I could not attend our ‘all night’ service. I felt bad… This morning the Holy Spirit encouraged me again… By His Word… And by the love of a daughter in Christ who rang the bell and brought this bouquet of flowers ‘For Malia’… All the glory to God who does not allow me to be sad but always encourages me to have faith in God and to continue to run the race to the end! Praise the Lord for giving us wonderful children in Christ! You can’t buy them with money! You can’t steal them from another! These dear children are a gift and a reward from the Lord! Glory to God!

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup runs over” (Ps 23:5)

When under attack… when fear wants to be your friend… when the bully proposes marriage to you… when the enemies come around you like hungry wolves in the winter night… when you see their sharp teeth and lusty eyes…when trouble comes to kiss your hand… when the doctor says you shall be sick unto death… when the lawyer says that you have lost the case… when the friends betray… when the evil rejoices at your fall…. when you don’t know what to do, what to say and where to go… Run to Jesus! Run to Jesus! He is stronger than them all!

Let your hunger drive you to Jesus! He is the Bread of Life! Run to Jesus and Eat!!! Run to the table set under the banner of His love and EAT! EAT! EAT! Swallow the Word of God! Drink the sweet wine of the Holy Spirit! Fill every empty anxious space with the sure promises of God! Let the anointing oil soak your mind, pouring down on your lips, filling your heart… You need to be satisfied with His Love…You need to rejoice in His presence…this is your hope, your cure, your testimony!

Like the mother bird, EAT more than you need for this present need…. Taste and see that the Lord is good… Eat and carry that food home… Let it be more than enough, more love, more courage, more anointing, more hope, more faith… until it comes out from you…until there is an overflow of grace… until it pours into the waiting mouths of your chicks… Running over into the hearts of them who believe that mother will never be too late to bless… Bread, Oil and Wine… I am satisfied… Love cares until the last breath…Love never fails!

“But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world… From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus” (Gal 6:14, 17)

After I became born again I discovered that very few believers know the meaning of the Cross or how to apply it in their daily lives. For them, the Cross is just a historical event of the past. They are ignorant of the power of the Cross at this present moment. They ignore the command of the Lord Jesus to carry their cross daily and to follow Him. The Cross means death. It is a unique weapon that kills the flesh. Nothing else can do that! It is a double edged sword. It kills my love for the world and it also kills the world’s love for me. Because of the Cross me the world, we are lifelong enemies. We cannot reconcile. We can never settle. Our relationship died at the foot of the Cross. This lack of friendship between me and the world produced by the Cross of Christ, is my strength, my song and my boast. Nothing else could have done it. I was too infatuated with the world. In fact, I was addicted to the deceitful sweet but poisoned wine produced in the distillery of the world. The Cross killed my taste for it. The Cross killed my desire for it. In its place, I now find a new desire, to love the Lord Jesus Christ and to serve Him forever. This is what the Cross has done to me. It is a radical eternally successful surgery. All the glory goes to Dr. Jesus, who died for me so that I may live to be His servant forever!

This process of double death leaves spiritual scars or ‘marks’ on the mind and on the emotions. After the resurrection, the spiritual body of the Lord Jesus Christ is perfect. All the scars on His back produced by the scourging were healed. But He chose to leave the nail marks on His hands. The disciples in Luke 24 did not recognized Jesus when he was preaching to them. But their eyes were opened when they saw Him breaking bread with His scarred hands.

The Cross divides men into two groups: friends of the Cross and enemies of the Cross. God knows the group you belong to. Are you a friend of the Crucified? Then you should know that you are a candidate to great glory, holy promotion and an exceeding high reward! Congratulations!

