Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
I was born again in 1975. Almost immediately I was confronted with a battle for faith in God.
At that time, I owned a business in Dallas, TX (USA). A man sued me for a million dollars. I had never heard of this man. He charged me, along with several other dealers in American Indian Arts, with conspiring to keep him from doing business in Dallas. He also changed the Better Business Bureau's of Dallas and Fort Worth.
It was so silly, at first I just threw the legal papers aside. Then I realized if I didn't respond, judgment in human court would be against me so I called a lawyer and presented the case to him.
Each month, bills came from the law firm and I paid the bills. Finally it was wearing me down financially and all my profit from the business was being eaten up by the legal costs.
At that time I was crying out to God and I was reminded, by the Holy Spirit, of a scripture:
Isaiah 54:17 ... No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
Certainly this law suit against me was a weapon.
I knew I was born again and a servant of God.
Therefore the promise was this weapon formed against me would not prosper.
So I called my lawyer. I told him the above. I told him I was going to cancel his service and go to court without any human legal counsel.
He was shocked and replied: "Joan, you can't do this. You don't realize how evil the courts are. And it will only cost another $10,000 to try your case."
Then I was shocked and cried out: "Ten-thousand-dollars? Gordon, stop. Do no more."
A few days later, Gordon called me and told me the law firm would try my case without any further legal charge to me.
But Gordon did not mention God. Was this "gift" from God?
I prayed, asking God what HE wanted me to do.
I was reminded of the following scripture which showed me what God wanted in this issue.
Gen. 14 ... And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. 22And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, 23That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:
I knew God was showing me not to accept the free legal service. I called Gordon and told him this and I prepared to go to court without any human legal counsel. I was terrified.
Approximately four months passed after that before the trial date. I lived in continual fear. But each time the fear came, I would turn to God in prayer and HE would settle me by reminding me of a scripture. I recorded each of these scriptures on a cassette tape and played it as I slept. I would fall asleep to the scriptures and when I awoke in the night, I would start the tape again.
Six days before the trial date, I received a call from the lawyer of the man who was suing me. His lawyer said this man had dropped all charges. I asked if he dropped charges against everyone and the lawyer said, "He cut everyone loose."
A few days later, Gordon came to my shop. He said at the law firm they had discussed this and he wanted me to know they believed what I said actually happened. No weapon formed against me would prosper.
What happened turned out to be a witness. But I was not thinking about being a witness. All I was trying to do was to do what God wanted me to do. And at each step I was seeking God to find out what HE wanted.
You will notice I wasn't trying to find a scripture to stand on. Scriptures were brought to my mind by the Holy Spirit and by those I had my basis for faith in protection by God.
There is a big difference between hunting a scripture and hearing a scripture by the Spirit of God.
One is of the flesh and is not safe. The other is of God and can be safely believed in the matter at hand.
This is being led by the Spirit of God.
Romans 8:14 ... For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.