In Jesus’ parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30, the servant who hid his talent had a wrong perception of his Master. He said “I knew you were a hard man.” The ruler only asked for a minimum increase. In other words, just do something with what I give you. He was not making it hard. He was making it fair. A wrong perception of God causes fear, and fear causes wrong actions that result in destruction.

God is for you! He understands the fallen environment you live in and has given you gifts to overcome in this environment:

He gave you the gift of eternal life so you would have peace of mind about your future.

He breathed into you part of Himself so you would have awareness of His presence.

He gave you the name of Jesus so you would have authority over all evil spirits.

He gave you His promises for every area of your life so you would know His best for you.

He is not hard, He is benevolent! Right thinking will bring right increase!

In reflecting upon this holiday, we can only imagine the fear and trepidation our founding fathers faced as the imminent separation from England was approaching. We meet many people facing tremendous difficulties and fears in today’s world. The 4th of July celebrates the decisive action that our forefathers took. It was a moment in time from which there was no turning back. Their faith and commitment became the beacon of hope and freedom shining on a hill for every person to see. Their cry for freedom has become the rally cry for those held captive to oppression, poverty and fear.

As we have travelled the nations of the earth we have heard both villager and king declare that the freedom experienced in the USA is a model for all people. This freedom and independence came at a great cost. These brilliant thinkers of 1776 dared to believe in something greater than themselves. Facing fear, they stood up to proclaim new destiny!

Samuel Adams said,

“The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great Anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.” (Note: Adams prediction written to his wife was off by 2 days, thinking we would celebrate the momentous day on the actual day the document was drafted.)

On this distinguished 4th of July holiday, let this be a declaration day for each household, ministry and business. A group of people with purpose did this in 1776 and affected the whole world! As we are called to affect the whole world, let us arise and declare our freedom from poverty and fear, and declare our alliance with King Jesus!

Regardless of what the economic and political pundits say about the “good ole USA”, we choose to meditate on the good promises of the Lord and declare His word!

When the fireworks go off we will be shouting “Hallelujah! Jesus is Lord! We are FREE!”

Happy 4^th of July!

Scripture tells us in Isaiah 53:4 that in fact Jesus has borne our griefs and has taken our sorrows and our pains, yet we ignorantly thought that He was stricken and struck down by God.

Many years ago I was traveling across Russia in a sweltering hot train with no air moving and no way to open a window. The flu was going around everywhere and I was coughing from a deep burning pain that was attacking my chest. I remember as I lay back on the bed I picked up my Bible, and as I was experiencing these symptoms of flu or bronchitis this scripture in Isaiah leapt out at me.

I said to the Lord, “I have not considered what you did on the cross for me and I have yielded to this sickness that is trying to take over my body. Lord, I know who You are, I know You paid the price so I don’t have to suffer this sickness because God put it on You.”  I remember at that moment with great confidence I said, “Lord, I will no longer consider you ignorantly, and right now in the name of Jesus I receive what you did for me 2,000 years ago and command these symptoms to go from my body!” I fell asleep right at that moment and woke up a few hours later without one sign or symptom of cough or a fever…not one symptom in my body at any level!

I encourage you today to take an aggressive stance against every form of sickness and disease trying to come against your body!

Most people think that their job is their work. That’s just not the case in God’s Kingdom!

Paul, talking to slaves two thousand years ago, told them to serve honorably with joy and there would be great reward for them. There can’t be a worse job with less natural reward, comfort or satisfaction, yet Paul looked beyond their slavery to their work of serving the LORD. Even slave labor is rewarded if done unto the Lord and not to men.

When reflecting on Peter’s work we don’t think of his fishing skills, even though fishing was his vocation. We think of his leadership skills in the church. We don’t model ourselves after Peter by getting a job on a boat!

Thinking of Paul the tentmaker, we don’t seek wisdom on how to sew tents. He earned money to pay bills by sewing, but we think of him as a great missionary and adventurer. He didn’t consider himself a sewer of tents, as but a man of God. How do you consider yourself?

Our own personal experience can be a formidable hindrance to walking in the abundance Jesus Christ made available to us. You might say, “I love God and I’ve never had any money. I’ve never been rich and God still loves me. If prosperity really is God’s will for me, then He would have given it to me a long time ago.” These objections are real, but that doesn’t make them legitimate! Just because we haven’t experienced something doesn’t mean it isn’t the will of God for us.

We lived in sin and experienced emptiness, separation and spiritual blindness before discovering salvation in Jesus. Does that mean it was God’s will for us to live in that dark world? No! We just hadn’t heard and responded to God’s Word on the subject. Our decision to act on God’s idea, His Word, and His substitutionary sacrifice for our sins opened a whole new world to us.

