“…And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:22).

Jesus is saying that there is a force inside the heart. It is a force so powerful that even a natural obstacle as large as a mountain cannot withstand its power. This power is called heart-faith, and every day people are using it for either their benefit or their destruction.

Faith is as natural to the heart as air is to the lungs. Most people think it is something only for the super spiritual or saintly, but in reality all of us have it. Where we put it in action will determine our future outcome to our joy or dismay.

What counter-force will short circuit this power? Doubt. When doubt is operating in your heart then fears rise and sleep is lost. Nervousness, sickness and anger spring up, causing wrong decisions with bad consequences. Keep doubt out by using your words to keep your dreams alive!

You might be thinking that your faith is a personal matter. It’s true that it is extremely personal. There is nothing that controls your personal life more than what you believe. At least, that’s what Jesus believes.

He is the authority on life. When He talked with people, what did He predominately tell them to do? He spoke to a woman with a blood disease, saying, “Your faith has made you whole.” He spoke to two blind men, telling them, “According to your faith be it unto you.” He told a high ranking Roman soldier, “As you have believed so be it unto you.”

Notice what Jesus is saying: life is not according to your past experience, your wish, or even what He wants. It is according to what you believe!

This life where God has fused us to Himself overrides all the limitations of life in every sphere. This is the same life that Jesus demonstrated for us to live. He came out of heaven and for 3 ½ years showed what God in flesh can do.

Then He remarked, “As the father has sent me, I also send you” (John 20:21 NKJ).

THIS LIFE SUPERSEDES NATURE – Have you ever stopped a storm?  Jesus did in a boat when all thought life was lost. He spoke a word and the storm obeyed Him!

THIS LIFE SUPERSEDES PHYSICS – Have you ever healed an incurable disorder? Jesus did when a woman with an incurable blood disease was healed when her faith drew the power of God out of Him!

THIS LIFE SUPERSEDES THE LAWS OF DEATH – Have you ever seen the dead rise? Jesus did when He spoke to dead Lazarus and called him out of the tomb!

THIS LIFE SUPERSEDES THE LAW OF GRAVITY – Have you ever lifted what has fallen? The Bible records the story of a young boy who had fallen out a third story window and died. Paul lifted that which had fallen and restored life to the boy!

Can Jesus be the same in you in the 21st century that He was in a Jew in the 1st century? The answer to this big question is what unlocks your limitations!

“However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities” Luke 5:15 NKJV.

Put yourself in the crowd when Jesus walked the earth. Empathize with the people who came in contact with the Son of God. It says that vast crowds came to hear Him preach and be healed of their diseases.

We have been in these types of crowds, where people sell their chickens to buy bus tickets and a few loaves of bread to come and sit on a field for a week to experience the supernatural.

They come to hear a word that will give meaning to their life. They come to experience a physical change for a disease that has no known cure. They come with a hope that God will do something.

They are not in a rush. They are not coming as just spectators or critics, but with a dream that they will be changed, lifted, healed, inspired, and visited by the Creator!

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” Luke 4:18-19.

Jesus found Himself in the scripture and read from it to the people in the synagogue, afterward declaring, “This day this is fulfilled in your ears.” This day. What did He announce? “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me…”

I have a question for you. Have you found the place where it is written of you, and have you announced to your home, your community, your city, your family, your workplace and all that you put your hands to that the Spirit of the Lord is upon you to deliver good news?

Take the word “preach” out, and instead insert speak, communicate, bake an apple pie, do an act of kindness…but do it and let them know why you’re doing it. We don’t need to hide it!

Have you found where it is written of you? I have!

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!

Jesus was not ashamed of the fact that He needed miracles to validate His ministry. He said, “If I do not the works of My Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in Him” (John 10:37-38). There is no stronger statement that He made concerning the need for miracles in ministry. The church has settled for something far less.

A good example would be the old Wendy’s Hamburgers commercial where the woman demands, “Where’s the beef?!!” The church has settled for a knowledge of the miracle worker without the miracles! Where are the works?  Have we settled for a meatless hamburger?

If Jesus needed miracles to validate His ministry how much more do you need miracles to validate your ministry? Why should someone of another religion leave their religion and accept your Jesus as the way and the truth? They have a black book and you have a black book. They have morals and you have morals. They have a history and you have a history. What do you have that they don’t have? The answer is a living Jesus and the proof of that is miracles!

Christianity is the only form of worship in the world that can be validated by miracles which no witchdoctor or psychologist can duplicate. The whole history of God’s intervention in the affairs of mankind as recorded in Hebrew scripture is that of miraculous intervention. Jesus continued the tradition of miracles and we, His followers after Him, are to continue in the same way!

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!

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).