I am
Your captive, Lord.
You’ve drawn my heart to Yours.
Now, captured by Your love, I am
Your slave.
~~~~~
Christian Faith
What God Can Do With a Rod He Can Do With You.
When the Lord, Jehovah, called Moses to go to the people of Israel and announce to them that God was ready to set them free from slavery, Moses insisted that they would not believe him. So God gave him a number of signs to perform before the people as evidence that God was indeed miraculously working with Moses.
We want to take a close look today at the first sign: “And the Lord said unto him [Moses], ‘What is that in thine hand?’ And he said, ‘a rod.’ And He said, ‘Cast it on the ground.’ And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. And the Lord said unto Moses, ‘Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail.’ And he put forth his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand.” (Exodus 4:2-4).
Our focus in this lesson is not particularly on Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage, but rather on God’s ability to do what He did to that wooden rod. This event carries great significance for us when we are seeking to believe the Lord for healing of our physical bodies. We are spiritual beings living in physical bodies, and when we have a problem in that physical body, we need to have something physical changed. Because we are seeking that change from a Spirit God, we sometimes find it hard to comprehend His ability to make those changes without using any physical instruments or medications that we can relate to with our five senses.
But let’s look at what He did to this rod. It was a solid, extraordinarily sturdy piece of wood, undoubtedly several feet long. Moses used it for a great many things during his shepherding years and then throughout the journey from Egypt to Canaan. It was real wood, and it was strong enough to serve him with no defects for well over 40 years. Yet by one simple act of exerting His spiritual power, the Lord turned that solid, totally lifeless, piece of wood into a living creature, with muscle, organs, skin, eyes, etc.
Now, this serpent was not a figment of Moses’ imagination or a mirage, because Moses was so frightened by it that he ran from it. But the Lord insisted that he pick it up, and once Moses had a grip on the serpent, it became a solid piece of wood again.
Now, we’re not talking about simply changing the shape or size of an object. We are talking about actually changing the very chemical and molecular structure of an object – changing it at the cellular level throughout the whole object. Something that was totally without life instantly became a living creature and then, by another act of God’s power, became a totally inanimate object again.
Once we get a clear picture of this event, we begin to realize just how easily that same God can change the chemical and molecular structure of any created thing – including the structure of flesh, of tumors, of diseased tissue, of abnormal limbs, of any physical element with which our body is impaired. God has no more problem neutralizing a huge tumor, or creating healthy bone where there is none, or replacing plaque coated arteries with new supple, pliant arterial tissue than He had changing a piece of wood into a serpent or changing a living being into a lifeless stick.
No matter what you are facing in your physical body today, do not limit God and His delivering, miracle working, healing power. He didn’t feel any strain on His power when He changed Moses’ rod, and He will feel no strain on His power when He changes the negative tissues in your body into healthy tissues.
And don’t, in your own mind, limit His willingness to do the work. If He was willing to do such an extraordinary thing for Moses, for no other reason than to provide examples of His ability and willingness to deliver His people — even before Jesus had died for them and given them His own righteousness — how much more is He willing to do as much to deliver the people His own Son gave His life for. The Old Covenant and God’s promise to Abraham were enough to cause Him to move in such creative power. How much more, under the New Covenant — with the finished work of Jesus Christ securing us a place in God’s heart — will He do equally miraculous works for us.
~~~
`
Winning the Lost the Jesus Way
Jesus never asked anyone to believe in Him or accept Him as the Son of God, the Messiah, on the basis of His willingness to die for their sins and give them access to Heaven at the end of their earthly lives. That concept was not the Gospel He preached. Instead, He asked them and expected them to believe in Him and accept Him on the basis of His ability and willingness to heal their bodies, deliver them from demonic torment, raise their dead, provide food and sustenance, and make their current earthly lives better.
It was only when He healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, delivered from demons, and raised the dead that He proclaimed to people that the Kingdom of God had come to them. He gave the same instructions to the teams of disciples He sent out to spread the Gospel. He told them to heal and deliver the people in every towns where they went, and while healing and delivering them, they were to announce that those acts brought the Kingdom of God into their midst. (Matthew 10:1-8; Luke 10:1-9; Luke 11:20).
