We find people today are looking more than for a job. They are looking for a life of meaning and a work they can commit themselves to. At a young age with a certain degree of success and friendship, I had a question in my mind: Is this all there is? What I found was beyond my wildest dreams! A life without limits was being offered to me! This same life is offered to every person. Today people are scrambling for a job and glad to have one, but security is not satisfaction.

The good news is that every job is a joy if you see it tied to something bigger and more significant for your quest of life. Jesus came into this earth from the Father and Creator of all things. He said you can have life like My Father and I have life. You can let go of your limitations and enter a place where the source of all things is not limited by economy or government or education or country.

Jesus opened the door when He said: “Have faith in God. I assure you that you can say to this mountain, ‘May God lift you up and throw you into the sea,’ and your command will be obeyed. All that’s required is that you really believe and do not doubt in your heart.
Listen to me! You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you will have it.” Mark 11:22

The possibility stands before you. Go for it!

When I was in Moscow one winter, record setting freezing temperatures froze the pipes of the heater units and caused a real flood, as well as a dangerous freeze inside. Our director had the great idea of placing an old iron gas heater in the center of the main room to warm up the house until we could replace the whole system. The heater had to be turned off at night though, and the first thought in the morning was how to get that heater going again! A little spark was all it took, and everyone would gather round until the warmth began to spread.

Friends, don’t start your day without a spark. Yesterday’s spark will not do. The fire has to be rekindled every morning. What is that spark to you? You probably know how to find that java stimulant for your body, but it might take a little more time to spark the divine impulse within you that will lift you to a place of expectation and peace as you deal with the day’s issues. When you are warm then everybody around you gets to enjoy the warmth!

2 Tim 1:6 “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

2 Peter 3:11 “Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior…”

It isn’t the loudness or length of speaking that produces change, it is the words that are spoken. For example, we were in the capital of Costa Rica with a marvelous group of leaders and believers as well as thousands of other people.

We conducted over 21 meetings. We met with the president of the country. The national Christian television station broadcast all the meetings across Latin America. Our time there was building to a climax, when my interpreter decided he was tired and wasn’t coming to my final meeting. Tired?? One doesn’t get tired in the middle of a campaign! I found myself at the meeting with the music playing, 40,000 people waiting to hear the Word of God and be healed, and no interpreter! What would you do? What you believe really comes out in moments like this!

I told the choir to keep singing, then stepped down from the platform and walked among the people, looking for someone who could speak English. I finally found an old schoolteacher. He had just a whisper of a voice, but he could speak accurately. I told him not to worry. “I will preach with heart,” I said, “just say the words, and Jesus will back us up. Only be accurate with the words.”

My faith was in Jesus alone, and it was very lonely up there with the multitude waiting to see Jesus. My dear new friend whispered the message, and I prayed with great vigor for the manifestation of the healing power of God to make the people whole. My friend whispered the prayer, and it brought a great thunder of faith from their hearts and miracles began to flow. Many canes and wheelchairs were thrust into the air. Arms were lifted, and a parade of hurting humanity gave witness to the living God.

The next day in the town where I was staying, I was negotiating with an art store owner for a particular painting. He greeted me with a big smile and called me Pastor. I had never mentioned that I was a preacher, how did he know?

He said his wife had insisted that he go to the mass miracle meeting the previous night, and so he had stood way in the back. When I invited people to lay hands on themselves where they would like Jesus to lay His hand, he could not think of anything wrong except the golf-ball-size bone deformity he was born with on his lower spine. As he touched it, he felt it dissolve under his hand. He was so happy that Jesus revealed Himself, and he found Christ on that field. I have the picture that we haggled over hanging in our home today!

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!

There is a difference between a person who has pride, and a person who is arrogant. We all know arrogant people who are brutish and loud, always having to put people down in order to feel lifted up. That’s arrogance. But self-pride is different.

If you have a mechanic you want a good mechanic. What makes a good mechanic? Someone who has pride in their work, right? You don’t want a mechanic who says, “I might fix it or it might break on you, I never know.” You don’t want to give your car to that person, you could get killed doing that! You don’t want to give your money to a stock broker who says, “Well, you know, I haven’t made any money yet, but give me your money because who knows? Maybe I can help you.” You don’t want to give your money to a broker with no confidence, you want a broker who believes in his decisions.  You wouldn’t want to go to a doctor for help and hear him say, “Well, most people die when I operate on them, but come on, I’ll give it a try.” No! You want a doctor who says, “Yes I can help you, you’ll be fine.”

