Understand that God knows where the opportunities are and will readily open them to you! He is on your side. When you run up against a closed door and there are no open doors at all, He will make one for you.
In Astana, Kazakhstan, our team leader and the local organizers came bearing bad news on the day the tent was to go up on the palace grounds of the Muslim president’s own central park. This was going to be a first for Christianity, as no Christian evangelist had been allowed to preach in the capital before and here we were next to the palace grounds in the heart of the city.
The bad news was a flash flood had covered the grounds with six inches of water. The local administrators were planning on abandoning the site, but we rose up as we have done before and said, “NO! We’re keeping the site. Now let’s start draining it.”
In our efforts to try and drain the field, a man with a dump truck drove by and felt compelled to give us eleven truckloads of sand. He was an angel on assignment from heaven, even if he did not know it. It was enough to cover the ground for the big tent so that we could start on time. It was a miracle idea for a miracle moment. God is involved in the affairs of men!
I believe there are moments that transform a life. Your future doesn’t always hinge on the long hours you put into building your present. A new person, new opportunity, or new thought can set you on a dramatic new course.
One of those moments occurred in my life over 30 years ago when a small, $1.25 book called “The Believers Authority” was put into my hand. I had already made my decision to follow Jesus, but a few words from that book shot into my heart: it was not a special anointing, or special education, or special will of God that would change my future. But rather, it is the authority God has given to me already that must be exercised over the devil, the flesh, and circumstances that will be the major determining factor. He had already defeated my enemy, and it was up to me to do something about it!
This took me from stagnation to action. This empowered me for today instead of waiting for tomorrow. This energized my value of decision for destiny, over resignation to circumstance. Understanding what God has done for you and in you, and that His expectation is for you to use it, is a defining moment. He will not do what He gave you the right to do.
Discover this, and you are on your way to an exciting life!
In the face of storms, Jesus spoke peace and all became calm. In the face of taxes, He said to go fishing and gold was found. In the face of lack, He spoke blessing over bread and multiplication occurred. In the face of devils, He spoke a word and they were cast out. In the face of corrupt governments, He remained steady while they trembled in His presence.
We are called to walk in His likeness!
Jesus is calling us to follow Him into this same kind of life that He had on earth. He came as our miracle model. He gave us the power to live the miracle life when He gave us the Holy Spirit. Let us discover what we have so we can be who we really are!
When we know what we have from God, we know who we are. When we know who we are, we know what we can do!
In the Old Testament we find the story of the children of Israel and God’s promise that He would take them to a land flowing with milk and honey. Moses led the nation of Israel to the edge of that Promised land. Perhaps you are on the edge of your promise today?
Moses sent twelve men to spy out the land. Ten of the spies saw themselves as mere grasshoppers in the sight of the giants that lived in the land. Two of the spies had a different perspective. They saw the giants through God’s eyes and said, “These giants are bread for us” (Numbers 14:9 KJV).
What is your perspective on healing? Has healing become a giant in your life? Jesus said, I am the bread of life (John 6:35)! He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil (Acts 10:38).
With the advent of His life, miracles became the foundation upon which everyday life was to be built. No longer were miracles to be a mystery or strange phenomenon, but miracles were to be front and center on the table of life!
Jesus came down from heaven as the express image of our heavenly Father, taking Him out of the shadows and revealing Him as the healer of humanity. Have you seen the bread of life come down for you? Jesus has set the table with healing for you!
TL Osborn tells a story about when he was in India and both a wealthy woman and a poor “untouchable” woman stood together on the platform. Each had just been healed of an incurable disease that no one had been able to heal before.
On that day, as they heard the word of God being preached, Jesus came to them. And as they grasped and understood His willingness to heal them, they were both delivered and set free! There on that platform, the woman from the wealthy caste who had beautiful jewels sewn into her gown, and the woman who was from the lower caste both celebrated what the living God had done for them in healing them. Joyfully, out of hearts full of gratitude, they embraced each other in front of that multitude of people.
God is not concerned about your status. Jesus is not concerned with whether you’re lower, upper, middle, or “untouchable.” What He’s concerned about is reaching into your world to heal you!
Over and over it is stated that the just shall live by faith. Faith is the atmosphere the Lord has chosen for people to live in.
If you were to walk into the ocean you would not live very long without a tank of oxygen. Why? You’re not equipped to live in water. People are not equipped to live in a fallen world without faith. Some may exist a little longer than others, just like some may swim in the ocean a little longer than others. All will eventually drown without oxygen in water, and all will perish without faith in this world.
Faith is the evidence of things not seen. We have been given a sixth sense to see what others can’t see, and to declare the unseen as ours. If you’re sick you have an ability to see yourself whole by faith in God’s will for all to be healed. If you’re poor, you have an ability to see beyond your poverty to a promised abundance!
God wants to touch and heal you. Just say these words from the bottom of your heart. Open your heart to God. Tell Him everything you want to say. He hears you and He loves you.
“Dear Jesus, You said in the Bible that You heal any sickness. You said that You save and heal everyone who calls upon Your name. I believe in Your Word and today I come to You. I believe that You are my healer. I believe that You are my savior. I believe that You are healing my body right now. Thank You, Jesus, for this precious gift. Right now I receive what Jesus paid for with His own life. I receive my healing. I believe that I am healed! You are my healer, Jesus! Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Jesus! Amen.”
My husband and I were preaching in a small village in Mexico. At one of the meetings there was an elderly man who could not walk. He listened to the Word of God and heard that Jesus was still alive and that He loves and heals. Nobody prayed for that man; nobody touched him, and suddenly he jumped up and began to sing and dance, because God touched his body and healed him!
Dear friend, I want you to know that that precious old man from Mexico is not any different from you. Jesus loves you so much that He gave His life just for you to be healed! God loves each one of us so much that He Himself dwells among us and heals us. And if today you need healing, He will heal you. All you need to do is believe!
Sickness and disease are the precursor to death and all are a result of sin. When we see a miracle in operation, once again we see God initiating good. Anything you can do sick you can certainly do better healthy! His miracles are confirmation to us that He restores life.
In the beginning when God said “and it was good,” sickness and death were not a part of His original creation. So now when we see a miracle in evidence, we recognize that miracles come to us as a demonstration that God is with us, and His will to do good and not to do evil, to be a blessing and not to harm, to give life and not to curse; He is for us and not against us!
When I receive Jesus into my heart, He lives in me — His Spirit, His holiness, and His righteousness live in me. When I walk, He walks, and when I talk, it’s like He’s talking through me. When I heal or I lay my hands on someone, it’s like He is touching that person through me.
According to Colossians 1:27: “Christ now lives in you.” So where is the presence of God? I’m not looking forward over here or looking backward over there, or begging for it up there. I am relishing the abundance and living in the glory of His love and His life and His Spirit in me, right now. I come boldly to His throne of grace and receive what I have need of from Him. I recognize that He lives in me, I live in Him, and His presence surrounds me.
This is one of the foundational premises for our miracle life, practicing and recognizing the presence of God!
