(Originally posted on May 11, 2007)
In 1974, God sent me to Israel and
called me into the ministry at the Garden Tomb. God had worked a series
of miracles to get me there to fulfill his purpose at that time in my
life. I had no idea that there was a reason for me going to Israel. I
was not expecting what happened at the Garden Tomb. I was sitting there
on a Sunday morning listening to a minister named Van der Hooven and God
began revealing to my spirit by the Holy Spirit these words in Acts 1:8,
"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon
you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all
Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." For
one hour the Spirit of God burned these words in my heart, and since
that day I have known that God called me into the ministry. The word
power in verse 8 is "dunamis", or the ability of God.
If you study the life of Jesus in the
book of Luke, you will notice that after he was baptized in the Holy
Spirit coming out of the river Jordan, he was led by the Spirit into the
wilderness being forty days tempted of the devil. It states in Luke
4:14-32, "And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into
Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round
about. v.14
And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. v.15
And he came to Nazareth, where he
had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue
on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. v.16
And there was delivered unto him
the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he
found the place where it was written, v.17
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath
sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the
captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them
that are bruised, v.18
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. v.19
And he closed the book, and he
gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them
that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. v.20
And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. v.21
And all bare him witness, and
wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And
they said, Is not this Joseph's son? v.22
And he said unto them, Ye will
surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we
have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. v.23
And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. v.24
But I tell you of a truth, many
widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up
three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the
land; v.25
But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. v.26
And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. v.27
And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, v.28
And rose up, and thrust him out of
the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was
built, that they might cast him down headlong. v.29
But he passing through the midst of them went his way, v.30
And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days. v.31
And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power." v.32
After I returned home from Israel in
June 1974, I was amazed at how my life changed. I knew that I had been
called into the ministry, but I was not prepared to deal with all the
people that I was to offend with my words. God gave me three messages to
teach in my home on Sunday afternoon and at the end of the third Sunday
message there was no one left to attend my bible study.
At that time, I was invited by a
Southern Baptist preacher to attend a meeting at his church with an
elder and a deacon. Each Wednesday morning we would gather for a couple
of hours and talk about various topics. One day during one of our
discussions an elder, who was a son of a Southern Baptist preacher, said
that he believed Jesus sinned and the only time he didn't sin was
during the forty days when he was in the wilderness while fasting. I
personally could not believe that anyone could believe that Jesus ever
committed a sin.
Each Wednesday morning when I gathered
with them they became more and more offended at my words, and they were
attacking me more and more trying to find something to accuse me of.
One day they told me that I had hidden sin in my life and I said, "Well
what would that hidden sin be," and they said that they didn't know. I
said, "Well if it is hidden sin and you don't know what it is, then how
do you know that I have it?" They then began to question me more direct.
They said, "Are you committing adultery?" I said, "No." "Are you sure?"
they said. I said, "Well I think I would know if I were committing
adultery." They asked, "Are you lying to your clients?" I answered,
"No." "Are you stealing from you clients?" they asked. No was my answer.
Then a most remarkable thing happened, this elder began to confess his
sins. He was accusing me of what was in his heart.
Finally the day came when they said
"Would you turn to I Timothy chapter 5?" I said, "Well of course." They
said, "Would you read verses 17 and 18? And would you explain verse 17
to us?" I said, "Well of course an elder that rules well and labors in
the word should receive money." They said, "Really, do you believe that
an elder that rules well is entitled to receive tithes and offerings?" I
said, "Absolutely." Then their wicked hearts were exposed and they
said, "Are you taking money from people that attend this church?" I
said, "No I have not taken any money from any one that attends your
church, nor have I taken money from any other person." The love of
money, being the root of all evil, was exposed in their hearts.
