Hope brought to hopelessness
Wrist healed by mistake?
July 19, 2010
Tonight out on the Las Vegas Boulevard Strip, we ran across a man named, Donovan in his late 20’s, sitting on one of the walkway bridges that crosses the street. He had a sign saying, “Wife pregnant, need help, God Bless.” Of course you don’t really know if you can trust the sign or not, but I do trust the Holy Spirit, and I felt prompted to go over to him. I asked him, “How are you doing?” It was a pretty obvious answer, but Jesus often asked obvious questions like He did in Luke 18:40-42—
40 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him, 41 saying, “What do you want Me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.” 42 Then Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.”
Donovan’s response was, “I’m not doing very well at all. I just lost my job several weeks back, and I haven’t been able to get anything. I don’t know what I am going to do.”
At this point, Dawn nor I had not even talked about God yet. All we did was make an effort to go out of our way for this person. He
then started talking about Jesus, and how he is a believer. He is part of the Calvary Chapel denomination. Dawn and I attended Calvary Chapel churches for about eight years, so I knew this guy was legitimate, and not lying to us. We were able to pray against his hopelessness.He then said, “It is so hard sitting out here. Last night and tonight was the first time I have ever done anything like this. It is so humiliating. I just don’t know what to do. People are so mean and cold hearted towards me. It is pretty obvious we are living in the end times because the Bible says the love will grow cold.”
The scriptures that Donovan was referring to is Matthew 24:11-13—
11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
I had to agree with him that the “love” in Vegas is very cold. From our experience, it is very rare to see people smiling or laughing. People don’t want to talk to each other, or even show common courtesies. There are so many people that look so empty. Now with that said, we have a great opportunity.
Jesus said something for us to grab a hold of. In the book of Matthew chapter 5 verses 14-16, the Bible says—
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."
If you are in a pitch black room, and somebody lights a match, it is very easy to see the lit flame. We as Christians are called to shine brightly. The darker the region we are in, the brighter our “light” is shining.
So too, if the love is cold, any kind gesture is like a roaring fire. I am not saying that Donovan was cynical. He was simply pointing out something he had noticed, that the love is cold. What I am saying though, is that we are called to love people radically with the love of Christ pouring through us. If you want to change the world, you have got to love the person in front of you.
There are several scriptures that we need to get embedded within us. Jesus said in Mark 12:29-31—
29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 30 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Solomon wrote in Proverbs 25:21-22—
21 If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; 22 For so you will heap coals of fire on his head, and the LORD will reward you.
Even if we are living in the end times, that should not create a complacent attitude among Christians. Our attitudes should not be, "Well, I'm just going to kick back and wait for the rapture." If anything, that should motivate us beyond measure. If Jesus really is coming back soon and rapturing the church out of here, there are going to be a lot of people left behind. If you have read Revelations chapter 6-19, the earth is not a very nice place to be.
Also, the people in these chapters believe a lie that makes it very difficult to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. If someone doesn’t accept Jesus, the Bible makes it clear they are separated from Him for eternity in hell.
I say to the Body of Christ, “Arise, get in the game. Make your life count. Arise in your true identity and power in who you are in Jesus Christ.”
Lord, please bless Donovan and his family. Let him cry out to You even more, and please answer him. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
At another time during the night, we say a women walking with a cane. We went up to her and said, “We have been seeing radical healing miracles on the street. I see that you are walking with a cane, can we command instant healing in your body?”
The woman replied, “I just had back surgery not too long ago. I have two steel rods in my back now. I am in constant pain. My back is never going to get better.”
“Ok,” I said, “can we do it anyways?”
“Well, I guess so,” she said.
“I command all the pain to go right now to the cross and never return. I command this body to come into alignment with the will of the Father right now. I speak strength to your legs, in the name of Jesus. Test it out, do you feel any change?”
“No, I don’t feel anything.”
“Ok, can I go again?”
“Sure.”
“I command all the pain to go right now and never return in the name of Jesus. I speak strength into your legs as well. How does it feel now?”
“I still don’t feel any change. My back still hurts.”
I do know that something happened in her body though, because I actually felt power leave my mouth when I spoke strength into her legs. I could feel she was getting breakthrough in her legs, but she was not very receptive to it.
She then said, “You know, my wrist constantly hurts all the time too. I don’t have any pain in my wrist at all right now. That is really strange.”
Dawn and I talked with her a little more and found out that she is a believer in Jesus Christ. However, it is time that the believers in Jesus become believers in Jesus. He is the Great Physician, nothing is impossible for Him. We need to believe in the real Jesus. He is really great.
I was actually surprised that she had no change in her back. When we pray for people, we are way more shocked if we don’t see any changes, rather than when changes do occur. Healing people in the name of Jesus is the normal Christian lifestyle. (See Matthew 10:8.)
After inquiring with the Lord why there were no changes in her back, the Lord said, “She is the one who said that her back is not going to get better. She is the one who declared that over herself.”
This aligns perfectly with scripture. In the book of Job 22:28, the Bible says—
28 You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; so light will shine on your ways.
In other words, we get what we speak.
Dawn and I also approached many other people. We talked with people wearing ankle braces, in wheelchairs, in constant pain, who are homeless, and who were deaf. I am always amazed that people would rather stay in their condition than give God a chance.
We talked with a deaf couple, and the lady wrote out on paper saying, “I like the quite.” I know that is not a true statement, but I wonder why a person wouldn’t want to get healed.
If I had a serious physical issue, and a stranger walked up to me saying, “Do you want to be healed of that?” I think I would be curious on how they would do it. I would at least gather some information before rejecting the offer.
Lord, you are so wonderful. You desire to heal all your people. Please soften hearts, and prove your love in power and might. Thank you, Lord. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
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