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come” (Jn 16:12-13)

One of the characteristics of a spiritual maturity is intimately knowing the Person of God the Holy Spirit. Each scripture that refers to the Holy Spirit should be studied and prayed upon. Here, the Lord Jesus Christ is telling His disciples about His death on the Cross and the coming of the Holy Spirit. The first thing you observe is that the Holy Spirit helps us to ‘bear’ the Word of God which is Truth. Truth is ‘bitter’ as they say. Truth is too heavy to carry. It means that without the Holy Spirit’s help, we are not able to ‘bear’ the truth. The devil will use this weakness in us to offer lies and deceptions which are easy to bear but deadly at last. Do not take the devil’s ‘easy way’!

In Greek, the word ‘bear’ means to lift up from the foundation, to patiently endure under pressure without breaking or backsliding. It means to carry a heavy load and move on with it. It means to be able to continue thru pain, trials and difficulties; to successfully overcome the tendency to avoid or resist the load God gives me to carry. The Holy Spirit helps me to carry my cross daily and to follow Jesus free from anger or bitterness when truth is revealed. This is great achievement and spiritual fruitful maturity.

How does the Holy Spirit help me to bear the truth and successfully pass thru these trials of faith? He does that by three methods: 1. By guiding me into all truth; 2. By glorifying Jesus to me and 3. By telling me about things to come in the future! Nobody can do these things for me except the Holy Spirit. In His absence I will not know the truth, I will be deceived, I will not be able to see and worship Jesus and I will be hopelessly ignorant about my future. Without the Holy Spirit I will be a failure, always depressed and foolish.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. He never lies and He never deceives. He uses truth to lead the way ahead. Each revelation of truth is a stepping stone to move on, closer to God and to your fulfillment in life. In Greek the word ‘truth’ means something that is not secret, not hidden. Truth is revelation. A lie is the opposite. It is a veil set upon the truth so that you will be blind to the truth. The Holy Spirit comes and unveils the truth so that you can see it and move on. That is why truth and light are twins. Hand in hand, by the power of the Holy Spirit, they guide you to the presence of God.

Remember that we are born sinners. We are spiritually blind unable to see the truth. All we see are just veils that cover things. That is why you pray for your eyes to be open, for God’s light to come and remove the darkness, the veil of deception that covers the truth. That is why you need the Holy Spirit! Prayer: “Send out Your light and Your truth; let them guide me. Let them lead me to Your holy mountain, to the place where You live” (Ps 43:3)

The Holy Spirit will help you to ‘bear’ the truth. He will help you know Jesus Christ. He will help you to move on in life. You cannot make progress in ignorance and darkness. The Holy Spirit will help you to see your future, which is designed by God to be wonderful. ‘Christ in us, the Hope of glory!’ He is the Spirit of hope and joy. If you are not saved, please pray: “Dear Father God, please forgive my sins. Receive me as Your child. Jesus Christ, be my Lord and Savior. In Jesus name I pray, amen!” If you are saved already then pray: “Holy Spirit fill me! Open my spiritual eyes that I may see the Lord Jesus! Help me to see the truth that sets me free! In Jesus name I pray, amen!”

A final note: It is a pity that on Facebook you see a lot of trash, much even religious nonsense. People read these things and they assume that just my writing ‘like’ to a prayer, it means that they have prayed. Do not be deceived! Please take the Word of God seriously! More than bread for a hungry man and more than medicine for the sick, the Word of God is your life. My prayer today: “Holy Spirit help me to write, to encourage others and help them to read, believe and worship God! In Jesus name I pray, amen!”

I was born in Romania more than sixty years ago. At that time Romania was a communist country. Religion was forbidden. We were thought in school that God does not exist; that religion is for the poor illiterate people. I believed that! I grew up in a loving family of four. My parents were teachers in the school which I attended with my younger sister; Adica. My father was also the principal of the school. My parents thought us by example to be kind, respectful, humble and hard working. We did not believe in God and did not attend church.

