Today I’m addressing sheep misinformation! Sheep and shepherds play a big role in the Bible. Most people are familiar with the 23^rd Psalm which begins, “The Lord is my Shepherd,” and for believers in Jesus, He IS the Great Shepherd. Jesus Himself calls His followers His sheep and says about us in John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” Sheep often get a bad rap. They have a reputation for being mindless followers. In fact, Karen and I saw what seemed to be this very thing played out years ago on an Arizona desert highway when we couldn’t believe what was happening before our eyes! We were traveling along a miles-long fence when suddenly ahead of us, we saw just one sheep out of a huge herd find a hole in the fence and jump through it, quicklyfollowed by another one, then another one and another one in single file. Soon the whole herd became aware and every onefollowed, jumping through the hole and bursting out all over the highway! Out of the safety of the fenced pasture! It was a pretty comical sight and we laughed and shook our heads, “Dumb sheep!”

However in my studies about sheep lately, I have begun to see them differently. In fact, staying together in a group is the best way to avoid predators. I read that sheep are actually quiteintelligent and possess very surprising mental abilities. Here are a few examples. They have an incredible memory: Sheep can recognize and remember up to 50 individual faces, both of people and other sheep, for over two years. Sheep have an amazing ability for figuring out problems they face: They can find their way out of intricate mazes and figure out how to open gates or latches. Sheep are highly emotional: People don’t realize that they have very deep emotions and feelings. Sheep feel fear, anger, and boredom. They establish strong bonds with other sheep in their flock and are known to feel grief when a friend is lost. Maybe you saw the recent movie, Sheep Detectives, and saw some of this in action! It is more true-to-life than you think!

Sheep have an incredible ability to recognize individual human voices and sounds and distinctive calls. In places like the Middle East, shepherds from various villages still corral their different flocks in public fenced-in pastures where they share a single pen overnight. In the morning, each shepherd calls out to their specific flock, and only their sheep will get up and follow them out. The rest of the sheep don’t even look up or respond.Because flock sizes are large and the well-being of the flockrequires absolute trust, sheep form a deep bond with their shepherds who raise, feed, and protect them. This means that if a stranger or a different shepherd tries to whistle or call out, the sheep will typically ignore them or even flee. In fact, Jesus refers to this arrangement in John 10:3-5, “To him [the shepherd of the sheep] the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

Sheep are not driven like cattle. They are led and actually follow. They have an intimate relationship with the shepherd. They are so familiar with the shepherd’s voice that they recognize his face, his whistles and other noises, even his words and how he speaks to them! They know him as protector, guide, and rescuer. 

Over the years on the roadside, we have been accused of being dumb sheep who blindly follow. Is that true? Absolutely not! Why not? Let’s end this where we began, with John 10:27, and apply it to people! Specifically, the followers of Jesus! The ones He was referring to in the verse, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” Why? Because the sheep know who He is. They belong to Him. They recognize Him by the sound of His voice and they trust Him. One thing we hear all the time is, “But I can’t hear His voice!” But…you can! Tune in next week to learn how!

-Emil Liko 7/31/26

Revelation 4:9-11 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”

I want you to close your eyes and picture yourself sitting at the banquet of the Lamb (Luke 14:15). You are seated at a hugetable. The angels come up to each saint (us) at the table, one by one, and place a crown upon each head—you receive your great reward! James 1:12 says, “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” The trumpets sound and we all stand as the Lord enters the banquet room! Suddenly as you see Him face to face, the crown upon your head seems to lose its value. Why? Because you realize that although you were rewarded for faithfully following our Lord, you followed Him because of everything that He did for you! We are nothing without His grace, without His Mercy. The Lord does not remind us of our past sins, but we recall everything He did to rescue us from our sinful life, to rescue us from going to hell. He saved us, which gave us the right to follow our amazing Lord, to have a seat at the banquet, to walk the streets of gold, to live in a mansion He prepared for us, to wear pure white robes, washed and cleansed by the blood of Jesus. We received the right to live with Him for all of eternity in a place where there is no sun or moon because the glory of the Lord radiates His light in all heaven. Yet we are rewarded for following Him!

