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

Romans 5:3-4 “…we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”  Maybe you’re like me! When I used to read verses like this, enduring sounded like a negative thing. Endure means to experience pain and suffering patiently, for a long time without yielding, to bear up under hardship and persecution. I thought, “I just hope that I can endure so I can develop character so that I can find hope! So that I can make it through—I hope!” Sometimes we think it means that we need to reach the depths of brokenness to be able to get through, persevering in order to grow.

But recently God showed me something I’d never seen before: enduring is not about focusing on what we are to learn through the hardship. Sometimes people are just cruel! Or life is not fair! No other reason! Instead, God wants us to look at it as a time to spend in the arms of our Father, enduring the love of God, enduring the revelation of God, while getting to know His heart, hearing Him say, “I’m sorry! I know how much this hurts!”

Romans 5:5, The Passion Translation, has this perspective of the result of enduring: “And this hope is not a disappointing fantasy, because we can now experience the endless love of God cascading into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who lives in us!”

When we go through hard times, we are often quick to share the details of the situation, but we forget to share the details of our time with Him through it. We spend so much time looking back at the difficulties, sometimes we miss how much He was with us, loving us through it. Through it, we learn how much Jesus is there for us. Through difficulties, our hearts learn how to love Him back through it. Take time to look back at a hard time until you can point to the Lord and say, “Ohhhh, I see You!”

Isaiah 41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” Trials can be the most meaningful times of our lives with the Lord. We grow the most because we choose to obey His word. We choose to hang onto Him through it and not let go. Patience in tribulations produces trust in God at a much deeper level. This develops our character, making us believers in God’s Word which produces in us hope. Hope develops in our thoughts and emotions, convincing us that we will receive the blessings of God, just what He promised us.

The keys that unlock our endurance, and our joy, are knowing and standing on His promises by declaring His word. Believing and agreeing with heaven is where the power is; that’s where the authority comes from. What if our endurance is being stubborn about God? That’s how we become faithful and steadfast while empowered in the partnership of the Holy Spirit. And what if our endurance is being stiff necked and unbending about Satan? Becoming rigid and uncompromising about the things of the enemy?!

There is power when we fully believe through experience what the Lord said He can do, will do and has done for us. Our enduring is agreeing with the words of God in our situation instead of agreeing with the words of the enemy. If we learn to own the scriptures, then we can own the enemy.

By Emil Liko 5/1/26

Many people quote the Bible verse, “God won’t give you more than you can bear!” 1 Corinthians 10:13, right? Wrong! Why is it wrong? Because the Bible never says this! There is no verse in the Bible that says this! Go ahead, try to prove me wrong! People who are going through hard and difficult times try to make sense of what they are going through by saying, “Well, as the Bible says…!” Or people use this to comfort them, “The Lord won’t give you more than you can handle!” which usually only angers the person and makes things worse! Why does it make things worse? It’s simple! It’s just not true! This verse doesn’t exist and is therefore a total misquote and lie!

Revelations 12:10 refers to Satan as the accuser of the believers, accusing them day and night. He is an accuser who loves to accuse God as well, to get people to think it is God bringing death, destruction, sickness, pain, suffering, and torment on them. Satan wants you to believe that God wants to see just how much you can handle on your own! Satan loves for you to think you did something to cause this. And Satan loves for you to think that God doesn’t care and He won’t help you out of your crisis. The problem I have with this lie is that it keeps so many believers in bondage, feeling like failures and mad at God for putting them in this position. 

But 1 Corinthians 10:13 (Complete Jewish Bible) actually reads, “No temptation has seized you beyond what people normallyexperience, and God can be trusted not to allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear. On the contrary, along with the temptation he will also provide the way out, so that you will be able to endure.” It says God will not allow Satan to bring temptation or enticement to sin into our life that is too much for us to say no to. When we are tempted to sin, God will make a way for us to resist it. The Lord was talking about temptation,not the hardships of life! Jesus came to set us free, not to place hardships upon us! In Matthew 23:1-4, Jesus accused the religious leaders of doing this and condemned them for it! 

Instead, Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message Bible), “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it…I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

I myself have found comfort during hard times in Psalm 23:1-4,“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” Jesus referred to Himself as the Shepherd and we are His sheep. The purpose of the shepherd was to protect the sheep when they got into trouble or when an enemy tried to attack them. The sheep would “baa”loudly, calling the attention of the shepherd, and he would immediately come to their rescue.

Psalm 46:1, The Passion Translation: “God, you’re such a safe and powerful place to find refuge! You’re a proven help in time of trouble—more than enough and always available whenever I need you.“ So whenever life gets too hard, don’t run away from the Lord—run to Him. The Lord will pick you up and place you in His lap, hold you tightly and help you get through it! He has done it for me! He will do it for you!

By Emil Liko 4/24/26