“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19)

While in the synagogue on the Sabbath day, Jesus read the above verse from Isaiah 61:1. He then said “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” (Luke 4:21). These words are profound but they are true.

Recently I was at a church service on a Sunday evening. The theme for the evening service was Life Stories: An Evening of Testimonies. After a brief introduction of the speakers, 5 people got up and each gave their testimony. These 5 people had all been bruised and battered, had fallen into the darkness of sin but had been restored by the healing power and love of Jesus Christ.

The testimonies were a wonderful affirmation to the power of Jesus when we allow him into our hearts. These people had been broken by homosexuality, pornography, alcohol, promiscuity and child abuse. One woman, who had suffered from child abuse, quoted Isaiah 45:3 “And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.” This verse had a huge impact on her. The words were profound. The very fact that God called her by name and made the darkness light, these were astonishing words to her weary soul. She felt liberated. The power of Jesus Christ had liberated her and she is now a walking testimony to the love he has for each and every one of us.

One of the young men quoted from Titus 2:11-13 “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and wordly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” He had been lost, fallen into alcoholism and homosexuality. When he found Christ he found hope. He is now a brave young man speaking to many of the power of Jesus Christ and how he can transform your life if you let him.

While listening to these 5 extremely brave people, I could not help but think how we had all been lost at some time in our life and come to the feet of Jesus. As I see it, especially in this time of great sin and temptation everywhere, we must come to him daily. We must spend time talking with him and praying continually. Today we are encouraged to think of self, what do I want, what makes me happy, etc. We must humble ourselves for this is the only way God can communicate with us and mould us into the people he wants us to be. There is such hope in the power of Jesus. We must never take it for granted or boost ourselves up, because without Christ living inside of us, we can do nothing. He is the one directing our lives, giving us the words we speak and the words we write. When we are close to him and hear his voice he can use us for his Divine purpose.

In a world where people are filled with anger, depression, anxiety, panic attacks and hopelessness, we must be ready to bring them to Jesus Christ. The power of Jesus saves lives. As I see it there is a great hunger in our Israel nations. This is a spiritual hunger that can only be filled by accepting Jesus into our lives and our nations. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:11-12)

Let us all pray that as his coming draws closer many will call out in repentance to our saviour and Lord Jesus Christ. We all need the power of Jesus to change our lives!