“Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance” (Is 55:1, 2)

The prayer meeting was very good. The presence of God was strong in our midst. It is always humbling and reviving to just come ‘as you are’ and kneel at the feet of the Lord Jesus. We heard the voice of God calling, calling our names from the burning bush… We stood ion holy ground… The Heavens were open over us… God was Calling us to come: the sinners, the poor, the foolish rich, the broken hearted, the disappointed, the sick and the backslider. We were the wretched guests, rejected by the world, coming to the banquet of His majesty. We were invited in. On the table set in the wilderness we found exactly what our souls desired for so long: Water (of life), Milk (to grow) and Wine (to rejoice). We did not need money. Jesus paid it all. We only needed to be thirsty and to have faith that God is good always. The food on the table was good and abundant.

To better understand the generous and abundant invitation to the table of grace, I told the brethren to think about a moment in their lives when they eat to their satisfaction, without any fear at the end of the meal (fear to pay the bill, fear that the food will finish or that the calories are too many…). I told them a story… when I was a teenager, my parents, my sister and I were invited at our cousin’s wedding (This is in Romania about 50 years ago). The food they gave to the children and the youth was so much that it was scary. Myself and the other children we decided to compete, who eats the most. They served us ‘sarmale’ (this is a Romanian dish, my favorite even up till now. It is sour cabbage rolls filled with minced meat, rice and spices). The sarmale were very good and very many. I ate 42 pieces!!! I won the competition but I could not get up from the table. I still remember the feeling of being filled to the brim with the best food ever!!! (These days I cannot do it anymore because of diet etc…). The reason why I told them this story is to understand why God is calling to us to His table. He wants to fill us to the brim, to satisfy our deepest hearts’ desires with His Son Jesus Christ. If you do not understand my ‘sarmale’ story, if you have never experienced a moment of total satisfaction in your life, then you will not understand Isaiah 55. It is true that in this world, even when the best things happen to us (money, promotion, marriage and children…) there is always a limit to the joy we experience. There is some disappointment, some guilt or some anxiety about tomorrow. But in God’s presence there is fullness of joy! God wants you to come and be filled with His Spirit! God wants to satisfy you! May you recognize your thirst for true love found in Christ alone! Come to the table! Come to the water of life and drink! You shall thirst no more! Come to Jesus! Come!

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2Tim 1:7)

The word ‘fear’ it means ‘to be afraid in general’. But in particular, it refers to ‘fear of men’. It means to be timid or to be shy. How do you recognize a shy person? I know it very well because before I gave my life to Christ I was a very shy woman. Shy people fear crowds’ they fear to meet and talk to strangers or to people who are different than them. They fear rejection from men. Shy people feel comfortable only with themselves. They are happy when they are alone. They feel free to talk only to people who are familiar with them. But not with strangers! I remember how in the past, when I meet a stranger, I will panic saying something like this in my heart…’I hope this man does not want to talk to me…How long will this man be here? I hope that time passes quickly before I go my way… If I have to talk, what I will say…I am sure that this man will laugh at me’. These questions will go round and round in my mind, making me restless and anxious. I will breathe fast and sweat more than normal. But once I arrive home and become alone, I relax and become happy. I will play my piano, I will read my book or watch TV…That was ‘my world’… From the outside I looked unfriendly but in my heart I wanted to change. I could have lived my life like this to the end ignorant of any hope to change.

Then I gave my life to Christ. Hallelujah!!! My life changed radically, from inside out. Then the Holy Spirit called me to ministry, to be a pastor. I live in Nigeria, so almost everybody is different than me. My shyness incapacitated me. Me a Pastor?  Me a Preacher?  Me? Impossible!  It is like God telling a blind man to paint a rainbow, like telling a deaf man to compose a symphony or like a barren woman to be a mother of children. It was impossible in the natural. Was there any hope for me, to serve God, to obey His call? The truth is that after I made peace with God I became better. But the final victory for me came after I became filled with the Holy Spirit. My mind and my heart became new. I lost this stupid shyness and became strong and bold. ‘Old things passed away and everything became new’. I will surprise myself how I will meet total strangers on the streets and ask them spiritual questions. I did not care about them rejecting me. I was now ‘accepted in the Beloved’. I was confident of my identity in Christ. I lost the fear of men judging me, persecuting me or betraying me. The demon of shyness had lost its grip on my heart. In its place, the Holy Spirit filled me with power, love and sound mind. God’s Spirit took charge of my soul. I wanted everybody to become saved. I became talkative. I became free. My husband was worried at the beginning. I shared my testimony with anyone who wanted to listen. Some received me and my words. Some rejected me. I felt no pain… Only joy and gratitude that I can serve God! The river of life was flowing in my soul, faster and faster, until it got lost into the ocean of grace, the sufficient amazing eternal wonderful grace of God. And that is all that matters! Glory to God!