Romans 5:8 Amplified “But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us.” Jesus didn’t wait for us to straighten out our lives. He accepted us “as is,” just for the asking! He loved us, cleansed us, and called us His own. Wow, what an awesome God! As the crucifixion scenein “The Passion of the Christ” was being filmed, Mel Gibsonwas zoomed in on the hands of the actor holding the nail and hammer, about to nail Jesus to the cross. He stopped the filmingat that moment. He had suddenly recalled the Bible verse, Isaiah 53:5 Amplified, “But He was wounded for our transgressions,He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]; The punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him,

And by His stripes (wounds) we are healed.” He said, “I couldn’t film it. I instead came out from behind the camera, and I had to film my hands nailing my Lord to the cross. After all it was my sin that put Him there!” It was my sin, too. But our sin did not keep Him on the cross. When Jesus rose from the graveand exited the tomb, He left my sin and your sin dead and buried, never to be remembered again.

Psalm 103:8-12 Passion Translation “Lord, you’re so kind and tenderhearted and so patient with people who fail you! Your love is like a flooding river overflowing its banks with kindness. You don’t look at us only to find our faults, just so that you can hold a grudge against us. You may discipline us for our many sins, but never as much as we really deserve. Nor do you get even with us for what we’ve done. Higher than the highest heavens—that’s how high your tender mercy extends! Greater than the grandeur of heaven above is the greatness of your loyal love, towering over all who fear you and bow down before you! Farther than from a sunrise to a sunset— that’s how far you’ve removed our guilt from us. The same way a loving father feels toward his children— that’s but a sample of your tender feelings toward us, your beloved children, who live in awe of you.”

OI end where I began, Revelation 4:9-11: we give them all back, casting our crowns at His feet! Because even though He gives out rewards, it’s not about us at all. All we have comes from His hand, and all we are is because of Him. Our natural reaction when we see Him is to give it all back: our crowns and our lives. For He is worthy!

-Emil Liko 7/24/36

We were set up on the roadside with our Free Prayer trailer. A woman stopped and after we prayed with her, I asked her if she would like to ask Jesus into her heart to be her Lord and Savior. Her answer floored us! She said “No! I don’t believe in middlemen! I don’t need Jesus! I go straight to the Father!” WOW! There was no reasoning with her. Her mind was made up, but she couldn’t have been more wrong! Without Jesus, there is no going to heaven. Without Jesus, there is no forgiveness of sins. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is the Lamb of God. Jesus is also God! 

John 14:6: Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Jesus said that! “No one comes to the Father except through Me!”Meaning: No one! There is no way around Jesus. Maybe some of you are thinking, but isn’t Jesus a mediator? Yes, 

1 Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

What is a mediator? According to the New York Courts website,“In mediation, a person called a ‘mediator’ helps people in a dispute to communicate with one another, to understand each other, and if possible, to reach agreements that satisfy everyone’s interests. The mediator does not take sides or decide who was right or wrong (sins) in the past. The mediator helps people to make their own decisions and focus on the future.”

Jesus is the mediator because He bridges the gap between a holy God and sinful man. He is also the only bridge to the Father and to eternal life in heaven, because He is both fully God and fully man. Because of this, He is the only one who can represent both sides. By Jesus offering Himself as a blood offering to pay the ransom for sin, He became the bridge to resolve the separation between us and the Father. Why is this so important? Two years ago, during the flood, we lived north of Sioux Rapids. When the bridges flooded, there was no way to cross to the other side. We were stuck! It created an impasse. It is the same way with Jesus. He is the bridge and without Him in your heart, there is no way you can get from earth to heaven. It’s impossible!  

Jesus said of communion in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, “This is My body, this is My blood…Do this in remembrance of Me!” Why does Jesus want us to remember? Jesus never wants us to forget that He redeemed us when we accepted Him into our heart to forgive us of our sins. He wants us to remember the price He paid to give us the right to be saved and the right to go to heaven. He wants us to remember that He loved us while we were still sinners. And Jesus wants us to remember the words he spoke to the thief on the cross who wanted to accept Jesus as His Savior. Jesus said, “Today you will be with me in paradise!”And He wants us to remember that we too will be with Him in paradise if we have Him in our hearts!