Even to His own chosen twelve apostles, he said “If its hard for you to believe I’m who I say I am, then believe because of the miracles I do.” (John 14:11 paraphrased).
So why on earth do so many Christian ministers and so many church denominations keep trying to win people to the Lord without healing their sick, cleansing their lepers, delivering those in bondages and addictions, and providing for their physical needs? We have whole church denominations that claim they’re preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, yet they deny that the baptism of the Holy Spirit and His nine supernatural ministry gifts are for today. They teach – both in their seminaries and their pulpits – that the Lord does not heal today the way He did when Jesus walked the earth. The teach that there is no such thing as demonic possession or oppression unless its just in some far off heathen land.
These ministry leaders scorn and point their fingers at believers who pray for the dead to be raised. And they send their member and prospective members to human doctors, human mental health counselors, and government welfare systems instead of giving them the miraculous help Jesus instructed all true believers to offer the world. It’s Jesus who made it clear that people needed to be touched in their earthly bodies and helped in their earthly lives if they were going to be able to recognize the goodness of God and the deity of His Son. (Let me add here that I’m not implying that it’s a sin for someone to go to a human doctor or to currently be on government welfare. If there is no faith in the church they attend to get them well or to meed their material needs, they have no other choice. What I’m saying is that it is definitely a sin for our churches and church leaders to fail to be in a position to offer the miraculous in place of the costly, imperfect, and often harmful human ways of dealing with the problems of this life.)
Let’s wake up, church, and let’s stop deceiving ourselves. It’s time – past time – we got totally honest with ourselves and each other. If we really want to win the world to Jesus Christ, we’re going to have to get back to doing it the way Jesus Himself did it. Let’s get into His Word and onto our knees in prayer until we come to a real believing faith that can and will obey Jesus’ commission. We need to be daily healing the sick, delivering the demonicly oppressed, and meeting people’s needs – and then announcing to them that we have done so because the God who created them loves them so much He wants to meet all those needs for them. Then we can explain how all that power is found only in the name of Jesus Christ because He’s the one who paid the price for our sin, opening the channel for the Lord to be able to give us these blessings freely.
Let’s get ourselves to a level of faith where we won’t have to send hurting people to the world’s systems – which are imperfect at best and dangerous at their worst. We must bring people the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ – including His healing, delivering power and His material provision. Then they won’t want to cling so tightly to the things of this world. They will want to cling to the God who delivers and blesses them. It’s the kindness and goodness of the Lord that leads people to repentance. (Romans 2:4).
If we ever get back to truly believing and obeying Jesus – preaching the same Gospel He preached — we will win thousands more to the Lord than we are winning now. And what a glorious harvest we will have for the Kingdom of God.
~~~~~
Is Your Situation Impossible???
Do you find yourself in a situation that there seems to be no way out of — no solution — no victory??? Well then, it’s time to get excited, because the truth is that you’re in a very good place for a miracle. When the situation looks impossible — really impossible — turn it over to God. In His mind, it’s already fixed.
The fact is that He has already created a way to make it happen. He’s just waiting for you to give him the green light to put His perfect plan into action. He works first in the spirit realm, because that’s the realm of reality. All things physical were created by spirit, and all things natural are constantly changing — especially when spiritual forces are activated upon them.
God always works in that same mode. He creates the answers we need in the spirit realm first, and our faith lays hold of them. Then by speaking and acting on that faith, we bring that spirit reality into our natural world. If we look at His Word carefully — especially during creation and throughout the earthly ministry of Jesus, we see that pattern of behavior repeated time and again.
So if it looks impossible — get into His Word and find the promises that He is the one who makes a way where there is no way. Find the promises that make it clear He wants us to have life, health, provision, loving friends and family, successful labor, peace, and joy. Feed on those Words from His heart until they create strong faith in your own heart; then turn your situation over to Him and believe you receive the answer. While you’re awaiting the manifestation, speak only His promises on the subject. Do exactly what His Word tells you to do. And watch the “impossible” become just another job well-done by Almighty God.