PRAISE REPORT AND PRAYER REQUEST

“I will be your God throughout your lifetime–until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you” (Is 46:4; LB)

I have a very good friend, a sister in Christ who lives in Houston Tx. She has a ministry among the old people. Each week she goes to the Old People’s Home and prays with the residents there. Recently, the manager of the Home approved her request to have a Sunday service for the people in the home. She is now officially their pastor. She prayed what devotional to use among them. She said that the Holy Spirit directed her to use my book “The Doe of the Morning’ (Praise the Lord!!!). The foolwing are some lines from her letters. Please pray for her (she is almost 70 herself). Pray that God will grant her strength, wisdom, joy and anointing to minister to the old people. Pray also that her ministry will be fruitful. Pray that the people will be saved, healed and delivered by the power of the Holy Spirit! Pray that the name of Jesus Christ will be glorified even more in that Old people’s home! In Jesus name, amen!

‘God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end’ (Ecc 3:11)

Yesterday we visited a village called ‘Saint Paul de Vance’. The village is more than five hundred years old and it is said to be the most beautiful village in France. The streets are narrow and the houses are built in the mountain stone. The painters and sculptors love this place because the day light is purer than in other places making the colors look brighter (so they say…). Over the centuries Picasso and many other famous artists lived and died there. Even now, most of the houses are occupied by them displaying their works for all to see.

“Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Neh 8:10)

We recently celebrated the birthday of a 80 years old lady who was still mourning the death of a close relative. It was not easy to bring a smile on a sad face but with God all things are possible. How do you encourage somebody who is deeply depressed? Man cannot do it! It has to be the work of the Holy Spirit who alone is able to comfort the broken hearted.

“Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” This He said, signifying by what death He would die” (Jn 12:31-33)

These are the words our Lord spoke before He died on the Cross. It is clear that the victory of the Cross manifests as the ‘casting away’ of satan, called ‘the ruler of this world’. The victory of Christ is total and perfect. Nothing can be added and nothing can be removed. The glory is His alone. Christ took our sins on His body and died in our place. He died naked and forsaken. He took away our disgrace as condemned sinners. He opened the door of life eternal. He is the eternal hero of heaven and earth!

Christ’ death was painful and fearful. Men are supposed to run away from the Cross. But oh, the wonders of love… there is a strange magnetic attraction to go closer and see the Son of Man dying for me. The Blood shed on the Cross for my sins speaks of love never ending. The tears that fell at the foot of the Cross water any dry heart that lost its hope. Just as Moses lifted the serpent in the desert, so the Son of Man was lifted up. Like a banner of the army, directing and encouraging its soldiers to victory, so the serpent is lifted on that pole for all to see. But one glance is not enough to appreciate the death of the Lover of your soul.  You must look long until what you see changes your heart. Love changes hearts. In the desert there were poisonous serpents that killed the sinners (Numbers 21). There is no man-made medicine that can destroy the poison of sin. Doctor Jesus prescribes the only cure available to men. It is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ! Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! Do not look at yourself. You cannot save your soul and you cannot heal your sickness. But nothing is impossible with Jesus! That ulcer is not in your stomach. It is hanging on that pole. That fibroid is not in your womb blocking the way to pregnancy. It is there hanging on that pole. Look well and see malaria hanging there… If you believe, you shall be healed. But you need to look long to see Christ crucified. You must feel the pain and you must experience the victory. I declare that even now there is a lifting unto life. There is also a looking of faith. If you see what I see, if you see the truth of God’s sacrifice, then you shall live. You shall be healed! I promise you!

