Footprints are evidence that we’ve been in a certain place. When Bill was a young boy, the circus animals broke loose in his home town of Peru, Indiana. Later that night, they heard loud noises outside of their house in the country. When they got up the next morning and looked outside, there were elephant footprints all over their yard. There was no denying that an elephant had visited them the night before.

Many of you have seen little children trying to step in their daddy’s footprints that he may have left in the sand or the snow. Maybe you’ve even done it yourself. Sometimes, they’ll even put his much-too-big shoes on to make it seem more real. They have a desire to be like him and to do what he has done. Somehow, it makes them feel closer to him to stand where he stood. I know you’ve heard the phrase, “He’s walking in his father’s footsteps.” In other words, he’s like his father, or he’s doing what his father did.

At times, people will want to make a more permanent statement of their existence by stepping into wet concrete. Recently, I watched an old I Love Lucy rerun where Lucy stole John Wayne’s cemented footprints. They were valuable to her because, even though he wasn’t with her, they were something that belonged to him and it made her feel close to him.

Many people go to the Holy Land because they want to walk where Jesus actually walked while he was here on earth. Someday I hope to do the same thing. There’s something about walking down the same street where we know Jesus walked and healed the sick. That point of contact binds us in a great way and produces a supernatural closeness to Him. Many times, this is a life-changing event, and we’ll never be the same.

About twelve years ago, I was privileged to visit my sister, who was living in Poland. Needless to say, I was excited about seeing her. Not only that, but I was also excited about going to Europe and even visiting some of the concentration camps used during the Holocaust. It turned out to be an experience I’ll never forget that has forever changed my life.

While at Majdanek Concentration Camp, I walked up several steps to a covered mausoleum where I viewed a hill ,about the diameter of a baseball infield, filled with human ashes. I walked through the very same gas chambers that killed thousands of human lives. The oven doors were left open where they had burned the bodies, with human ashes still inside. I can still see the dissecting room, which contained a concrete table with a hole in the middle of it. This hole was directly over a drain in the concrete floor beneath it for blood to drain into.

This was where the gassed victims were examined before going into the ovens. The guards would be looking for and removing gold fillings, as well as cutting the stomachs open looking for valuables that may have been swallowed. The blood was splattered everywhere, even though it had been years ago. Their blood was crying out as evidence that they had been there. It is a permanent memorial of their lives. All of these visible reminders gave me a connection to these people, who I had never met, yet felt like I knew.

This summer I was privileged to visit the Holy Land Experience in Orlando. The first thing we did was to watch an outdoor drama of the Passion. It was very moving and realistic. When they tied Jesus to the whipping post and began to beat him, the blood poured from his body, dripping down to his feet. They cast the cross upon his back for him to parade the streets on his way to Golgotha. Tears streamed down my face as I imagined my Savior suffering all of this just for me.

Bill and I joined the crowd leaving the small amphitheater, walking down the stone street toward the next exhibit. As I just happened to glance down, I thought my heart was about to jump out of my chest. I was walking in the bloody footprints where Jesus had walked only minutes before carrying his cross.

Words can’t begin to describe what I felt. Jesus was there; I could feel him. I felt like I was actually there the day he was crucified. As I stepped into his bloody footprints, I saw evidence that he was here. Evidence that will last through all eternity. His blood was crying out to me: I did this for you. You’ll never be the same since my blood has touched you. My blood saves you, cleanses you, heals you, and covers you. We are connected. You are mine!

God did this for me! There’s nothing like walking in the footsteps of Jesus. I want to be like him. I want to do what he did. When I walk in his footsteps, I feel closer to him. There is a divine connection that can never separate us. Thank you, Lord!!

This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.   (Matthew 15:8)

When I was growing up, church and church activities were my favorite places to be. I especially liked the music and knew most of the songs by heart that they sang out of the dark green All-American Church Hymnal. In fact, I still have an old copy sitting on my bookshelf.

I especially liked the Sunday nights when we sang favorites. This was a time when you raised your hand if you had a favorite song you wanted sung, and if they called on you, the congregation would sing your song. When they picked me, the song I chose most often was Just a Closer Walk with Thee. Some people chose the same song every time, so it got to be a game with me, hoping and praying that so-and-so wouldn’t get picked because I didn’t like the song I knew they were going to choose.

Besides the Favorites nights, once or twice a year, we would have a Singspiration where we would all get together for two or three hours and have special music as well as singing the congregational songs. What memories!

Recently, God reminded me of a time when I must have been in my early teens. As I was standing there in the pew next to my friends singing out of the hymnal, the Holy Spirit spoke to me. He asked me if I even knew what I was singing. The truth was, I didn’t. I knew all of the songs, and I was singing with all of my might, but I wasn’t paying any attention to the words coming out of my mouth.

