Have you ever felt discouraged? Have you ever felt unsure of what to do? Are there times you just feel like giving up? Like you’re being thrown into the fire with nowhere to run and no escape?

One of the great stories of scripture talks about three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who were thrown into a fire for refusing to worship the King’s idols. These three men had been honored and promoted as wise sages throughout Babylonia. Learning of their refusal to bow to his idols, the king offered them a second chance. Again they refused, this time saying, “even if we are thrown into your blazing furnace, oh King, the God we serve will deliver us from your Majesty’s hand.”

Infuriated by their response, the king had the execution fire built 7 times hotter – so hot that as the soldiers approached the furnace to throw in the three bound men, they themselves were burned to death. As the King stared into the furnace, he suddenly shouted – there are four men in the fire, not three – and the fourth looks like an angel of God. At that moment, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walked from the fire unharmed and without even the smell of smoke on their clothing!

I believe HOPE is a supernatural God-given empowerment. Hope is not just a good feeling; it is a force that produces strength for the journey. You are possibly facing your own fiery challenge or affliction. Hope allows you to turn your trials into smiles.

For nearly a year, Magda Herzberger struggled to survive the daily terrors and psychological torture in three of Adolph Hitler’s concentration camps. According to the Grand Canyon University interview, though forced to “gather corpses,” she resisted the draw of suicide, and relied on God for the hope to outlive the Nazi death machine.

Growing up in the home of a respected international businessman, Magda was exposed to music, sports and languages, learning German, French, and Latin. She was cultivating her dream to go to medical school when the Nazis swept across Romania.

She vividly recalls the day the Hungarian Secret Police knocked at the door and began collecting families at gunpoint. As her family was being trucked away, her father arrived home and willingly joined them. She remembers her father’s warm tears falling on her head, as they were being transported to Aushwitz-Birkenau. She can still hear the dreadful cries and hopeless whispers of strangers packed into train cars without food or even a toilet for the terrifying journey.

Magda said, “Regardless of what I experienced in those camps, and all those terrible things, I’m still a loving and forgiving person.” I would ask, how can it be possible to remain a loving and forgiving person after being kidnapped, tormented, imprisoned and forced to watch mass murder?  As she prayed in her silent moments in the camp, Magda knew in her heart that God could help her make it out alive. She said, “I think my great trust in God was my source of survival.”

What is hope? Hope is the picture of the future or the thing desired. The dictionary says, “it is a wish or desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment.” Robert H. Schuller, said, “Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.”

For Magda, her hope in God, her confidence that He would help her stay strong through the storm, gave her strength for her journey! I want to encourage someone today, DO NOT allow anyone or anything to steal your hope. Magda Herzberger went on to fulfill her dream of becoming a doctor, and today at age 88 she is still sharing her story of hope in the midst of tragedy. You can experience that same hope today!

Did you know that the majority of sickness plaguing the world today results from chronic illness and not infectious disease? Chronic Disease is defined as a long-lasting condition that can be controlled but not cured. Chronic illness is a worldwide problem. As described by the Centers for Disease Control, chronic disease is the leading cause of death and disability in the United States.

Lee Jong-wook, former Director General of the World Health Organization, stated in a 2005 report that of a projected 58 million deaths in 2005, approximately 35 million or 60% would be the result of chronic disease. He also projected those staggering figures to increase by another 17% by the year 2015.

Come to Jesus today and give Him your weaknesses, fears, cares and sicknesses. The scriptures say, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.”  Wherever you are today, I want you to know that God is with you—and He hears you right now!

Scriptures: Acts 10:38

In 2006 we were conducting meetings in Puerto Rico. One particular medical doctor noticed that his patients were being healed and took great interest in the miracles. Even though he was initially skeptical, he realized our emphasis on people connecting with Jesus would bring freedom from stress, and often people didn’t even recognize they were healed!  God’s peace had entered their spirit, soul and bodies, and with His presence came healing.

This doctor told us that of the female patients he treats, many convince themselves that they are sick. Interestingly, often when running the required tests to identify a problem, he finds nothing. Yet in a matter of a few weeks or months, the same patients will return with evidence of the illnesses they were convinced already existed.

Research shows that DNA actually changes shape according to our thoughts. As you think negative thoughts, toxic thinking re-wires your brain in a negative direction, forcing your mind and body into stress.  On the contrary, every positive thought releases life-giving chemicals.  Imagine what the brain does when you smell a rose or look at a beautiful picture, or when you read the word of God! Jesus is called the “Prince of Peace,” and when an individual receives His life into their spirit His presence fills them—often driving out sicknesses and disease.

Time has a way of dimming our expectation and lowering our forecast of good things in the future. God designed prayer to include the expectation of an answer. Jesus often mentions that our Father’s desire is to do good to His children.

In times of delay Jesus mentions to ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened. It is never too late!

When the news came to Jairus that his daughter had died while Jesus was delayed, Jairus was told by Jesus to “only believe.” His daughter will live! Death may be final, but nothing is too late when Jesus is with you!

Jesus needed the faith of Jairus to work with. He knew the bad report would paralyze Jairus as it would us. Grief and sorrow would soon replace faith unless Jesus addressed it. Getting hold of our feelings is important! I believe Jesus was saying to Jairus: “Just stay open to your miracle. Do not shut down. I am bigger than any bad report!”

Friends, never quit and you will never lose!
Scripture: Luke 8:48-50

There are several revelations that have lit up the world through history. John the Baptist gave us the sign of the new era when he said: “Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Up until that simple declaration there was no way out of sin except for an intricate religious system of law and sacrifices.

