Former Arkansas governor and 2008 presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee hosts the pro-life documentary The Gift of Life, which features the stories of people who were nearly victims of abortion. Among the interviewees are television host James Robison, founder and president of LIFE Outreach International; U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ); and U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS).

Hosted by Mahesh and Bonnie Chavda, Prophetic Fire: Ablaze in Glory will take place March 1-4 with a goal to set believers spiritually on fire for Christ that they may step boldly into a new season of their life. In addition to the Chavdas, speakers include John and Carol Arnott, Leif Hetland, and Jonathan and Melissa Helser.

In The Jezebel Yoke, Sandie Freed exposes the Jezebel spirit and its demonic allies, while also sharing how you can overcome the deceptive tactics used by these dark forces to control you.

We all can dream, but how many of us have the courage to actually pursue our dreams? In his latest book, Take Hold of Your Dream, Jentezen Franklin shares five easy steps to turning your dreams into reality. 

“There are many signs that the hearts of Americans are turning back to God.”

—Diane Hamilton

REFRESHED AND IMPRESSED

The January issue was one of the most well-written I’ve seen in months, with refreshing articles of preparation for 2012. We’re grateful for the information!

Kleon Cronk, Sarona, Wisc.

AMERICA’S REPENTANCE

Regarding “2012: America’s Final Warning?” (by Jonathan Cahn, January), God is waking up His sleeping body everywhere, and I pray we awaken to His call quickly and decisively. He tests us to strengthen us, but our response to His testing is critical. The Word is clear: He’s counting on us to do the greater works. 

name withheld

Rabbi Cahn is showing us how and why America is falling and how it relates to Israel’s fall in the past, through Scripture and our own history as a nation. People better wake up and repent or we’re next to have our country taken over.

Linda Alvarez, Tacoma, Wash.

I respectfully disagree with Rabbi Cahn, primarily that America has been “defiant” toward God and unrepentant. Thousands of intercessors have been faithfully repenting on our nation’s behalf. Many groups have established prayer, praise and repentance on a broad level, such as TheCall, IHOP-KC and Jesus Culture. Yes, God calls us to repentance. But there are many signs that the hearts of Americans are turning back to God.

Diane Hamilton, Redding, Calif.

Title Obsession

Lee Grady, thank you for your boldness in “A Word for the Grand Poobah” (January). That word was long overdue and much needed. I pray that we will seriously embrace the concerns of Jesus about not taking titles for ourselves. Watchman Nee said it so well: ”I want nothing for myself; I want everything for the Lord.”

Charles Schmitt, via email

Lee Grady’s commentary on people’s obsession with titles  was right on. But it goes beyond “apostle” and “bishop”—most notably those who insist on being called “doctor” because they’ve received an honorary doctorate. Isn’t it enough to minister under God’s anointing?

Dick Daniels, Escondido, Calif.

“I have loved you,” says the Lord. —Malachi 1:2

How does it make you feel to know that someone loves you? Many people are just a little uneasy when someone comes up to them and says, “I love you.” Sometimes I say it to people I know really well. As I am about to get off the telephone, I say, “Love you,” and they don’t know how to respond. “Right, oh well, um … ” is often all I get in return. Once in a while, if they are used to me telling them I love them, they say, “Oh well, same to you.” But it is a good feeling to know that you are loved. I want to hear it from my wife every day, and I guess she wants to hear it from me every day, too. Victor Hugo, the nineteenth-century French writer, said, “The supreme happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved.”

We all have a need to be loved. When people are difficult to understand, when I wonder what makes them tick, I find that what they most need, and what they most want, is to be loved. There is nothing that breaks the hardest heart like the feeling of being loved. All of us can face terrible opposition and suffering if we feel approved of, accepted, and loved by someone whose opinion matters to us.

There is an even greater feeling than knowing another person loves you, and that is knowing that God loves you. There is no greater feeling than that. When I feel that God loves me and approves of me, I can face a thousand foes. And the message of Malachi is just that, You are loved. We all have skeletons in our closets, and God knows every one of them, yet He still says, “I love you.”

Excerpted from Between the Times (Christian Focus Publications Ltd., 2003).

Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. —Matthew 10:37

All relationships must ever be subservient to God’s greater glory. No matter how close people get to each other, they must be closer to God. The irony is, the closer people are to God, the more they will love each other. The more they put the voice of God prior to their commitment to each other, the more they really respect each other.

I think of some of my close friends. The dynamic that holds us together is that we love God more than we do each other. If I stopped listening to God and turned away from Him, I would expect my friends to warn me—then lovingly rebuke me if I did not come to my senses.

No friendship or relationship is worth its salt if it does not have an inflexible commitment to God’s glory first and to one another second. It would break my heart if I had to break with any of my friends—for any reason. But I would do it if I had to because of my greater love for God’s honor.

