Several years ago while conducting meetings in the Philippines we met a middle-eastern dignitary in our hotel lobby. My husband Kevin noticed that this man’s eyes were intently fixed on Kevin’s bible.

As Kevin looked over at this dignitary, the man moved in very close and began to whisper. He told how his wife had found him reading the bible and had turned him in to the authorities. His only hope to get out of prison and back to his family and position had been to renounce Christ. He was so discouraged, convinced that there was no hope for him.

My husband asked him a simple question. “Do you believe in Christ?” The man immediately responded “Yes, I believe!” Kevin prayed with him and he openly wept, knowing his faith had been restored.

He continued to stare at my husband’s bible, and Kevin slowly slid it across the table saying, “Here take my bible – but this time don’t let your wife find it!”

You may find yourself in a similar scenario where you have denied Christ. You are not alone, the Apostle Peter, one of the original disciples of Christ and author of two books of the New Testament, denied Christ three times after promising he would stand with Him to the end.

Regardless of where you find yourself today, Jesus said, “I will never leave you and never forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). You can come to Him right now! He is waiting for you with arms wide-open!

Have you ever asked yourself, “Am I doing what I’m called to do? Am I where God wants me to be? What do I want to see in my life?”

You would be amazed to know how many people live their lives without a sense of purpose or direction. They don’t know where they came from or where they’re going. Of course, if they believe in Christ they know that heaven is their eternal home, but what about this life? They find no answers in their aimless, day-to-day existence.

If you find yourself in this condition I have good news for you. You can have a new beginning! The secret is to commit yourself to change. You have committed yourself to the Lord; now allow Him to develop you. The fruits of self-discipline, joy, love and perseverance are in you.

See yourself with the image of a new creation! You are not bound to be the person of the past. The old man is dead, and now you are a resurrected person with the potential of God in you!

There is nothing better than a good piece of toast with coffee in the morning, but our daily bread is much more than that. What is our daily bread? In the story of the Exodus as the children of God were deciding whether or not to cross the Jordan River and fight, Joshua shouted out to those who were backing out of the idea. He said the call of God to possess the land made every giant in the land as BREAD for them.

“Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” Numbers 14:9

There was no protection for their enemies as they pursued the will of God!

With this truth on our side, we in the 21st century can look at the giants that stand before us and say they are bread for us.  We are not to be worried over as problems, mountains, or impossibilities. We eat them as bread!

Our victory nurtures us for future conquest. Your giants are nothing before your God! Your God lives in you, so there is defeat in the heart of your enemies who stand before what God wants to accomplish in your life. Rahab said to the spies that they had dreaded the day when the children of God would cross over. Defeat was already in their enemy’s heart.

We are seeing Europe and the republics and regions of the former Soviet Union experience a great revival through bold evangelistic tent meetings, and we continue to expect the grace and favor of God on all who make those giants as bread for these dynamic evangelists!

In Jesus’ parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30, the servant who hid his talent had a wrong perception of his Master. He said “I knew you were a hard man.” The ruler only asked for a minimum increase. In other words, just do something with what I give you. He was not making it hard. He was making it fair. A wrong perception of God causes fear, and fear causes wrong actions that result in destruction.

God is for you! He understands the fallen environment you live in and has given you gifts to overcome in this environment:

He gave you the gift of eternal life so you would have peace of mind about your future.

He breathed into you part of Himself so you would have awareness of His presence.

He gave you the name of Jesus so you would have authority over all evil spirits.

He gave you His promises for every area of your life so you would know His best for you.

He is not hard, He is benevolent! Right thinking will bring right increase!

In reflecting upon this holiday, we can only imagine the fear and trepidation our founding fathers faced as the imminent separation from England was approaching. We meet many people facing tremendous difficulties and fears in today’s world. The 4th of July celebrates the decisive action that our forefathers took. It was a moment in time from which there was no turning back. Their faith and commitment became the beacon of hope and freedom shining on a hill for every person to see. Their cry for freedom has become the rally cry for those held captive to oppression, poverty and fear.

As we have travelled the nations of the earth we have heard both villager and king declare that the freedom experienced in the USA is a model for all people. This freedom and independence came at a great cost. These brilliant thinkers of 1776 dared to believe in something greater than themselves. Facing fear, they stood up to proclaim new destiny!

Samuel Adams said,

“The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great Anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.” (Note: Adams prediction written to his wife was off by 2 days, thinking we would celebrate the momentous day on the actual day the document was drafted.)

On this distinguished 4th of July holiday, let this be a declaration day for each household, ministry and business. A group of people with purpose did this in 1776 and affected the whole world! As we are called to affect the whole world, let us arise and declare our freedom from poverty and fear, and declare our alliance with King Jesus!

Regardless of what the economic and political pundits say about the “good ole USA”, we choose to meditate on the good promises of the Lord and declare His word!

When the fireworks go off we will be shouting “Hallelujah! Jesus is Lord! We are FREE!”

Happy 4^th of July!

In the fall of 1988 Kevin and I were married. I had struck out on a new journey in life and was so excited—yet very apprehensive! Our goal was to impact the lost with the love of God. After we paid all of our bills and prepared for our first journey overseas, we had exactly $1.00 left over!

