Several years ago I had the opportunity to visit one of the most beautiful regions of the U.S known as the Red Rock Hills of the Sedona Canyon. My husband and I had gone for a peaceful drive through this beautiful area also known as a spiritual resting place for many Eastern Mystics.

On our journey we stumbled across a gift shop full of rocks, crystals and other spiritual images. I remember picking up a monkey statue and saying to my husband, “Isn’t it wonderful to know that we are created in the image of God and not a monkey?” Right at that moment the sales clerk leaned around the corner from her office and said, “I don’t know about that. I think it’s pretty good to be created in the image of a monkey!”

Immediately I thought of the phrase, “monkey see, monkey do,” the child’s game many of us played growing up. In other words, a monkey for the most part repeats what it sees. The monkey has limited capabilities and spends most of its time in repetitive, instinctive actions.

Educational systems based on rote memory or simple memorization have historically lagged behind cultures capable of processing information or thinking through complicated issues. You never see a monkey developing a better banana or better way of producing a banana! Monkeys are acting and living as they were centuries ago.

As I listened to this young woman comment on how significant it is to be created in the image of a monkey, I could only think that certainly God did not intend us to act or think like a monkey—He gave us His life and His nature so that we could live a creative, God-kind of life! As humans we cannot and should not except a dignity less than what God has created us for!

The most important picture that you can ever see is the picture is that you have of yourself. It’s not one that you see in the mirror, but it’s the one that you see inside yourself that’s important. The most important prophet is not a prophet you see on TV, not a prophet that will visit your city, but a prophet in your own house. You are the best prophet in your life. You are the most important prophet in your life because what you say about yourself is what people will believe. This is the truth: What you say about yourself is what people will believe! 

If you say nobody believes in you, you’re just telling me you don’t believe in yourself!

You have a purpose to live for! A purpose gives us passion. So many people wake up in the morning and don’t want to get up. They feel that life is better staying in bed than getting out of it. They dread seeing the sunlight. That’s not the way to live!

You should wake up saying, “Praise God, another day!” There are ideas to think, there are people to meet, there are things to do, there are books to read, there are talents to develop, there are places to go, there is love to give, there are things to create. You should be waking up saying, “Alright! Watch out devil, I’m alive and I’m making a difference!”

My ancestors came from Northern Ireland and owned a castle near the Mourne Mountains. They traveled through England, eventually arriving in Philadelphia. But they found things difficult there and weren’t having any success. They got upset and decided, “Right, we’re going back to Ireland!” So they all got on a boat to head back to London—except for one 14 year old boy. He said, “NO. I’m staying here.” Apparently he was being a real stinker about it and they didn’t know that to do with him. Finally they said to him, “Ok, stay here then!” When the rest of them arrived back in London, the plague had hit the city and within 30 days they were all dead. I’m a product of that feisty 14 year-old boy!

You might say it’s a miracle, but you’re the same product. If you were to go back into your family history, you would find a time where everybody else was dying, yet you got through.  You made it…you’re important!  You have a purpose to live for!

For many, salvation through Christ means an escape from eternal judgment. Often as I stand on the open fields of world evangelism, whether I am preaching or standing among the crowd, I find myself declaring the salvation prayer as if it were the first time I said it. Why? Because I understand the value of this word – SALVATION!

I am not simply uttering a religious prayer, but I am making a proclamation of my deliverance from fear, my redemption from sin, my discovery of healing, and the reality of God’s peace! This most simplistic Salvation prayer opens my heart and my mind once again to the reality of God’s promises for me—HIS CHILD!

I vividly recall a time when I was speaking to our partners via the internet, and I sensed such a strong presence of the Lord as together we made this simple salvation confession. Not an elaborate religious prayer—but a confession of the heart and a trust in the reality of Jesus and what He promised for me and for you.

I cannot explain how such a simple prayer can transform people, churches, and even nations. YET—I can declare to you that I have seen God respond to a simple heart desiring to know Him as Savior, healer, protector, deliverer, and comforter time and time again!

Let’s not make prayer difficult! Keep it SIMPLE! That’s how He designed it! Religion is the extra ingredient of unbelief added to the simplicity of Christ’s cross. Faith is the simple confession of a heart trusting in what He has done for us!

When the Church stopped taking responsibility for producing answers, then governments and other institutions started saying, “Look at us.” This relinquishing of responsibility for receiving miracle supply has caused the Body of Christ to slip into a corner of the world’s influence, when the Creator has said that we are to be center stage.

“The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence” (Eph. 1:23 Message).

God has given us all that pertains to life, and we have the answers. We have a source that cannot be controlled by other humans, economics, armies, or any powers!

Our own words will either justify or condemn us—so it really does matter what we say! An old friend of my family’s—a hard-drinking, cursing man almost all his life—experienced Christ gloriously in a church service and had a spiritual new birth. He was so sensitive to the presence of Jesus within him that when he tried to speak, all he could do was nod his head, because his whole vocabulary consisted of curse words. It took him six months before he could say a sentence without cursing!