Remember I wrote a few weeks ago about my experience of dying and going to heaven? The first person I saw in heaven was Jesus. I have come to realize that because Jesus is my bridge into heaven, His arms were the first I got to experience to welcome me home! If you haven’t asked Jesus into your heart,do so today. Romans 10:9 says, “IF you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raisedJesus from the dead, you WILL be saved!” I hope to see all of you in heaven!

-Emil Liko 7/17/26

Genesis 16 is the full story of Hagar, but I want to focus only on verses 11
and 13-14. The angel of the Lord also said to her: “You are now pregnant,
and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord
has heard of your misery.” She [Hagar] gave this name to the Lord who
spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now
seen the One who sees me.” That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi…

Beer Lahai Roi means, “well of the Living One who sees me.” Hagar was a servant in the house of Abraham, the servant of Sarah, his wife. She fled into the wilderness after being treated harshly. Alone, pregnant, and afraid, in one of the most difficult times of her life, she was not looking for God, BUT God was looking for her. God saw her in her distress, a “seeing” of limitless love. After He let her share her heart with Him, she said, “You are El Roi, the God who sees me”. She is the only person in the Bible to give God a name, and He gives her the name for her son. Why? Because the name Ishmael in Hebrew translates to “God will hear” or “God listens.” From that moment on, every time she would look at her son or call his name, she would be reminded that God hears her.

There are times in your life when you go through situations that are hard and difficult. You wonder, “Lord, where are you?” You struggle and feel like the Lord really doesn’t care. As you cry out to the Lord, have you noticed there are times when you run into someone, and it annoys you because you just want to be left alone. But this person takes time to speak into your life, comfort and love and peace! Have you noticed in some of your darkest times that your phone suddenly rings? You look at your phone and groan, “Lord, I need you NOW!” Someone felt impressed to call you and check on you! Maybe you say, “Yes, but where was God? Doesn’t He care? Doesn’t He know what I’m going through? Why doesn’t He show up right now?” Again, your phone rings and you don’t want to be bothered! As in the story of Hagar, God sent an angel to speak to her for Him, to comfort her and to give her guidance and direction in a time she was lost and overwhelmed! God speaks through people. When you got saved, did the Lord Himself show up to lead you to into repentance to accept Him? Or did He send someone to you?

I know from personal experience, times when I was in a bad place and crying out to the Lord, and suddenly my phone rings from someone I haven’t heard from in a long time. My first reaction is “No! I’m not in the mood for you!” But often I came to realize the Lord had sent them! It reminds me of a story of a man trapped in his home during a monumental rain. The waters kept rising. Soon the man was in his second story window watching the water rise. He prayed, “Lord, please rescue me!” Some guys with a ladder showed up and said, “Come down the ladder and we will get you to dry ground,” but the man said no. Later a man in a boat came up to his window and said, “Get in! I’m here to help.” The man said, “No, I’m waiting for the Lord to save me!” Next the man was on his roof and a helicopter came and the men called out, “Climb into the basket and we will save you!” The man again said no. The man drowned and showed up in heaven where He asked, “Lord, didn’t you hear me? I cried for help, but You didn’t come so I drowned!” The Lord said, “I heard you! I sent a man with a ladder, a boat, and a helicopter but you said no! I tried everything to help you!” This is important: when you cry out to the Lord for help, don’t decide ahead of time how the Lord will help you! Take who he sends to you! And you will thank God more often than complain to Him!

It is in a personal encounter like Hagar’s that we see God and in seeing Him, we know Him and understand His love for us. He is the Living One, the living water who gives us life and sustains us. Seek God, and you will encounter Him in such a way that you feel seen and feel known. God sees me and hears me. God sees you and hears you. Because He absolutely loves you!