In 1973 I got admission into the Medical School in Timisoara. In my first year I met my husband Richmond, a Nigerian. We were class mates. We fell in love and against all odds we got married. After graduation, in 1980, we moved to Nigeria. We became very successful as medical practitioners. We started a private hospital in Warri Nigeria called “Lily Clinic”. We were very happy. We had three children. We had money and fame. What else could one possibly want? Nothing! Or so I thought…

In 1986 I had a crisis conversion. I met Jesus Christ. This was purely the grace of God in action because we did not attend any church. This is how it happened…. Before coming to Nigeria I did not see a Bible. In January of the same year, I became very depressed. I saw nothing good in my achievements. I even lost my desire to live. This was very strange because I was always an optimistic person. The mysterious depression started after ‘accidentally’ I read a scripture on a pamphlet: “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). I did not know who Jeremiah was. The scripture was not explained. But after I read it once, I just could not forget it. It seems like the words got stamped in my mind. I tried to forget it but I could not. After reading it I started thinking of God. I fought the thought but I failed.  It was like He was calling me. I panicked… I have never prayed in my life. Can I start now? A voice said: ‘It is too late for you. Don’t pray!’ Another voice said the opposite: ‘It is never too late to pray. God loves you!’ These voices made me crazy.  What voice I am supposed to believe?

Finally, I made my choice. For the very first time in my life, I prayed. It was 14^th of March 1986. I said: “God, if You exist, then come down from heaven and change my heart. I am tired of doubting You. I am tired of fighting you. But please God, I can’t wait forever for the answer to this prayer. I give You ‘a month’s notice’ to come down from heaven and change my heart. If You come, I promise to be Your friend forever. If You chose not to come, then let me die in peace.  In Jesus name I pray, amen!” I did not know the meaning of the name ‘Jesus’ but I heard people pray like that so I guessed it was the appropriate end to a prayer. Immediately I knew that something ‘good’ had happened to me. Not certain of what, I felt a sense of destiny coming down enveloping my soul.

On the 12^th of March, 28 days after this ‘a month’s notice’ prayer, the Holy Spirit came and filled my hungry heart. Like an invisible blood transfusion, I felt LIFE entering my veins. I was alone in the sitting room when this event happened. It was much later that I knew it was called ‘the baptism of the Holy Spirit’. I became a child of God, never to be the same again. I started reading the Bible like a mad woman. This hunger for the Word for God and for prayer continues without interruptions until now. After some time, my husband became saved also.  We sold our private clinic and together, we are now in full time ministry. To God alone be all the glory!

May this testimony ignite in you the desire to be truly saved or to experience revival! In Jesus name, amen!

“Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honor is humility” (PV 18:12)

About nine weeks ago I fell and broke my ankle. I am now slowly learning to walk again. It has been a trying time for the flesh. But the spiritual lessons I learned in the fire are priceless. One thing is clear to me: God permitted this painful trial so that He can humble me. I cannot remain proud while walking with crutches. This is my testimony: when my foot got broken, my pride died too. In the past, I often preached against pride. I said that a proud man does not see himself as proud. I too did not see myself as proud. But, the heart is deceitful. God who knows all things knew that I was proud and needed deliverance. God chose this way to humble me. He is the Potter and I am the clay. God has the right to break and remold me, His vessel. I am grateful that God is interested in me. Pain or no pain, God treats me as His child and I can see that He remolds me for His glory and for my good. Hallelujah!

Look at the scripture above. It was written for me for such a time as this. In Hebrew, the word ‘destruction’ means affliction, hurt or pain because of a broken foot!!! It also means the pain of labor that brings forth children. The word ‘heart’ means the center of everything: the mind, feelings, understanding, wisdom and courage. The word ‘honor’ means the weight of God’s glory. This glory manifests as the power to prevail against any obstacle producing riches, fame and supernatural promotion. These are the marks of holy royalty, the seal of God’s true children. Humility means to become submissive, poor and depressed because of suffering. A humble man has destroyed the power of pride and rebellion.