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us triumphantly as captives in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one, we are an odor of death and demise; to the other, a fragrance that brings life. And who is qualified for such a task?” (2Cor 2:14-16)

We just came from a nice vacation in Thailand and Singapore. These countries are blessed with many exotic fruits and vegetables. For example, I have never in my life eaten mangoes so sweet like the ones we bought from the river market in Thailand. But one of the most interesting fruits we saw was the Durian. It is called ‘the king of the fruits’. The outside layer is hard and has spikes. If you are not careful it may wound you! It has a very bad smell (like rotten meat). But the inside of the fruit is yellow, sweet and soft like vanilla custard. If you are able to ignore the smell you will be surprised how good the inside is. They say that this exotic fruit has many healing properties: it prevents cancer, diabetes, headache, anemia, insomnia, depression and anxiety. Because of its smell this fruit is not exported. You need to go to Southeast Asia to eat it. It is forbidden inside most hotels, halls and malls. It is always sold and eaten outside on the streets.

“If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you” (1Pet 4:14)

As a true believer, there is a peculiar pain that you must experience. From time to time the devil will use people to ‘insult’ you, not because you do bad things, but because you please God and the Holy Spirit ‘rests’ on you. If you do not understand this scripture you may become discouraged during these attacks and think of backsliding. This is the devil’s plan. But you should resist the devil and he will flee from you!

This strange pain comes to the born again Spirit filled believer who has allowed the Holy Spirit to ‘rest’ on him. The word ‘rest’ in Greek means to repose, to remain undisturbed, to stop working, to take it easy, to refresh, to take or to give rest. This is the picture of a mature believer who loves the Holy Spirit. Let me put it this way: Jesus found rest and peace in the house of His friends, Martha, Mary and Lazarus. Others mocked Him or demanded miracles from Him. But in the house of His friends, He could be Himself and He was loved sacrificially. In the same way, the Holy Spirit searches for Believers who allow Him to be Himself without demands, troubles or manipulation. The devil hates this glorious intimate fellowship and will use religious people to attack these humble believers.

In Greek, the word ‘insult’ means to be defamed, reviled, upbraided and taunted. Insult means disrespect and scornful abuse. It means to slander and to bring shame.  One of the names of the devil is ‘the accuser of the brethren’ (Rev 12:10). You need to prepare your mind for these prophesied insults. Do not be surprised when they come! Regard them as a blessing. Thank God for this sign, though painful, that the Holy Spirit of glory rests on you. This pain of persecution cannot be healed by mere human sympathies or kind words. Pray to the same Holy Spirit to comfort, encourage and strengthen you in your ‘inner man’. He alone understands your pain. He alone can heal your broken heart. His comfort is deep and total. It comes ‘packaged’ with a Spirit of wisdom and revelation. You will understand the foolishness of the world and the love of God like never before. Be grateful that even in the midst of the storm the Holy Spirit rests undisturbed on you. Finally, in all things give thanks!

“A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out” (Lev. 6:13)

One of the symbols of God’s Spirit is fire. Jesus Christ is the Baptizer with fire (Mt 3:11, 12). Just like John was baptizing repentant people in the water, so the Lord Jesus Christ will baptize your spirit in a river of holy fire. The purpose for that is to cleanse and purify your faith. Everything you say that you believe must pass thru God’s fire. If your words are true, they will come to pass. If your words are lies, they shall be burnt and you shall be called a liar. It is like gold passing thru the fire. Nothing can produce spiritual purity, anointing and power except this baptism of fire. In the Old Testament the priests were in charge of the fire at the tabernacle of God. This fire was miraculous. God Himself sent the fire on the sacrifice. But the maintenance of that holy fire was the duty of the priests. Even when they traveled the priests had to carry the fire burning with them. The priests received three main instructions about this holy work. There are two additions and one subtraction:  +sacrifice + wood – ashes!

