Faith is a force coming out of the spirit man. It is being convinced of a truth spoken by God even though you don’t see it yet. 

I remember an incident years ago when I was still learning how to walk by faith. I was facing a tuition payment at Bible school, and my boss had just told me she was closing the shop where I worked and there would be no paycheck! My roommate was pretty nervous about it because he had seen several students dismissed because of no payment.

It was serious yet I had the greatest peace, and when I arrived at school on the last double-due payment date I had joy in my heart.  By now my roommate thought I was going crazy, but  confidence remained fixed in my heart as I went up to the Dean of Students to explain my problem. He looked at my records and said there was no problem…that morning someone had paid in full for the semester!

It requires the utmost discipline to hold to that truth when all evidence says otherwise—in fact it’s real work! If your mind cannot stay focused, then you don’t stand much chance of seeing your faith miracle, because you will flood your thought life with doubts and fears, which will put out the light of faith.  Our work is to believe!!

Most people, as they reach their 60’s and 70’s, have a certain amount of regret over things they didn’t do, or see, or have that they wanted in life. They reflect on the limitations they allowed to stop them.

When we see the life of Jesus we don’t see any limitations that He experienced, except the unbelief of those around Him. One day we all will see Jesus face to face in a place of unimaginable glory and abundance. When He was on earth He carried Himself like He had access to all of heaven. When Jesus walked on the earth He spoke, acted, and experienced life at a level that brought a marvel to those around Him. They said: “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!” Matthew 8:27

Jesus was God, but He put off His God-rights and did nothing on earth that a human could not do. He clothed Himself in humanity to be our model. He became the standard for the New Restored man that would be made right with God by His substitutionary death.

This limitless life is what He is encouraging you and me to experience now. He says: “All things are possible to him that believeth.” He encourages us to pray our desires and expect them to happen. “Listen to me! You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you will have it.” Mark 11:23″ NL bible

Before you die, dare to think limitless in some area of your life. Understand that there is more to you than meets the eye. Jesus saw the real person you were to become!

“But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit you are of.” Luke 9:55

There is a picture of poverty that can attach itself to your thinking. We were preaching in Tomsk, Siberia, and the hall was full of graffiti. The chairs were all broken and it smelled of poverty. I asked the pastor how long he had been meeting there and he said five years. I told him that was unacceptable! Get some paint and a hammer and make this place respectable even if you don’t own it. Poverty thinking will keep all your people bound to low expectations in life.

A new power is in operation, a new land is available for every believer—but there will be giants to face. Who cares?! If God said the land is ours, who can stop it from being ours? Well, our own expectation and unbelief can. The children of God forgot the promise of God. They forgot that God was with them. They forgot that giants are not bigger than God.

Even if you have lived in poverty all your life and haven’t made ends meet for years, you can change your past experience now by embracing the words of life and blessing contained in Scripture. When we understand that prosperity is an inheritance of the believer, then no giant of past experience can stand before us!

The devil wants to convince you that prosperity isn’t for you. If that doesn’t work, he’ll try telling you that prosperity isn’t for you today, but maybe tomorrow.

He pulls out his flip chart and starts reciting all the reasons why you don’t qualify. He wants to know what you’ll believe, so he can lock you into that belief system of limiting the unlimited God. Then he’ll recite to you the reasons for your poverty:

“God wants to keep you poor to train you.” 

“God has hidden blessings for you in poverty.” 

“Jesus was poor and you’re following His example.” 

“Poverty is a form of holiness.” 

Don’t allow yourself to land on his flip chart! Keep your spirit alive! Paul said, “Now to him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20).

God has given you power! You are not a victim, but a VICTOR!

There are qualities inside you that can override every obstacle faced in this earth. When we understand who lives in us and is our Helper, there’s no challenge that makes us afraid. The key to overcoming is not perfection, but perseverance.

I remember watching television coverage of the famous swimmer, Michael Phelps, in his quest for the new Olympic gold record. During the 7th race he was behind the Croatian swimmer the entire time, but a photo finish moment would determine his destiny. With 6 inches left to go, his opponent lifted his head and reached out for the wall…but Phelps kept his head down, allowing for one more stroke.  Stretching his right hand out, he touched the wall 1\100 of a second before the hand of his opponent, and history was made. One extra stroke and that tiny extra stretch was the difference between victory and defeat!