This is the revelation of the scripture to me: God wants to honor and promote me. I am His child and His servant. He wants to manifest His glory in my life. But there was pride in my heart. That pride could have destroyed me when the promotion came. God had no option than to humble me. My heart needed to bow down in humility before the throne of God. No man could have humbled me. Only God can do this miracle of deliverance. So God allowed the devil to attack me and I fell. I broke my leg. This painful process humbled me ‘by force’. I am not talking of religious false humility, when you are proud because you are ‘humble’. I am talking about the deep work of the Holy Spirit in my heart that will last forever. God despises many things but He promised not to despise a broken humble and contrite heart. Like Jacob who fought with the Angel, he came out from that encounter walking with a limp. But his name was changed to become Israel, ‘Prince with God’. As an old man, he entered rest, leaning on his staff to worship God freely.

The way I see it, I am now positioned before God for a royal promotion that will bring glory to Him. My anointing and fruitfulness in ministry shall increase. This promotion is not stolen from anybody. It comes directly from heaven, from the God who kills and makes alive! If you pay the price for it, you shall have it too! ‘No wahala’ (Nigerian slang saying that there is no need to argue…). My enemies will have no other option than to give glory to God for my life. This is the royal way of the Cross. God promised to give ‘favor to the humble’ (Jam 4:6).

Dear children and friends, please rejoice with me! This favor I see is more than my mouth can tell. All glory and honor and riches and glory be to the Lamb who seats on the throne! Forever and ever, amen!

PRAISE REPORT

I just received this note from a daughter in Christ. She is a very committed Christian, happily married. She was sick for sometime. Her husband was out of job. They prayed and encouraged me all the time.
It is so sweet to hear good testimonies from our children, both natural and spiritual. Parents live to hear such reports. I told all my children that especially at this time of trial for me, the grace of God will increase upon them. I told them that, as a family, we don’t want to hear any bad news. My fracture is enough trial for all of us, for a long long time. Read my dear daughter’s note, tap from this anointing. and be blessed also!

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life… about your body … O you of little faith? For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Mt 6:25-34)

It is more than nine weeks since I fell and broke my ankle. The cast is off, thank God! I now need to learn how to walk (again). During this trying time I had learned so many lessons. This is one of them: I need to be totally free from worry, anxiety and the fear of the future. When I was healthy and strong I ignored these fears. But now, walking slowly with crutches, these worries try to come back, try to mock me and my faith. I know that Jesus commanded me not to worry about my life or about my body.  With all my heart I want to obey His Word. But these questions pushed themselves like bullies in my mind: ‘Will I ever walk well again? Will I be able to dance? Will this wicked pain leave me? Will I be healed completely?’ I know the scriptures. But to apply them now in my life, to my surprise, it is really hard. I say ‘hard’ but not impossible! I must remember that! I want my faith to increase, not to decrease and become ‘little faith’.  I hate to damage my faith….God forbid!

Why worry about tomorrow? As I study myself I discover that worry comes from losing control. In the flesh, we all want to control our lives. This is the power of sin. But control must be given to the Lord Jesus Christ thru prayer and surrender. He alone ‘is able to bring everything under His control’ (Phil 3:21; NIV). In Greek, the word ‘control’ means to subdue all rebellious things and bring them under His authority. All things is created by God and they have to submit and obey their Creator. That is why we say that ‘God is in control!’

Unfortunately, we are deceived to think that we are like God.  We foolishly desire that all things should submit to our authority. We get angry when people around us get stubborn or rebellious. We try to teach them to submit. When things get chaotic we panic for fear of losing control. We want that everybody and everything should bow their knees to us. That is the problem! That was my problem…

The truth is that I am not God. All things and all people do not need to submit to me. They should submit to the Lord Jesus Christ, but not to me. If they chose rebellion, I can only pray for them and let them go. When I lose friends, I should not panic. If people betray me I should remain calm knowing that God is God. I am not in control of their decisions. When I lose my physical strength, even for a little while I should not worry, for my body does not belong to me, but to the Lord. When I lose money, I should not fret, for I cannot control all the businesses of the world. I should still trust God! During this trial of health, I had to learn humility. I remember that God is God and me is me. Truth humbles the flesh. But truth is the best medicine to heal my anxious heart and even my broken ankle. And for that, I am grateful!