~~~~~
Simple Faith
Why not simplify your life and accept Jesus? He came to bring us healing, hope, and victory for life on this earth — and to give us a gloriously happy eternity with Him and the Father God. All we have to do is accept Him into our hearts. But He said we have to do it as a little child would.
When someone offers a little child a gift, that child doesn’t stop and try to work at making himself into a better person so that he’s “worthy” to receive that gift. No. A little child will just reach out his hand and grasp the cookie, the doll, the toy truck. Offer a little child a Teddy bear, and he’ll not say, “No. I’m not good enough yet to get a Teddy bear.” On the contrary, he’ll reach out immediately, grab it from our hand, and hug it tightly to himself.
So why do adults have the idea that when Jesus offers us Himself and all that He did to change our lives for eternity, He’s going to hold it all back until we clean ourselves up and get ourselves in good enough shape to “deserve” Him and His gifts? We’re never going to deserve Jesus. But if we’ll be like a child and just reach out and grasp Him, and hug Him tightly to our hearts, we’ll have all we need for this life and for eternity.
Faith is really very simple.
~~~
You Don’t Have To Be a Christian To Call on Jesus
“Here comes Jesus!”
“Jesus of Nazareth is coming!”
“Do you see Him yet?”
“Here He comes!”
“Here comes Jesus!”
Excitement was rampant, and cries of “Hosanna” filled the air. Shouts of joy and triumph could be heard for miles along the road, and people rushed to lay palm branches and their personal garments as a carpet of welcome. Jesus of Nazareth was coming to Jerusalem.
This carpenter-teacher who had journeyed among them for nearly three years, teaching them, healing them, feeding them, forgiving them, raising their dead. This miracle worker, this wise man, this man who was gentle enough to draw crowds of children to his side yet bold enough He would soon drive money-changers from the temple with a whip — this man whom many claimed was the prophesied Messiah of Jehovah — this man was coming again to Jerusalem! I’m sure, had we been there, we would have heard the message repeated over and over again for miles: “Here comes Jesus! Here comes Jesus!”
We in the Christian world celebrate that event on one special day out of the year, and we call it Palm Sunday. We have special services and some of us wave palm branches in the air to commemorate the day that is often referred to by church historians as Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. But that event happened over 2000 years ago. One could say it’s all history now; it’s been said and done; it’s over.
But not so, my friends! I am thrilled beyond words to be able to tell you that Jesus is still coming to anyone and everyone who would like to receive Him. He’s a living, vital, right-now Jesus. He is the I AM. That term is what we English-speaking people have accepted as the translation of the name God gave Himself when He spoke with Abraham, as recorded in Genesis —-. The Hebrew speaking people recognize that the name means much more. It quite literally translates as “The self-existent one who causes all other things to be; the one who is and becomes whatever He desires to become.” And the great I AM desires to become everything that His creation needs.
Jesus of Nazareth is alive today, and He’s still loving people, teaching people, feeding people, forgiving people, delivering people, healing people and making them whole. And, yes, He’s still raising people from the dead. He’s the same Jesus who fulfilled the words of the ancient prophets by riding into Jerusalem on a donkey that day. He’s the same Jesus who worked myriads of miracles for the people. He’s the same Jesus who went to the cross to pay for the rebellion and sin of all the human race.
He’s the same Jesus who rose from the grave and took His throne as Lord of the universe. He’s the same Jesus who promised that if we would call on Him and receive Him as Lord, He would freely fill us with His own eternal life and with power to serve Him. He’s the same Jesus who promised that after our life of service to Him on this earth, we would move on to Heaven and live with Him forever. No questions — no if’s, and’s or but’s. No struggling to get there, no sacrifice, no hard work, no price to pay. Jesus did the work. He gave Himself as the sacrifice. He paid the whole price. We receive the benefit as a free gift. And the Word of God, in Hebrews 13:8, says “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.”
So I can tell you confidently: “Here comes Jesus! He’s coming to you today! He’s coming because He sees your need; He sees your trouble; He sees your sorrow and your pain; He sees your desperation and hopelessness. He hears your questions; He hears your confusion; He hears the crying you do in secret. And He’s coming to you because He loves you.
