There is no need to worry about ability, equipment, talent, or a changing world. When we were born into this world we were marvelously designed to handle life on earth. We were gifted with organs to process all the food available. We were given digestion, nerve, respiratory, reproduction, motor skills, balance and equilibrium, as well as an amazing sensory network to gather information on smells, noise, sight, touch, and sound. We also had all this information gathering instantly connected to a giant computer called a brain that no machine can compare to, so instant decisions can be made about the information. Everything to start a wonderful, productive, successful adventure on earth…we get all of it at birth! It just needs to be developed.
What happens at our re-birth? The Bible says that those who believe in the substitution of Jesus Christ, that He became our sin so we could become God’s righteousness, experience a born again reality.
Is it real? What does it do? It IS real and it should equip everyone on earth with the spiritual ability to navigate the challenges we face that our five senses have no answer to.
Growth in your spiritual life will do at least as much as growth in the physical for this world experience, and much more for the world to come.
Enjoy the journey!
Do we dare imagine that we possess the same ministry and doctrine as Jesus?
Let’s step up to a higher level in our thought patterns so we won’t limit God’s power in our lives. Let’s go beyond reading the Bible as a history book to seeing it as a living, personal letter from God to us, to be applied to our lives today.
Then it was the ministry of Jesus in a Jew. Now, it is the ministry of Jesus in you.
Our ministry is not different from Jesus’ ministry; it is a continuation of His ministry, His doctrine, and His results!
This new way of thinking will set us free from religion. When we realize that the Kingdom of God is within us and Jesus rules through us, then our posture and language are different, and our purpose for living takes on new dimensions!
Living in Florida we see many people who say they are retired. Some want this decision–free, commitment-free type of life so strongly that they even retired their pastor, because they don’t want to go to church anymore!
That might be all fine and dandy for them, but they forget that the devil does not retire! Sickness does not retire! The spirit of poverty does not retire!
With very real enemies roaming around we have to be on our guard. When an enemy attacks they won’t go after your biggest gun or your strongest position. Their first target will be your communication channels. They want to isolate you from your leaders and your supply line, cutting you off so you’ll feel there’s no hope and therefore quit without a fight.
Stay connected! Be diligent to keep your communications clear and consistent so you know what the key people in your life are thinking and planning. It could be the difference between a win or a loss in your future!
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds…Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ…(2 Corinthians 10:4)
If you answered yes to that question then you have answered wrong.
There are some things that scripture says God can NOT do:
He CAN NOT lie (Titus 1:2).
He CAN NOT die (Rev 1:8).
He CAN NOT violate His Word (Ps 138:2).
David spoke: “I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving-kindness and for thy truth: for thou has magnified thy word above all thy name” (Ps 130:2).
Why is it important to know that God cannot change His Word even if He wanted to? Because we need to realize that our free will can override even God’s will! God does NOT will that any man be lost, yet it’s very clear that many will find themselves in hell regardless of God’s will for them.
And if God’s will won’t override your free will in this choice, then He won’t override it in other choices that affect your life either. He sets before us the blessing and the curse and encourages us to choose the blessing, but He will not override your free will.
Choose today to be an influence for good in the earth. Choose today to reach for the goals in your heart. He and a host of angels will help you in what you have chosen.
Speak the positive promises He has put in His Word and He is obligated to His word to make those beautiful promises a reality for you. Why? One translation says “Because your promises are backed by all the honor of your name” (Psalm 138:2 NLT).
Most people are dead while they are alive. Their dreams have died. Their drive is dead. Their desire is dead. Their destiny is dead. They are just going through the motions of existence, many times turning to drugs to deaden their thought processes so they will not look up anymore into the world of their own perishing possibilities.
It’s like an eagle’s egg that has been mistakenly dropped into a chicken coop. The eagle hatchling gets so used to seeing how chickens behave that he starts acting like one—until the day he sees a bald eagle soar overhead. Then he can begin to dream again!
If he dares to believe, he will spread his wings and flap. When he takes that first step he will discover that he was destined and designed to fly. He was not meant to live as a chicken!
Remember the days of your youth when your imagination knew no boundaries? It is a gift of God to make your days on earth a heaven, and a way for the life force of faith to bring dreams to pass. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a sign to every human that they can live a resurrected life. We are NOT captives of our past, our circumstances, or the opinions of the people around us. We are destined to soar as we embrace the destiny of our Creator and act like Him!
The message of the Gospel is new life to those who are dead. Cherish this new life. Fight for it. Stand in it. Let it take you places you never dreamed possible!
The natural world reflects the spiritual world. In nature we see all things working on the seed principle. What is that? Everything makes progress.
Every time we conduct a crusade meeting people will come with their tumors and heart disease. They come on crutches and in wheel chairs wanting an instant miracle and making the preacher out to be a magician, but we are not magicians. We are farmers with good seed and the heart of people is our soil.