“Dear Heavenly Father, I totally surrender to You the desire to control my life. I am sorry for trying to imagine that I am God. I can never be God. Only You alone are God!  Thank You for the lessons of love and truth. Thank You for Your mercy and peace. I rest my soul in You. I receive my healing now. To You alone be all the glory, In Jesus name, amen!”

“Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,

When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,

I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;

I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free,

For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me”

(Civilla D. Martin, 1905)

PRAISE REPORT

Today it is nine weeks since I fell and broke my ankle. For all this time I had to stay indoors. This Monday the doctor removed my cast. I now have to do physiotherapy, learning to walk again. This has been a most interesting journey. The fracture stopped me from walking, from going to church, from cooking and taking care of my husband and other things where I needed my physical strength. But the same fracture failed to break my spirit. The devil could not stop me doing these holy things: study of my Bible, praise and worship my God, prayer, intercession, writing my books, encouraging my husband in his ministry and encouraging my children (natural and spiritual) in their walk with the Lord!

I therefore conclude that the devil is a liar and a loser. He ‘tried’ his best and his worst and he failed! The more he attacks me, the more I am revived by the Lord! By the grace of God, in Christ, I am a champion and an overcomer! My faith has been purified in the fire and shines like gold. I feel happy! I feel strong! This is a good place to be!

This is a good lesson for all: Do not dwell on your loses! Look unto Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of your faith! God is your Provider! He will not stop being your Shepherd even when things go rough! The devil cannot stop Jesus to perform wonders in your life! Jesus Christ is still Lord over all!

“Count your blessings, name them one by one! And you shall be surprised at what the Lord has done!”

“No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead… Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things.…” (Philip 3:13, 15)

I want to describe to you spiritual maturity. Apostle Paul says that there are two steps to it: forgetting the past and forwarding towards the future! It sounds simple but in practice it is hard. It takes many prayers, tears and pains along the way to achieve maturity, to become spiritually fruitful. But the earlier you do these, the easier your life will become.

To forget it means to be unable to think about something in my past. It means to fail to remember something that has hunted me. It means to stop caring about something or someone because God wants me to let go. It means to disappoint my (overloaded) memory. I need to learn to forgive myself. Then I need to let go of that pain. I should not be proud of my ‘great memory’! Only a proud or greedy person will refuse to forget something sinful from the past. Once I forget my mistakes, my mind becomes simpler. I enter the land of peace. I can now rest my soul.

The second step is to move forward.   The word means to remove the obstacles on my way and to make progress, to advance or to be promoted. Each time you are able to let go of something negative from your past, it is like a chain has been removed from your ankles and you receive the push to move on. These two things are connected. Spiritually mature people are quick in forgetting and quick in forwarding. That is why they run fast like a race car. This is the ideal Christianity. This is your destiny!

May you receive these words! May you obey these words! For the glory for God and for your good! In Jesus name, amen!

“My son (my daughters), listen to your father when he corrects you, and don’t ignore what your mother teaches you. What you learn from your parents will bring you honor and respect, like a crown or a gold medal” (PV 1: 8, 9)

My husband and I we have two daughters, Alina and Jemine. As a mother, I loved them very much when they were little. But looking back, I think that I was not the best mum to them because as a young wife and mother, I worried too much. I wanted to be ‘a perfect mother’ and of course, that was not possible. Thank God that after I gave my life to Christ, I changed for the better. I relaxed. I received peace with God and with myself. I no longer worry. I stop comparing myself with other successful women. I discovered who I am in Christ. I accepted myself as I am and in the same time praying to be like Jesus. I patiently waited for the spiritual fruit to grow in my heart. I now love and even like myself.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls” (Heb 12:1-3)

After I broke my ankle, the advice of the doctors was that I should walk with crutches for some time and not step on my injured foot. My weight will be too much and the fracture will not heal. This type of walk is called ‘nonbearing weight ambulation’. I take the doctor’s advice seriously because I am also a doctor by profession. But I always pray for the Spirit’s revelation. This is what I have received:  The Christian race is compared with running to win a medal. Any medal is good but the gold one is the best. To win the gold medal we are here given some instructions from Coach Apostle Paul. Dear child of God, if you want to be a champion, better listen!

