We are designed to fly! All our internal signals are like the cockpit of a plane equipped to give us lift in life and a sense of soaring over circumstances. All we need to do then, is release the weights that hold us.

Start with the first weight of your sin. We have the solution in the blood of Christ that speaks 24 hours a day. Sins past, sins present, and sins future are paid for by the sacrifice of the cross. That is true redemption!

As you begin to lift off you may feel the pull of other weights, like bondages, habits, and condemning thoughts. What frees you?

“For, though we are still living in the world, it is no worldly warfare that we are waging. The weapons with which we fight are not human weapons, but are mighty for God in overthrowing strong fortresses. For we overthrow arrogant ‘reckonings,’ and every stronghold that towers high in defiance of the knowledge of God, and we carry off every thought as if into slavery—into subjection to Christ” (Weymouth NT 2 Cor 10:4).

This battle to stay in flight is a battle in the thought life. Can strong thought patterns that have existed for years be removed? Can a strong tower be broken? Yes! One new thought, embraced and held fast, can transform a life!

Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).

Your free flight is on the wings of truth. How do you keep lies from landing you? Satan is the ruler of darkness. He cannot operate in light. That’s why every society that has gone down a dark, evil road started with controlling the information given to its citizens. When you see a dark area in your life, don’t give it strength by trying to hide it, bring it to light.

Let truth set you free today—it’s time for take-off!

Regardless of the state of the economy, I look to a different news report, one that is not tied to the stock market. It is God’s economy—one of listening and obeying.

Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written… so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go… (1 Kings 2:3 paraphrased).

First, we must walk. This indicates that regardless of how difficult the crisis is that you may be facing, continue! God will guide you in your everyday affairs. He is committed to you more than you could ever commit to Him!

Have you considered recently that He gave His Son to die on a cross so that you might be justified just as if you never sinned? This is amazing love.

Second, remember that you must keep His ways. God’s way is the LOVE way! What does love say? It does not remember a wrongful hurt. It does not seek its own. It is not easily provoked. It speaks no evil. Love does not envy. Love is kind. Love endures all things. Love is the force from which faith flows! No LOVE = no FAITH!

My faith works today because I have love. I do not have love because I have faith… I have faith because I love. I love because He first loved me!

Can there be a more important decision than the one that determines where we spend eternity? Every other decision seems trivial at best when compared with this one. Yet billions, myself included, have made assumptions about salvation that we would never make about any other decision!

Here are three mistakes you can make:

1. Not reading the contract for yourself. For 22 years I assumed that the leader of my church had everything under control. He read the contract for us and told us what to do. He read it but never signed it himself or had any of us sign it. We were never told what was required to guarantee a relationship with God and ensure us a place in heaven.
2. Not understanding the conditions. I was told I was a good guy, so I assumed I was going to heaven. I presumed that was enough. Millions of people compare themselves with others and believe they are not so bad, so they think they will make it to heaven. I belonged to a big church, so I supposed they could not all be wrong. I thought my church membership would get me in! This is folly. Without a relationship with the living God, you cannot be sure that you are going to heaven.
3. The third mistake people make regarding salvation is not knowing a clear path to God exists. My last assumption was that no one could personally know for sure where he or she would spend eternity. Now I realize that if you do not know, you will not go! My greatest moment in life came under an elm tree at Michigan State University in June of 1978. That’s when I made my connection with God. For the first time I knew my past was forgiven and my future in heaven was secure. If I never knew anything else, that alone was enough to enable me to die a happy man!

There is a choice to make.

The power of choice determines your future. Though God loves you and has provided you with a wonderful life on earth and in the time to come, accepting what He has provided is still your choice. Even though God knew you before you were born and provided a purpose and provision for your life, He cannot choose that for you. You must choose it for yourself.

This question can be one of the most informative or one of the most destructive questions we can ask. When it comes to discovery, this question has opened the door to fabulous inventions and modern technologies; however, when it comes to life and death the question “WHY” causes many a soul to sink to levels of depression never before experienced. Some aspects of the question “WHY” which pertain to death, dying and destruction will never be resolved until one day when we stand before the creator of humanity.

How do we come to grasp with these issues of “Why?”?  First, understand that God is not the creator of evil, but it issues forth from the heart of humanity that is separated from God by sin. Second, recognize that from the very beginning of time there has been a force of evil (Satan) determined to destroy the very creation that God holds as the apple of his eye. Third, realize that it was only the deepest love that created humans different from all creation giving us the faculties of reason, will, humor, imagination, words and decision-making capabilities—and with these abilities come great responsibilities for life, family, country and even our earth.

So today let’s turn our Whys in life into a Why Not?—turning the negativity of depression into the positivity of expression! If you’re down and don’t understand, choose to release this situation to the Lord and find the good that remains in the life or lives around you!

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit (Prov 18:21 NIV).

