All posts by Emil Liko

JUST ONE DAY IN THE LIFE… by Emil

With Easter only a few weeks away, I asked Karen, “What do you want to do for Easter? Any family plans to get together? If not, do we want to buy something special to eat? Or is there some place special you want to go to after church for dinner?” I love Easter Sunday! Jesus resurrected! The stone rolled away! The empty tomb! His salvation is here! Rejoice! Woohoo! I AM FORGIVEN because of Easter! All of a sudden, I realized my thoughts were only on Easter Sunday! I began to think about all that Jesus did for us so we could celebrate Sunday with friends, family, special food, going to church!

My mind went to the 4-5 days leading up to Easter. And then I got out my Bible and turned to Isaiah chapter 53. My eyes fell immediately on verse 6, which I memorized as a child: “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” But the Lord had me go back to verses 3-4: “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows acquainted with grief…He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.” It hit me so hard—a Man of sorrows! A prophecy written 700 years before Jesus was born! Before Jesus was crucified and died!

At Easter, we focus on two days out of the entire life of Jesus: Good Friday and Easter Sunday. But God the Son walked on the earth for 33 YEARS. It’s true we don’t know a lot about the first 30 years before He began His public ministry, but we know what He endured those last 3 years by reading about His life in the first 4 books of the New Testament: Confronting the religious leaders who were bound by tradition and man-made rules, who tried to stone Him, throw Him off a cliff, then plotted His death. Loving the people, the crowds who one day loved Him for His miracles and the next day left Him because of the truth He spoke. He was misunderstood by his family and even his disciples misunderstood His mission. His words were continually twisted. He was hated, mocked and rejected. He suffered deep grief and wept over the things we weep over…death of our friends, rejection when we try to tell people truth and they refuse to consider it, betrayal by those closest to us. Finally He wept over Jerusalem, because they failed to respond to, or even recognize, the One sent to save His people, to reveal to them the character of the Father, to give them the true source of peace.

Maybe you’re in a state of personal anguish today. There’s something that is causing you a great deal of pain. Jesus has been there. He has walked in your shoes. Don’t think that God is disconnected from what you’re facing. Jesus has faced it. Today, the risen and living Jesus can enter into your suffering. He has experienced it. He understands. You’re not alone. Talk to Him. Let Him in to your pain, your grief, your sorrow.

“He was wounded for OUR transgressions, He was bruised for OUR iniquities; the chastisement for OUR peace was upon Him, and by His stripes WE are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Another translation says it more plainly, “He was pierced for OUR rebellion, crushed for OUR sins. He was beaten so WE could be whole. He was whipped so WE could be healed.” He endured years of sorrow to get to the cross. Why? He couldn’t stop thinking about YOU and ME.

Emil’s Testimony of Heaven

I DIED AND WENT TO HEAVEN, a true story by Emil

In 2010 I went in for some dental work and it was decided to give me gas for the procedure. After the mask was put on me, I was feeling no discomfort or pain. I was laid back in the dental chair, listening to the dentist and his nurse. My feet were in front of a window and I could see outside. Shortly after the work began, I noticed a coldness starting in my feet. I thought it was from the air conditioning vents below my feet or maybe from the window. I watched the traffic go by to stop from thinking about my cold feet, but the coldness began moving from my feet into my lower legs. Then along with the coldness, a heaviness started at my feet and then up my legs. It felt as if someone was slowly pulling a lead blanket up over me from my feet! As the coldness and heaviness increased, I began singing to myself one of my favorite worship songs! I was enjoying the worship which started out faintly but very quickly began to intensify and so did the Lord’s presence! As the song increased in volume within me, the joy within me grew with it! I began singing to the Lord and found myself becoming totally engulfed in worship. The more the worship increased, so did the heaviness and the cold. Soon everything around me seemed to fade into the background and my focus was now totally consumed with only Jesus. My love for Him grew immensely. In a very short time, I was full of praise as I sang to myself with all of my heart to the Lord. Pretty soon I was engulfed in worship and absolutely, totally and completely in love with the Lord. My worship to Jesus and my all-consuming love for Him was like nothing I had ever experienced before in my life! I was singing to Jesus with every ounce of my being. I was so happy and exploding in love for Him. It was as if I couldn’t contain it! All sense of the world around me disappeared in my state of worship and love! Then the worship in me got even louder! I could literally hear every organ within my body begin to sing with me to the Lord! Not only could I hear it but I could also feel it! As the music and the worship continued to grow louder and more intense, the love began to radiate on the outside of my body as well! I looked at my arms and 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 to the Lord! I literally had become a choir unto myself! The love I felt for the Lord was indescribable! My whole body, every cell, every organ, every hair was singing at the top of our breath to the Lord! I was sooooo in love with Jesus! 

