Jesus heals and forgives

Jesus heals by miracles! If you want an answer to prayer, that answer is found in the Bible. I want to start by reading to you a passage from Mark 2. These four men were so desperate, they knew only Jesus was going to heal their friend; no hospital could cure him, no medicine could relieve the symptoms. This man needed a miracle! The crowd was full of expectation: they knew Jesus could heal the sick, the paralysed man's friends knew He could heal the sick. What was Jesus going to do? To prove that He has power on earth to forgive sins, Jesus turned to the paralysed man and said, "Stand up, take up your mat, and go home." Immediately the paralysed man arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God!

Healing is an integral part of the atonement. It has been bought for us, together with our salvation, though Christ's suffering and death. We need to apply the same level of faith to our deliverance from sickness as we do to our deliverance from sin.

Some question that Isaiah 53 is merely an Old Testament prophecy, referring only to a full salvation from sin, let me remind you that in the New Testament it is used as a reference to healing, rather than salvation. Matthew 8:16-17 says Jesus 'healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bore our sicknesses.' So the healing ministry of Christ was clearly seen as a fulfilment of Isaiah's prophecy, and it still is for today - just as much as salvation from sin - because both were fulfilled literally through Christ's suffering and death. Hence healing fulfils both Scripture and Bible prophecy.

Sin and sickness are not from God, both come from the devil. The purpose of the first coming of Jesus was to make a way of escape from the evil which Satan and ultimately man, by his disobedience, brought into the world: "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, to destroy the works of the devil!" - 1 John 3:8. However, this is only in part today, none of us is perfect in ourselves, we live in a world of sin and sickness and are surrounded by them. When Christ returns we shall be taken out of this world into the Kingdom of Heaven, then there will be no more sin, sickness or death. Until then, walking by faith, we must overcome sin - and temptation - and sickness.

Be encouraged as you listen to today's podcast: JESUS HEALS AND FORGIVES



'I behold Your glory' used by kind permission of www.vinesong.com

We have authority!

We have a tremendous authority here on earth which comes from Christ through His Word: in two places we can find evidence. First, Jesus called twelve disciples in Luke 9 and then seventy in Luke 10. His command to them was simple, "Boys, no one knows who I am, so before I come, go into all the towns and villages and in My name, preach the Gospel, heal the sick - so that when I come, they will know who I am." Notice that here, in the command to the evangelists, He does not say "PRAY" for the sick, simply "HEAL THEM!" This requires AUTHORITY, and is confirmed by the report these evangelists gave when they returned. They reported that "even the demons are SUBJECT to us!" Why? Because they had authority and used it!

The second evidence of our authority in Christ is in Mark 16 when Jesus, after His resurrection, commands His disciples to "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel…" adding "These signs will follow those who believe, they will lay hands on the sick and they WILL be healed." Finally Mark says, they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, confirming His word with SIGNS following. THIS was the demonstration and proof God used to confirm the Gospel and establish the Church! I do not believe that God has changed! If we go in His Name, believing, He will confirm His word again today with SIGNS and WONDERS.

Further confirmation of our authority comes in the promise of Jesus, "These things shall you do and greater, because I go to my Father" - John 14:12; and Acts 1:8, "You shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you!" Our power with God is through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and through our relationship with God in prayer following that experience.

I have recently returned from Ukraine. The situation is desperate. The devil has divided families and communities against each other; so many have needlessly died, even more have suffered terrible emotional scarring. We need to pray for that nation on the authority of God's Word. Please join me in taking authority over this chaos: 'Father we come in the greatest Name in heaven and on earth. We come by the power and authority of the Name of Jesus Christ, Son of the living God. We pray that You will touch Ukraine. Oh holy, mighty God of power, God of the Ukraine, stop the war, stop the fighting, bring peace, bring forgiveness. Oh God, in Jesus' Name we cry out: deliver Ukraine, bring salvation, bring healing. Through the mighty Name of Jesus we bind the power of war, we bind the spirit of death, we command the spirit of fear to leave Ukraine! And we call upon You oh God, bring love, peace and a new hope, and a new prosperity. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!'

Listen to today's podcast: Prayer for Ukraine


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Two times God's

There was a little boy who loved boats. So the little boy asked his father to help him make a model boat. They got a bit of wood, fashioned the boat, made a mast with a sail, and they took it to the lake. The boat picked up the wind and it sailed, faster and faster. The boy was so excited: "Look, dad, my beautiful boat!" But suddenly the wind became so strong, the boat was gone! They couldn't reach it. It was lost. The boy was crying, "I've lost my boat! It's gone!" But a few days later, he was in the market and on one of the stalls he saw his boat! He said, "That's my boat!" The stall holder said, "It's not yours. If you want the boat you have to buy it! You cannot have it!"

The boy was crying. He went home to his father, and his father gave him some money. He went back to the shop and he had to buy back his own boat! He ran home shouting, "I've got my boat back! It's two times mine!" His dad asked, "What do you mean?" The boy replied, "It's mine because I made it! It was lost, but I've bought it back! It's two times mine!"

You are two times God's! God made you. You were lost in sin. God searched everywhere for you. Then He sent His Son Jesus and He found you. Although you were lost in sin, He paid a high price to buy you back. That's why the Bible says there is so much joy in Heaven over every sinner who repents! Jesus says, "You are two times mine!"

Listen to today's podcast: The Father's Love



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Jesus is coming soon!

'Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence...' (Isaiah 64.1)

Jesus will come when the Jews call upon His Name! In June 2013 what the taxi driver said on the way back to the airport was an amazing revelation. He knew who we were, and was a religious Jew wearing a kippah, yet from the moment we got in the car he began the conversation so animatedly that he kept taking the wrong road! He kept saying, 'Why did we kill Yeshua? He was a good man, He did nothing wrong, He killed no one but healed all who came. Was He Messiah, if so why did we not recognise Him, were we blind? We thought many people in our history were Messiah, but they are not alive today. I search the Scriptures for Him; can you show me where to find Him? All our nation is looking for Messiah at this moment, no one else can save us, can you show me the way?'

