https://youtu.be/6l7A4cQHxuY
John Ramirez never doubted there was life after death. A satanic priest, he’d accepted that he was going to hell when he died. Until he came face-to-face with the devil.
Growing up in an abusive home, John always longed for a relationship with his father. To get the attention he desired, John began participating in the satanic spiritualism that dictated his father’s life.
John’s involvement with Santeria escalated quickly. After the first “worshiping” ceremony he felt like he had been stripped of his childhood.
“My whole personality, everything I had stood for my whole life, it was no longer there,” he said. “I felt like someone took a black blanket and put it right over me—spiritually.”
Both of John’s parents were heavily involved with Santeria. The more he practiced, the more powerful he felt.
When John was 13 years old, his father was murdered in a bar fight.
“I’d be up at five in the morning, calling out to God, saying ‘help my mother,’ and no one showed up. But the devil showed up, because he killed my dad.”
John believed what the devil had said to him: “No one loves you, but I love you. Your father can’t provide for you, but I am your provider…I’ll give you anything you want, just ask.”
James 2:19 says, “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.”
Even the demons believe in one true God. Satan doesn’t appeal to our rebelliousness, he appeals to our godliness. The devil said to John what God says to us. “I am your provider, I love you.” And John was sold.
Satan became the father he’d never had, and John was completely devoted to him.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” John 10:10
John was sent on missions to “steal, kill and destroy” souls, as the devil does. But he says something interesting about his spiritual travels:
“I would speak curses into the neighborhood, speak things I would want to happen, into the neighborhood. Sometimes I would go into neighborhoods, and I would see groups of people on the corner, praying. They were holding hands, heads bowed, praying up a storm. There was no accomplishment in that neighborhood. That neighborhood was sanctified, blessed through prayer. You couldn’t touch it.”
Even the devil knows he has no hold on those whose hearts and souls belong to Jesus. Satan can’t stand against the almighty conquerer. He can’t even try.
God doesn’t steal souls like Satan. He doesn’t have to.
So it’s no surprise that when John started dating a girl, she invited him to church. Her parents would talk to him about Jesus. He knew what he believed, but their Christianity was amusing to him, and “harmless.”
John continued to go to church to please her, but had no intention of leaving the life he knew and lived. Until one morning when the pastor offered up a call for salvation. John stepped forward, but never expected what was about to happen.
Spiritual Warfare.
He walked up to the pastor, feeling completely protected from the devil, only to become possessed. He grabbed the pastor by his neck, and lifted him off the ground.
That’s when the congregation stepped in—not to fight, but to pray. 200 people got up and raised their hands.
“I saw the power of God in the church.”
As they prayed, one of the men surrounding John said to him, “Say that Jesus is Lord.” He couldn’t open his mouth. The man continued to encourage him, and as John said the words, “Jesus is Lord,” Satan left.
Embarrassed about the outburst, John met with one of the church elders a few days later. He gave John a gift and said, “You’re a warrior for Christ.”
John was overwhelmed. He’d never felt loved by anyone, and he couldn’t believe that Jesus loved him. It was beautiful. But internally, he was struggling. His heart was a battleground for spiritual warfare, and one night, he decided to end the battle for good.
He started to pray. Not knowing “how,” he just talked to God (which is exactly “how” to pray). John called out to God and told Him that he hated Him, that he never believed in any of the things he was taught about Jesus, he disowned him, and he was going to worship the devil until the day he died.
Then John whispered, “If you are bigger than the god that I serve, show me tonight, or leave me alone.”
Wouldn’t you know, God showed up.
John went to sleep, and his dreams took him to the depths of hell. He was on a subway going faster than the speed of light. It was filled with other passengers whose faces were drained. “We were going somewhere that I knew was not good,” said John, although he had no idea where.
But when the doors opened, the destination of this ominous subway became strikingly clear.
“Pop hit. And the doors opened, and I ended up in hell.”
But there, as Satan tried to claim his soul and make it so that he wouldn’t wake up, and live forevermore in the place of his nightmare, God intervened. Right before his own eyes, John watched as the devil shuddered in the presence of the Lord, and fled.
The next morning, John woke a changed man. He sat down and wrote out a promise to serve the Lord forever. He gave his life to Christ, and his eternity was changed. But he was still under attack.
He had nightmares for a month. Spiritual warfare robbing him of sleep, demons grasping his neck and visiting him to “steal and kill.” They were choking the life out of him.
John cried out to God, asking why he would let these things keep happening.
“I asked the Lord, why did you allow this to happen to me? Why this torment, why did you allow these people to abuse me this way? I gave my life to you, I told you I would serve you.”
He said the Lord responded by saying, “I wanted to know how much you love me. How much you trust me.”
From that day forward, John says, “No devil ever showed up at my house again.”
“I’ve been victorious in Christ. I got peace, I’m not empty no more, I got fulfillment, I have a purpose and I have a destiny today, and all because I said ‘yes’ to the cross. I am an evangelist for the Kingdom of light. No more an evangelist of the dark side.”
**(Be sure to watch the full version of John’s powerful testimony in the featured video above.)