I believe we can change our personal experience in the financial realm as well. Armed with truth, you can go into the arena of need and come out a winner!

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!

One day as I was speaking to our partners via the internet, I sensed 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 you and me.

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 & 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’m trusting . . . are you?

I believe the greatest necessity for having a changed life is seeing the end result. Christians who are not seeing much change in their life are probably not seeing the transformation that has already occurred in them. Paul said:

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain” Galatians 2:20-21 (NKJV)

He didn’t add Christ onto His life, he began a new life! Paul valued the new and let go of the old.

For example, when your car gets old you have a choice to make. If you’re in Russia you get out the duct tape and wire to keep it going. That’s not very exciting. You could go to the mechanic and get a few new parts added to what you’ve got. Not very exciting. You go out and buy a used car. A little better, but still, not very exciting. But, if you go out and buy a brand new car…now that will get you excited!

If you’re not excited about your faith, you’re probably working with an “add-on,” instead of the brand-new you that God has made you!

Most people, as they reach their 60’s and 70’s, have a certain amount of regret over things they didn’t do, or see, or have that they wanted in life. They reflect on the limitations they allowed to stop them.

When we see the life of Jesus we don’t see any limitations that He experienced, except the unbelief of those around Him. One day we all will see Jesus face to face in a place of unimaginable glory and abundance. When He was on earth He carried Himself like He had access to all of heaven. When Jesus walked on the earth He spoke, acted, and experienced life at a level that brought a marvel to those around Him. They said: “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!” Matthew 8:27

Jesus was God, but He put off His God-rights and did nothing on earth that a human could not do. He clothed Himself in humanity to be our model. He became the standard for the New Restored man that would be made right with God by His substitutionary death.

This limitless life is what He is encouraging you and me to experience now. He says: “All things are possible to him that believeth.” He encourages us to pray our desires and expect them to happen. “Listen to me! You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you will have it.” Mark 11:23″ NL bible

Before you die, dare to think limitless in some area of your life. Understand that there is more to you than meets the eye. Jesus saw the real person you were to become!

“But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit you are of.” Luke 9:55

We were preaching in India a few years ago, and at the end of the service a young man rushed onto the platform with his mother. The mother was dressed in a black hijab covering her entire body. Suddenly, while standing there in front of tens of thousands of people, she ripped the hijab off revealing an elegantly dressed young woman who immediately began to preach to the crowd. She was full of faith, and pointing at her son she exclaimed, “This is my son! Look at my son, he can talk! Look at my son!  I know who the real Messiah is, I know who the real prophet and God is!” She gave the microphone to her son, and he began his story.

He related how he had been coming to the mass meetings for several nights, and each night as he watched and as we prayed with the people, he would see crosses come out of the sky and sit on the heads of people who were scattered across the field like a sea of faces. He began to notice that whenever the cross rested on someone they would begin to shout and  just a few minutes later they would be the one up on the platform testifying.

On the night this young man came forward, his mother told how he was hardly able to speak above a whisper and he struggled with fear in everything he did.  That night as he said the prayer all of a sudden the cross came to him out of the sky.  And as that cross approached him, out of that cross came the face of Jesus with His arms opened wide. “At the moment Jesus came to me, I was healed” the young man said.  “I am different, I am transformed!” He and his mother looked at that crowd and declared to them, “We know who the Healer is—this Jesus who went to the cross and who died for us!”

In Jesus’ day when the people saw Him hanging on the cross perhaps they remembered the woman He had loosed from a spirit of infirmity (Luke 13:11) or the lepers who were healed?  Most likely what they didn’t see as he hung on that cross was that every person who would ever look and believe was loosed from the spirit of infirmity that day! Maybe you’ve been watching from afar and wondering if Jesus would heal you! We want to encourage you that this same Jesus who died 2,000 years ago is appearing to His people today! He will come to you! Reach out and embrace the power of the cross today!

Jesus took off His heavenly riches and became as you are so you could be as He is. “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Some would say that this is just a “spiritual blessing” of riches. We agree – you are blessed with His presence, but His presence always brings material blessing. 

I love the story of David when he was attempting to bring the ark of God back into Jerusalem. The ark carried the actual presence of God at that time in the earth. When one of David’s men touched the ark and fell dead, David decided not to take it into the city but left it in a house. “And the ark of God remained with the family of Obededom in his house three months. And the LORD blessed the house of Obededom, and all that he had” (1 Chronicles 13:14).

If all we receive is the spiritual blessing of God’s presence in our lives because our body is His house, then His presence will do for us at least what it did for Obededom!