This is why it is so important that we preach the Gospel - suddenly Israel is opening. God, through the Holy Spirit, is opening their hearts and minds to search for Him. The Bible is so clear, Jesus said, 'if you seek Me you will find Me.'

We are in the final hour, the coming of the Lord is near. So many Biblical prophecies are being fulfilled. If I am correct in my understanding of world events, then we are challenged to win the world with great urgency. If I am wrong, we have more time, but at least the sense of urgency will stir us up to seek the outpouring of God's Spirit and we will evangelise now - and we will achieve more!

I don't want you to fear prophesied events, let these simple words encourage you: 'Whom shall I fear when darkness around me falls? You place your light around me even when I stumble and fall. Your hand is there to guide me when You hear me call, Jesus my Saviour, Jesus my Lord.'

Listen to today's podcast: Jesus is coming!



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Who is this Jesus?

In Matthew 8:23-27 Jesus was asleep, a storm arose, so the disciples woke Him saying, 'Don't you care, we're going to die! It's the end of the world...' Jesus got up, bound the storm, the winds stopped, the boat was safe, nobody died. When these strong fishermen saw the demonstration of the power that this Man had over the elements, they said, 'What kind of Man do we have in the boat?' Just as Jesus was in the middle of that storm on Galilee, today, wherever, whenever there is a crisis, a tragedy, sickness, sin, fear or pain in your life, Jesus is always there!

God is saying to you, Jesus is the only one who can deliver! He wants to reach out to you! You need to find Him, not just for your miracle of healing, but to be set free, delivered from that sin, that problem you cannot get rid of. The drug addict, the alcoholic cannot deliver themselves. You cannot break free - until you have the faith and the courage to step out of your sickness, step out of your sin and come to Jesus! You say, "I cannot see Him!" I will admit, the greater your pain the harder it is to see Jesus. The bigger your sin, the greater your shame, the harder it is to find Him. It's like darkness, you cannot see Him. I have never seen Jesus, but He found me! If you will leave your sin and your sickness and have the courage and the faith to step out in your darkness, you will find new life and new strength. I KNOW what will happen, in that moment of faith Jesus becomes closer to you than ever before! He breaks the barrier of distance, He comes directly to you.

Listen to today's podcast: Who is Jesus?

The Gift of Faith

We all accept the need of faith in our lives especially as without it we cannot be saved, but the kind of faith which moves mountains is different. It is a real gift (see the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12), but also it is demonstrably necessary to those who are called into service. It must be a vital part of our experience if we are to engage in spiritual warfare. The believer who has not yet moved a 'mountain', has not yet begun the real task of the ministry because Jesus went on to say that 'nothing is impossible'.

So often we are limited by our faith and our inability to believe God. How often are we within sight of everything we are desiring, often with earnest prayer and with the clear knowledge that God HAS promised... yet that final step is not taken, we don't go in and possess the land. It occurs in the realms of healing, finance, evangelism and missions, possibly even revival, certainly in most areas of our lives, and especially our service for God.

Believer YOU are so near to the fulfilment in your own life! Why look at the problems which make the fulfilment impossible? Look at Him and then go in and claim the land! Begin to act in the power and authority of your faith. So many times I have had to face the impossible and seen God move in power, and I challenge you to begin to do it yourself!

Listen to today's podcast: FAITH

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The Latter Rain

Through the prophet Joel, God says, 'I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh...' He goes on to talk about the first and the latter rain. I believe that the first rain fell 2000 years ago on the Day of Pentecost, and that today we are living in the days of the latter rain. As a young man I was determined I would have an experience with God that was incorruptible, that could not be destroyed, that would last until the appearing of Christ! In the late 1950s, I heard that the first World Pentecostal Conference in Jerusalem would be held on the Day of Pentecost, in May 1961. - I was determined to be there to receive a new baptism of fire! My Bible says that the church of God began in fire on the Day of Pentecost, and the church will end in fire when Christ returns!

When I got there I was so disappointed. I had gone for only one reason: to be in Jerusalem believing God would send another Pentecost. There were 3000 in the conference: 2999 tourists, and me! Nothing happened, nobody laid their hands on me, I didn't fall over, I didn't feel any power, nothing. I had done everything to be there, spent two years organising, in order to meet with God, and nothing, absolutely nothing happened! And I came home.

Exactly forty years later, May 2001, I was again in Jerusalem in the same hall, this time to evangelise! Before it started I spent days walking round the hall praying and crying to God, "40 years ago I was so hungry, so determined to receive new power from the Holy Ghost, but You didn't do anything! I didn't receive the new fire! What was wrong?"

God answered me, "Forty years ago, after you came here, what happened?" I said, "My whole life changed!" I became a missionary to Israel, coming up to eight times a year, bringing tourists. In order to get to Jerusalem I had to go behind the Iron Curtain, through the communist countries, and God opened my eyes. I made contact with believers, people were pleading with me for Bibles and God began to put a new power in my life. I thought my ministry was just Israel, but God said no, it's with the Russian speaking peoples.

My real experiences with God have never been in a church, or in a conference - not even in Jerusalem, although Jerusalem changed my whole life. It was first in my teenage cry for God - then in my throat cancer - then in my prison that I found God. What will it be next time, what will happen this year? I still don't have enough power, I'm still not satisfied that God has answered me fully, what will it be next? All I know is that it is step by step, and I have not reached the end of the road yet.

Listen to today's podcast: PENTECOST