-Emil Liko 7/10/26

Genesis 3:17-19 To Adam God said, “Because you listened to your wife and
ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

This was more important than most realize. Up to this point, God walked with man. God loved man and man loved God. Sin and pain were not present in the Garden of Eden, God’s garden. But then man chose to listen to the words of Satan instead of the words of God. What happened next? Once man sinned, he suddenly feels compelled to hide from God! Why? Because now guilt, shame, condemnation and fear entered the relationship between man and God. But what fear entered? Man suddenly became fearful of God! Man, Adam, suddenly knew he was separated from God because of his own doing. Fear which God never instilled into man was now present in man. Not just that but when God said, “Why are you hiding?” man replied, “I am naked.” He was now clothed in shame! But even more happened. When God asked, “Did you eat of the tree I told you not to?” now the spirit of accusation appears! Adam blamed God, “Yes, God. But it’s not my fault—it’s because of that woman You gave me!” Now the lying spirit shows up! “God, I was righteous, but it’s now Your fault I am no longer sinless!” God asks the woman and again, accusation, “It’s not my fault. It’s because of the snake. It’s his fault.”  The Lord says, “I did everything for you, and I gave you everything. Now you are going to have to work for it. You are going to sweat your head off to provide for your food. The ground will be full of thorns and thistles to make your work even harder!” So for centuries, man suffered the consequences of his sin through the sweat of his brow from the ground that was cursed, causing the curse upon man. This lasted for centuries!

But did the curse remain? Has it ever been broken? Yes, it was. In the Garden of Gethsemane. How? Luke 22:44 “And being in anguish, Jesus prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground!” Before He went to the cross, Jesus sweat blood! Where? On His brow. And where did it fall? On the ground in the Garden of Gethsemane. The blood of Jesus took the curse placed upon man’s brow and it then fell on the ground, breaking the curse of the ground which cursed man. Jesus broke the curse set upon all mankind. Then His blood was shed upon the cross, where He took upon Himself the sin of the world. Jesus didn’t forgive our sins and leave the curse. He reversed the curse by taking away the original sin of rebellion and disobedience which caused the curse! You might say, “But wait! The Bible says His sweat was like drops of blood.” The blood of Jesus was mixed with the sweat in His own body, so it was watery blood. Jesus’ anguish of sin produced blood mixed with his sweat, just as man’s anguish as he worked the ground through “blood, sweat and tears,” as the old saying goes. Remember the thorns the cursed ground produced? A crown of thorns was placed on Jesus’ head, and the soldiers pushed it into his head producing more blood on his brow. Now the thorns were covered in the blood of Jesus and the curse was officially broken! Remember the Bible says, “Cursed is He who hangs upon a tree” (the cross).

1 Timothy 2:6 The Message “Jesus…offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free.”  Now the curse is broken, sin is forgiven, and there is no longer a separation from, or fear of, the Lord! Is it now time to make Jesus your Lord?

-Emil Liko 7/3/26

This is a true story. This is my story, continued from last week…I cried out, “NO! NO! I’m NOT done!” Jesus looked at me so incredibly lovingly and said in a voice of compassion, as He motioned with His arm downward, “Well then, go back.”

I said immediately, “Yeah! Yeah!” and I started going back down. As I did, the light got a little dimmer, the song got a little quieter, the blue began to fade, the billions of people began to leave, and the hole into heaven got smaller and smaller. Suddenly, I was back in my body and immediately aware something was wrong! It took everything in me to speak, and a really deep voice that felt like it was from a mile-deep black hole in me said, “I…don’t…feeeeel…gooood.” The startled dentist looked at me, then at the gauges on the tanks of gas I was hooked up to. In a panic, he jumped out of his chair and dove over me landing on the other side in front of the tanks. He frantically turned the dials on the gauges, turning off the gas and turning on the oxygen. He yelled to his assistant, “You forgot to turn on the oxygen! You were killing him!” I was getting only the nitrous! He then put his hands on my shoulders and yelled, “Don’t move! Just breathe! Breathe!” Turning completely white, they both slumped back in their chairs. After a short while, I assured them that I was ok to continue and he shakingly finished the work.

