“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound… To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor… Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Is 61:1, Lk 4:18-21)

Dear brethren and beloved children, it is Malia again. Each morning I sit before my laptop and pray for the words to come. I want to encourage you, to teach you, as I share the experiences of my life with you. I do not choose between emotions. I share my pains and I share my victories with you. I want to be real. I want to please God and encourage you! Often, the words are so compacted together in my heart that I need to wait, ‘to stand still and know that God is God’. I testify that The Holy Spirit supplies to me daily the grace of standing in Christ. His mercies are new (not recycled) every morning. The Holy Spirit is Life and manifests as the power of resurrection. This power is always active, fresh, and fruitful. It is possible that in the past, I had a tendency to preserve some old revelation, in the ‘freezer’ of my memory. But these days, The Holy Spirit decided to feed me only fresh words and fresh strength. From the present harvest of heaven, like the bread of angels, the mysterious dew of the Spirit settles daily on my soul. It makes my heart soft and strong at the same time. It makes my soul ‘glitter’ with the glory of heaven. As I said to you before, both your father and I we are blessed. He is blessed in heaven and I am blessed on earth, until that day. These blessings are eternal, purchased by the Blood of the Lamb on the Cross of Calvary. No man can give, and no man can take away. Only God from whom all blessings flow! All glory to Him alone!

In the scripture above we see our Lord Jesus Christ preaching His ‘first sermon’, in Nazareth, His hometown. Better said, He made His first official prophesy that He is the Messiah; that He is the fulfilment of all prophecies in the Old Testament. He is the Word of God wrapped in flesh. Who believes will be saved! Who rejects Him, stands condemned! The people who heard Him that day rejected Him. Even until today, some believe and some reject Jesus. When Jesus came to earth, sent by the Father, to die for sinners, He divided time and humanity into two. With Jesus, there is no middle ground. You either welcome Him into your heart, or you reject Him from coming into your heart. If you believe in Jesus, that He is the Son of God, that He is the Son of Man, who came to die for your sins; if you repent of your sins and you receive Him in your heart as your Savior and as your Lord, then the Holy Spirit will seal that confession and witness to you and to others that you are now a child of God. Salvation is always the work of God. No man can save you. No religion can save you. Even if you are attending a good church, do ministry and help people, you are a pastor or bishop (like Tali use to say), if you are not born again by water and the Spirit, you are still lost. You need to humble yourself and come to the Cross. Look to the Crucified, gaze long upon Him who died for you. Then the miracle will happen. Eternal life will flood your soul. This is not just preaching. This is not a story produced my man’s imagination. The experience of salvation is more real than the food you ate this morning.

Your father in Christ, Pastor Richmond Sisan Leigh, and myself we have experienced the miracle of being born again. That is why we preached the Gospel all these years. That is why I still preach God’s Word. It is because my husband was saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, by what He did on the Cross on His behalf, that is why he is now in heaven. You cannot be saved, you cannot go to heaven on your own merit, no matter how good you think you are. God deals with His children only on the basis of His grace. We do not ‘merit’ salvation. Eternal life is not a reward for ‘a life well spent’. If you live hundred years on earth, without the seal of the Holy Spirit that you are saved, you can never go to heaven. I am sure that you remember how Tali used to say: ‘if a beautiful woman tells herself: how can God send me to hell when He sees my ‘fine face’? Tali said He will send you there straight if you refuse to bow to God and receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord’. This is the truth! This is God’s Word. Truth is not sweet to a sinner, but the knowledge of truth sets free. Nothing else has the power to save and free a soul as the truth in Christ alone! Tali also used to say: ‘Truth is a Person. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life!’

In the scripture above, we see that Jesus, quoting the prophet Isaiah, identified His mission on earth.  He said that God has anointed Him in a particular way to do the work of God. Jesus was conceived and filled with the Holy Spirit even from Mary’s womb. But at the River Jordan, when the heavens open, the Holy Spirit descended on Him as a visible dove. God the Father confirmed that Jesus is His beloved Son and that He is pleased with Him. You see there the Trinity working together. This was not a private anointing. This was a public event that John and others witnessed. They saw the Holy Spirit descending as a Dove on the Lamb of God. They heard the voice of God the Father confirming who His Son is. The truth is that Jesus did not need to be baptized by John. The people were baptized by John as a sign of repentance from their sins. Jesus was sinless. But He decided to publicly identify with us the sinners, so that He can die on our behalf. What a Savior!  Worship Jesus!

As I read again the scripture this morning. I am touched with its power. Jesus came to live and die so that the anointing to preach His Gospel will forever be fresh and strong. The anointing of the Holy Spirit can never fade or become weak. It always produces results! Paul commanded all believers: “Preach the Gospel!’ We must obey! We should never be tired to open our mouths and preach the Gospel of grace! The Lord Jesus Christ also declared that He was sent ‘to heal the broken hearted’. In the past, I quoted this scripture many times to encourage people. But I never ‘felt’ the scripture the way I ‘feel’ it now. The Lord Jesus Christ is faithful to His promises. By the power of the Holy Spirit He is healing my broken heart. Since Tali went to heaven, the pain in my heart, only God can heal it. This is the truth! In Hebrew, the word ‘heal’ means to bind a wound, one stich after another. That means healing, even if it done by God, it is a slow process. The spiritual ‘internal bleeding’, the pain of a heart broken to pieces, comes as slow but steady process. I live by faith. I do not want to take ‘pain killers’, antidepressants or sleeping tablets. I want to pass thru this season of pain organically, alone, in the presence of God. Every day I feel my heart getting stronger, with a strength that is from above. ‘Thank You, Father, Son and Holy Ghost!’

Our Lord also said that He came ‘to proclaim liberty to the captives’. In other words, Jesus came as the original eternal source of victory freedom from sin and all bondages. He came with His Word, a mighty river of liberty, an overflowing ‘tsunami’ of freedom ‘indeed’. The captives are the children of God who ignorantly, were in bondage to the forces of darkness. Thru sin, they became the devil’s ‘prisoners of war’. They were forced to act against their wills, to serve the enemy of God. Jesus came to open the doors of every prison of limitation, sickness, poverty, and oppression. The former prisoners of sin are now free to serve the living God! Out of the prison of despair, sin, failure and death, an army of worshippers is born! This army fights God’s battles! This army knows no defeat! This army conquers new territories for the King of kings and brings life, not death, wherever it goes! This is the vision of revival I believe God is granting to us in Father’s House Bible Church. It will overflow to all the areas around and from here to the nations. Tali used to blow the shofar before each Sunday service. Now, the Holy Spirit is blowing the trumpet of revival. Are you hearing the holy sound? Jesus Christ is our Commander in Chief! We, the former slaves to the devil, are now soldiers of Christ and worshippers in His victory celebration train! We move on from triumph to triumph! We are more than conquerors thru Him who loved us and died to save us! This is our story! This is our song! Praising our Savior all day long!

Dear Children, as you can see, your mother is fired up. The Word of God is like fire in my bones. I pray for me and for you, for a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit. The theme for this year is ‘Power from on high’! It must come! We must stand and we must make progress. The ministry Tali left behind is blessed by God. Richmond Sisan Leigh ministries, Father’s House Bible Church are blessed by God! Jesus is Lord! We shall build on that foundation. God will help us. May your hearts and hands be strong for the work ahead. This is God’s Work and no man’ work. God will bless us all! Love in Christ alone, Malia!

(Pastor (Mrs) Silvia Lia Leigh, 31-07-2020)