Two Russian grandmothers lived on their country’s border with Finland. For sixty years they were never able to cross that border. When permission was finally given for Russians to walk freely into Finland, these two grandmothers slowly proceeded along their crumbling sidewalks, where wild grass had always grown between the cracks, into a foreign country.

They traveled 300 feet before stepping over the border into this unknown nation. Quietly they journeyed down sturdy streets free of trash, weeds, and cracks—all the while peering up at brick buildings unstained by coal smoke.

Tears formed in their eyes as they realized they had settled for a lie their whole lives. What their foreign neighbors had was so much better than they had imagined! They had lived as paupers but were told that they were queens as they survived on bread and sausage.

The story of these grandmothers gives us a picture of most of humanity. Most people are living in spiritual poverty, but all are invited to cross the border into the fearless life of one who takes his or her place at the Father’s table!

Are we living as spiritual paupers when we should be reigning as kings and queens of the most High and Holy God? Do we feed on the crumbs in life instead of feasting at the Father’s table as legal co-heirs of His Kingdom? What are we missing by not taking our rightful place—a place purchased and paid for by the precious blood of the world’s Savior, Jesus Christ?

When reasonable adults decide to have children, they normally aren’t under the delusion that there won’t be any misbehavior on the part of those children. Before the conception process ever begins they are fully aware that their decision to have children will bring problems and challenges with it…but the relationship is worth it to them.

It would have been easy for God to create us without the freedom of choice, but how meaningful could a relationship of that nature be? God knows full well the complexity of what is involved in the process of our obedience becoming genuine and from the heart, rather than something motivated by the fear of reprisal. And He is willing to endure “whatever it takes” to see that happen. Who’s to say that the wait doesn’t contribute to the joy for Him? I’m persuaded that nothing else is able to satisfy His great heart!

Over and over it is stated that the just shall live by faith. Faith is the atmosphere the Lord has chosen for people to live in.

If you were to walk into the ocean you would not live very long without a tank of oxygen. Why? You’re not equipped to live in water. People are not equipped to live in a fallen world without faith. Some may exist a little longer than others, just like some may swim in the ocean a little longer than others. All will eventually drown without oxygen in water, and all will perish without faith in this world.

Faith is the evidence of things not seen. We have been given a sixth sense to see what others can’t see, and to declare the unseen as ours. If you’re sick you have an ability to see yourself whole by faith in God’s will for all to be healed. If you’re poor, you have an ability to see beyond your poverty to a promised abundance!

“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Colossians 1:13).

We live in a secret kingdom. All around us is a world unseen to the natural eye. If you are born of God by faith in Jesus Christ and He is your Lord, then you have a spirit alive to God’s guidance. You do not have to fall for the manipulations of men or for mere external appearances. You have every right to the life of the secret Kingdom.

We don’t have to live below our privileges. For many years I lived in a foreign country, and I learned that it’s very important to learn the language of the country or else you will be called functionally illiterate. You can’t take advantage of the laws of the land if you can’t read them, and will find yourself at the mercy of others.

We are not at the mercy of the devil when we know our place in Christ!

My husband and I were preaching in a small village in Mexico. At one of the meetings there was an elderly man who could not walk. He listened to the Word of God and heard that Jesus was still alive and that He loves and heals. Nobody prayed for that man; nobody touched him, and suddenly he jumped up and began to sing and dance, because God touched his body and healed him!

Dear friend, I want you to know that that precious old man from Mexico is not any different from you. Jesus loves you so much that He gave His life just for you to be healed! God loves each one of us so much that He Himself dwells among us and heals us. And if today you need healing, He will heal you. All you need to do is believe!

Sickness and disease are the precursor to death and all are a result of sin. When we see a miracle in operation, once again we see God initiating good. Anything you can do sick you can certainly do better healthy! His miracles are confirmation to us that He restores life.

In the beginning when God said “and it was good,” sickness and death were not a part of His original creation. So now when we see a miracle in evidence, we recognize that miracles come to us as a demonstration that God is with us, and His will to do good and not to do evil, to be a blessing and not to harm, to give life and not to curse; He is for us and not against us!

When I receive Jesus into my heart, He lives in me — His Spirit, His holiness, and His righteousness live in me. When I walk, He walks, and when I talk, it’s like He’s talking through me. When I heal or I lay my hands on someone, it’s like He is touching that person through me.

According to Colossians 1:27: “Christ now lives in you.” So where is the presence of God? I’m not looking forward over here or looking backward over there, or begging for it up there. I am relishing the abundance and living in the glory of His love and His life and His Spirit in me, right now.  I come boldly to His throne of grace and receive what I have need of from Him. I recognize that He lives in me, I live in Him, and His presence surrounds me.

This is one of the foundational premises for our miracle life, practicing and recognizing the presence of God!

God’s original dream was to start a family with the potential to walk and behave like Him. Adam failed. He disobeyed God and did not fulfill God’s dream. But God sent Jesus, whom Scripture calls the last Adam, and He did not fail. Jesus is the model for us to follow.

How do we model ourselves after Jesus? Do we wear long robes with long hair and beards? It is interesting that in the four Gospels the writers did not talk about His appearance; His nose, the color of His eyes, His muscles, his height, His posture, or His hair. This is how popular writers describe their heroes in the books written today, but the Gospels are different. They are full of His words and His wonders. He is our model in response, action, compassion, authority, wisdom, purpose and power. We duplicate Him through the power of the new birth! The new birth is the ability to become God’s children. To as many as received Him, He gave power to become the sons and daughters of God. Paul tells us to put on this new man that is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him who created him.

All the potential of Jesus as the Son of God was placed, in seed form, into you as a child of God!

Many have found Jesus as Savior, but are not aware of His healing power. God said in Hosea 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”

Even today some church leaders are offended by miracles, saying that miracles have long passed and are no longer part of the Christian life.  That could be true if God has changed or Jesus has changed, but the authority of God’s Word says that neither one has changed. In fact, God says of Himself, “I am the Lord and I change not” (Malachi 3:6).

Jesus knew His mission. He was set to go to the cross, and on that cross He would pay the price for our sin, for our peace, for our sicknesses, and for our diseases. He took upon Himself all our punishment on that cross.

Remember, the miracle of salvation occurs without a touch. What happens to the body when the Spirit of God, Who created the whole universe, fills it? Our bodies need life just like our spirit needs life. When we respond to words that heaven backs up, then Life infuses our system and oftentimes, without even a prayer, transformation occurs. Scripture tells us that the same Spirit which raised up Jesus is now making our mortal bodies alive (Romans 8:11)!