Conviction fell on me like a lead balloon. I don’t know what the preacher preached that night because I was so wrapped up in this whole new revelation, trying to figure out how and why it happens. The one thing I know is that I learned I did it a lot. I was singing songs like:

All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live. I surrender all, I surrender all; All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.

Was I really surrendering everything to Jesus? Was I loving and trusting him and living in His presence every day? Then there’s a song that is really a prayer from the heart:

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee; Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love. Take my will, and make it Thine, it shall be no longer mine; Take my heart, it is Thine own; It shall be Thy royal throne.

That song wasn’t coming from my heart. I didn’t even realize I was praying as the melody came out of my mouth. Did I really want God to do these things? Then, I wondered how many times I missed out on God’s help, His comfort and peace, and His blessings when I didn’t pay any attention as I sang:

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

Wow! Look at the other two verses when you get a chance. We could go on with other songs, and I do, indeed, challenge you to do just that.

That night I had to confess that I had only been giving God lip service. The songs I was supposedly singing to him weren’t coming from my heart at all. I was ashamed and asked God’s forgiveness because I truly didn’t want to be like that. I didn’t want to sing songs out of habit or because everyone else was singing them. I wanted to praise Him and worship Him in spirit and in truth.

It’s important that we know and understand what comes out of our mouths and that we don’t take those words lightly. The power of life and death is in our tongues. We have been given the power to either curse ourselves or bring blessings to ourselves. We also need to realize that God knows our hearts and our motives. He knows whether or not we’re simply acting like a Christian or if we’re truly being one.

From that night God spoke to me, I changed. I am a lot more aware of what I’m singing, and when I sing, I sing from my heart. Yes, sometimes I still mess up and sing with my mouth and not my heart, but when I realize what I’m doing, I get myself back on the right track and start over.

Just a side note: Be careful of other songs you sing. Many times I’ve come out of a store or restaurant singing a song from the past with a catchy tune, not even aware that I’d heard it, let alone that I’m now singing it. Sometimes, the Holy Spirit makes me aware of what I’m singing, and I realize that the words don’t line up at all with what a Christian should be speaking. The devil would like nothing better than for us to curse ourselves or open the door for sin to come in.

I ask the Lord to help each of us to be those who draw close to God with our hearts, and not just with our lips.

When I was born again back in the early 80s, I began to question the Lord about the church.  Not a particular church, but the overall church of our Lord.  I began to see people who were sick, broken down and financially in ruin.  I could not understand why the people in the church looked no different that the people who were not born-again.  I saw individuals who had developed cancer just like the cancer of those who did not serve Him.  I saw that most of the church was financially in dept and living from day to day just barely making ends meet.  I saw that most of the church had no peace.  And again, I saw many struggling with high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and many other infirmities that should not be in the church.  I cried out many times asking God why these things are prevalent in the body of Christ. 

Could it be that we are much like the people in Jesus home town.  When Jesus left the place where He was brought up, his heart was filled with discouragement.  All those in His home town who were crippled died with their infirmity.  All those who were blind died with their blindness.  How horrible Jesus must have felt when He discovered that all he could do there was heal a few colds & flues, maybe a few fevers.  Unbelief was so strong that even Jesus could not heal their diseases.

 3     Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. 4     But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. 5     And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them (Mark 6:3-5).

I believe there are many hindrances to receiving what we need from the Lord.

No Desire To Grow Will Hinder Your Ability To Receive.  Some people want to just live on the edge of what they can get away with.  They want to give God 10%, then when they are in trouble, they want a God to dispatch armies of angels on their behalf.  Why should we think that God will give us any more than we have given Him.  We will not raise our hands, we will not get involved in the service, we have set rules with our attendance, sad to say, but most Christians will not read the Bible.  If you want what God has promised, then we may have to change to get it.  Grow in the things of God.  Get on the meat of the Word and go all the way with God.  In doing so, He will go all the way with you!

Failing To Repent Of Sin Will Hinder Your Ability To Receive.  You cannot have what God has and live anyway you want to.  I had a man tell me one time. “I will not allow anyone to tell me what to do.”  Well, that attitude certainly will not get you anywhere with God.  We must be pliable in His hands, willing to admit our failure, willing to call sin sin.

In today’s world, people want to have every excuse for their sin and most will not call sin what it is.  There is only one thing to do with sin, repent and go the other way.  There is only one lifestyle expectable with God, that is one which is holy which is described by the word of God.  Anything other than that is Sin.  You cannot think that God will heal you and at the same time you can continue in your sin.

Unforgiveness Will Hinder The Move Of God In Your Life. We must be willing to forgive those who have hurt us, those who have wronged us, those who have somehow sinned against us.  Failure to forgive will rob you of every blessing the Lord has to offer us through his promises.  Let’s look at the scripture:

 ²³    For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. ²⁴    Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. ²⁵    And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. ²⁶    But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses (Mark 11:23-26).

