healing

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-20 (NLT)

I can’t tell you how many times I have read this verse. Actually I pray it every day over me and my girls that we will go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit and we will know that Jesus is with us always.

Christians call this the Great Commission. The last recorded words of the Lord Jesus Christ before he ascended into heaven.

It has been my lifelong ambition to fulfil this last directive that Jesus gave us. As you have possibly read before in my blog, telling people about Jesus is my favourite thing and all I ever wanted to do was be a missionary and do exactly that.

But on Saturday night I had an amazing encounter while praying for the next day when I was scheduled to speak at Our Brave New Life at Camp Adair in Hunua. As I wrote last week I was so nervous about sharing with a group of people who had all suffered the death of a loved one. Those nerves never went and this was what had me in prayer the night before.

As I was praying that God would use me and speak through me to bring hope to this amazing group I clearly heard, “Be sure of this: I am with you always.”

It was so clearly spoken that it stopped me abruptly. I knelt there in awe at what I had just heard. Jesus was saying to me, “Be sure of this: I am with you always.”

Tears rolled down my face at the promise just given to me personally by my Saviour.

Throughout the night I continued to repeat those words over and over again and even when I was awoken from my sleep by teenagers coming home in the early hours of the morning, I went straight back to sleep repeating them again.

And yes, He was with me as I spoke to a most incredibly brave group of people on Sunday. I was honoured and humbled to share my story amongst a group of people who have all experienced their own incredible loss. And what a wonderful day we had together!

But what I want to encourage you all with this week is this:

Jesus says to each of you: “Be sure of this: I am with you always.”

The Cambridge dictionary states;

Sure means: to be certain; without any doubt.

Always means: every time or all the time or forever.

So Jesus is making a promise that we are to be certain and be without any doubt that he will be with each of us every time, all the time and forever.

As I stood up after being introduced, I said to Jesus in my mind, “Okay, Jesus you promised you’d be with me so let’s go.” And the nerves that had consumed me for the last couple of weeks disappeared as I walked to the front absolutely confident he was with me.

Be confident: Jesus is with you always!

He’s with you in your work place, your school room and your home.

He’s right beside you through your trial, your success, your failure and your joy.

He’s holding you through your tears, your laughter, your small talk and your deep and meaningful conversations.

He’s beside you in your arguments, your sarcasm and even when foul words come hurtling out your lips. And when you love someone, show kindness, are gentle and comfort another.

Everywhere, anywhere, and all the time – Jesus is with you no matter what!!!!

Walk confident in that promise and never fear – He is with you!!

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.

Romans 8:38 (NLT)

Neil Leatherbarrow

Once again we have a guest writer. Mark and I became friends with Neil and Karen Leatherbarrow when we first arrived in Amsterdam in 1992. This lovely couple took us under their wings and became like family when we were there. They went on to have three beautiful children, two sons – Luke and Jason and a daughter – Charlotte. Tragically Charlotte was killed in an accident a few years back at the young age of 12. Neil has written an amazing book on his life which is just in the process of being professionally publish.

I am thrilled Neil has agreed to share an excerpt from this book that is soon to be released.

We arrived early and were invited to the prayer time before the meeting started. I instantly recognised the man from the tract I’d read. His face just seemed to glow. I felt like I was in the presence of some intense aura. I was really nervous, trying not to shake and a frail old man sitting next to me asked very gently if I was afraid. I couldn’t speak so I just nodded in affirmation. He reassured me there was no need to be. He laid his hand on my forehead and just spoke a simple prayer for peace. That was it, I immediately stopped shaking and felt a deep calm come over me.

I thought there was going to be a loud prayer of hellfire and brimstone or something. But there was no fanfare, no struggle, and in a matter of seconds I realised I was free from whatever was causing my nightmares. During the worship service the music was very joyful and I watched the old man praying for people. Some would shake like me, some made loud noises, and others would just fall over and then wake up a minute later. For a newcomer like me, this was probably the wackiest church service I’d ever attended.

At the end of the service, which must have carried on for at least two hours, I spoke with this delightful old man. I discovered his name was Jim. He was eighty-six years old and had been doing this kind of thing for the last forty years. He had a very kind-looking face with white hair and a gleeful look in his eyes. I asked him if I could follow him on his healing mission whenever he was near my town. He welcomed the idea and then set off in his old Austin Minor.

When I returned home that night, I was a different person, like a dark shadow had been lifted. I laid in my bed in the darkness and for the first time in eight years I felt calm and still. I slept so peacefully, no nightmares, no fear. I slept so well, I over-slept and ended up being late for college the next morning. I could never forget what had happened that night. I remembered watching the movie ‘Poltergeist’ and completely sympathising with the young girl who was haunted by an evil spirit. The demonic images in that movie were not fiction for me they were all too real in my nightmares. The difference I felt that night was radical, would it last was this change permanent? Only time would tell.

Knowing the strength of God is not just knowing the power of His name, and I by no means am taking away the significance of calling on His name, but I believe that is just the beginning. When Jim Rattenbury from the London Healing Mission called on the name of Jesus to take away my fear the result was immediate. The Bible says the “gifts of God are without repentance”(Roms 11:29), meaning no matter what state of mind or attitude of heart, that gift remains the same. When my fear was taken away an inner peace replaced that fear. That peace has always remained with me, whenever the storms in life have attacked me that inner peace has stood strong defying any presence of fear as if to say,

” Be still! You shall not overcome me.”

This peace is not something I had to practice or learn. It’s not something I had to earn as I progressed in my journey of faith. It is a gift given freely and exercised liberally with no cost, no strings attached. My Father in heaven gives good gifts to His children (Matt 7:11). One of the names of Jesus is the Prince of Peace and how do I know Him? I know His peace, a peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

When I returned home from the prayer time with Jim, before I even went to bed I could feel the difference. As I stood in my room and closed my eyes I could feel the presence of peace in me, and all around me. It was tangible. No power of suggestive thought, no hypnotic trance, no chanting, not anything could beat the very real presence of God I felt in my room that night. That sense of peace has never left me since. Anybody who knows me can bear witness to this fact. The gift of God given to me so freely is how I know He is real.

The Leatherbarrow Family

I have spent a lot of time around creative people who are chaotic in nature, and the reason why they like having me around them is because I bring peace into their situation. This is not something I have to work at or try to conjure up. I just need to be myself. It is a gift. When I picked up writing my first book, it was not something I had trained for or perfected over many years of writing. After one year of writing and editing my book, and also many rejections later I was signed by my publisher. It is a gift. These gifts from God are not exclusive we all have gifts given to us freely. It is up to us to discover what those gifts are and how we can invest in them for the good of others as well as for ourselves. I believe this is part of what makes our journey with God so unique.