(We too can learn from this)

*They should always place a sacrifice on the altar so that the fire will burn it. Without a sacrifice on the altar the fire becomes ‘idle’ and it is a danger of quenching. For example: a new born baby must be placed at his mother’s breast to suck. The breasts are ‘stimulated’ to produce milk. If not, the glands will stop working and the breasts will dry up. In the same way, the sacrifice ‘stimulates’ the fire. If the fire is quenched the priest is in serious danger. He has failed his work of God. He may be tempted to produce a ‘man-made’ fire which is called ‘the spirit of religion’. This will surely be rejected by God. Many churches and Christians have become lukewarm because of neglecting God’s true anointing and fire. We must daily present our bodies as a living sacrifice on the altar of God. Let God’s fire burn in your bones! You may feel uncomfortable but this is how God’s work is done! Take care of your body the best way you can (diet, exercise etc). Do this not to become stronger, healthier or more beautiful, but because your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit ‘walking’ on earth. Take care of God’s temple!

*They should always place wood every morning so that the fire can burn. You need to daily study the Bible and pray. That is added material (‘wood’) to the fire.

*Every day the priests should always take the ashes outside the camp to a ‘clean place’. The priest who does this special work should be clothed so that the ashes will not stick to his body. These ashes represent the end result of the work of the Holy Spirit. At the end of your ministration (singing worship songs, preaching, giving help to the needy etc) the people are to give glory to God and not to you. But if you receive the praises of people, the holy ashes will stick to your naked body and God will be angry with you. Another reason why the ashes must be removed is because they will quench the fire. The altar must be clean so that the fire can burn brighter. Yesterday’s work is gone! Today is a new day to serve God with a clean, submissive heart!

“Never let the fire in your heart go out. Keep it alive. Serve the Lord” (Rom 12:11). May the Holy Spirit help you desire a pure heart, anointing and power for ministry! May your heart continue to burn for the Lord Jesus Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit! May revival come!

“Then it came to pass, at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh had a dream; and behold, he stood by the river… So Pharaoh awoke. He slept and dreamed a second time… So Pharaoh awoke, and indeed, it was a dream. Now it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh… Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him quickly out of the dungeon; and he shaved, changed his clothing, and came to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that you can understand a dream, to interpret it.” So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace” (Genesis 41)

Pharaoh had a dream. It was not an ordinary dream. God was talking to him about his future. The survival of his country Egypt was at stake. Pharaoh’s sleep was interrupted. He ‘woke’ up. He was supposed to think and pray about the meaning of this strange dream. But this state of being awaken did not last long.  He went back to sleep. In Hebrew the word ‘sleep’ means to be slack, negligent, stale and spiritually lazy like an old dying man. To be stale refers to old dry bread; it is food no longer fresh and not pleasant to eat. This is the description of Pharaoh’s spirit who was not sensitive when God was talking to him about his very destiny. Please observe God’s patience in dealing with spiritually sleepy men. God comes back the second time with another dream. This time Pharaoh wakes up and cannot go back to sleep. ‘His spirit becomes troubled’. The word ‘troubled’ here means God knocking at the door of his heart. It means to shake, to fear and to become agitated. As unpleasant as this troubling is, this is the correct reaction to God’s Word. We must fear God and tremble at His Word. We should not sleep like the foolish virgins when God is near. Troubled and afraid, Pharaoh does not rest until he finds the solution to his problem. Somebody must remind him of the forgotten dreams and interpreted them. His magicians could not help him. He presses on until he eventually finds Joseph who gives him an answer of peace. Joseph is a type of Christ, who is the Prince of peace.

What is the lesson for us? When God speaks to you, thru dreams, thru visions, thru the Bible or thru prophetic utterances, pray that you may hear and respond immediately with the fear of God. Your spirit should feel agitated. Do not ‘ignore’ God! This is not the time to go back to sleep. You must seek God with all your heart and you shall find Him. The only True and Living God has revealed Himself thru His Son Jesus Christ, who is the ‘heavenly Joseph’. You must pay the price and find Jesus! Men in your church may have put Jesus ‘in prison’. They may tell you that Jesus does not exist. Your freedom may be in bondage. Your peace may be in chains. Your hope may be lost. This is work of the evil spirit of religion telling you that there is no hope for you and you should go to sleep. Do not listen to lies! Get us! Stay awake and pray! Go to the Cross! Find Christ! Fight for your soul! It is the Holy Spirit who is troubling you! You cannot fight Him! The Lord Jesus Christ shall come and help you! I am a witness! I know! Awake you sleeper and Christ will shine on you!

“Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16:31-33)

These are the words spoken by our Lord just before He went to the Cross. He challenged His disciples to believe that He alone is the Savior of men. His disciples were ‘scattered’ and left Him alone to die. In Greek, the word ‘scattered’ is ‘skorpio’. It means the sting of a scorpion, so painful, that men run away and scatter abroad. Peter, who represents all of us, ran away from Jesus and even denied knowing Him. The devil, the evil ‘scorpion’, has done his worst. But Jesus encourages His disciples by reminding them of who He is. Jesus is Lord! Even when we are unfaithful, He remains faithful. Even when we fail, Christ can never fail! He is the victor over sin, sickness and death! Salvation was done by Jesus Christ alone. We ran away. We cannot share in His glory as the only Savior of men. The glory is His alone, the Lamb upon the throne, slain for the salvation of sinners like you and me. I believe!

Jesus is preparing His disciples for what shall come. His words are eternal. In this world we shall have ‘tribulation’. In Greek, the word ‘tribulation’ means to be hard pressed, to be stressed or to be squeezed into the mold of the world. The world is the system of men who live without Christ. The people of this world hate God but love religion. They strive against one another. ‘Dog eats dog’ is their strategy to succeed. They have bitter envy and selfish ambition in their hearts. They lust for sex and material things. The devil is ‘the god of this world’. He will try his best to make you backslide, for you to enter the world system and to live like them. The devil will try to teach you how to seduce, manipulate and intimidate others so that you ‘succeed’ in this world. Resist the devil and he will run away from you!

What shall we do then? What is our hope and shield against this flood of evil in our minds? It is the peace of Jesus Christ that ‘passes all understanding’. Jesus left this peace to us on earth! This is not the natural peace you may have when all things go well. The supernatural peace of Jesus becomes stronger when things go wrong, when hearts break and tears fall. Filled with this peace Jesus went to the Cross. He died in peace. He rose from the dead in peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace! Our Lord is the greatest Champion who has ever lived. This is His anthem: ‘I have overcome the world!’ Never forget that! Thru His peace Jesus has overcome the world system of greed, lust, envy and wickedness. Peace is stronger than them all. In Him alone we find this peace. ‘In Me you may have peace!’ That is why in Christ, we too, are champions. No matter how loud the world shouts about its success, anyone outside Christ is a loser!!! Do not be intimidated by then! But anyone inside Christ is a winner! We move from one triumph to another, from one testimony to another! Victory is our portion! Jesus says: “Be of good cheer!” Thru all things in this life, be strong, faithful, courageous and confident of the God you serve! There is no one like Him! Give God the Glory! Child of God, I say to you: Be encouraged today! Be filled with the Holy Spirit! May the peace of God fill your hearts today and forever! In Jesus name, amen!

HAPPY WITH CHURCH TONIGHT

The prayer meeting was very good. We prayed and praised God with songs and dances. Then there was a prophetic word: Wait for God alone! “My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my expectation is from Him” (Ps 62:5). My soul, position yourself to seek God, to wait for God! Do not wait for men or for money. Wait for God alone. Waiting is worship! God will not disappoint you. God works on behalf of them who wait on Him. As you wait for God, miracles will happen. There shall be miracles of acceleration. God will increase the speed of your breakthrough. The money you make in one year, you shall make in one week. Do not wait for the healing. Wait for the Healer! Do not wait for money! Wait for Jehovah Jireh. God loves our children. They will not suffer what we have suffered. They will not repeat the same mistakes we have made. Their lives will be better than ours. Give thanks for the breakthrough! Give thanks for the healing, for the provision and for the protection! it is permanent! We danced in the Spirit a dance called ‘permanent’. We give thanks!

“Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us” (1Cor 5:7)

Today we had a wonderful Holy Communion service. As commanded by the Lord, we were careful to ‘remember’ Him.  One of the symbols of our Lord is the Passover Lamb. The story is found in the Book of Exodus 12. The people of God have been in Egypt for 430 years. At the beginning things were good, for Joseph was the Prime minister of Egypt. But after Joseph died, the new Pharaoh enslaved the people of God. For the past 80 years the Egyptians killed their sons by throwing them into River Nile.   They lost their sons, their hope, freedom and joy. They tried different methods to free themselves but all were in vain.  At the fullness of time God intervenes in their lives by sending a deliverer, Moses. He confronts Pharaoh speaking on behalf of Jehovah God: “Then the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve Me” (Ex 9:1). Pharaoh refused to obey God’s command. Sending one plague after another, God judged the gods of Egypt.

Finally God tells Moses that the time to leave Egypt has come. This night is the Passover night. He commands His people to do three things:

1. To kill a lamb! The sinless male lamb and eat its flesh with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. This meal must be eaten in a hurry, ready for departure. That night they shall be free. Just like that! The road of suffering and bondage was long but deliverance comes suddenly!
2. To apply the blood of the lamb! It was to be applied on the door posts. That will be the sign that God will Passover that house and show mercy.
3. To stay inside their houses! That night God will pass throughout the land of Egypt and kill all the first born sons in any house where the blood was not applied. In this night of judgment there shall be no hope, no life and no salvation, except behind the Blood! This night God tells His people to make plans for a life outside Egypt. Freedom, just a dream for so long, has become sight. The people bowed their head and worshipped. Worship starts in Egypt but it shall be free outside the land of slavery! (Start worshipping God in the middle of that your trial, for God will take notice of it and heal you, so that the worship will continue!). Just imagine that: in the middle of the night, the Egyptians start wailing: your neighbors, your ‘friends’, your bosses… You are hearing all these cries but you cannot come out to help. This is divine retribution. For 80 years the Egyptians have thrown the male children of Israel into the Nile. Now God pays them in like manner. Pharaoh begs Moses to leave and go away. Suffering was long but salvation comes suddenly. Just like that! No time to waste. God commanded them to celebrate this night of darkness and prophetic dawn.

This is the ‘sermon’ of the Holy Communion! No matter what happens, stay inside Christ! Like Noah and his family were saved from the flood of Judgment, so we must stay inside the Ark called Christ. Any form of rebellion will be punished with the rest enemies of God. In Christ there is life! Outside Christ is only death! Do not backslide! Christ, our Passover Lamb was sacrificed for us. For this sacrifice to ‘work’ on our behalf, by faith, His Blood must be applied on our souls. Have faith in God! Worship the Lamb who was slain that men may be free! Halleluiah!!!!

“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mk 11:24; KJ)

Dear Child of God, the revelation faith of this particular scripture has healed the sick, has delivered the oppressed and has opened a great door of freedom for many people. Study it word by word. Pray over each word. The Holy Spirit will help you see the truth that will set you free.

These are the very words of our Lord Jesus Christ. ‘I say unto you…’ He brings our attention to the things we desire. ‘What things soever ye desire…’ This is the truth: each person has his (her) own heart’ desires. Please observe that there is no limit to the desires (plural) expressed in prayer. Of course, God will not approve sinful lusts or those desires that are against His will. But one thing is clear: express all your desires to God, even if you are not sure which one is right or wrong.  God is sovereign even in the way He answers prayers. He has to right to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as He pleases.

The next thing Jesus says is to pray; not ‘if you pray’ but ‘when you pray’. In other words, no matter what, no matter how you feel, no matter the circumstances, you should pray! Prayer is your duty and responsibility as a child of God!

Then you observe that during the time of prayer, you have to do something: You need to ‘inject’ faith mixed with an expectation to receive the answer. To ‘receive’ it means to make space, to make room for the answer. It is like a woman getting pregnant, receiving the baby in her womb. Many make a mistake here.  They just wait passively for God to ‘do something’. But this ‘believing and receiving’ is not passive. It is a pro – active thing. The word ‘receive’ means to ‘greet’ the miracle, to ‘welcome’ the testimony. (For example: you are sick with malaria. You come to God with worship and prayer. During the prayer, you ‘make space’ for this ‘believe and receive’ part. These verbs are written at present tense. In other words: ‘By faith I believed and I received’! You then ‘stop’ the prayer and welcome your healing. You say: ‘Healing, you are my gift from God! I welcome you into my heart, into my spirit, into my body. I greet you, I embrace you. I am soo happy to meet with you. I waited for you for a long time! You are mine….’  Then you end the prayer with thanksgiving, vowing to give God all the glory for the healing).