It is a severe test to one’s mettle whether God will always be put first—and obeyed. Today’s man or woman must get his or her approval from God only. “How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?” (John 5:44).

It is a way today’s servant of Christ must bear the cross. But the more I bear this cross, the more I put God’s voice first, and the more I am jealous of God’s glory, then the more will I be respected, appreciated, and loved by these friends. That, in fact, is what makes real friendship.

Excerpted from The Anointing: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow (Charisma House, 2003).

If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. —2 Corinthians 5:13

There are some actions of the past in some of us
that we will probably never, never, never know for sure whether they
were right or wrong. That is, we will never know until we get to
heaven. God also lets some things remain in suspension to keep us from
taking ourselves too seriously!

And what is the best attitude to adopt from then on? I answer: we learn
to laugh at ourselves. Leave it to God. Have a laugh! The truth is, God
for the moment has chosen not to tell us whether what we said or did
was right! We might as well laugh, because crying about it won’t help!
If you make a choice whether to laugh or cry, why punish yourself?

Giving something over to God is a great privilege. We cast our anxiety
upon Him because He cares for us (1 Pet. 5:7). Once we cast our care on
Him—leaving our burden to the Lord, we should not look back. The
highest level of proof that we really have cast our care upon the Lord
is to forget the whole thing and just laugh!

People who take themselves too seriously cannot laugh at themselves.
They certainly cannot bear to be laughed at. But when we don’t take
ourselves too seriously, we will not take it so hard when we are
laughed at, and therefore we can enjoy laughing with them—at ourselves!

God is in no hurry to give us the shaking of the shoulders or the slap
on the wrist—or whatever we may need. I just know one thing: God tends
to deal with me sooner or later, and often sooner—especially if it has
to do with a cross word with Louise, my children, or a close friend. I
am just thankful that He doesn’t let me get away with things!

Excerpted from Controlling the Tongue (Charisma House, 2007).

Then all the disciples deserted him [Jesus] and fled. —Matthew 26:56

The paramount stigma of being today’s man or woman is probably that of being misunderstood. Nothing is more painful than this. We can cope with a lot that people say against us—as long as they are fully in the picture and still disagree. But what hurts is when they aren’t in the picture and they form judgments and perceptions that are based on limited information.

I sometimes think that much of Jesus’ pain at His crucifixion was a result of His being misunderstood. Nothing made sense. It didn’t add up that the same man who raised Lazarus from the dead a few days before was now hanging on a cross. Why didn’t Jesus stop the proceedings that led to His crucifixion? Anybody who could control the wind and storm on the Sea of Galilee could surely have intervened before Herod or Pilate.

There were any number of ways in which He could have stopped being crucified. Common sense told everybody this. So why was He being crucified?

The disciples couldn’t figure it out—they all forsook Him and fled (Matt. 26:56). Never once did Jesus explain Himself.

It must have been almost unbearable emotional pain for Jesus to see Mary Magdalene sobbing her heart out at the scene of the cross and not be allowed to whisper to her, “It’s OK, Mary; all is going according to plan. I’m atoning for the sins of the world by My blood.” But there was no hint of this. He had to bear the further stigma of being misunderstood, even by those closest to Him.

Whether others understood or not, He did the right thing—He listened to God.

Excerpted from The Anointing: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow (Charisma House, 2003).

A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. —Proverbs 22:1

Shakespeare’s question “What’s in a name?” would have been taken very seriously in the ancient Hebraic world, for the name was an indispensable part of the personality. It has been said, “Man is constituted of body, soul, and name.” “As a man is named, so is he,” so it was often claimed.

Often in the Bible we see the appropriate use of names. When Abigail sought mercy from David she said, “May my lord pay no attention to that wicked man Nabal. He is like his name—his name is Fool, and folly goes with him” (1 Sam. 25:25). The word Nabal means “fool.” Abram was given a new name, Abraham, “the Father of Many Nations.” Isaac literally means “laughter,” because when Sarah overheard that she was going to have a child of her own, she laughed. Jacob means “supplanter,” or “one who takes by the heel,” but God changed his name to Israel, which means “one who perseveres with God.”

Paul said that God has highly exalted Jesus and given to Him the name which is above every name. (See Philippians 2:9.)

There are certain questions that the use of this name raises, and the first of these is, “What precisely is that name that is above every name?” Now a very strong hint toward the answer to this is found by examining the actual phrase, “exalted to the highest place.”

The meaning is “one who is” or “one who causes to be.” “I am” means the “one who is;” “I am who I am” is the “one who causes to be.” It was the ultimate revelation of God’s name; a name than which no greater could be conceived. It was the name above all names.

Excerpted from Meekness and Majesty (Christian Focus Publications Ltd., 1992, 2000).