God with us

The cross is identification, not just that we identify with Jesus, but He identifies with us in our humanity. God sent His Son and allowed Him to suffer, to be rejected and despised. The Bible describes Him as a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Jesus was not born in a palace, but in a filthy animal stable. He never owned a house or received a salary or pension. God sent Jesus to reconcile us, to bring us back to Him, and so that we can understand sometimes suffering leads us back to God.

For over 50 years I have been visiting the former concentration camps, all across Europe. I have seen the names and wept over them, just as I have wept over the concentration camps. I want the Holocaust Survivors to have their names written in another record - God's Book of Life.

Jesus is called 'Immanuel', meaning 'God with us'. When I was in a communist prison, the one thing that comforted me more than anything else when I was crying out to God and praying for Him to release me, was when I realised, God is my Father! I want to remind you that God is not just 'God' or a 'Holy God', He is a Father, He is your Father. When I was in my prison, crying out, "Oh God, help me!" - I was angry with God! I said, "Oh God, You are in Heaven, paradise, no shortage of food, no torture, no death! But I'm in a prison!" I am sure that so many Jews in their suffering, echoed those words. Then I was reminded, God saw my suffering. God saw their suffering. That's why He sent His Son into this world to suffer with us, to die, in order that He might deliver, rescue and give eternal life.

The greatest message I can give you is that you are not alone! Wherever you are, God is with you. The Son of God, Immanuel, is always with us!

Listen to this week's podcast: How Great God's Love



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The Region Beyond

We need a new power from God, the power of the Holy Spirit in us today, as on the Day of Pentecost, but the key which will release that power into our lives now is a new level of faith in Jesus Christ.

In Matthew 17, when Jesus' disciples failed to cast out the demon from the epileptic boy and then asked him why, He rebuked them for their unbelief: 'If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, remove hence to yonder place and it shall remove,' AND AFTER IT DOES, 'nothing will be impossible to you!' (Matthew 17:20).

There is something hidden in this story. Yes, Jesus said in answer to their question, 'If you had faith... you could move mountains.' But the real secret is hidden. We get stuck at the thought that mortal man could move anything bigger than himself. We agonise over the reality of moving that mountain. We call our friends to stand with us in believing prayer because this mountain is proving harder than we thought to move. Then when it happens - that miracle, that financial provision - we become so excited that we drop the real key down the drain in our excitement!

The disciples had missed the opportunity of releasing the greatest power into their lives. Jesus was putting a key in their hands, and if they would only use this key, their lives would never be the same again! There is a region beyond.

We need to realise that God has a power and a glory far greater than anything we have ever seen. Are we, in our spiritual experience, ready to cross the barrier, to move to something so big we could hardly dream about it? How big is God's power? Who was the greatest man in the Bible - Moses, Elijah, Paul, Peter? With all the miracles they saw God perform, did any one of them ever see more than 5% of God's power? How big is our God? Twenty times bigger, a thousand times bigger than what they saw? When I begin to look at how big my God really is, suddenly I want this key - the one Jesus showed His disciples - to open a door into a totally new experience. It is as if all my life I have been looking only at a darkened mirror image of God.

Of all the gifts of God, faith is the greatest, it's the key to the 'normal' Christian life. This gift of faith is greater than you realise. Just read Mark 11:22, 'Yeshua answered and He said to them, "May the faith of God be in you."' (Aramaic Bible.) This gift of faith is God's faith working through you.

Be encouraged as you watch this short teaching extract: The authority to see miracles

What is faith?

The Bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God. If you live by faith and go by faith, that pleases God. What is faith? Faith is one of the most misunderstood words today. We all know the phrase 'people of faith'. - It is used to describe Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists. We need to redefine faith. Faith is trusting God with everything. You trust Him with your life, your healing, with your salvation; you trust Him with your money, with your family; you trust Him when you get out of bed in the morning. You trust Him when you've no food in the house. You trust Him when you've no money to pay the rent. Faith trusts God in extreme circumstances.

When Moses sent out the twelve spies to view the land WHICH GOD HAD PROMISED TO GIVE, they all saw the same things, a land flowing with milk and honey. Green, green grass, corn better than Egypt, fruit so big it had been just a dream when they were captives, rivers and lakes of freshest sweet water, plenty of fish (Galilee is famous - I've eaten its fish, so I know), lovely valleys for the cattle, beautiful mountains (one snow-capped all year round) - literally springs in the valleys and streams in the desert. Far better than the Egypt they had left. It was everything that God had promised and more! Of course they saw the walled cities, soldiers guarding them and the fact that some of the inhabitants were giants. This was not Eden, not an empty land - they would have to fight for their inheritance!