Here you see the power and the privilege of prayer in the name of Jesus! Once you do all these, you can rest your soul. Start to rejoice! The answer shall surely come: ‘ye shall have them’. This is the promise of God! Please observe that this ‘believing and receiving’ is not done after the end of the prayer, after you say ‘amen’ and you have gone out of the presence of God. You are to ‘believe and receive’ ‘WHEN YOU PRAY’; when you are in the throne room, face to face with the King of kings. The timing and the spiritual protocol is very important. Selah!!!

Finally, remember that God loves you and He wants to bless you with His gifts. God is generous, gracious, loving, kind and powerful. Nothing is impossible for Him to do.  Practice prayer in the Spirit. Worship the Lord! Make friends with men and women who love to pray. Reject the religious evil spirit who pretends to pray but uses doubt instead of faith and fear instead of joy. Also note that even if God does not immediately sends you the answer, the fact that you desire to seek Him, God will reward you for that (Heb 11:6). May prayer become your blessed, faithful and holy ‘work’ from today! Come back with a testimony, that God has answered your prayers! I wait for you! I pray for you! God bless you!

“For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2Cor 5:7)

Faith in God is very powerful. Faith is the ‘evidence of things not seen’ (Heb 11:1). Like a seed planted in the ground, faith works in the spiritual (invisible) realm. With time, it produces miracles and visible fruits. Once it becomes visible it is no longer faith. It is called sight. Faith is deeper than sight. You use faith to produce sight. You do not use sight to produce faith. In a way, faith and sight are ‘enemies’. Sight represents the natural senses. Faith is a spiritual ‘sense’. Each natural sense has its own function. For example, perfume pleases the sense of smell but it is useless to the ears. In the same way, faith pleases the spirit within you. Faith desires and produces miracles.

Do not be satisfied with a little faith. Pray for a mature faith. Listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and pray, even before you see the miracle with your eyes. Walk by faith! Make progress in life by trusting God to help you! But if you insist on seeing things, your sight will increase in power but your faith will become weaker. For example, if you pray to get pregnant, and each day you do your ‘pregnancy test’, your faith will become weaker. If you are sick and every day you spend money for ‘blood tests’, whatever is the result of the tests, your faith will not be able to mature. You need to trust the promises of God more than what men say or not say.

Sight is superficial and lustful. It is also called ‘the lust of the eyes’. Like cocaine, lust is an addictive, unfulfilled and unsatisfying desire. The more you see the less you are satisfied with your sight. After some time, you get bored with what your eyes see. “The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing” (Ecc 1:8). It is the same thing with the other natural senses. For example: that ice cream you loved to eat as a child will not be as sweet when you taste it much later in life.  Men pay a lot of money to have ‘designer’ eye glasses. They want to see better, even the little letters on the pages. But it is much more beneficial to desire an increase of faith to see spiritually, to see the invisible things hidden below the surface of the natural, but connected with them.

Faith comes by reading and hearing the word of God. My advice is that you read less other books and read more the Bible. Listen less to the daily news on the radio. Go to a living church and listen to the preaching of the Word of God. Invest in your spiritual senses! ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches’! By faith, let the weak say: ‘I am strong!’ and strength shall be supplied! By faith, let the sick say: ‘I am well!’ and God will heal you! By faith, let the barren say: ‘I am pregnant!’ and you shall have children! By faith, let the poor say: ‘I am rich!’ and money shall come from heaven to you! Confess your miracle and God will work with and confirm your words of faith. Remember that faith pleases God and nothing is impossible for Him! Your testimony is sure!

May your eyes be opened to see King Jesus in His beauty and glory! May your ears hear a word directing your path ahead! May your faith in God be fruitful! In Jesus name, amen!