Then at the height of this all-consuming love and worship, the ceiling began to open up and a bright wonderful light opened up over me! I had no recollection of my surroundings or the dentist and his assistant working on my mouth. Their voices had faded into the background as I was completely engulfed in the presence of the Lord! When the whole ceiling opened up, I saw an incredible blue within a circle of a beautiful brilliant white cloud way up. I never realized at that point that I was actually dying, I never thought of anything outside of what I was experiencing in the moment. I began to rise up. I was moving upward and I could see beneath me! I could see myself in the chair below. I could see them working on me. I never thought, “Oh, I’m dying. Oh, 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 stronger. I looked up at the blue circle and cloud all around it and I could see a billion brightly-glowing people, all clothed in white, looking down at me, watching me as I was coming up. I was going up, singing and singing like I was my own orchestra—”WOW,” I thought, “they’re all singing the same thing I am!” Then suddenly I realized that they weren’t singing with ME! I was singing what the billions of glowing people were singing! I was singing what ALL of heaven was singing! It was so unreal when I realized I was singing heaven’s song! I then realized that all of heaven was waiting for me. Billions were watching me, waiting for me! As far as my eye could see were glowing faces in brilliant white robes. 

As I came into the circle of clouds and into the indescribable blue, into the midst of billions of welcomers, into a place of pure love and worship like I had never experienced before, all of a sudden, 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 I was 3 feet from Him. Then He looked at me and put up His right hand in a stop motion. He spoke to me and gently and lovingly said “Wait, before you come in, I have one question to ask you.” I was like EEEEEE, so excited and happy! “Sure, yes,” I said, “What???” Jesus asked, “Do you think you’re done?” I said, “What??” Again He asked, “Do you think you’re done?” All of a sudden, it was like a Sci-Fi movie! I could see white fireballs with long streaks of light coming at me from every direction, coming in at a hundred miles an hour! Thoughts came into me: Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! was the loud sound each one made as they entered into my mind at warp speed! It only took a second! Prophetic words I’d received over the years, words someone spoke to me, promises I’d gotten from the Lord. Then I began to have thoughts like, “Oh, we’re doing the food pantry at our church, we’re doing this with the church, oh, we’re doing this with the youth center, oh, You said we’re going to do this on the roadside, and oh we’re going to do that…NO! NO! NO! I’m NOT done!” Jesus looked at me so incredibly lovingly and then said to me in a voice of compassion, “Well then, go back,” and He motioned with His arm downward. I said immediately. “Yeah! Yeah!” and I started going back down and 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. 

All of a sudden, I was back in my body and immediately aware something was wrong! It took everything in me to force myself to speak and this really, really deep voice that felt like it was from a huge mile-deep black hole in me said, “I…..don’t…..feeeeel…..gooood.” The startled dentist looked at me! Then he looked the nurse! Then they both looked at the gauges on the tank of the gas they were giving me. The dentist in a panic jumped out of his chair, literally dove over me and landed on the other side of my chair on the floor in front of the two gas tanks. Frantically he turned the dials connected to the gauges. He turned the one dial one way and the other tank dial he spun frantically with his hands in the other direction. Then he turned towards the nurse and said in a loud voice, “You forgot to turn on the oxygen. You were killing him!” She had only given me the nitrous! He turned pure white and both the dentist and the nurse slumped back in their chairs. He put his hand on my chest and said, “Don’t move! Don’t move! Just breathe! Take deep breaths and just relax!” They finished my dental work after I assured them that I was ok to continue. I paid and left. I did not share my experience with them. I was so in awe, I couldn’t put it into words at that time! Karen had dropped me off and had driven across the street to the grocery store. When I came out of the dentist, she was not back yet so I walked across the street to the store just as she drove up. I got in the car and Karen asked, “How did it go?” I replied, “Good. I died and went to heaven.” Immediately she stopped the car: “You what!?” And I replied, “I’m so sorry, Honey—but I never once thought of you!!”