I can think of many testimonies where women have been delivered from the bondage of shame and fear. When I was in Kazakhstan we were conducting a very large woman’s conference, and at the end of the meeting this very little lady came up to me holding a gold chain. She grabbed my hand and put the chain in it saying, “Leslie, my husband is in prison for sharing his faith and I am all alone in my home. I have three small children and I have come from far away. I felt so ashamed and so alone—they closed up the church and the government is against us. I have always asked myself, what did I do to cause this to happen? What sin did I commit that might have sent my husband to prison?  But today you have given me hope and reminded me that it is the blood of Jesus that paid the price, and what my husband and I are doing we are doing because Jesus Christ has come to us. Now I know I do not have to be ashamed, I am not the cause of this! I now can come before God with an open face, and I am giving this chain to you to remind you that the women of Uzbekistan will never forget that they have been created in the image of God, and we can come boldly into His presence.”

She ended by saying, “Now I return to my country and I will lift up my head, for I am not ashamed that I am a Christian created in the image of God!”

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!

I want to encourage you in your awareness of your ability. Scripture reveals that we are known and called from the foundations of time. We are not an accident and our uniqueness should always be considered a gift. Each of us has a special role that has nothing to do with the role of others. God alone gave us life and calling so He alone is equipping us.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ: even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world.” Ephesians 1:4

I want you to know that the Lord has always had His hand on you to help you in your calling. We live in a new era where each of us is a priest. The priesthood of believers. We who call on Jesus’ name are equally welcome into the throne room of our father.

 “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.”  Galatians 1:15

Our calling is to reveal the life giver. Jesus did for us what no man could do. He became the source of all things for this life and the next, and the world is waiting to hear it and see truth demonstrated.

When the ship was going down and all hope was lost, an angel appeared to Paul and said to be of good cheer, he must appear before Caesar. We all have a Caesar to appear before. We all stand in place of Jesus on this earth to speak of the unseen God to a searching world. You are called to your Caesars. Go to them!

People who encounter Jesus have not changed much in 2,000 years. Unless they are trained to understand the truth, they begin to just stand and wait for a gift from heaven instead of using the gift of righteousness that has already been given to them (see Rom. 5:17).

They stand in churches and wait for a sermon to inspire them. They stand in schools and wait for an education to anoint them. They stand in seminars and wait for the free gift of a prophetic word to call them out. But there is a real danger in waiting. It is the main cause for the failure of the Church structure today. Inactive people find themselves in a very destructive mode.

If you ask a beekeeper when the most dangerous time is to deal with a hive, he will say that it’s when the bees have stopped producing honey and the hive is full. Thousands and thousands of bees swirling around with no work to do causes great agitation. They begin to look at the beekeeper and each other as enemies.

That’s when they begin to sting.

Churches that have lost the larger purpose of outreach begin an inward-spiraling cycle of backbiting, scorn, and criticism. This is destructive to the church and the very people they are called to work with.

The angels are still crying out to people, “Why do you stand here waiting? There is no gifting better than the one you have: to be blessed with the indwelling presence of Jesus Himself. There is no training better than what you have: to be led by the Holy Spirit within. There is no prophecy better than what you have: to declare over your life what Jesus has already done for you, and who you are in Him!”

There is no need to wait for what God has already given. However, there is a need to believe in yourself, and that you are gifted by God Himself to carry out His purpose for your life.

“We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose” (Romans 8:28 AMP.)

WOW! I get excited when I read this passage. God is a partner in our labor working things together for us! What a pleasure it is to trust in Him, knowing that He is working behind the scenes on our behalf.

Recently in prayer I heard myself saying, “God, YOU are my partner and I have total confidence that You are bringing in the resources, people and establishing the plans in Your time frame!”

There’s a lot of change surrounding each one of us due to difficulties in this natural world; however, in this time of transition we use our faith and our passion to latch on to God’s will, and to the wealth that is available for transfer into the hands of those in the kingdom of God!

We are not down and defeated without hope or alternatives, BUT WE ARE UP, EXPECTANT AND DREAMING OF NEW POSSIBILITES IN CHANGING TIMES!

The wonderful facts of Christianity raise us from nobody to somebody, from simple to wise, from weak to courageous. These unmatched facts become living realities in a person when that person hears and chooses to believe them. What makes us like God and not like robots, is our ability to choose!

We can choose to see wonderful days ahead. We can choose to expect good favor coming our way. We can choose to anticipate everything lining up in our lives as we rejoice in our Maker.

The alternative is to live in fear. We can choose to fear that the economy will go down and take us with it. We can choose to fear that the doctor’s reports of cancer, heart disease, or a thousand other diagnoses are the final word. We can choose to fear tomorrow and fold up.

Or, we can spread our wings of faith and exclaim that everything will work out! The facts of our faith put us in the realm of God. Jesus said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23).