Genesis 12
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Abraham didn't even know where he was going.
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Later even the Gentiles would be blessed through Abraham after Jesus Christ was crucified, raised into heaven, and the New Testament Church established.
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Comments by Joan Boney:
On August 5, 1975, God spoke to me: "Joan ... you know all these mistakes you've been making all these years? Those weren't mistakes. Those were sins."
I was very shocked! I had no idea my mistakes, of which were many, were sins.
It was new information to me. But I believed it was God speaking to me.
Everything changed immediately.
God gave me a new heart and a new Spirit, the Holy Spirit to live in me and to lead and guide me in HIS way. After that, I wanted to read the Bible. I wanted to be with other Christians. I wanted to go to church.
As I read about Abraham in Genesis 12, I saw the pattern of faith.
First God spoke to me just like HE did to Abraham. That changed everything. I had been baptized in water when I was 15 but nothing changed. After God spoke to me I changed completely.
Next God transported me into heaven in the night. I was with God and Christ and the Holy Spirit. I was then merged into the body of Jesus, made one with the word of God, God and Holy Spirit witnessing. Later I learned I was ordained at that time into two of the ministry offices, apostle and prophet.
God began to teach me how to function in these two ministry offices. God took me through the many examples given in the Bible to show me.
I owned a small business at the time this happened, American Indian Arts. For the next 5 years I continued to operate the business while God took me through the Bible and taught me.
And God used various things that happened in my business to teach me first hand what it meant to have faith in God.
Romans 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
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Approximately 1976, a man who sold Indian jewelry from motel rooms at less 70 per cent, came to Dallas.
At that same time, The Dallas Morning News asked me to write a guide to buying Indian Jewelry which was published in the paper to warn consumers.
He filed a lawsuit against several dealers in Dallas and Fort Worth and the Better Business Bureaus of both cities and charged us with conspiring to keep him from doing business in Dallas-Fort Worth.
I believe his charges were based on the consumer warning printed in the Dallas Morning News which I had written.
He was suing me for One-Million-Dollars. Ridiculous!
I couldn't even take this seriously at first. I just tossed the legal papers on a shelf in my office and went on with my business.
After 3 or 4 days, I realized that if I didn't respond to the courts, this man could get judgment against me and take away my merchandise and business!
So I hired a lawyer to represent me.
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Weekly the bills from my lawyer began arriving. $2000, $3000, and more
At this rate, I would soon be out of business.
God called a scripture to my attention:
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.
I began to reason that which this scripture was saying to me.
* Now I'm a Christian. Therefore no weapon formed against me can prosper. I am a servant of the Lord and my righteousness is now of God and what HE tells me.
This lawsuit could not prosper against me. So why pay lawyers to represent me?
I will just go to court without human legal council and represent myself, speak for myself.
I called my lawyer immediately and told him I was going to do this and why. I told him what the Bible said in Isaiah 54:17. I told him that now that I am a Christian this scripture pertained to me!
He was shocked and replied: "Joan ... you can't do this. You don't realize how evil the court's in United States are today. We are willing to work with you. It will only take about $10,000 more to try your case!"
"$10,000 more", I replied. "Gordon STOP. Don't do anything more."
And I said, "Is the Bible true? Or is the Bible just a history book telling about God. If the Bible is true, this lawsuit against me cannot prosper. If the Bible is only a history telling "about" God then I don't want any more to do with the Bible."
"This is a good time to find out!" I said.
I dismissed my lawyer.
As I talked it over with God I was very frightened. God gave me approximately 14 more scriptures to strengthen me. I recorded these scriptures on cassette tape, front and back sides. When I went to bed each night, I played that tape. When I awoke in the night I turned the tape to side 2 and played that side. I did this every night for the next 6 weeks before the trial was to begin in the courts.
I believed what those scriptures from Bible said.
***
One day, my former lawyer came to my business.
He said, "Joan ... we have decided at the law firm to represent you without any further legal fees."
Shocking to me. One week it is going to cost $10,000 more ... then they are going to represent me for free?
What's going on here. I didn't hear anything mentioned about "God".
So I said, "Gordon ... I'm just going to have to get back with you on this."
He left my shop. I began praying: "God ... what do YOU want me to do?"
God reminded me of a section of scripture in Genesis 14.
The king of Sodom came to Abraham and said: And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.
22 And 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,
23 That 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:
22 And 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,
23 That 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 by this scriture, God was telling me, "Don't take the free legal service."
I called immediately and turned down the offer made by my former lawyer.
And I said to God: "I want to be like Abraham. I want my prosperity to come from YOU."
It is a bargain with God that I've never regretted!
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Approximately 6 weeks later, when we were scheduled to go to court ... I received a phone call.
This man said, " I'm the lawyer from the man suing you. I'm calling you because you don't have a lawyer. Our client has dropped all charges so there will be no court trial. We told him he had no grounds to sue you but it wouldn't listen. He was like a mad man."
I asked, "Did he drop charges against everyone ... or just against me?"
The lawyer said: "He cut everyone loose."
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A few days later, my former lawyer came to my shop to talk with me. He said: "At the law firm, we've done nothing but talk about your case. And we want you to know that we believe what you said happened, happened. No weapon formed against you will prosper."
It was over.
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God used this to teach me faith in HIM and faith in the scriptures.
For the next 44 years, there were many other opportunities to prove faith.
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