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen… And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God” (Heb 11:1; Mk 11:20-22, KJ)

For us, the children of God, faith is one of the greatest and most precious subjects to study. All believers have an amount of faith. This ‘saving faith’ is trusting in the Person of Jesus Christ and not in ‘a religious thing’. We trust the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of our souls and for answers to our prayers. Some have little faith and some have bigger faith. We pray that our faith increases with time. Faith is not an imagination. It is ‘substance’ and it is ‘evidence’. In Greek, the word ‘substance’ means foundation. This foundation is invisible to the eyes but it the underground support of the building (successful life) you see. Faith is intimately connected to hope. Faith works ‘now’ and hope works in the future. Hope is defined as the joyful expectation of the future. You believe God today for the manifestation of things you desire to see in your future. Without faith working today, your hopes for tomorrow are false and deceiving. Work on your present faith and your hope shall not be ‘cut off’. “For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed” (Rom 10:11)

Faith is the opposite of sight. Faith relates to the invisible things of the Spirit. When Jesus cursed the barren fig tree, Peter observes that the tree got dried from the roots up. The leaves were still green but the dryness was going up from the roots. The Lord explained this by pointing to ‘faith in God’. You need faith to curse a sickness and you need faith to bless someone. In both cases, faith starts working from the underground, from the invisible foundation, from the spiritual realm of ‘roots’ and invisible motives of actions. Faith dried the tree from the roots, which is the invisible part. Faith works in the invisible realm but later, it produces visible fruits. Once faith becomes visible it is no longer faith. It is called sight. “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2Cor 5:7). May God increase your faith! May your dreams for the future come to pass! In Jesus name, amen!

Let’s pray: “Dear Heavenly Father, right now, in the name of Jesus Christ, I… (Please, write your name)… trust You for salvation, for healing, deliverance and breakthrough. I declare that my future is better than my past! By faith, I command the mountains that block my progress in life to be removed and be thrown into the sea of forgetfulness.  I declare that I trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore I am saved. My miracle has come! By the stripes of Jesus I am healed and delivered from oppression. I declare that I am happily married and fruitful. I declare that it is well with me. As Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, so my life is secure and fulfilled in Him! To the glory of God! In Jesus name’, Amen!”

HAPPY WITH CHURCH TONIGHT

“And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.“Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God…  “Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.” Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the province of Babylon” (Daniel 3)

I am writing this letter just coming out from the fire, from the other (good) side of the testimony! The prayer meeting was very good. We started slowly. The worship team was ‘trying their best’. But the congregation was spiritually cold and divided. I told them that they all look spiritually stiff, like people whose shirt is buttoned so high up the neck and they cannot breathe. Invisible chains bound them up to their necks. We prayed against the spirit of religion that is responsible for such bondage bringing people to church to torment them, to hinder them not to become saved, healed or delivered. I said that God the Holy Spirit is Omnipresent but He will not ‘move’ in our midst except we invite Him in. We then turned 180 degrees and faced the back door. We invited the King Of glory to come in. Just like Nebuchadnezzar pushed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fire, we felt like the world rejected us and shut us in that room. Our only hope to live was Jesus!!!!!! We pleaded with the Lord to come. From our hearts we welcomed Him.

Suddenly the atmosphere changed and the Lord of lords entered in. He was the Fourth Man in that furnace of death. Life entered the room! The boasting of the flames of death was silenced. The only thing the fire could burn was our fears, sicknesses, poverty and religious bondage. Where the presence of God is there is glorious and joyful liberty. What a change! We came to church tired and sad. We went out from this prayer meeting with dance on our feet, praise in our mouths and a testimony that God is alive! Our mouths are full of laughter! Nobody can speak against our God! Our enemies are confused and disappointed. Their plans to bring us down, to eliminate us, have been burnt in the fire. We came out alive, free, well, happy and strong! According to the Word of God, promotion shall follow. It shall surely come! To the glory of God and to the shame of the devil! Out testimonies shall multiply!  Sing with me: “I will worship my God-o! I will shout Halleluiah! I go worship my God-o! God e do well for me!” Praise the Lord!!!