Martin Luther brought back into focus a way of life lost to generations when He said, “The just shall live by faith.” This lifted the burden of fear off of the world who had no confidence in a heavenly future.

F.F. Bosworth said: “Physical healing is in redemption.”  This gave confidence to millions to claim and receive their healing when no physical evidence was present.

What simple statements are bringing peace, power, and purpose into your life?

Scriptures: John 1:29, Rom. 1:17, 1 Peter 2:24, Isaiah 53:3-5

More physicians today believe that medicine alone cannot deal with some of today’s worst illnesses, according to a statement issued by an organization composed of medical professionals who believe in divine healing.

Dr. Sean Thomas George, a consultant physician from West Australia, told his amazing story at an Australian Conference on “Spirituality and Medicine.” George told the crowd that after returning with his intern from a clinic session on the south coast of Australia, he felt minor chest pains and he was “unusually hot.” He decided to stop the car and as he got out, still feeling the discomfort, he called his wife, also a doctor, to let her know what was happening. She suggested that he drive straight home.

George said he felt “divinely directed” to enter a clinic, where he used an electro-cardiogram to diagnose a heart attack and to receive a few drugs they had on hand.  The pain continued to get worse, and 11 minutes later his heart completely stopped beating! Not only did he have a heart attack but he was in cardiac arrest. For the next 60 minutes a team of doctors and nurses used more than 4,000 chest compressions and gave him 13 electrical shocks.

His heart and lungs did not respond. After one hour and 10 minutes, George was pronounced dead. Ten minutes later, his wife arrived and was told to go in and say her last words.

His wife, also a medical doctor, understood the seriousness of the situation and as a believer in Jesus Christ as Her Savior, she decided to humbly ask God to intervene. She held Dr. George’s hand and prayed “Lord Jesus, he is only 39, and I am only 38 and we have a 10-year-old boy. I need a miracle.” As soon as she said this it was as though someone had breathed life into Dr. George again and his heartbeat came back. George had come back from the dead.

Four hours later, George was flown to Royal Perth Hospital where doctors carried out an emergency procedure to clear a severely blocked artery on the right side of the heart. The attending physician thought George would not survive, and even if he did, he would be completely brain dead on a ventilator. In ICU, George had kidney and liver failure and went into a deep coma.

Against all odds, he opened his eyes three days later, was discharged after two weeks, and returned to full-time work following three months of steady recovery!

Perhaps today you find yourself in a difficult situation and you are in need of help? I want you to know that a prayer as simple as Mrs. George’s prayer could be the key to your miracle today!

My brother-in-law Pat is one of those amazing individuals who exemplifies the “COURAGE TO CARE.” Several years ago he was fighting a fire in downtown Detroit, a city that is infamous for the fires set in its scores of abandoned buildings.

What did Pat do? He jumped through a tiny basement window just in time to stop a man from setting a policewoman on fire! Somehow Pat wrestled her free of the assailant who had just doused her with gasoline and had a lighter in his hand!  His act of courage saved the woman, the house, and possibly his entire company.

I asked Pat – “How did you do this?” His response was simple: ”You do the things you must to protect people. I am not sure I even thought about it…I just acted!”

I want to challenge you today to act on your instinct to help! Don’t be a bystander in life when you can be a participator! You can find the courage to care and you can change your nation, your family and your life!

Don’t ask what life can do for you, but ask, “What can I do to better the lives of others?” Remember Jesus said, Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends!

In 1988, an earthquake devastated the northwestern section of Armenia, killing an estimated 25,000 people. After the earthquake, a father rushed to his son’s school only to discover that the school had been flattened. The father remembered dropping off his son earlier that day, and as he did every day he told his son, “No matter what, I’ll always be here for you!”

When the father saw the school he feverishly began removing rubble from where he believed his son’s classroom had been. The other parents were wailing, “My son!” “My daughter!” Some even told the father to go home, that there was no chance any of the students were alive. But the father replied, “I made my son a promise that I’d be there for him anytime he needed me. I must continue to dig.”

Courageously, he proceeded alone. He simply had to know: is my boy alive or is he dead? With seemingly supernatural strength, this father continued to dig…for 8 hours…12 hours…24 hours…36 hours.

Then, in the 38th hour, he heaved away a heavy piece of rubble and heard voices. “Armand!” he screamed. “Dad! It’s me…Armand! I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you’d save us! Dad, take them out first, I know you’ll be here for me!”

Moments later the father was helping his son Armand and 13 other frightened, hungry, thirsty boys and girls climb out of the debris. How could this happen? When the building collapsed, these children had been spared in a tent-like pocket. When the townspeople praised Armand’s dad, his explanation was, “I promised my son, ‘No matter what, I’ll be there for you!'”

Who is your neighbor? Who are you required to help in this world? Should you be involved in the business of rescuing others? Or is it just better to sit by and watch people suffer? 

A religious leader asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied with a story about a man who was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes and beat him, leaving him almost dead.

A priest saw the injured man and quickly passed on the opposite side of the road. So did a second priest! Then a Samaritan man, considered lowlier than a dog but evidently having some wealth, took pity on the stranger, bandaged his wounds, put him in an inn and cared for him.  Jesus then posed this question, “Which of these three men was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hand of the robbers?”

The religious leader responded, “The one who had mercy on him.” In every human soul, there is a void—an emptiness, waiting to be filled. What will you pursue to fill that void—success, family, prosperity, education? Or are you willing to step out and set a different standard for your life? A standard that can make a difference?