Imagine giving a gift, something very precious which you have taken painstaking effort to prepare for the one you love so much. You’ve taken time, money and energy to plan the specific moment you will present your gift. And then, the unthinkable happens—the gift is rejected. The answer is NO. The reality dawns on you—this person I love so much is not interested in me or my gift.

I wonder how God feels? He sent His precious Son to carry our burdens, to take away our sins, to be beaten for our diseases. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him (Isaiah 53). This amazing substitution is God’s gracious and loving gift to us. It can’t be earned, it’s a free gift! Yet multitudes still reject His love!

Today, I encourage you to remember what Jesus has done for you. Receive this free gift! Simply dare to believe that He died for you and that He rose from the dead. You will never be the same!

The resurrected Jesus saw His followers out fishing. They needed to make some money. They needed to eat. What did He say to them? “I know where the provision is.” The Kingdom of God is provision. Jesus says to us, “Throw your net on the right side. You’re looking in the wrong place. I know where you need to go. I know what you need to do. I want to give you my ideas.”

What does that mean?  God knows where all the provision is for your ministry. And when you pray, He is giving you those ideas.  He is saying, “Cast your net on the right side. I know where it is. I know where all the gold is buried in the earth. I know where to find all the opportunities around you. Believe in Me! Respond to My words!”

There is no lack in the Kingdom of God, and you are in that kingdom.  I am not like the unbeliever who is nervous, worried, and fearful saying, “I don’t have enough! I can’t do it! I don’t have the people! I don’t have the favor! I don’t have the knowledge!”

No! I have God! God knows where everything is, and He is bringing it across my path!

GOOD NEWS STARTS WITH GOD!

He revealed Himself to us as “I AM”:

I am what you need me to be.

I am your comfort.

I am forgiving.

I am not mad.

I am healing.

I am loving.

I am delivering.

I am a giver.

I am a friend.

“We preach Christ crucified…” 1 Cor 1:23 NIV

The cross is renowned as a symbol of Christianity, but in the day Jesus was crucified the cross was a place of great shame. We wear crosses around our necks, hang them on our walls and use them in our liturgical ceremonies, but do we remember the pain and the shame that Christ endured on this cross? Have we considered that scripture tells us He was marred beyond recognition?

I believe Christians who face life threatening persecution identify with this crucified Christ. They understand the reality of suffering for what they believe. The cross is an ever present image for them as they recognize what it means to lay down your life for what you believe. The early Christians considered it a privilege to suffer for their faith. The image and stories of this wonderful person Jesus Christ who did no wrong, being beaten and crucified for them, burned as an emblem of their faith. It was a motivation so deep that to consider one’s life more precious than one’s faith would almost seem preposterous.

As I read the reports from the young evangelists from Eurasia, I am stirred to remember the price the young people are paying to carry the Gospel to places such as Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and the remote villages of Eurasia. I remember one young group of missionary evangelists being chased out of town by the village leaders who were hurling threats and rocks at their backs. To those leaders’ surprise, however, the evangelists returned the next day. The village leaders were shocked! How could they do this? What would motivate them to come back even after being threatened with death?

These same leaders came to their knees to hear the wonderful message of Christ because of the boldness of these faithful witnesses!

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you” 1 Peter 4:12-14 NIV.

When we moved to Russia in the early 90’s it was a very gray place. I remember the heaviness that hung around the country like a cold, wet blanket. Coming from Florida I wasn’t used to this very cold, damp place, and developed the habit of soaking in the bathtub to try to get warm. As a result, this ugly little soviet-style bathroom became my “palace” of joy!

In this place I would celebrate the blessings of God no matter how small. At times, my celebration was thanking him for the loaf of fresh bread I found in the market, or a can of tuna I bought from a street vendor. I would sing, sing, sing, replacing this blanket of Soviet depression with a picture of new possibilities! In this attitude of gratitude I found new altitudes to which I could soar! I found new hope, new strength and new life!

Remember, God gave His all for us when he gave us His Son! Remembering His sacrifice causes us to soar on the wings of love!

“Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing… Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good!” Psalm 100 KJV

Always keep your song even when all looks lost.

The loss of expectation is a tragic path to walk down. It makes the days seem so long and your purpose so empty. If the devil can’t steal your soul He will try to steal your song.

For example, in World War II a Nazi submarine blew up a passenger ship.  The ship went down in the freezing water and many life boats were launched. Among the life boats was one with 12 women inside.  After floating many hours in dense fog and ice water with no one coming to save them, the people in the boats gave up hope.

However, one woman of the twelve in her boat lifted up her voice and began to sing. She kept singing all night long in the dark and silent fog. Her voice was finally heard which led a rescue team to the raft. All the other boats were lost. Don’t lose your song in the dark!

Jesus sees the hidden potential in people. We have seen thousands of people find their dignity again.

One of the most amazing was an institutional drunk in Chernovtsy, Ukraine who wandered into our tent looking for a drink. He thought the tent was a bar and He stayed long enough to hear the message, which then gripped his heart with a glimmer of hope. He made the decision to follow Christ and something changed in him.

He went back to the hospital and told his four friends of the power he experienced in the tent. They all came the next night and received a powerful new birth. These men were all institutional drunks with no hope from society.

We desperately needed ushers because 3,000 people showed up and all we had were 3 ushers. When the born again drunks showed up I put them to work as ushers. At the institute they were given daily rations of alcohol, but they didn’t want to drink anymore and the doctors were confused. They had never seen an institutional alcoholic go free, so they kept pressing them for their secret. Sasha explained to the doctors that the Americans preached and Jesus had set them free.

The doctors wouldn’t receive their testimony and instead started a rumor that the Americans had put chips in the inmates, and that we were controlling the drunks with “new technology.” Well, we DID use something new…the NEW LIFE from heaven!

Scripture says, “My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of power” (1 Corinthians 2:4).

In our early years of global ministry, Leslie and I opened up an event in southern Philippines. Only one feeble little 80 year-old woman who was 90% deaf, losing her eyesight and walking with a cane showed up for the event. She hadn’t gotten the message that the authorities had forbidden everyone in town from coming to hear us.

We preached to her like it was a full crowd. We could see all the windows open and people listening from the safety of their homes. At the end of the message we prayed for this  little woman and God did a miracle in her life. Strength returned to her bones and she could dance, hear and see! With great joy we let her testify in our loudspeakers, reading and repeating words to show what Jesus had done. Despite the threat from the authorities, the next night was overflowing with townspeople and great joy filled that place. Thousands were baptized in the ocean as they rejoiced!

This way of preaching is what turned the world upside down in the early church. In the book of Acts we see where Philip the evangelist won a whole city when God confirmed His message. Even the famous witch doctors wanted the power they saw in Philip and Peter. Jesus gives the idea of God working with man confirming His word on the world stage. “And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following” (Mark 16:20).

“Beloved, now are we the sons (and daughters) of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

There is no ‘if” in this verse. It doesn’t say we qualify if we are good enough, if we pray enough or if we give enough. He has qualified us by His sacrifice, His blood, and His victory over Satan.

When do we become more like Him? The key is to see Him and practice His presence. As we see Him here in this life, we are changed into His likeness in word and deed!

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.