Did you know that you don’t have to be a Christian for Jesus Christ to love you? Sometimes we who call ourselves Christians tend to flock together so tightly that we become almost like a clique, and the rest of the world feels as though they can’t break through the wall to become a part. But my message to the “rest of the world” today is that you don’t have to become a part of the “clique of Christianity.” All you have to do is get to know Jesus, the real person.
And did you know that you don’t have to be a Christian to call on Jesus? That’s right. Jesus isn’t listening just for the call of the Christians. Certainly, He’s attuned to their cries and He rushes to their help when they need Him, but Jesus the Christ is listening — intently — for the cries of all the millions of His creation in this world who don’t know Him at all. His heart is waiting expectantly for their voice to call out His name. And He’s ready to answer that call swiftly. He’s ready to come home with you at any time.
When Jesus walked the earth, He was often found in the homes of those who were not active believers. People whom the scriptures refer to as “publicans” and “sinners” found that Jesus was more than willing to spend time with them and teach them the truth about God — and show them God’s love by healing their sick and delivering those in demonic bondage. In fact, He often received hateful criticism from the religious leaders of His day because He gave Himself so freely to those who did not have a relationship with the true God. But Jesus’ response was simply that His main reason for coming into the earth was to find those who did not know Him and offer Himself to them.
Zacchaeus was one such man. (His story is told in the Word of God, the book of Luke, chapter 19.) Although technically a descendant of Abraham, Zacchaeus was chief among publicans — which means he made his living working for the Roman government, collecting taxes from his fellow Israelites — and, by his own admission, cheating them. He had heard about Jesus, but he was no believer. However, he was curious, and as Jesus passed through Jericho, right before his entry into Jerusalem on the donkey, Zacchaeus, a short man, climbed into a tree so that he could see and hear Jesus easily. Jesus called him down from the tree and invited Himself to Zacchaeus’ house.
Zacchaeus recognized Jesus as the Messiah and opened to Him his home and his heart. We know that he invited Jesus in with his whole heart, because, after spending only a short time with Him, Zacchaeus voluntarily confessed his sin of cheating and promised to make restoration of everything with interest. Jesus did not ask Zacchaeus to do so. The man simply opened his heart to Jesus, and a changed nature was the result.
So, I will say once more: You do not need to be a Christian to call on Jesus. No matter what religious tag you wear — including that of “Atheist” — that tag will not keep Jesus from coming to you if your heart is reaching out for Him and inviting Him in. What will happen to that religious tag after you meet Jesus? Who cares? I can guarantee you — without qualification — that if you ever meet the real Jesus, you won’t care.
Here comes Jesus! He’s coming to us today — Christian and non-Christian — He’s coming. With words of comfort and reassurance to destroy fear — with delivering power to destroy the yokes of the devil — with healing and wholeness for body, mind, and spirit — with wisdom and direction that leads to successful solutions — with the power of His Holy Spirit and all of the anointing for service — with eternal life to overcome death once and for all and forever.
Jesus is coming! He’s coming to you! Right now! If you don’t already know Him, just open your heart to Him now. Like Zacchaeus, invite Him in – yield yourself to His love, and let Him meet all of your needs today.
Sandra Pavloff Conner/ Radical About Jesus President
This message is also available as a video lesson on your YouTube channel.
You Are Not Alone
God is thinking about YOU today.
In Jeremiah 29:11, He tells us that His thoughts and plans for us are for our welfare and well-being —- to give us a future and a hope —- and not for harm or calamity. He’s thinking health and wholeness, peace and prosperity for you. Be sure you get into agreement with Him.
Our Words Rule – Video Lesson
If you’re struggling in your faith, or you find that God’s promises don’t seem to be manifesting in your life the way you need them to, this lesson will help you. In fact, the truths presented here, when absorbed and acted upon, can totally change your life.
This video includes a full-length Bible study recorded live at a church class a couple months ago.
Psalm 91 is For Today
God is our protector and our healer. So we can live victoriously in a troubled and dangerous world. Let this message encourage and strengthen your faith:
Radical About Jesus Ministries 