I continued to attend the TJC services for a few months. Then during the next Spiritual Convocation in Garden Grove, I got baptized. At that time, the preacher was worried that since I was under attack by demonic spirits that maybe some spiritual incidence may occur at the time of water baptism. The preacher then arranged four members to take me down into baptismal site in the ocean using a beach chair. Thank God, I was peacefully baptized and became a child of God!

After baptism, I continued to go to TJC church and to pray. I also got rid of the idols I could find in my house. The spiritual disturbances started to ease. During that time, thanks to God, I was even able to become fully licensed in my career in insurance and financial planning.

However, the spiritual disturbances did not fully go away. I asked the church for help, so members said maybe there were still unclean things in my house which may allow the spirits to continue to work through. I got very frustrated so I prayed to our Lord Jesus, “Dear Almighty Lord, I don’t know where these unclean things are, could you please reveal them to me so I can get rid of them?”

Thank God, over a couple of years, different things showed up one by one: my mother in law's golden Budda, my husband's Thai Gold Chain with spirits infused in them from a Thai temple, and finally a box of paper curse (咒) from the “White Dragon King” (白龍王) in Thailand. There were other items from other places I worshipped before. So one by one, I burnt or destroyed them. 

Ever since I received the Holy Spirit, I would pray in my wheelchair. Sometimes my body will vibrate so much, I felt like I might jump out of my seat. Because I do not have a seat belt, I would always sit in the last row of the church in case I fall forward involuntarily.

After 3 years of prayers, things started to get better. In the 3rd year, one time at a Spiritual Convocation in Garden Grove TJC, I was praying very hard. It was the first day of the Spiritual Convocation. My body was shaking vigorously. Then something seemed to slit through my spinal cord. On the second day of the Spiritual Convocation, I felt like a Tao idol in the form of a snake head popping out from my spine and existing through my head. On the third day of the Spiritual Convocation, I could sense the tail of the idol snake falling off from the bottom of my spinal cord. 

Thank God, after three years, the evil spirits have been completely cast out. However, on certain idol or evil related holidays, such as Halloween and others. On especially on certain idol related religious holidays such as Qingming Festival (清明) which is a Chinese Ancestors or Tomb Sweeping Day that is related to ancestral worship, or the "Double Yang Festival" (重陽節) which is the Chinese religious holiday, I can sense the presence of these spirits around me or following me when drive by a cemetery.

Sometimes in the morning, I will be disturbed by images of different face heads hanging on my curtain, staring at me. Or they will come into my dreams during my period cycle when my body is weak. But after these periods of prayer in the Holy Spirit, I am no longer afraid of their disturbances. I just keep asking The Lord Jesus to keep casting them away from me. I learned that though we may receive water baptism, these demon spirits are always around us, ready to attack us when we are spiritually weak. Therefore, it is very important for everyone to pray until you are filled with the Holy Spirit, to rid the sin and darkness within us, so we may cast away the demons around us and within.

He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; and in their hands they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16:16-18              

 

 

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In the name of the Lord Jesus I testify.

 



Thanks to God that I may have this opportunity to count His blessings. Before I came to believe in the Lord, I was hot-tempered and would often beat my children for no apparent reason.

 



In 1997 Sister Xiao-Juan Ma said to me, "You can come to the church that I attend, and see if that will be of any help to you."

 


Praise God, from then on, I came to church frequently on Sabbaths to enjoy the grace bestowed by God. Furthermore, I was baptised in October 1998, thus becoming a child of God.

 


1. Keeping Faith through Relying on the Lord



In Exodus 20: 4 - 5 God has instructed us, "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.


You shall not bow down to them or worship them." Because I worship this one and only God, creator of the universe, I receive much grace from the Lord Jesus.



As a child of God I know that keeping the Ten Commandments is the most fundamental principle and I strive to keep Gods commands.



In March 2000, due to the severe illness of my mother, my older sister and I returned to China to visit her. This trip was also the very last trip where I saw my mother.



She had suffered from a psychological disorder since 1976; hence often she would rebuke people and walk around aimlessly during the nights when the disorder played up. Praise God, as soon as I started truth-seeking, I prayed for her often.



Her condition improved and she was gradually healed from the sufferings of her sickness. When she passed away, all the relatives in the village gathered us sisters and wanted us to kneel and worship her.



I made known to them that I could not kneel before her since I have already believed in Jesus. They rebuked me, "Mother has given birth to you and educated you, yet when you are asked to worship her, you are not willing! How dishonoring is that!" No matter how hard they tried to persuade me, I insisted on not kneeling.



My sister told me, "It is only for a short moment, so you might as well kneel." But I replied, "Yes, it is only for a short moment, but in doing so, I would be unable to turn back.



You do not only show honor for parents after they have passed away; you should care for them and repay them while they are still alive."



Upon hearing my reply, my sister became angry and said, "I will no longer have any regard for you." Praise the Lord, He is omnipresent and is our everlasting help.