About that time they began to accuse
me and tell me what a rebel I was and that I needed to be under pastoral
care. They informed me that I was in rebellion against God and since
they had a local assembly that I needed to join. After much prayer and
consideration, I decided to join, so I informed them that I would join
their church on a Sunday evening. Suddenly their wickedness was exposed
to me because they became so friendly and so nice. I said to myself,
"How can I be so wicked yesterday and such a rebel and now that I am
going to join them I am such a decent person?" After the service that
Sunday evening, I was asked along with my family to come and stand in
front of the church so all the members could come and welcome us as
members of their congregation. An associate pastor came up to me and
said, "Give me your hands." I extended them and he took my hands and
said, "Young man, you are under a great cloud of darkness." Out of my
heart by the Spirit of God, I said, "I know who you are Satan, and I
bind you in Jesus name." I did that in front of the entire group. The
pastor said, "Oh what a mess you have made out of this situation now." I
had joined as far as they were concerned, and they had me on their
roll. That is really all that they wanted just to bring me into bondage.
I never went back to that assembly after that, but I know for a fact
that they kept me on their roll.
By 1974, I could clearly see in
scripture and understood from the commission that I should bring forth
fruit. (Matthew 28:18-20) In verse 19 it says, teach all nations. In the
margin of my bible it says make disciples or Christians of all nations.
I had begun looking for people that I could teach the truth, and God
brought Ralph and Debbie Edge into my life. (Ralph is my nephew.) In
1976, I received a phone call from a lady that I knew in Plano to come
and attend to one of her horses that was supposedly lame. When I
examined the horse I said, "Linda, there's no lameness in this horse,
this horse is not lame at all." As we were walking back to my car I
asked her, "Where is Jack?" Her family had been former clients of mine
for years. She said, "He is at CFNI (Christ for the Nations Institute).
The next day Jack and Cynthia Turquette were at my house and I started
teaching them. By 1977, I was back in McKinney reestablishing my
veterinary practice and I met Bruce Geer, Dale and Sharon Littrell, and
then Terry Mai, who was the choir director at First United Methodist
Church in McKinney. God continued to add people to my ministry.
In 1980, God sent me to Plano to speak
to the people of Plano. We have been in this building since January 4,
1981. I went on radio; five-day broadcast in October 1981 and one-hour
television broadcast live Saturday nights at 8 p.m. in April 1984. We
have been debt free since 1985. We went national and international on
radio and television in 1992.
In 1994, we began conducting meetings
in Joplin, Missouri, Tulsa, Oklahoma, South Bend, Indiana, Houston,
Texas, Anaheim, California, and various other places in the United
States. From those meetings, Water of Life Churches were established in
Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Plantersville, Texas.
During the past thirty-five years, I
have seen many devils cast out and many sicknesses healed. In 1987, God
told me that there was coming a great deliverance and that is still to
come. In Romans 15 the Apostle Paul writing to the Romans states in
verse 29, "And I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ."
I am personally convinced that I have not yet attained the fulness of
the blessing of the gospel, but I expect to attain to that fulness based
on my calling in 1974 when God spoke Acts 1:8 to my spirit. I could see
what followed in the book of Acts. It has been 33 years since that
calling and I have not departed from my God. He has led me in paths of
righteousness to restore my soul.
One of the most significant paths of
righteousness God led me through with others of Water of Life was to fly
by private charter and pray in all 48 states of the mainland from July
2003 to June 2004. During this period, I overcame many principalities
and powers of the United States and with every overcoming there was a
restoration of my soul.
God's word tells us in Joel 2:25-27,
"And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the
cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which
I sent among you. v.25
And ye shall eat in plenty, and be
satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt
wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. v.26
And ye shall know that I am in the
midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my
people shall never be ashamed." v.27
Verse 28 tells us God was able to pour
out his spirit through about one hundred twenty new wine skins. Verses
26 and 27 have been a great comfort to my life for many years. Both
verses say my people shall never be ashamed.
Philippians 3:13-14 says, "Brethren,
I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do,
forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those
things which are before, v.13
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." v.14
I know the high calling of God in Christ Jesus for my life was revealed to me in Acts 1:8 in June 1974 in Jerusalem.
God Bless
Doyle Davidson
Servant and apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ
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