Strength for the Course

“We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father.” Colossians 1:11-12 NLT

Strength from God for the journey will see you through life’s most difficult challenges. Having lived in Russia for approximately 10 years I learned how God can provide even our simplest request in the most difficult economic situations. I remember one winter in the early 90’s I wanted a pair of gloves to match my coat. No one was selling anything but Soviet-style grey and black gloves, and there weren’t a lot of those available. My coat was multi-colored and I wanted a pair of matching red gloves. To my missionary friend it seemed like a fantasy to desire a pair of bright red gloves in the, at that time, dull, dirty city of Moscow, but one morning as we emerged from the Moscow Metro (subway), there on the corner stood a grandmother selling an assortment of brightly colored gloves! My friend gasped and said “Look! Leslie, there are your gloves!” This was a tremendous testimony to this young missionary who did not have much income and who had no experience living by faith.

 “Have faith in God,” Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours… Mark 11:23, 24 NIV

Remember today that God provides strength for the journey! Have faith! He is with you even in the small things!

A Miracle for Ildus

I remember a young man named Ildus that we met at one of our meetings in Bashkortostan. Ildus could not speak and had severe difficulties. Our ministry workers found him outside our tent meeting begging in the trashcans, and someone decided to invite him to our meeting. They brought him in and I was preaching that day. He came up to give his testimony after I finished speaking. He was so excited as he came up onto the platform and walked over to the microphone. Everybody was expecting this wonderful healing testimony, but when he picked up the microphone he said, “ooh, ooh, ooh” and pointed at his heart.

Right at that moment my husband walked into the meeting, and I could see him looking at me thinking, Leslie, what are you doing? Obviously this young man has not been healed. I remember I just said to the audience and to my husband, “Everyone look! It’s obvious that Jesus has touched his heart and brought peace into his life.” So we all celebrated the smile he had on his face and the fact that something had happened in his heart.

Well, the next day when we were conducting a similar meeting and my husband was speaking, here came Ildus into the meeting again with that big smile on his face. He came up to the edge of the platform and wanted to testify. I could see my husband looking at him thinking, Hmm, I don’t think I’m going to let this young man up here; it doesn’t appear that he is actually healed. But one of our directors, Akop, was on the edge of the platform waving at us saying “No, it’s okay! It’s okay—he’s okay!” My husband still had the same reaction, as if to say, sure he’s okay…you’re going to let him up tonight like you did yesterday? But Akop kept saying “No, it’s real! It’s real!”

So this young man marched out to the center of the platform in front of all the people, took up the microphone, and began to tell a story. He said, “Last night when I went home after the meeting and I was alone in my room, Jesus walked into my bedroom and put His finger on my forehead. And when He did, all of a sudden the fog left my mind, and for the first time in my life I began to think clearly!”

Satan’s tools have never changed. He has no greater power than to fog, distort, and cause confusion in the minds of people—to cause them not to understand who this God is that we serve, and to deny the One who was sent to deliver us and bring us into fellowship with God.

But this young man, who the day before could only speak in grunts (he showed us the papers—he was in one of the more serious classifications of mental retardation), was healed when Jesus walked into his room, extended His hand, and touched his forehead. And when He did that fog left his brain and he could think clearly!

The Power of Words

God has given us who are created in His image the ability to transform others.  How?  By the creative power of the words we speak. We have seen multitudes of people change from sad to glad, from depressed to joyful, from sick to healthy, from lost to saved, from fearful to faithful, from worried to peaceful, and from every other negative state to a positive one. These changes occurred after they heard and believed the words and thoughts of God.

On the border of Romania in the Carpathian Mountains, we were holding tent meetings that were transforming every strata of society. The associate major was so touched that He gave the unused sports center to the church for their new building so youth could find Christ.

A gang of boys came in one day to break up our benches and disrupt the meetings. The leader was going to give the signal when to start the disruption, so they all sat, waiting in anticipation. Sitting there in the presence of the Word, they felt a strong pull to give their lives to Jesus. When the gang leader stood up to give the signal to start trouble, he instead came forward to be born again. The gang all came forward and three weeks later at the baptism service on the river, they all jumped into the river together to be baptized, then began sharing amazing stories of transformation with us!

Hope for the Hopeless

It takes skill to lift people up. You don’t have to put people down, the devil already does a great job of that. The body of Christ is supposed to be lifting people up and giving them hope!