Don’t blame the farmer if the seed doesn’t give an instant crop, and don’t blame the seed if it is good seed just taking time to produce. The problem is usually in the type of soil the seed is in. If you just keep the seed in the soil it will grow. Seeds always want to progress.
God has given us “Word seed” for every need if we will just let the seed do its work in our heart, and expect that it is working whether we see results today or not.
No matter what the nation’s or your own personal economy may look like, The “Good News” is that we live according to God’s economy, employing age old principles of stewardship, giving, faith, prayer and obedience.
“And besides, what’s the use of worrying? What good does it do? Will it add a single day to your life? Of course not! 26 And if worry can’t even do such little things as that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?” (Luke 12:25-26 TLB)
Recently I heard of a single mom who was prompted by the Lord to pledge a $1,000 offering. After she got home she told the Lord that she didn’t have the money but trusted He would provide. He reminded her of the hair barrettes she had created for family and friends, so she made up some barrettes and found a friend’s boutique to sell them in. A few days later a woman admiring the barrettes asked if she had created them and if she could place an order. The woman was a representative from a major department store chain, and placed an order for 50,000 barrettes on the spot!
REMEMBER – God has specific direction for you that will open the windows of heaven!
Partners, we encourage you to rejoice in the seed you have sown into this ministry and the ministries of others!
GOD IS FAITHFUL!
How many have had a moment of inspiration for an invention that would bless the world, but talked themselves out of it because of age, education, or fear and never took the step to make it a reality? How many saw an illness ravage a loved one, friend, or even themselves but resigned themselves to the limits of medicine and lived with their pain? How many have wanted to study abroad and envisioned a life of service to another culture but allowed the ceiling of financial shortage to kill that vision?
The potential of a new Creation in Christ is as far superior to human potential as human potential is superior to animal potential. Jesus said “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). He is saying that following His success will make you someone that others want to follow. Men will be caught by your posture, words, peace, and authority in the midst of challenges. That is true leadership!
We want His type of success and level of success. We want a success that goes beyond a dollar amount into a human value amount. It needs to go beyond a benefit to one generation to an eternal benefit. That is the lifestyle and leadership only He can offer.
Nothing is impossible to the new creation!
“I Can!” is a statement every believer needs to declare. The “I Can!” in life will open a thousand doors you’ll never see until you say it. Take yourself out of pondering and wondering and take an action step in a direction. Choose a goal and declare, “I can do all things through Christ” (Philippians 4:13).
Make a decision to believe that you have received the power Jesus gave in the book of Acts when He said, “you shall receive power” (Acts 1:8). Take it out of the future and put it into today’s words. He is saying, “I will work through you.”
When the revelation hits you that Jesus in you is the same as the Jesus in the Bible, then you will seek to discover how Jesus can work through you!
Today as international travel plans unfold, our team is remembering the goodness of God in covering all of our personal, travel and outreach costs.
Several years ago Kevin and I were involved in a grueling yet very rewarding Tent Outreach schedule in Eurasia. At the end of these events most of our extra capital had been expended. We were tired, not realizing that we needed a rest and that God had a great surprise in store for us.
To fully develop this story I have to digress to a prayer meeting conducted in our US office in early spring of that same year. Often during staff prayer meetings the Lord will unfold strategies for reaching into new territories with the Gospel. On this particular morning as we prayed a name kept rolling up out of my heart, Cabos San Lucas. I remember thinking, that’s in Mexico somewhere. I’m not going to Mexico. We’re busy in Eurasia launching this 100 Tent Project! So we continued about our schedule and logged this thought in our memory for some day in the future.
After finishing our Eurasian summer tent schedule Kevin headed to the US to meet with partners, while I stayed in Moscow to review outreach results and prepare plans for the coming months. Late one evening a call came in from our office in the USA. It was one of the women who had been in the staff prayer meeting that day. She said, “Leslie, one of our partners called and would like to know if you could catch a plane to Cabos San Lucas. They aren’t able to use their vacation property and would like to give you the week for free.”
WOW! What could I say but yes? But how would I get there? Tickets must be expensive at the last minute, and I’m in Russia and would only touchdown before needing to change planes and head on to Cabos San Lucas. Well, as you guessed, God did another miracle and provided free airline tickets through the diligent efforts of an agent that had been born again through missionaries at an outreach in Belarus!
I share this story as a reminder to myself of the goodness of God, our partners, and friends just like you. Who could have guessed that after a very busy ministry schedule where we had been living in appalling conditions, working in radiation zones, etc. that God would open up such a magnificent door of blessing, and that He would partially reveal this months before it happened.
Folks, this is encouragement to all of us to stay strong in the face of adversity, and know that the goodness of God rests upon us! In the coming year, make it a priority to grow in intimacy with Him and experience His reassuring hand sweeping life’s obstacles from your pathway!