I did not share my experience with them because I was still so full of awe and joy, I could hardly speak to even put it into words. I just walked out to the receptionist, paid my bill and left! As we got in the car, Karen asked, “How did it go?” I replied, “Good. I died and went to heaven.” “You what!?” she gasped. And I replied, “I’m so sorry, honey—but I never once thought of you! I was so consumed in Jesus, I couldn’t think of anything or anyone else but Him!” By the way, one thing people want to know—”What was the song you were singing along with heaven?” I wish I could remember, but I don’t!

I had always been afraid of dying, of being judged for past sin and regrets—things I wish I would have, could have, should have done. Amazingly, while I was dying, I had no thought of sin in my life at all. I never once thought of sin, of regret, of disappointment! No guilt, no shame, no condemnation—none of that! I wasn’t even aware that I was dying. I felt only liquid love! I was still in my body but I could see heaven, I could hear heaven, I could feel heaven, and the intensity of love and joy that came was something that I can’t express. I wish I could have kept that feeling! They say God’s Word doesn’t fall void, and it’s true—every prophetic word, every word God had spoken to me, everything we were doing and everything the Lord told us we would do—all came back to me at one time. Jesus stopped me and asked so lovingly, “Do you think you’re done?” Think of it! He gave me the choice! If I had said yes, I would be in heaven right now! Jesus Himself let me decide.

Romans 8:11 “And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal [short-lived, perishable] bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.” Why am I sharing this story after 16 years? The Lord said it was time! You see, for Christians, those who have asked Jesus into their hearts, this world is the most hell they will ever know! But for non-Christians, this world is the most heaven they will ever know. That’s scary! If you’ve never asked Jesus into your heart, I hope today is the day so you too can experience what I did when it’s your time to meet Him!

-Emil Liko 6/26/26

This is a true story. This is my story. In 2010 I had some dental work and was given nitrous gas for the procedure. Shortly after the work began, a coldness started in my feet and moved into my lower legs. Then I felt a heaviness as if someone was slowly pulling a lead blanket up over me. As the cold and heaviness increased, I began singing to myself one of my favorite worship song! It started out faintly but quickly began to increase in volume and so did the Lord’s presence! The joy within me grew with it! The more the worship increased, so did the heaviness and the cold, but things  around me faded into the background as my focus was completely consumed with Jesus. I was full of praise as I sang within myself, with all my heart, to the Lord. I was engulfed in worship and totally in love with Him, like nothing I had ever experienced in my life! I was so happy and exploding in love for Him. I couldn’t contain it! As the worship in me got even louder, I could hear every organ within my body singing! I could feel it! The music grew louder and more intense, and the love began to radiate on the outside of my body as well! I saw that every hair on my arms had a mouth! I could see every cell, and every cell had a mouth! Millions of tiny mouths singing with me! I had become a choir unto myself! My whole body, every cell, every organ, every hair was singing at the top of our breath to Jesus, so in love with Him!

At the height of this all-consuming love and worship, the ceiling opened, and a bright light appeared over me! I saw an incredible blue within a circle of a brilliant white cloud way up. I began to rise. I could see below me myself in the chair being worked on. I never thought, “Oh, I’m dying. I’m going to heaven.” I never thought anything—I was so wrapped up in the Lord and singing with everything in me. As I was going up, the singing got stronger and I saw a billion brightly glowing people, all clothed in white, looking down at me, watching me as I was coming up. I was singing like I was my own orchestra—”WOW,” I thought, “they’re all singing the same thing I am!” Suddenly I realized that they weren’t singing with ME! I was singing what the billions of glowing people were singing! I was singing heaven’s song and all of heaven was waiting for me. As I came into the circle of clouds and the indescribable blue, into the midst of billions of welcomers, into a place of pure love, suddenly Jesus was there! He was on the edge of the cloud, and He floated out to the middle. I was screaming with JOY within myself! I was looking at Him! I was looking at Jesus! He came out to me until He was 3’ from me. He put up His right hand in a stop motion and gently and lovingly said “Wait, before you come in, I have one question to ask you.” I was like EEEEE, so excited and happy! “Sure, yes,” I said. Jesus asked, “Do you think you’re done?” I said, “What?” Again He asked, “Do you think you’re done?” Suddenly, like a Sci-Fi movie, I saw white fireballs with long streaks of light coming at me from every direction at a hundred miles an hour! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! was the loud sound each one made as thoughts entered my mind at warp speed! It only took a second!Prophetic words I’d received and promises from the Lord. “Oh, we’re doing the food pantry at our church