There are a thousand reasons to feel ashamed every day. Your thoughts can put you down, your spouse can put you down, your neighbors can put you down. Your past can put you down. Something you did can put you down, something you didn’t do can put you down!

A number of years ago I was preaching in Crimea. After a week of preaching my interpreter turned to me and said, “Kevin, when I listen to you, I begin to hope again!” I was a little worried by that…after a week of meetings my interpreter was just now beginning to believe what she was saying?

I told her that I didn’t understand what she meant, and she replied, “You don’t understand what communism did to us. It’s worse than stealing your house. It’s worse than stealing your car. It’s worse than stealing your opportunities for education or opportunities for advancement. They stole our hope. We were people without hope, but now we hear you and hope is beginning to arise. The God that you’re talking about, He will hear me, He will hear me!” “I’m going to pray,” she stated firmly, and I asked, “You mean you weren’t praying before?” “No,” she said, “I had no hope. I could not expect God to answer prayer. But now, I can expect Him to answer my prayer.”

She continued, “I’m going to pray for two things.” I thought, ok, I help. I’ll pray with her. She said, “No, I don’t want you to pray.” Curious, I asked what she was going to pray for. “I’m going to pray for a tape recorder because I want to hear this message again, and I’m going pray for a telephone because our family has been waiting 40 years to get one.” I said, “Larisa, I agree with you. You go pray.”

A week later she came to me, “Kevin! Kevin! Good news! Somebody gave me a tape recorder, and I know a telephone is coming!” Now, this might not seem important to you, but if you’d waited 40 years for something, it would be a very big deal to you.

A month later, I got a letter. “Dear Kevin, I want to share this wonderful news with you. You know what I was praying for. Last weekend a lady was born again and joined our church. I started to help her and gave her a bible study. One day this week she asked me, ‘Larisa, what can I do for you?’ I told her ‘Nothing.’ She replied, ‘I work for the telephone company, do you need a telephone?’  Kevin, the next day we got a telephone!”

The gospel has made us something. Once we were without hope, but now we have a covenant. We have God, and we have hope!

 

Believe in Yourself

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!

A Happiness Revolution

You have a self to live with. A lot of people don’t want to get out of bed because they don’t like themselves. You’ve got to discover who you are and be happy with yourself.  You can’t live somebody else’s life. You can only live your life.

The world tries to convince us to be somebody else.  But if we listen to the world, then we can’t be happy until we look like that other model or that actor. We can’t be happy until we wear those certain clothes or have that certain make-up.  Advertising also pushes on us, telling us that we won’t be happy until we take this pill, or lose that weight, or use this product.  In other words “We’ll make you happy because we entertain you.”

But after a while, you realize that in spite of all these things, you’re still not happy.

I refuse to let this world tell me when I can be happy. Don’t wait another day to be happy! Don’t waste time buying one more thing or changing one more thing to see if it makes you happy. Jesus came! He made us something!  It’s a revelation that the whole world is crying for.  The Apostle John said, “But as many as received him, he gave them power to become sons and daughters of God” (John 1:12).

We’re sons and daughters of God. We have a future! And when you have a future that’s secure, and a past that’s forgiven, you have a present that’s happy!

Take In – Take Out

“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, remembertake in His life and take out His presence!  Special moments come when we stop and glance at the beautiful landscapes of life!

What Will You Choose?

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).

Your Benefit Package

The story is told of a man who purchased passage on a cruise liner for himself and his family, paying the full fare for their grand adventure across the ocean.

Each day he and his family huddled in their quiet little berth consuming the sparse provisions they had packed for their trip. One day a steward noticed their emaciated faces and asked them why they were not enjoying the banquet with the other passengers. The father told him that he had only purchased passage on the ship but not the meals.

The steward explained to the man that his ticket covered passage and meals for his entire family. After dining on mere morsels for days, the family joyfully sat down to enjoy what had belonged to them all along.

David tells us in Psalm 103:2-3, “Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.”

Merry Christmas!

Millions of people around the globe today, perhaps even billions, celebrate this Christmas Christ who lives in the heart.

This Christmas season, in whatever situation you find yourself, remember—Christmas is not a brightly decorated, commercial season, but it is rather a moment of time when God determined to put on human flesh and dwell among us.

Remember, the God who is the Creator of the universe and all that we see is not some ethereal, cosmic, mystic being. No!  He is God with us, Emmanuel—the One who has come to live and dwell in our hearts!

We say to you: Merry Christmas! And may Christ dwell in your heart, and in your family!