Now, I had gone to a faith school, been trained in faith principles and married a faith man, but still, it somehow seemed incredible to me that after sharing our vision with friends and partners we had only $1 left for our trip! How could this be? What should I do??

Well, I decided to go! I remember thinking to myself as I boarded the plane, Are you crazy? You’re going overseas for three months with only $1 in your pocket?!

To make a very long story short, when we arrived in Detroit on the first leg of our journey, we found that the airline had overbooked our next flight and was asking for volunteers to give up their seats for $400 per ticket. As you can imagine, we jumped at the opportunity! We took the money and ended up having a wonderful overnight visit with family and friends in Detroit.

I learned a great lesson. By making a decision to act, I put myself in position to receive a blessing. We often intersect God’s blessings as we travel life’s road. This is our day of opportunity, and I say “I AM READY!!”

We were preaching in India a few years ago, and at the end of the service a young man rushed onto the platform with his mother. The mother was dressed in a black hijab covering her entire body. Suddenly, while standing there in front of tens of thousands of people, she ripped the hijab off revealing an elegantly dressed young woman who immediately began to preach to the crowd. She was full of faith, and pointing at her son she exclaimed, “This is my son! Look at my son, he can talk! Look at my son!  I know who the real Messiah is, I know who the real prophet and God is!” She gave the microphone to her son, and he began his story.

He related how he had been coming to the mass meetings for several nights, and each night as he watched and as we prayed with the people, he would see crosses come out of the sky and sit on the heads of people who were scattered across the field like a sea of faces. He began to notice that whenever the cross rested on someone they would begin to shout and  just a few minutes later they would be the one up on the platform testifying.

On the night this young man came forward, his mother told how he was hardly able to speak above a whisper and he struggled with fear in everything he did.  That night as he said the prayer all of a sudden the cross came to him out of the sky.  And as that cross approached him, out of that cross came the face of Jesus with His arms opened wide. “At the moment Jesus came to me, I was healed” the young man said.  “I am different, I am transformed!” He and his mother looked at that crowd and declared to them, “We know who the Healer is—this Jesus who went to the cross and who died for us!”

In Jesus’ day when the people saw Him hanging on the cross perhaps they remembered the woman He had loosed from a spirit of infirmity (Luke 13:11) or the lepers who were healed?  Most likely what they didn’t see as he hung on that cross was that every person who would ever look and believe was loosed from the spirit of infirmity that day! Maybe you’ve been watching from afar and wondering if Jesus would heal you! We want to encourage you that this same Jesus who died 2,000 years ago is appearing to His people today! He will come to you! Reach out and embrace the power of the cross today!

The name of the game is NO FEAR HERE!  Jobless rates, economic reports, apocalyptic projections abound from the secular press to Christian programming. What will our response be? Over the years Kevin and I have said we must plan like Jesus is never coming back but work as if He is coming tomorrow.

Allow the Lord to breathe His life and whisper His wisdom in your heart. COMMUNE with Him to pick-up on His signals. He has direction for you in the midst of difficult times!

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” 2 Tim 1:7 NLT

Rome did not fall because of war, but from boredom and avarice. Alexander the Great did not die in battle, but from boredom in a drunken stupor. We are not designed to live in the safe harbor, but on the high seas. The pastors and leaders of society that fall today do not do so in the effort and struggle to succeed, but in the boredom of their success. Do not allow the hardships you may face today to reveal a crybaby within you, but rise to the task at hand and discover the way to overcome.

The great businessmen of yesterday were not those who waited for retirement and watched a clock.  We don’t remember the great spiritual institutions of a different era, but we do remember and are inspired by the men and women who pioneered them in the heat of battle. There is no life marked solely by success, but by failures which rose to success.

Friends, do not dream of a safety net, but of a net that can catch fish. Your safety is in your courageous heart to pioneer new projects and new dreams. Some of you will be the tip of spear in the battle, and others will be the force behind the spear that gives it power to thrust forward. All the positions are important when you go to war.

Jesus did not pay a price for you to be weak.

Jesus did not become your substitute so you would fear.

Jesus did not fill you with His spirit for you to run from the battle.

This is your greatest hour. This is our time! Do not let the winds of adversity howl in your ears driving you to hide behind safe doors. The world is waiting to hear your voice speaking peace to the storm!

If I were to put a bunch of apple seeds into your hand, you would probably get a picture of what could be produced from them. The same is true if I filled your hands with turtle eggs.

If I were to put the seed of a human into your hand, try and think of the possibility!

We look at the Japanese bonsai tree and admire its artistically dwarfed size and shape. Most of humanity has gone through an unseen process much like the bonsai tree. Humans have been restricted, confined and twisted to a shape of another’s liking.

It may have been through religion, family criticism, personal inferiority and fears, or the example of others that you feel dwarfed and twisted, but Jesus came to set the captives free!

Each of us has an ability to dream of the possibilities in our future.  It is a risk to go beyond the parameters, but no one will ever know the height that you can grow to until you allow yourself to reach. God has put a future in you that reaches into eternity. Stretch for it today!