*In this race we are not alone. We are surrounded by other champions, who are alive on earth and also the ones alive in heaven. They know how hard it is to win the battle for they have done it too. They sympathize with your struggles. But they also know how much greater is the reward for running well! They encourage us to keep running well unto the end! Listen to the voice of your pastors, leaders and mentors; the voice of the ones who make Jesus happy! Humble yourself! Learn from them! Follow their examples of faith!

*This race is not a 100 meters dash. It is more like a marathon, a race that lasts for a life time. That is why, to finish well, your speed is not as important as your patience. Learn to be patient with yourself and others! Even if you go slowly but surely, that is good enough! Do not despise the little gains along the way! Just keep moving on!

*You should lay aside every weight. The word ‘weight’ means any heavy burden that oppresses you; any responsibility that causes you anxiety and depression. These are not open sins but little hindrances along the way. They slow you down. Jesus said that ‘the flesh is weak and it profits nothing’. It means that anything done in flesh, using your own strength, anything done without the power of the Holy Spirit, becomes a weight on your spirit and slows you down. These hindrances distract you from the purpose of the race which is wining your reward, your medal. These are some hindrances: Be careful with the books you read, the things you watch on the TV or the internet, with your eating and sleeping habits, with the type of friends you have, with your hobbies, and generally with anything that make you waste your precious time on earth. Anything that is ‘good’ but has no spiritual or eternal value is a weight that slows you down in this race. Identify it, repent and throw it away! Deliver yourself! Immediately you sense a new freedom and you make greater progress!

*Repent of sins that ensnare your feet. In Greek, the word ‘ensnare’ describes another competitor who is a false believer. He comes near to study you, so that he will trip you to fall. We do not compete against other believers. Each child of God has its own path to follow! We should encourage one another along the way! But there are many false Christians who enroll in the race just to cause harm to the true believers. You should never open your heart to a false believer. He cannot pray for you. He cannot help you. He will only hinder your walk with God. Stay clear!

*You need to be patient so that you finish the race. The word patient means to have hope and joy as you move on, as you wait for God to answer your prayers. Patience means endurance to the end!

*Look up and see Jesus! He gave you faith to become saved. He will give you faith to persevere to the end. Your Lord is the greatest Champion in the universe! You are the child of that Champion! Be like your elder brother!  When there are trials of faith, consider Jesus, how he suffered on earth among the sinners who hated Him. But He still finished the race to the glory and delight of the Father who sent Him. There are wicked people in the world who hate the idea that you are a champion. Most of these people are religious hypocrites. They are jealous on you. They will be happy if you fall or are disqualified. But I tell you: if the devil likes it or not, you should run the race and win that shining medal of light! To the glory of God!

*Do not be weary or discouraged! Do not depend on your flesh for it is easily tired, fainting, frustrated, bitter and angry. Do not lose your courage and confidence! You started in the Spirit; you should end in the Spirit! You are a child of God! That alone should encourage you! You can do it!

Dear children, let’s run…and run…and run… to the end! Glory to God!