…oh, we’re doing this at the youth center…oh, You said we’re going to do this on the roadside…and oh we’re going to do that…” I cried out, “NO! NO! I’m NOT done!” Jesus looked at me so incredibly lovingly and said in a voice of compassion, as He motioned with His arm downward, “Well then, go back.”

(Continued next week)

-by Emil Liko 6/19/26

We have in front of our house a few wind spinners. They are colorful and stand around 5’ tall, moving in the slightest breeze in different directions. As I was praying about this week’s article and waiting on an answer, I was watching the wind spinners. One spinner has two wheels that turn, but I noticed that only one side spun freely in the breeze and the other side lamely rocked back and forth without ever completely catching the breeze. After a while I had to investigate. A month before, we had relocated the spinner from one area to another. In the move, we had laid the spinner on one side, never noticing that the side got bent out of shape in the process, causing it not to function as created.

As I was trying to bend the spinner back into position, I began to think about 1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care upon [Jesus], for He cares for you.” As I contemplated this, I thought, “If this spinner is out of shape, how can it catch the wind? It can’t. How can it function as it should? It can’t.” I thought about “casting” your cares upon Jesus!  Cast means to throw off or away, to get rid of, to discard. We are instructed literally to not hold onto cares that weigh us down, but to take them off and give them to Jesus. I love how The Passion Translation words this, “Pour out all your worries and stress upon him and leave them there, for he always tenderly cares for you.” It is okay to be concerned about things but not to be consumed with worry. When it changes your sleep patterns, your joy and patience, and negatively impacts everything around you, it is time to give it to Jesus. It’s like a T-shirt that Karen bought for me. It has a big red cross on the front and says, “I can’t— but I know a guy”. You can’t change your circumstances through worry, but I know a guy—Jesus. He can change things that you can’t, no matter how much you worry and stress about it!

Christian singer Chris Tomlin put it this way, “To cast your cares upon Jesus means to actively surrender your anxieties, worries, and burdens to Him, trusting that He is with you and will sustain you. This concept comes directly from 1 Peter 5:7, which reminds you that God cares for you deeply and intimately.” When worry, fear and stress get you bent out of shape, like our wind spinner, you too cannot function as God created you.

Jesus says in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” How can you hold onto the peace Jesus gives you if you are wringing your hands in worry and stress? You cannot. Years ago, I was going through some hard things, and I cried out to the Lord, “Why won’t You take this from me?” He answered, “I want to, but you need to let go of it first!” He was right. There was nothing He could do as long as I kept holding onto it tightly! So do as I did—I got before the Lord, lifted up my clenched fists and opened them up to Him, releasing the things that I couldn’t change. I encourage you, too, to cast your cares to Him and leave them there. Refuse to pick them up again and see what the Lord will do for you!

-by Emil Liko 6/5/26

Definition of salvation as in rescue: the act of saving someone from sin or evil: the state of being saved from sin or evil. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Romans 10:9 instructs us, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” When you ask Jesus to come into your heart, He comes into your heart! Yes, He does! But what does that really mean? Who did you just invite into your heart? I hope this helps!

When I was 11 years old, I went to Vacation Bible School. One day when my teacher was sick, we went in with the High School crowd. I felt intimidated, so I went to the top of the bleachers and hid behind a beam! Even though I was hidden from view, I could hear what the speaker was saying. He was talking about asking Jesus into your heart. He said, “IF you want this, then pray this prayer right now.” I repeated the prayer, and I meant what it! He then said that Jesus answered that prayer and came to live inside of anyone who prayed it—and because I prayed that prayer, I was now going to heaven. That’s all I knew! Remember, I was 11 years old! I had no idea the magnitude of who was now living inside of me! I knew from Christmas carols that He was the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the Lamb of God and the Son of God. I knew Jesus was born of a virgin, crucified for my sins, rose from the grave and ascended into heaven. Over the years I came to know more and more about Jesus, who He is and who I am in Him. I soon realized that salvation (getting saved) was bigger than I ever imagined! And Jesus was much more than just getting-out-of-hell-free insurance!

