In my twenties I had been going to school off and on for eight years and only had an associate degree to show for it. I was manic-depressive, or bipolar. I was depressed a lot. It would just hit me out of the blue and last for a week or so. In the field of psychology, the best that could be done was take drugs. So I did. And, not necessarily on doctor’s approval. But, I was desperate. Drugs at best suppressed this dilemma, but it was still there. Always came back up. And, it seemed that everything I tried to do just came out wrong. The scars were so deep that I figured I was going to be like that the rest of my life.
I knew the Bible had to have answers for me, so I decided to try reading the New Testament. I figured “new” had to be more pertinent than the Old Testament. At the end of the Book of Revelation it warned against anyone adding to or taking away from these words. I knew I was guilty of that. So, I fell down to my knees and asked God to forgive me. I asked Him to send someone that could teach me how to understand this Book without interjecting my own thoughts into it.
Not long after that, a friend of mine introduced me to a group of people that were on an outreach program for The Way Ministry. I had many questions, and they answered them clearly and logically from the Book itself. That, impressed me. I started attending their weekly fellowships and was so excited about what I was learning that I started witnessing with them, or more accurately, observing them. I wanted to learn everything I could from them. I still had some issues going on, but I knew I was on the right track. They told me about The Way International’s upcoming Foundational Class, and of course, I took the class. All of a sudden every question that I had about the Bible was being answered one by one. I found out that there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. I found out I had sonship rights and one of those rights was righteousness. I was made righteous, not by my works, but by the works of Jesus Christ. It was just as if I had never sinned. Oh, what a glorious realization. I realized God’s great love for me, and He made me righteous. In His eyes, I was righteous. Then, all the sin condemnation just melted away.
I was freed from sin and the consequences from sin. I learned how to live one day at a time with fullness of joy.
After three weeks and twelve sessions of God’s Word, I was completely and totally healed from bipolar depression. I quit drugs too. Upon realizing I wasn’t getting depressed anymore, I wondered…I would have thought it would have taken a great man of God to have laid hands on me and bam! I’m healed. But this just crept up on me—can’t even pinpoint exactly when my deliverance happened. That same week at a home Bible fellowship, a man shared Psalms 107:20: “He [God] sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” At that moment I knew that it was the greatness of God’s Word in that class that healed me. And I have never had a problem with depression since. As for school, I went back to college and finished my final two years in—amazing but true—two years. Upon graduating, I took the Advanced Class and signed up for The Way Ministry’s outreach program. I thank God for the class and for those ambassadors for Christ that showed me God’s Word with precision and clarity.
I took the class over forty years ago. And I’m just as excited about God’s Word today as I was when I first took the class.