According to the Word of God (Ps 20:1-5)
In Christ I declare:
In the day of trouble the Lord was with me!
The God for Jacob kept me safe from all harm!
Jehovah God sent me help from the sanctuary in Zion!
The Lord God remembered with pleasure my sacrifices and my offerings, my prayers and my praise!
The Almighty God has granted me my heart’s desires!
My God has fulfilled all my plans!
There shall be shouts of joy in the congregation when they shall hear the news of my victory!
The flags of victory shall fly high on the day of my thanksgiving!
God has done mightily on my behalf!
The Lord has answered all my prayers!
I am blessed!
My family is blessed!
My husband is blessed!
Our children (natural and spiritual) are blessed!
Our ministry is blessed!
Glory to God in the highest!
In Jesus name
Amen!

“Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?”  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Lk 24:25-27)

This is a story that happened immediately after the resurrection of Christ. Two of the disciples were walking on the road towards a village called Emmaus. (My husband and I we walked on that road in Israel). The two men were sad because their hopes died when Jesus died. They knew that Jesus said that He will rise on the third day. But that seem an impossible promise. The women surprised the disciples early in the morning telling everybody that the body of Christ was missing from the grave. They said that they saw the grave stone rolled away and angels staying there. All this information coming in just one day…Think of it…It was too much…who can believe such stories? So they walked along confused and depressed. Then the resurrected Christ comes alongside them and walkes with them. He was looking like an ordinary man. They did not recognize Him. When they complained about all that has happened He rebuked them, calling them ‘foolish and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken’. This is a great lesson for all of us…

The word ‘foolish’ means to be unintelligent, to lack spiritual understanding or to think in the flesh. The mind is lazy because of lack of spiritual exercise. The fleshly mind is slow, not ready or willing to move forward, to make progress. It is dull, not sharp in perception or imagination. The heart, which is the center of feelings and thoughts, also becomes slow, sluggish in action, lacking power to absorb new ideas and impressions. This dullness of mind and heart may be the result of disease, depression of shock. But whatever the cause, the faith is wounded and suffers and needs help from above.

When the mind is foolish and the heart is sluggish, this affects the faith of the believer. It becomes very hard to believe in the Word of God, in particular in the prophetic promises of the Bible. Like a wick covered with smoke, the flame starts to flicker and slowly quench. In the flesh, it is just impossible to believe that the sufferings of Christ will end in His glory, that the Cross will lead the way to the eternal Crown. The flesh is not designed to believe in miracles. The flesh is happy and has some hope, but only when you don’t suffer. When the sufferings come, the hope of the flesh cannot survive. This results in spiritual depression. But the fire of sufferings kills only the false hope, the false confidence and its comfort. The fleshly worship dies at the foot of the Cross. It cannot see the glory ahead.

Now you see why the Cross has to work on your flesh. Anything that is of flesh must die. Then the spirit in you shall rise and see Jesus, not hanging on the Cross, not buried in the ground, but high and lifted up, the Lord of glory exalted forever. Your eyes shall be open to see the King in His beauty. What you see is what you shall become. Let’s encourage one another to move on along the difficult but glorious royal way of the Cross. Let’s repent of all forms of foolishness and slowness of heart to believe in the Word of God. The fleshly thinking must die. But that is not the end of your story. The mind of Christ will take over. That is God’s plan and purpose for you. Humble, loving, faithful and strong, you shall now think like a king. That is your destiny!

Child of God, move on… pray and trust God to give you the best…. Do not settle for what the flesh can offer you… Desire to meet with Jesus… Soon, Jesus will come near you, walking with you, explaining to you all these difficult things about Himself. Your life will never be the same again. The miracle of resurrection will be not just history but your portion forever.  This is your heritage. This eternal power of life is what you want. Money cannot buy it. Men cannot give it to you. Seek Jesus Christ until you find Him afresh. Let your spirit be revived. Be healed in Jesus name! Be free in Jesus name! Glory to God! Let the higher level worship begin. Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne! Worship the Lord!!! Halleluiah!

“Crown Him the Lord of love;

behold His hands and side,

those wounds, yet visible above,

in beauty glorified.

All hail, Redeemer, hail!