Paul had this attitude as He reached for his best life: “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which area head, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).

I believe God offers us the opportunity to live and walk the same way that His Son, Jesus, walked—regardless of the unique challenges our world faces today. Each challenge is an opportunity to discover the God-solution and grow in understanding of Him. Each challenge brings a supernatural answer, favor, insight, and experience that makes you wiser than before and more able to walk in God’s ways.

God’s salvation is free, but a miracle life is not easy, free, or cheap! A life of miracles requires risk. A life of miracles requires decision. A life of miracles is lived without fear of making mistakes. Living it will require your focus, commitment, determination, faith, and total effort in the laboratory of your life, “so you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2).

Do you have a dream that you are delaying? Is there a vision that you have stopped visiting? Does your destiny feel denied? I have learned that one of the great secrets of life is to just begin.

I guess I could be accused of beginning too many projects, too many buildings, too many countries, too many books, too many events, and too many enterprises. Let me just say that if I am to fall on my face, at least I know that I will fall forward, and that is progress!

When I go over to Russia and look into their eyes, feel their emotion and see where one van could reach one thousand villages or one evangelist with one hundred dollars could fill a tent with a thousand people each night, I am stirred to find money for the harvest. God never intended for anyone to be lost and spend an eternity in a hell designed for the devil. He gave the greatest gift of his Son for the salvation of people. He is constantly looking for men and women to get involved in his plan of redemption.

Every lost person is a mission field, and every Christian is a missionary. GOD NEEDS YOU! 

Without you His hands are tied, His voice is silenced and His feet are sunk in the sand. He has  not given His great Gospel plan to angels to proclaim, nor allowed His Son to walk on the earth like He did for forty days after the resurrection. He has entrusted to us the Gospel and believes that we can get this most important job done!

For many years in Russia we gathered as a missionary team each morning from 9 AM – 10AM. Our times were spent praying for the harvest. We were expecting the Lord to provide strategies for us as a team, and to develop divine opportunities for us to make known the mysteries of the Gospel. We discovered great value in these seasons of team prayer.

I remember specifically one morning the Lord highlighted a city on the map called Ust-Kut. We had never even heard of this place but began to pray for it fervently. A few weeks later we were ministering in Nerungry, deep in the Russian forest approximately 6 time zones to the east of Moscow. Getting to this destination took some concerted effort as we flew over about 8 hours of dense, wild Russian forest, traveled on back roads and weathered freezing temperatures. While conducting this conference in Nerungry, a Pastor from Ust-Kut approached us and told of his church planting efforts in his very isolated area off the coast of Lake Baikal. We were so excited to meet the pastor and learn of his work! Soon after this meeting we found ourselves in his region conducting a leadership conference and planting churches in towns that had never heard the Gospel before. WOW! What a testimony to the power of prayer!

Let’s remember: The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results! James 5:16b

In one of our large events in Africa, we were told by the organizers not to expect to start on time. “Here in Africa the opening night is just a test run where we work out our problems.”

Can you imagine? There are 75,000 people preparing to gather. People are already standing on the field hours before the meetings are to begin! Yet, the expectation of a group of adult men was, ‘don’t worry if we don’t start on time, well, we never do…’ So, in other words, failure is acceptable!

Ask yourself a simple question: Where have I set the standard for my life? Is failure my expectation, or is overcoming the impossible where I set my goal in life?

How would you handle a situation like this, if in just a matter of an hour you were to address this crowd and you had no lights and no sound?

Action was required, so we fired the 30 organizers and asked for 40, 14-year-old male volunteers. Why? They had not yet experienced failure! They would climb where no one else would climb, lifting lights and scaling poles! Are you willing to scale insurmountable odds?

If those 40 boys had not stepped to the line, what would have happened that night? Those 75,000 people who came looking for hope, searching for a miracle, and expecting good news would have left empty and disappointed!

The name of the game is NO FEAR HERE!  Jobless rates, economic reports, apocalyptic projections abound from the secular press to Christian programming. What will our response be? Over the years Kevin and I have said we must plan like Jesus is never coming back but work as if He is coming tomorrow.

Allow the Lord to breathe His life and whisper His wisdom in your heart. COMMUNE with Him to pick-up on His signals. He has direction for you in the midst of difficult times!

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” 2 Tim 1:7 NLT