Although it has been many years since Christmas 1952, I shall never forget the night an evil spirit came to claim my body. The experience left me with undeniable evidence regarding the truthfulness of Ephesians 6:12. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." It also left me with an undeniable testimony of God’s love, and that Jesus lives and watches over me.
I was in my freshman year at Graceland College, which is now Graceland University.
My parents had traveled from Long Beach, California to pick me up, and then go on to Monet, Missouri to celebrate Christmas with my grandparents and a few other family members. It was a family reunion of those who had gathered to the small rural home of my grandparents.
On Sunday morning we attended church services at the local RLDS congregation. After church, the pastor asked if I would agree to preach during the evening service. At the time I held the office of Deacon and did not have much experience in the preaching ministry. However I readily agreed, trusting that the Lord would support and direct my efforts. He did.
Today I do not remember the words that were spoken, nor even the sermon topic. But I do remember being able to speak under the direction of the Holy Spirit, and felt joy in being so blessed.
That night, after enjoying an evening of family fellowship, we retired to our several beds. Although small, my grandparents home provided several bedrooms both upstairs and down. The bedroom I shared with my grandparents was at the top of a flight of stairs. My grandfather and grandmother slept in a bed on one side of the room, while I slept in a bed on the opposite side. A yard light shining through a window between the two beds dimly illuminated the room. The stairway ended at the foot of the beds.
Around two in the morning I was awakened by the sound of a train whistle several miles away in the distance. Although not very loud, the mournful sound aroused me.
I woke to an intense coldness in the room. It was unlike any coldness I had ever before experienced. It was not like the cold of winter that freezes from the outside, it was a cold that penetrated to the core. This was not a physical sensation due to winter weather. This was the manifestation of a demonic presence. I have since become aware that this intense coldness accompanies a spirit that does not have the light, or warmth of Jesus.
In addition to the cold I became aware of an intense blackness near the stairway. As I watched, this blackness began to flow toward me. It came closer and closer and began to settle over and around me. I felt as though I was being cast into outer space. The intense blackness is hard to describe, but it is similar to what one experiences when the lights are turned off in a cave.
I fought back mentally. The blackness retreated - but returned. I mentally willed it away again, but it kept returning, stronger each time. I called to my grandmother, waking her up. She immediately exclaimed about the coldness. I told her what was happening, and she got up out of bed. A light hung from the ceiling and was turned on by pulling on a string. Grandmother pulled the string, but there was nothing there, only the intense coldness remained. I don’t know why, but grandmother pulled on the string again turning off the light. Then she got into bed with me. The blackness then began attacking both of us.
I realized that there was nothing we could do to protect ourselves from this evil spirit. I told grandmother that we should pray for deliverance. We began to pray to Jesus for protection.
As we were engaged in earnest prayer a beautiful light appeared above, near the ceiling. Words fail to describe the beauty of that light. To the best I can describe, it appeared like gossamer angel hair often seen on Christmas trees, but it had an internal luminosity that was at once soft, yet vibrant. The light brought a feeling of deliverance and calm reassurance. Fear gave way to the knowledge that we were being protected and delivered from evil by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
As we watched, the light came down and completely encircled the darkness, lifting it up through the ceiling. As the light approached the ceiling it parted, then closed allowing the light, with the darkness, to pass through. A feeling of joy, peace, love, and protection remained.
After Christmas I returned to Graceland. I was living in the home of Bishop Earl Higdon in Lamoni, Iowa. Several male students occupied bedrooms on the second floor of the home. The first night back at Graceland I again experienced that intense coldness upon entering my room. I had told my roommate about my experience with the dark spirit. When he felt the cold oppressive presence in the room he picked up his things and moved across the hall. In addition to the cold I perceived a darkness in one area of the room. But also present in the room was my beautiful cloud of light.
I reasoned that if the darkness had followed me all the way from southern Missouri to southern Iowa there was no place I could go to escape. But as long as I had my white light to protect me there was no reason to fear. Each night as I went to bed the blackness appeared in one corner and the light in the other, and each night I would pray to God for protection, and then lie down to go to sleep secure in the confidence that Jesus was watching over me. After about a week the dark cloud left and did not return.
No, I shall never forget the night that an evil spirit came to posses me. But I also will always have the knowledge that Jesus loves and protects me.
Ronald W. Brooks
Grain Valley, Missouri
August 6, 2011
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