We must be sensitive to what we are saying. Jesus said we bring up blessings or curses from our heart and release them with our words. People want to speak their minds. That’s a good thing unless what’s in their minds does not match up with their place in God’s kingdom, their rights as God’s children, their privileges as members of God’s family, or their love dominion based on their legal standing with God.

They talk as if they’re not redeemed. They talk as if they’re not free from the curse of death and the fear of injury, sickness, accidents, plagues, and evil men that bring death. Don’t waste your precious gift of speech by declaring that you are in agreement with evil, failure, depression, sickness, or fear!

Without God’s Spirit in us, our conscience would be hardened to sin and blinded to the dangers of the fallen world. We would be trapped by any number of schemes and snares that Satan would use against us at his will.

But we have God’s Spirit in us! He bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children. Our spirit is the candle of the Lord. In other words, He enlightens us with wisdom in decisions and sensitivity to hidden dangers.

Years ago when I was in Bible school, I borrowed my roommate’s car to go to work. I stopped by the shopping mall and parked. Later on when I began to drive away, I heard an inner voice say, “Hit the brakes!” I obeyed, not knowing why. Suddenly, a car came racing from my blind side at 50 miles per hour right into my path!

Fifteen minutes later I was traveling down a two-lane highway. Once more the voice on the inside said, “Hit the brakes!” I decided to obey again. Two seconds after I hit my brakes a 22-car collision happened in front of me! Because I had slowed down, I spared myself and all the vehicles behind me a major accident. The Lord sees the hidden dangers ahead of us!

Scriptures: Romans 8:16, Proverbs 20:27

For many, God working through them is a dangerous adventure. The question arises, “Will God meet me at the point of my decision? When I step out to help someone in need will I find God ready to move through me?”

I remember my first public healing encounter. I was having lunch with a business associate and suddenly I heard a scream from the other side of the restaurant. Immediately, I blurted out – I have to pray! I found myself running across the restaurant. A crowd was gathered around this man who had just had a heart attack. I remember telling everyone that I must pray.

The paramedics had not yet arrived so I forced myself in among the crowd and stuck my hand on his chest. I remember praying, “Oh Lord, heal him!”  All of sudden, I heard these words as if they were audible, “REBUKE THE DEVIL!” What a foreign concept to this young Baptist girl – the devil? Do WHAT??  So in my quivering voice I announced, “I rebuke you devil in the name of Jesus!” To my utter amazement the man coughed and sat up. He was healed! I later learned that this man had had five bypasses. When they took him to the hospital they could find no trace of the surgeries—he had a new heart!

This one incident has made me a permanent cliff hanger for Jesus. Who or what is a cliffhanger? It is a film, game, etc. which is exciting and full of suspense. Why sit around and watch TV when you can participate in the game of life?

“Listen carefully to my words; let your ears take in what I say…” Luke 9:44

This bible quote encourages us to find a place of tranquility where we can take in God’s Word and take out God’s strength!  In the hectic day to day race that most people find themselves in, it is good to remember that we must take in God’s Word so that we may take out the kind of life He desires for us. This morning I am praying that each one of you would find time to enjoy God’s presence.

Remember we can find His presence in the simple things of life. One fall after a number of weeks of outreach in the radiation red zone just North of Chernobyl, I stepped out of the hotel into this grey Soviet era landscape. In between two 20 story buildings in the far distance was a little tree not more than 6 feet tall. On its branches were bright red leaves. I remember blurting out, “Look everyone! Isn’t that beautiful!?” The crowd around me was strangely confused looking for anything of beauty, but there in the distance was that bright autumn tree.

I encourage you today in the midst of your busy life to make a moment that refreshes your heart and your spirit. Maybe it is gazing at a special picture, taking a walk on the beach, or even throwing a few snowballs. Regardless, remember—take in His life and take out His presence!  Special moments come when we stop and glance at the beautiful landscapes of life!

Today’s miracle reality is that you are seated at the right hand of God, far above all principalities and powers. Literally, the mystery that as you go about your day you are physically present in this earthly realm, while at the same time you are seated in heavenly places in Christ at the right hand of God.

How can this be? We are living in two places at once reigning in life and reigning in heaven through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

There is a fish in South America that has two sets of lenses, one for looking above the water’s surface and one for looking below it. This fish is physically present in one place with one set of eyes, but has vision in two separate spheres. We are like this fish in that we may view life through our spiritual lenses and through our natural lenses.

It is an amazing reality that we are seated in heavenly places—right now—above our circumstances! Yet, we are physically present in this natural world looking into the heart of our circumstances!

Where’s the power? It is in us, it is around us, it is upon us, and we are seated at the right hand of this power! Hey, if God be for us, who can be against us?

Today keep your focus clear in both worlds! It helps and it is possible!

“But God, who is rich in mercy…Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ… And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus…” Ephesians 2:4-6