The important fact was that all twelve saw precisely the same things, stood in the same places, had the same God. But when they returned to Moses, their reports differed in certain essentials. All twelve told the Israelites, yes this was THE Promised Land, no disagreement, but the majority (ten against two) said that it was impossible to enter. After they had all excitedly shared the joy that the fulfilment would bring and yes, it was all that God had said and more, the ten said that the difficulties were too great. There was no way that they could defeat the enemies and actually possess the promise! They were looking in human terms, seeing only their own limited resources and accepting failure as the norm. Only two said yes they agreed with everything the ten had said, but because God WAS with them, they could possess the promise now, He would not fail them. They reminded the whole of Israel of all that God had done in the past, how that He was still with them and that in His Name they would win, however hard the fight!

It was God's decision to abide by the majority decision that compelled the whole nation of Israel to wander in a barren wilderness for forty more years before they finally entered. What was the one thing that went wrong? Faith! They didn't trust God in the extremity of their circumstances.

Watch this short teaching on 'What is Faith'

One touch from Jesus

A ruler in the synagogue came to Jesus and said, 'My daughter is dying; if You will lay Your hands on her, she will live!' So Jesus began to journey to the man's house. But while He was on His way, a crowd gathered around Him. In that crowd is a woman. She is in a critical condition. The Bible says she had been bleeding for 12 years; she had spent all her money on doctors in a vain attempt to get well. But the doctors could do nothing. And in actual fact, after all her treatment, she was worse.

Through this story I want to show you that there is a solution to every problem and crisis. In your struggle, in your battle for survival, reach out and find Jesus. What mystery there is in touch. When a child is born, that first touch by the mother means so much. She has carried the child for 9 months yet has never touched him; and in that first touch her hopes and dreams are realised. Do you understand how important physical contact is? The child falling over in the street cries out; there is only one comfort, when the mother comes, picks up the child and tenderly embraces him. A mother's touch is an expression of her love. It is the same with Jesus. These two people in Mark 5 recognised that if they can just touch Him a miracle will happen.

'Angels beckon me to come a little closer. Then Lord You said to me, leave behind your problems. Fears and troubles, some untold, surrounded by Your love. My tears You'll wipe away. To lean upon Your promises, never turning from You away.' - (Lamb of God)

Be encouraged as you listen to this week's podcast: One touch from Jesus.



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'Jesus Jesus Jesus', 'Dios es Amor' & 'Lamb of God' used by kind permission of www.vinesong.com

Prayer Answering God

Our faith is not faith until it is put to the test! Without testing, without proving it, it's just something in the mind. Peter wrote, '...so that the TESTING OF YOUR FAITH, being more precious than gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ!' - 1 Peter 1:6-7.

God puts this test of faith in all our lives. He tested my faith. How did I react in 1964 when, after 3 months of prayer, God did not heal my throat cancer? Did God already know that I would pray in desperation, "If You want me to stay in England, don't heal me - but if You want me to leave the security of my home, church and ministry and go to Russia and Israel - I need an immediate miracle to heal me"? It took three months before I came to the spiritual place with God where the miracle happened - three months in spiritual growth, followed by a sudden revelation - an explosion - and in that moment the healing was instantaneous! When I was in a communist prison thirty years ago for Bible smuggling, I was almost one year in the prison, believing that God would work the miracle to get me out - but that year was the best year of my life! Yes, I was separated from my wife and my children, my youngest daughter was only three years old - but I grew all the time in my experience with God! It was a testing of my faith, but when God did it, it was sudden, a big miracle! I travelled the world for two years afterwards, talking about that miracle. I preached to more than a million people, sometimes ten thousand at a time - a quarter of a million came to Christ because of that testimony! But the miracle took one year of prayer.

Imagine if He had answered my first prayers and released me from the prison within one or two days, what would have happened? Suppose God had organised things 'extremely well' and got me out of prison really quickly - I would not be evangelising in Russia the way I do now, I would not have the ministry I have today. The longer I stayed in the prison, the bigger the miracle became - in the end it was the British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, who came to Czechoslovakia, just to get me out! I was not thrown out of the 'back door'! I was released in a blaze of publicity! That's God! But the whole miracle took one year to prepare. I didn't let go of God even in the darkest days of despair - I knew, I believed - but it hurt and it was hard. It's the same with you. Hold on. Don't let go of God! God WILL do it! Even if it takes three months, three years, God WILL do it!

Listen to today's podcast: PRAYER ANSWERING GOD



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All will be well!

'Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them' (Is 3:10)

Time with God is so important. If only you and I knew the time that God has chosen, it would make so much difference to us! When Jesus was walking on the water towards the disciples in Matthew 14, it was the fourth watch of the night. This is the most dangerous and most difficult hour in the night - the time when most people die, when the body temperature is at its lowest. It's the time when some of the biggest fears and the biggest problems come, just before the new day dawns. It is so significant that when Jesus is walking towards the disciples in that storm-tossed ship, the time He chooses is the darkest hour, when the storm is at its highest. But Jesus is there! In your life and mine there are many times when we need the power of God to deliver us, but God's timing is perfect, coming at the darkest hour, when the storm is at its fiercest and our need is the greatest.

I have learnt after more than 60 years of ministry that God always answers prayer. And I want to encourage you. God never fails - He cannot fail. But to get the answer at the right hour we have to be ready, we have to be obedient, and God will answer - at the last minute. In my life God so often answers one minute before midnight. One minute before the crisis erupts. We have many kinds of problems, many different needs, but I believe in miracles. Do you?

You can't have a miracle without first having a problem. If the boat had not been in a storm on the sea, there would have been no miracle with Jesus walking on the water. If you want to see miracles, God is going to use your problem, your difficulty, your crisis in order to work the miracle. That crisis you have - that sickness, that cancer, that arthritis, that financial problem - God will use this to create a miracle. When I had lung cancer in 2003, my daughter said, 'unless the doctors prove you have cancer, you'll never be able to prove that God healed you!'

Every one of us can be in a storm, just like these disciples in the boat. When the disciples saw Him walking on the water their first reaction was fear. They thought they'd seen a ghost - they didn't realise it was Jesus. They were so afraid because they were convinced their boat was going to sink and they didn't believe they would last the night. In the darkest hour of your night, when your financial problems are the greatest, when your sickness is getting worse, when you're crippled with pain, in that dark hour, there is one person who will always be there - Jesus. And He chooses the darkest, the hardest, moment to come and walk towards in order to work your miracle.

I know many of you reading this face difficulties and sicknesses, those problems will soon come to an end. I want to show how in your trials there is an answer, but sometimes that answer comes through hardship. In Mark 5 a ruler of the synagogue came to Jesus because his daughter was dying. He pleaded with Jesus to come to his house, saying, "Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live." What a tremendous statement! Today, in your tragedy, in your battle to survive, reach out and find Jesus. He will answer. He has all power!

Make this your declaration of faith, as Vinesong sing: 'All will be well, the Son of God is on my side, all will be well!'

Listen to this week's podcast: All will be well!



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Jesus is your healer

God will do so much more than you ask, His power is without limit. I want you to call upon Him today, not just for healing from your sickness, but to heal your heart. When God heals you, you get a new life, it's like being born again; He will fill you with a new energy and vitality. 

I'm not a healer. I'm not a healing evangelist - I cannot heal anybody - only Jesus can! That's what I tell the sinners, the unbelievers so they don't say 'David, heal me!' And when they get healed they don't say 'David healed me.' - They say, 'I prayed, I called upon Jesus - and He worked the miracle!' - Jesus gets the glory! I only want to talk about Jesus! 

Before you read further, let me remind you that I have experienced two outstanding personal miracles of healing from cancer, both confirmed medically. In 1964 I was healed of cancer on my vocal chord and in 2003, healed of cancer in my right lung!

Physical healing is an integral part of the atonement. It has been bought for us together with our salvation, through Christ's suffering and death. Isaiah 53 states clearly that "He was wounded for our transgressions... And with His stripes we are healed." We believe that our sin was taken away and the penalty was paid by Christ's suffering and death. We do not question our salvation, which is by faith in the finished work of Christ's atonement. However the Bible clearly states that not only our sin but also our sickness was borne by Him. We need to apply the same level of faith to our healing from sickness as we do to our salvation from sin.

If you question that the scripture I referred to in 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. Matthew 8:16-17 says Jesus 'healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, He 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, death and resurrection. Remember, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever!

Sin and sickness are not from God! 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.

I want to help you pray: If you want healing, put your hand where the sickness is and say this prayer with me: I know Jesus is alive, I believe the Bible, God cannot lie! Your Word says Jesus took my sickness and healed me - and I take my healing by faith. In Jesus' Name I will fight in prayer and in the Word of God until I am healed! I command you devil, get out of my body! My body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit. Devil, get out of my life, my home, my family! In Jesus' Name I defeat you devil! I will live in victory until Jesus comes! Amen!

Listen to today's podcast: Healing