Many people have that misconception—salvation is their safety net when they die. Yes, it does give us the right to heaven—we become children of God, our sins are forgiven, by His stripes we are healed. But it is so much more! Salvation is the right to call upon the Lord and know that He will answer. It is the right to have a relationship, a deep heartfelt mind-altering relationship, with Jesus. Salvation gives you the right to command demons to stop, give back, and come out in His name. Salvation gives you the right to become empowered by the Holy Spirit. Salvation is love, peace, security, safety, healing, and authority. Salvation gives you the right to come into the presence of the Almighty God, the Creator of heaven and earth. It gives you the right to worship God, ask of Him, know Him, and understand Him.

Salvation gives you a first-hand look into the spiritual realm. It opens your eyes to see, your ears to hear, your heart to feel that which others cannot. Salvation is the key to unlock things you’ve never understood in God’s Word, the Bible. Salvation unleashes faith to operate in your life to know that which you have not known and to believe that which you have not seen. Salvation gives you the ability to stand and not get weary, to accept trials even though you don’t like them. It takes you places where you never before would have agreed to go and moves you to do things the world would call foolish. Salvation does not kick in at death—it’s a daily reminder of what is and what is yet to come. Salvation is not just insurance. It’s assurance of all the promises of God throughout the entire Bible. Walk daily in your salvation. It’s a right given by God. Salvation is a decision. Salvation is a lifestyle.

If you do not know Jesus as your Savior and Lord, simply pray the following prayer from your heart: “Jesus, I ask you to come into my heart. Forgive me of all my sins and wash me totally clean. Be the Lord of my life. I give You permission right now to do whatever You need to do to make me the man/woman of God You’ve always called me to be. I thank You, Lord, that my name is now written in Your book of life and when I leave this earth, I will instantly be with You in heaven! Thank you, Jesus, for saving me!

-by Emil Liko 5/31/26

Acts 9:36-41 There was a believer in Joppa named Tabitha (which in Greek is Dorcas). She was always doing kind things for others and helping the poor…she became ill and died. Her body was washed for burial and laid in an upstairs room. But the believers had heard that Peter was nearby at Lydda, so they sent two men to beg him, “Please come as soon as possible!” So Peter returned with them; and as soon as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. The room was filled with widows who were weeping and showing him the coats and other clothes Dorcas had made for them. But Peter asked them all to leave the room; then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body he said, “Get up, Tabitha.” And she opened her eyes! When she saw Peter, she sat up! He gave her his hand and helped her up. He called in the widows and all the believers, and he presented her to them alive.

I have prayed for two people who I saw raised from the dead. But I’ve prayed for many others who weren’t. I asked the Lord why? He said, “I told you to pray for the two, but I never told you to pray for the others!” I was praying in my own “power” which, without the Holy Spirit, is useless! I guess you could say my prayers were dead! Peter didn’t pray for Dorcas until he prayed and got instruction from God.

Acts 16:16-18 is another example. Luke writes: Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

Why the wait? I believe he was waiting on the Holy Spirit’s timing, waiting for the word from the Lord to tell him what to do. When he heard, then he acted! The trick of our enemy, Satan, is to try to get us to do things that the Lord never told us to do. Why? So we will think we failed and our faith will falter, to get us to fall into self-condemnation. Many people around the country call or email us, saying, “I have a prayer request for you.” They continue, “This is what I want you to pray…” and proceed to tell us word for word! We tell them, “If you heard, then you pray!” We can’t pray until God tells us how to pray. First we need to hear. Why? Because we can’t release our faith until we have the faith! When our words become more selective, then our prayers become more effective!

– by Emil Liko 5/22/26