Everything in My Life Has Changed!
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 15830 |
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April \;\\\;13, 2008 |
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 ~ Deaconess Soonja Enomoto
(Tokyo Tabata Manmin Church)
"Will you go to church or no?"
I heard a loud and forceful voice out of nowhere. I felt as though the walls on either side of me were closing in at an incredible speed.
I shouted just moments before I was going to be crushed by the walls.
"I...I will go! I will go to church!"
Right at that moment, the walls backed off and even the wallpapers torn apart.
'Phew...what a weird dream!'
It was only a dream but the loud voice I heard was still ringing in my ears. There used to be a time when I attended church and received grace. But that was long ago; I hadn't gone to church because I was "busy."
"Perhaps I should go back to church," I told myself.
With a heart half filled with fear and half filled with expectation, I joined Tokyo Tabata Manmin Church in September 2005.
Sleepiness fades away during services after start giving tithes
I own a Japanese bar and largely because of that, I could only go to church about twice a month. On Sundays after I ran the business into the early morning the previous nights, I would constantly fall asleep during services. The pastor told me that if I made every effort to attend services, I would become more attentive to the messages and the drowsiness would go away, but that only seemed to me a remote possibility.
After about a year passed, I realized one Sunday that I was not falling asleep and that I was paying attention to every word of the message. On that particular day, Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. Jaerock Lee said in his message via satellite that not giving God the tithes is the same as stealing from God. Up to that point, I had never given God tithes. I took out 20,000 yen out of my purse and gave it as tithes. Remarkably, from that day on, I never fell asleep during services again and I could concentrate on messages. At times, I was so touched in the heart that I felt like I was being sucked into the message.
Cervical cancer?
In October 2006, I became easily fatigued and found that there was blood in my urine. At the hospital, the doctor told me that it looked like I had cervical cancer. I was also told details would be available after I had undergone thorough tests.
'How could this be?!'
I couldn't believe my ears. I sent my photograph to the Senior Pastor and received his prayer but at my family's insistence, I still received treatments from the hospital and on November 30, I underwent a laser surgery.
Two weeks later, following another round of examinations, I was told that the cancer cells had spread and I would need to have the entire uterus removed. My fears were realized.
'What shall I do?'
I repented of not having received God's healing by prayer; I was desperate to receive God's healing. The pastor in charge of Tokyo Tabata Manmin told me that God searches the heart and that it is important for me to show Him the deeds of faith and to live by the word.
Quitting smoking and drinking
Something truly miraculous took place a few weeks later. As I held up a cigarette to light it, I began praying unknowingly.
"God, I go to church and pray in earnest to be healed by You yet I am still smoking. Please give me the strength to quit smoking and live by Your word." I was so earnest in my prayer that I even shed tears. I had never skipped a meal before but after fasting for 3 days, I was able to do something I could not for the previous 20 years: quit smoking for good.
I also stopped having all thoughts about drinking. Whenever I saw good appetizers served with drinks, I could never pass those up. It seemed to me that after helping me quit smoking, God was pouring His grace over me to stop drinking as well.
I had begun playing Japanese slot machines five years earlier. I had started playing it as something to do pass the time. On that particular day, after I played the game, I began praying out of the blue, asking God to help me quit this as well. A few days later, when I passed by the place where I had frequented to gamble, the noise was too loud for me to bear. I had no idea why or how I could have squandered my time for that long. I could quit right away.
I was certain that unexplainable changes were taking place in my life.
Healed of cancer in a dream
One night in February 2007, I had a dream. A man dressed in a white doctor's gown said to me, "Watch as I take your spirit out of you." I was on my feet and I saw my "other me" lying there. The man in the white doctor's gown pointed at the stomach of the "other me" and said, "All that blue you see in the stomach is cancer. I am going to heal you of it."
The moment I woke up from the dream, I became certain that I had been healed and I prayed to God in gratitude. Remembering Tokyo Tabata Manmin Church's pastor's words that receiving the healing by faith and things were more important from that point on, I made every effort to live a life in gratitude of God's grace and to sanctify myself. I began a time of fasting with the Senior Pastor's recorded "Prayer for the Sick" and "A Prayer at the Beginning of a Day." My body, which became easily fatigued and uncomfortable, felt lighter and my heart was at peace.
The perennial cold went away and as I did not feel exhausted despite my late working hours, I distributed the church newsletters from time to time.
How sweet it is to live by God's word!
In addition to having my health restored, God's word is budding in my heart.
I had often quarreled with my husband. Embarrassed of this before God, I prayed, asking Him to change my attitude toward my husband, and strove to serve him. Nowadays, whatever he says, I can understand him and he is adorable. I had even cursed at my children and at work before but I began trying to be careful with each word I uttered. At those I used to be angry and harbor ill feelings, I thought of the way I had been and tried to understand them. My family rejoices at the way I change little by little by the truth.
I now understand what the Psalmist said when he wrote God's word is "sweeter than honey." I have fallen in love with God's word, as I have begun listening to the messages proclaimed during Wednesday Evening Services, Friday All-night Services, and Sunday services.
I need a motorcycle to attend "Daniel Prayer Meetings" and God provided me with one through a friend. I can now come to church and pray every evening. I have even received financial blessings as well and by God's grace, every corner of my life is filled with gratitude.
Had I not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, could I have ever known this joy and gratitude? I give thanks to God for allowing me a new life and would also like to express my sincere appreciation to the Senior Pastor for his prayer of love, to the pastor at Tokyo Tabata Manmin Church, and my district leader.
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