“God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth”  (Philippians 2:9-10 KJV).

Can a name really have power? If I were to tell you that Bill Gates, Microsoft genius and one of the world’s wealthiest men was ready to give you $1,000 worth of computer software, would you doubt his ability? Of course not, because globally the Gates name is synonymous with computer software. Even internet cafes in the most remote parts of the world have computers with Microsoft windows software. The Gates name has power in the software industry.

Jesus’ disciples discovered that His name had power in another realm. Two thousand years later His name remains synonymous with healing. I encourage you to speak the name of Jesus.  We can boldly declare, “Sickness and disease, in the name of Jesus, you must leave!”

I remember traveling to Mexico and working with the Oaxaca Indians in the remote mountain villages. After many days of outreach the time came for a brief break from our activities, so we headed to the city for a day of R&R. I awoke the morning of our city adventure with the room swirling around me. I couldn’t believe it…I had food poisoning! I finally had the opportunity to relax and WHAMO! I was fighting horrible symptoms.

Over the years I have learned that when symptoms attack my body, I begin speaking. My flesh wanted to be sick and stay in bed. But I got up and started declaring, “I am healed by the stripes of Jesus! I thank you Lord. You are touching me with Your healing power – right now! And body, listen to me… “By His stripes I am healed!”” (Isaiah 53:5 emphasis mine)

I declared His Word not once, not twice, but for nearly an hour. Suddenly, faith arose in my heart and as quickly as the symptoms came they disappeared.

Several years ago while driving across the farmlands of the Southern Ukraine we stopped to purchase fuel. Our team leader would not heed the sticker that said our car required high-octane fuel for high performance and we proceeded to fill the car up with the cheaper gas. Fortunately for us, our car had a special shut off valve and after driving just a few miles the car shut down. We were so glad that our Russian team was familiar with siphoning gas and we were able to transfer this fuel to another car and walk back to the station for a new container of the HIGH-OCTANE gasoline. Reality set in for this team—there was no substitute for the real thing!

In our lives, let’s remember, time spent with God is time spent fueling your high-performance engine with the most efficient, cost effective, eco-friendly power source available! Lord, we ask you to inject us with your heavenly fuel today!

“The Spirit is a help to our feeble hearts… And we are conscious that all things are working together for good to those who have love for God, and have been marked out by his purpose” (Rom 8:26a, 28 BBE).

“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!

I was fortunate to enjoy an afternoon in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. When Michelangelo painted the chapel, he did not do it freestyle, just splashing on the walls and ceiling with whatever colors he felt at the moment. No, first he constructed a model of the room and made detailed drawings of each corner and each figure, so his work would not appear distorted when viewed.

Jesus is our model. As we go out representing Him, we must look more closely at Him. Why do people have a distorted image of Jesus? It is because we are the only image they see! That image can bring life, love, joy, peace, and healing power to every person on the earth. But if we do not represent Him accurately, people will not see who He is.

Let us understand Jesus not as just another nice spiritual man, but as the living God. And let us not see His Kingdom as something to be looked forward to, but as something to be experienced now!

We must take one more step to untangle ourselves from the system of thought that denies power to us today and makes us spectators, rather than players, in the arena of life. What will get us out of the bleachers so we stop acting as observers, critics, and reporters and start making life happen now?

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).

One night in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, as we drove into a field teeming with hurting people ready to begin that night’s outreach, I looked out the window of my car at an elderly man laying on a makeshift cloth pallet. When I saw him, immediately my heart jumped; and just like Jesus in the bible, I was moved with compassion. Something inside me said he needed just a little encouragement to know that tonight was his night for healing.

I had quite a struggle getting my chauffer and interpreter to pull over. They said, “Mama Leslie, don’t you see this crowd? You can’t pull over you, will be mobbed!” I remember as a last resort opening my door as the vehicle was moving, edging closer to the door until finally they stopped the car.

There on the mat was a man who looked much older than his years. When I spoke to him of the love of God and the power to save him from his sickness, his eyes perked up and he sat up and began to move.

Later that night as I stood on the platform my interpreter ran over to tell me, “Mama Leslie! Mama Leslie, look! There’s the man you spoke to who was about to die! LOOK! He’s the first one to testify and he’s walking! It’s a miracle!”

This man who lay on that simple mat wrapped in a long piece of multi-colored African fabric an hour or two earlier had looked like a mere skeleton with no life. He had been the picture of death, yet, God saw something else.

Remember, Jesus is never too busy to come to you. Two thousand years ago He paid the price for you!

My husband tells an interesting story. Two weeks before his conversion to Christ, he was given a special silver ring by the athletic department. The ring turned black when he put it on his hand.  Several attempts to polish it, have a jeweler clean it, and even place a special coating on the ring could not keep it from tarnishing.

Right after Kevin invited Jesus into his heart, something amazing happened; he noticed the ring had returned to its natural color.

He often tells this story because it is a vivid picture of the internal change that took place in his heart, and the new life that came into his physical body.

When the life of Christ comes into you, something changes in your chemical make up! New life now inhabits your body; eternal life co-habits with mortal flesh. Christ replaces the stain of sin in your life. Peace now dwells in your heart (Colossians 3:15), and the Spirit of God dwelling in you gives life to your mortal body (Romans 8:11).

I remember the story of Zhanna, a young Muslim woman who suffered with terrible asthma. Her parents had taken her to every doctor in Kazakhstan and had even made the great expense of traveling across the vast tundra to Moscow to consult with specialists. Nothing helped this young woman. She suffered terribly, barely able to breathe, facing daily the life-threatening effects of severe asthmatic attacks.

Her parents, who were Muslim in their faith, were invited to one of our meetings. Someone had told them about a Festival of Music and Miracles being conducted in their city. Moved by what they heard in the meeting, the entire family decided to invite Jesus into their hearts.

Suddenly, an amazing thing happened. Zhanna began to take deep breaths! Something had lifted off her chest, and the weight that had bound her was gone! Peace had entered her body and she was breathing freely.

They had sought healing from all the experts in the best hospitals of that part of the world with no results. Yet, in just one simple prayer they asked Jesus into their hearts, and in that moment all signs of this debilitating sickness disappeared!

I was raised in church. For 22 years I attended the services and heard the words, but no transforming personal experience ever happened. Then one day under a maple tree on the Michigan State University campus, I spoke out of my heart and asked Jesus to come into my life.

Suddenly my spiritual eyes were opened! I felt the cleaning agent of the Holy Spirit, like a scrub brush, wash away my sin and remove my guilt. I saw my past as forgiven. Then I sensed heaven open up, and for the first time I knew I was going there. My hope was transformed into a knowing.

Everybody I knew growing up hoped they were going to heaven, but for the first time, I knew! It happened when my words and my heart hooked up with the truth that God wanted me to know.

Jesus said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).