As long as you rely on Him, He will help you. Therefore, I squatted down and said a silent prayer asking God to open a way. Just as I closed my eyes, the Lord twice revealed to me clear burning pillars of fire that manifested in mid air moving towards me.



My heart instantly felt a sense of consolation and peace. Although my mother had departed me, the Lord stays with me. He Himself comforted me so that I was without worry or fear.



After the vision, no one forced me to kneel anymore. My father even spoke up for me in requesting respect for my religion.



This reminded me of the scene in which God called Moses on Mt Horeb. I thank God that He wiped away my tears and kept me sanctified.

 



2. The Grace of the Lord is Sufficient



One early morning of September 2000, I suddenly heard my car alarm going off and the car was driven off. My husband quickly got into his car to chase after it, while I knelt down to pray after phoning the police.



Initially in my prayer, I merely asked the Lord to help my husband in getting the car back but did not think of his safety.



Miraculously as the prayer progressed, it occurred to me: "What if the car is chased back? Would he be able to drive two cars at once? How many people were involved in the theft? Would my husband be safe?" Having these thoughts lingering on my mind, I told the Lord, "O Lord, I give thanks to you that this car was bestowed to us.



If you are willing for me to own this car, it will surely be found. Now I ask you to protect my husband so that he is able to return home safe." Not long after the prayer, my husband returned safely.



However the next night, Friday evening, after the hymn singing and prayer service when I was about to drive my two children home, my son suddenly cried out "Mother, our car has just been stolen again."



Hearing my sons cry, I quickly ran to the doorway to check, and indeed our car had been driven off like the breeze of the wind. We had lost two cars in three days and in my anxiousness I did not know what I should do so I cried with my children.



Then a committee member Brother Kuo asked everyone to pray; and this incident was also reported to the police.



Praise God. Those who rely on Him will not be put to shame; if you rely on Him wholeheartedly, He will surely help you. The car that was stolen at church was found after two days, and the other stolen car was also found after two months.

 

During that period of time, brothers and sisters prayed for us continuously. There was one sister who lent me her car, some others helped us financially, and some came to my house to comfort us.



From these many acts of love, I saw Gods abundant grace. I thank the Lord and may God remember their love for it is so good to have the Lord. His grace is surely sufficient for me.

 



3. Victorious in Christ




During the April school holidays in 2004, my sons abdominal pain relapsed. After seeing the doctor twice, there were no improvements and taking medication at the instructed intervals had no effects.

 

The doctor arranged for him to take an x-ray at the childrens hospital, but nothing unusual was found. Despite this, his abdomen continued to ache, and strangely enough, it occurred only at night and almost always at the same time.



Whenever the specific time arrived, he would wail and shout in pain.



Coincidently, the Church held the autumn evangelical convocation at that time. On the 4th evening of the convocation, I asked my son to rest at home because my husband had returned home early from work.



At midnight, I heard my son wailing in front of the toilet, his cry filled with horror. I rushed over to see him and found that he had been awakened by pain, and wanted to go to the toilet.



He said while he was going into the toilet, he saw a girl with golden hair standing at the doorway holding a baton in her hand. She grabbed him from behind and rolled the baton up and down his abdomen.



On hearing his words, I realised that this was the work of the evil spirit. My husband is yet a believer, and taking my children to church every evening made him unhappy, thus Satan would try to oppose us through all means.



Nevertheless, I believed we would prevail through relying on the name of the Lord. I took my son back to his bedroom and said, "Dont be afraid, mum will pray for you to cast away Satan." he unhappily replied, "Whatever. If you are willing to pray, then pray." I firmly said to him, "I am willing, God will surely listen to our prayer."



Just as I started praying, he cried again saying he was in pain and was afraid. I told him, "Do not be afraid, mum is next to you, and so is the Lord Jesus. He will help us because we are relying on Him."



After reassuring him, I held him in my bosom whilst I continued to pray. Thank God for His mercy, for it was only at 2:30am when he finally fell asleep after the prayer.



My son slept peacefully all the way until 8:30am the next morning. That day was the spiritual convocation so I took him to church. When the service started, the elder said on the pulpit, "Today is the Holy Sabbath as well as the spiritual convocation.



The Holy Sabbath is a day blessed by God, and adding onto that the grace of the spiritual convocation, today becomes a day of double blessings." On hearing these words, faith filled my heart, "My son will surely be shown mercy today".



Thanks be to God for his miraculous grace, for in the day everything was at peace for my son.



Throughout those days, the preacher, as well as many brethren, interceded for my son daily. Intercessions are powerful, and my son has received peace till this day. Praise the Lord, Christians are most blessed to have the help and the protection of God.



Although my husband is yet to be a believer and my children have yet to be baptized, I firmly believe if God delivers me, he will surely deliver my whole family.



Here I ask for everyones continual intercession, that God may guide my whole family into His name. May all the glory, thanksgiving, and praises be unto His name. Amen.



Note: Thanks to the grace of God, the children of Sister Kuang: Marcus and Carrie were baptized on the 1st of May 2005 with her husbands consent.

 

Auckland TJC