For Thou hast died for me;

Thy praise and glory shall not fail

throughout eternity” (Matthew Bridges, 1800-1894)

(This is a picture I took on the road of Emmaus in Israel)

“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.” (Lk 6:46-49)

Many desire to experience miracles of healing or prosperity. I too desire those. God is sovereign in the way He blesses people.  I know that God is good and faithful to His promises. But as a ‘simple person’, what can I do to experience the supernatural power of God? How can I ‘facilitate’ a miracle? What is the part I must play in my relationship with God? The answer is this: I must dig deeper and draw closer to God!

Our Lord tells a story about two men. One is foolish and the other one is wise. Each one loves the good things of life. Each one built a house for himself. Both houses look good from the outside. Each one enjoyed his house for a time. But when the storms of life came, one house stood strong and the other fell down and was destroyed.

Wisdom means to apply in practice the knowledge that you already have. For example, you know some scriptures. Now obey what you know! This is wisdom and everlasting success! What is the secret of the wise man? He is a true believer obedient to the Word of God! The foolish man was a false believer, a hypocrite. He called Jesus ‘Lord. Lord’ meaning ‘Master, Master” but he did not obey the words of his master.

This is the first lesson: Christianity is not just words, even if they are good religious words. Christianly is active faith and obedience to the Word of God! Faith and obedience are twins. A true child of God OBEYS his Lord’s commands! The clear proof of salvation is an obedient spirit! To obey it means to comply, to follow the commands, restrictions or wishes of your master. It means to submit to his authority. Obedience is action and not just words.

The secret of the wise man is that he went to ‘dig deep’ until he touched the Rock. That is the place he anchored the foundation of his house. The Rock is Christ! Once the foundation is secure, no storm outside can destroy the house.  To ‘dig deep’ it means to penetrate down the earth, to advance by pushing aside or removing the soil. It means to go down, to be profound in thinking and to have deep faith. This wise man is not shallow or superficial. He is not interested only in the visible things. He wants a deep humble walk with God. He wants to be established in his faith. He wants to have a strong testimony and character. His life is spiritually fruitful. These things are not found on the surface. These are found as you study the Word, fasting, praying and doing ministry in the church.

This is my attitude to spiritual things: I search for the gold of revelation deeper than what is easily available for me. I take the ‘hard’ road. I dig deep. I search for Christ. Thru the power of the Holy Spirit I work to kill the desires of my flesh. I hate fear, doubt, confusion and empty religion. I kill these things. For as long as they still whisper to me, they are not dead. So the battle goes on. From the bottom of my heart I want to obey God. I want to make my Lord happy. This is hard work and the flesh hates it. But the Holy Spirit loves it and He encourages me. I want my life to be an inspiration, beatified with miracles and testimonies. I want my life to remind you of Jesus! To remain focused on Jesus is hard work. But the reward is much greater than any of my labors. I am willing to pay the price for true Christianity. May God strengthen my heart, my mind and my will! I Jesus name I pray, amen!

The X-ray showed that the fracture is healed! The cast has been removed! The butterfly is out of the cocoon! Free indeed! To God be all the glory!

“This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps 118:24)

There are many reasons to be sad in this world. Just listen to the news and you will cry. The whole world is in pain. In the past, we associate suffering and pain with poverty. But now, even the rich are not exempted. So why will I rejoice? Why will I chose rejoicing over sadness? Is that not crazy? I tell you why…

PRAISE REPORT

“All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children” (Is 54:13)

Today, our children, Matthew, Jemine, their baby Oliver and Joy (Matthew’s sister) drove home from Florida. They passed thru the city of Baton Rouge at exactly 9 am when three police men were shot dead. They did not even know about it until they arrived home and saw the ‘breaking news’ on the TV. Good is good! God is also faithful! Thank God for His protection upon our children. To God alone be all the glory!

“For God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control” (2Tim 1:7)

Today is eight weeks since I broke my ankle. I celebrate it declaring my testimony that I am fear free! I want to encourage you to do the same!