Several years ago while conducting meetings in the Philippines we met a middle-eastern dignitary in our hotel lobby. My husband Kevin noticed that this man’s eyes were intently fixed on Kevin’s bible.

As Kevin looked over at this dignitary, the man moved in very close and began to whisper. He told how his wife had found him reading the bible and had turned him in to the authorities. His only hope to get out of prison and back to his family and position had been to renounce Christ. He was so discouraged, convinced that there was no hope for him.

My husband asked him a simple question. “Do you believe in Christ?” The man immediately responded “Yes, I believe!” Kevin prayed with him and he openly wept, knowing his faith had been restored.

He continued to stare at my husband’s bible, and Kevin slowly slid it across the table saying, “Here take my bible – but this time don’t let your wife find it!”

You may find yourself in a similar scenario where you have denied Christ. You are not alone, the Apostle Peter, one of the original disciples of Christ and author of two books of the New Testament, denied Christ three times after promising he would stand with Him to the end.

Regardless of where you find yourself today, Jesus said, “I will never leave you and never forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). You can come to Him right now! He is waiting for you with arms wide-open!

Have you ever asked yourself, “Am I doing what I’m called to do? Am I where God wants me to be? What do I want to see in my life?”

You would be amazed to know how many people live their lives without a sense of purpose or direction. They don’t know where they came from or where they’re going. Of course, if they believe in Christ they know that heaven is their eternal home, but what about this life? They find no answers in their aimless, day-to-day existence.

If you find yourself in this condition I have good news for you. You can have a new beginning! The secret is to commit yourself to change. You have committed yourself to the Lord; now allow Him to develop you. The fruits of self-discipline, joy, love and perseverance are in you.

See yourself with the image of a new creation! You are not bound to be the person of the past. The old man is dead, and now you are a resurrected person with the potential of God in 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!

Once I was playing tennis at a certain sports club. There were weeds growing up on the court and there were holes in the backboard. The owners seemed not to care, but they were hurting themselves by not improving what they could. Maybe they thought small details didn’t matter, but they were terribly wrong. Small details are the best reflections of our whole attitude toward what we do. People will always notice in one way or another. And believe me, with that club’s kind of a sloppy attitude, you won’t succeed!

The attitude, “We only need to do enough to get by,” is just not good enough! If you only do the minimum expected of you, don’t expect much out of life. The Bible says, “…God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7). God gave you all the keys for success, so use them!

Andrew Carnegie, a well-known billionaire, had 50 millionaires working for him. He said, “No man ever became a millionaire by putting a million dollars as his goal. He did it by putting excellent service as his goal.”

Money is not a strong enough or worthy enough goal for life. You need a goal worthy enough to die for, so you can put your energies into it and live for it!

It’s important to pick a goal that will glorify God. Write down what money could do if you had it, then make those things your goals. Millions of Communists died for their goal, but because it was the wrong goal, those who remained later ate the bitter fruit of wasted lives.

Our goal should never be to make as much money as possible. Money is not the end-all, but rather the by-product of our life. Our goal is not our job–we all have jobs. Our work is different from our job. Our work deals with our attitudes and our thoughts before God and our actions before people. A worthy goal for a spiritual person is to be a positive influence on the job to transform attitudes and hearts!

Nations and individuals prosper for the same reasons: they serve others with excellence, meeting their needs and desires. We must cultivate that thinking in our society again. We must find new ways to improve service or the blessing of God will pass us by.

When I was in Mexico I looked out my hotel room window and saw a vendor selling donuts on the busy street corner below. Hundreds of people were walking by him but nobody was buying any donuts, so I thought I would help. I went down to him and told him that if he gave me one donut free, I would sell all of his donuts. He refused, but I was committed.

I bought two of his donuts, cut them up into small samples and started to give them away free to the people passing by. Many stopped for a sample, and once they tasted them they wanted to buy a whole donut. I showed this vendor at my own expense how he could make money quickly, but instead of thanking me he became angry, saying that he didn’t want to work that hard! He got paid by the hour, so it didn’t matter to him whether he sold donuts or not! Friend, if that is your attitude toward your job then you should quit today because you are in the wrong job! 

The Bible tells us, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” Colossians 3:23). Whatever we do we should do with all our heart. It’s not God’s will, nor is it His fault if you are poor. Poor thinking produces poor living!

Two Russian grandmothers lived on their country’s border with Finland. For sixty years they were never able to cross that border. When permission was finally given for Russians to walk freely into Finland, these two grandmothers slowly proceeded along their crumbling sidewalks, where wild grass had always grown between the cracks, into a foreign country.

They traveled 300 feet before stepping over the border into this unknown nation. Quietly they journeyed down sturdy streets free of trash, weeds, and cracks—all the while peering up at brick buildings unstained by coal smoke.

Tears formed in their eyes as they realized they had settled for a lie their whole lives. What their foreign neighbors had was so much better than they had imagined! They had lived as paupers but were told that they were queens as they survived on bread and sausage.

The story of these grandmothers gives us a picture of most of humanity. Most people are living in spiritual poverty, but all are invited to cross the border into the fearless life of one who takes his or her place at the Father’s table!

Are we living as spiritual paupers when we should be reigning as kings and queens of the most High and Holy God? Do we feed on the crumbs in life instead of feasting at the Father’s table as legal co-heirs of His Kingdom? What are we missing by not taking our rightful place—a place purchased and paid for by the precious blood of the world’s Savior, Jesus Christ?

When reasonable adults decide to have children, they normally aren’t under the delusion that there won’t be any misbehavior on the part of those children. Before the conception process ever begins they are fully aware that their decision to have children will bring problems and challenges with it…but the relationship is worth it to them.

It would have been easy for God to create us without the freedom of choice, but how meaningful could a relationship of that nature be? God knows full well the complexity of what is involved in the process of our obedience becoming genuine and from the heart, rather than something motivated by the fear of reprisal. And He is willing to endure “whatever it takes” to see that happen. Who’s to say that the wait doesn’t contribute to the joy for Him? I’m persuaded that nothing else is able to satisfy His great heart!

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.”