Maybe you have not talked to your mother for the past five years, maybe there was an argument at a family reunion and you have not forgiven her!  Maybe you were abused.  Did you know God will help you to forgive?  In doing so, you will untie the hands of the Lord.  He will do what he has wanted to do all along.  Healing is the children’s bread!!!   

How Bad Do You Want It?

This wasn’t the first time we had counseled and prayed with Natalie (name has been changed for privacy) about her problem. It was the third, or maybe even the fourth time, and it didn’t appear that we’d made any progress. Something had to change, and quickly!

We met Natalie at a home prayer meeting many years ago. She was a lovely Christian woman who loved the Lord and even taught Children’s Sunday School. One night she seemed especially disturbed and asked if she could talk to us privately after the meeting, but we weren’t prepared for what she revealed.

Natalie confided that she had been having an affair, and it was with a married man. She wanted out, but didn’t seem to be able to break it off. We were shocked because it seemed totally out of character for her. Yet, we knew how deceiving the devil can be when he catches us in a vulnerable position. We counseled and prayed with her, and it appeared that a great burden had been lifted as hope and relief rose up in her.

When we saw Natalie again a couple of weeks later, discouragement and shame were written all over her face. She told us that she had broken it off with him, but that he wouldn’t leave her alone. He continually called and even did such things as leaving notes on her car windshield and flowers on her doorstep. Feeling so lonely and desiring to have someone love her, she would inevitable give in. Again, we counseled with her and prayed with her. She left believing that she had the victory over her sin.

However, Satan is a sly evil force. Once we’ve opened the door and allowed his evil into a corner of our lives, he’ll not only try and possess the ground he’s walked on, but he’ll also try to infiltrate every area of our lives in hopes of totally destroying us. That’s exactly what he was trying to do to Natalie. He wanted to destroy her witness, her ministry, and her Christianity, not to mention this other man’s marriage. Natalie was still trapped in this web Satan had woven around her.

One evening, she called us weeping in total humiliation and defeat. She had failed once again. Bill advised her to let us come to her apartment the next evening to pray for her and pray throughout her apartment, anointing with oil. She agreed, and we began praying, seeking God for total deliverance in this situation.

I was so burdened for Natalie that I could hardly think of anything else the next day at work. As I was praying, God gave me direction for that night. I was very resistant to His instructions. I even protested, “How come Bill gets to pray over people, giving them uplifting, encouraging prophecies, and I’m asked to give a hard word, that seemingly offers no grace?” Nevertheless, I couldn’t get it off of my mind, and in spite of my objections and reluctance, I knew what had to be done.

We all sat down at Natalie’s kitchen table as tears streamed down her face. Now, I’m one that if I know I have to do something unpleasant, I’d rather do it quickly and get it over with. So, with all of the love and compassion I felt, but with an unrelenting firmness, I looked her square in the eye and asked her, “How bad do you want it?” Are you willing to do all that is humanly possible to remove yourself from this temptation to allow God to give you total deliverance? We then began discussing her situation and offering suggestions as to what she could change in the natural. I knew that if she was truly repentant, and not just making excuses for her sin, she would be willing to go to extremes to be free.

The more we talked, the more excited she became. Before we left, we prayed over her and her apartment, believing God to lead her into total deliverance. The next time we saw her, she had a different color of hair, as well as a new hairstyle. She shared with us how God had given her guidance and favor in changing her entire life.

The next day, Natalie spoke with the manager of the apartment complex, and they allowed her to move into another apartment in a different building on the far opposite side of where she now lived without breaking her lease and with no additional costs. They also agreed that if this man came looking for her, they would simply say that she had suddenly moved. By the next day, she had moved.

Not wanting this man to find her at work, she took a few vacation days and went to visit her son in South Carolina, who worked in a body shop. For the price of the paint, he repainted her car and made a few other minor changes to the car’s appearance.

Natalie made arrangements with her best friend to become her answering service and had her phone calls forwarded. For several weeks, this friend answered all of her calls just as a professional answering service would in those days, screening out any calls this man made to keep him from having any contact with her.

When she went back to work, she parked in a different place and waited extra time before she left building. She did a few other things, too, such as getting a new license plate and staying away from places where she might run into him. For quite a while, this man continued to pursue her. He left flowers at her door, and when they were still there days later, He went to the apartment offices. He called her phone and left numerous messages, and he tried to find her at work. Needless to say, when Natalie submitted herself unto God and resisted the devil, doing all that she knew to do, the devil had to flee (see James 4:7), and she received total victory & deliverance.

Each one of us have things in our lives that we want to change and things that we would like to accomplish. It seems that we especially reflect on these things at the New Year. God wants to help us and He will answer our prayers, but He expects us to do our part, and sometimes He asks us, “How bad do you want it?”

Vicki