We need people who believe in themselves. Sometimes the church creates unbelievers by leading you to believe that God is important, but you’re not. God is smart, but you aren’t.  God is holy, but you’re just a sinner. You walk out of that church thinking, I’m in trouble!

When Adam sinned he was filled with shame and hid from God, but Jesus came and filled us with dignity. Now you can believe in yourself because He lives in you and your sins are removed—you’re  a new person! You have a new spirit, you have a new relationship, you have a new revelation, you have a new authority. That’s the gospel! I’m not talking to a bunch of losers; I’m talking to the most successful people in the world.

If you can’t leave church confident and happy, then you’d better find a church that is telling you all the Good News!

Several years ago I had the opportunity to visit one of the most beautiful regions of the U.S known as the Red Rock Hills of the Sedona Canyon. My husband and I had gone for a peaceful drive through this beautiful area also known as a spiritual resting place for many Eastern Mystics.

On our journey we stumbled across a gift shop full of rocks, crystals and other spiritual images. I remember picking up a monkey statue and saying to my husband, “Isn’t it wonderful to know that we are created in the image of God and not a monkey?” Right at that moment the sales clerk leaned around the corner from her office and said, “I don’t know about that. I think it’s pretty good to be created in the image of a monkey!”

Immediately I thought of the phrase, “monkey see, monkey do,” the child’s game many of us played growing up. In other words, a monkey for the most part repeats what it sees. The monkey has limited capabilities and spends most of its time in repetitive, instinctive actions.

Educational systems based on rote memory or simple memorization have historically lagged behind cultures capable of processing information or thinking through complicated issues. You never see a monkey developing a better banana or better way of producing a banana! Monkeys are acting and living as they were centuries ago.

As I listened to this young woman comment on how significant it is to be created in the image of a monkey, I could only think that certainly God did not intend us to act or think like a monkey—He gave us His life and His nature so that we could live a creative, God-kind of life! As humans we cannot and should not except a dignity less than what God has created us for!

The most important opinion you will ever have is the opinion that you have of yourself.  You might say, “I wish I would have known that when I was younger.”  It’s not too late! If you’re 20 or 40 right now, it’s wonderful to know this and to practice it. It will take you to amazing places! Even if you’re old, you still can really benefit from this knowledge.

There was a man named Alfred whom the newspaper mistakenly published an obituary of.  Alfred read this obituary that told all about his life, and decided that he didn’t like what it said.

Alfred was the man who invented dynamite, and he didn’t like what the obituary said about him and his invention, citing all the people that had been killed because of it. So he made the decision that he would change his obituary. He decided that when he died, this would not be what people said about him.

Do you know what he is known for now? Alfred’s last name was Nobel, and he became the creator of the Nobel peace prize.

Alfred was the inventor of dynamite, yet most are unaware of this and instead know him as a man of peace. He decided to change his obituary when he was old, so you can change too! Begin to see yourself differently. This may require some time, but it’s very significant.  We’re not talking about becoming prideful. Self-pride is not wrong, self-arrogance is.

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!

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!

You have a purpose to live for! A purpose gives us passion. So many people wake up in the morning and don’t want to get up. They feel that life is better staying in bed than getting out of it. They dread seeing the sunlight. That’s not the way to live!

You should wake up saying, “Praise God, another day!” There are ideas to think, there are people to meet, there are things to do, there are books to read, there are talents to develop, there are places to go, there is love to give, there are things to create. You should be waking up saying, “Alright! Watch out devil, I’m alive and I’m making a difference!”

My ancestors came from Northern Ireland and owned a castle near the Mourne Mountains. They traveled through England, eventually arriving in Philadelphia. But they found things difficult there and weren’t having any success. They got upset and decided, “Right, we’re going back to Ireland!” So they all got on a boat to head back to London—except for one 14 year old boy. He said, “NO. I’m staying here.” Apparently he was being a real stinker about it and they didn’t know that to do with him. Finally they said to him, “Ok, stay here then!” When the rest of them arrived back in London, the plague had hit the city and within 30 days they were all dead. I’m a product of that feisty 14 year-old boy!

You might say it’s a miracle, but you’re the same product. If you were to go back into your family history, you would find a time where everybody else was dying, yet you got through.  You made it…you’re important!  You have a purpose to live for!