The most incredible thing of all of this is that I had always been afraid of dying! I was so afraid of all the regrets, the sins in my life, things I wish I would have, could have, should have done. What was amazing was I had absolutely no thought of sin in my life at all while I was dying. I never once thought of sin! I never thought of regret! I never thought of disappointment! None of that was there. I didn’t even know I was dying. I was still in my body but I could see heaven, I could hear heaven, I could feel heaven, and the love that came was something I wish I could put into words but I can’t. It’s a love and a joy that I can’t express. I wish I could have kept that feeling! They say God’s Word doesn’t fall void! What’s so amazing is that every prophetic word, every Rhema word, every word in the Bible, everything we were doing and everything the Lord said we would do–all came back to me at one time. The MOST amazing thing is that I was there! And Jesus asked so lovingly, “Do you think you’re done?” Jesus gave me the choice! Just think, if I would have said yes, I would be in heaven right now! Jesus Himself let me decide. So I guess you can clearly see, I’m not done yet. Karen and I have a lot more to do before we go home to be with Jesus! 

One thing everyone asks me, “What was the song I was singing with heaven?” I wish I could remember but I don’t! Why am I sharing this story after 10 years? The Lord told me it was time!

Busy Times!

On top of being busy with the ministry as usual, we are moving! We are keeping up God’s pattern of moving us every 5 years over the past 25 years! This move we didn’t see coming, however! This time we aren’t moving out of state, or even out of city! We are moving 4 miles into the town of Sioux Rapids. Since November 2020, we have lived two miles out of town in Rural Sioux Rapids on 7 acres. This past year, there has been a lot of maintenance needed in our 2 acres of grove. The high winds have taken down many trees, and we decided it takes more maintenance than we are willing to give, time we would rather give to the ministry, ministry without the constant distraction of needing to put in lots of time and energy to the acreage! We have loved it, but it’s time…we are buying a home on a half acre with space to park our two Free Prayer trailers! We have sold our home on contingency and are praying for the buyer of their home to come forth SOON so that all the closings can take place around mid-March.

The Lord RUNS After You!

1 Kings 19:11-12 Wycliffe Version

…And the Lord said [to Elijah,] “Go thou out, and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And lo! the Lord then passed by, and there was a great strong wind, that turned the mountains upside-down, and broke up the stones before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind there was a great shaking; but the Lord was not in that shaking. And after the stirring, or the shaking, there was a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a hissing of the windas if softly breathingand the Lord was there.

Karen and I went to a restaurant for breakfast. We sat down and our waitress brought us coffee. She returned and took our orders. Nothing special. Then as we talked, I felt a breeze go across my back from left to right. This breeze startled me–it was different than anything I had ever felt. The breeze was Gentle, the breeze was Sweet, the Breeze was Mighty and Powerful! I looked to my right and our waitress had just walked past behind me to the booth on my right. I looked at her and immediately I heard the Lord say, “Tell her I said her life is not a waste!” Suddenly I was undone! I realized that the Lord was IN the breeze following her. The Lord was running, literally chasing after her! Usually when the Lord gives me a word for someone, I confirm it with Him before I give it. Not this time! I knew that I knew. The King of the Universe, The Lord of all heaven and earth, The Lord of all creation of was chasing after this young waitress. She hadn’t yet made Him Lord of her life. She hadn’t yet asked Him into her heart. Yet Here was The Lord pursuing her! I gave her the Word of the Lord as He unfolded His life’s plan for her. She accepted Jesus into her heart and was filled with the Holy Spirit! Not because of anything I did, BUT because Jesus wanted her for His own! Tht morning He became her Father and she became His Daughter!

Maybe you have been thinking about accepting Jesus into your heart as your Lord and your Savior but just haven’t done it yet. OR maybe you are not in right standing with the Jesus and it is bothering you to make things right again. I can assure you, IF you are thinking about either one of these, it is because you are being pursued by the Lord Himself. Make the time to stop and turn around and say YES to Him. He isn’t judging you, He is loving you to Himself!

Very Successful Trip!

We got home two weeks ago from our 18-day 4700-mile trip that took in six states! It was wonderful meeting with our partners, friends and family whom we hadn’t seen in six years! We encountered quite a bit of spiritual warfare on our travels but of course, God gave us the victory every time!

Arizona Visit in September

It’s coming up fast! We are finally able to visit our partners and friends in Arizona next month. It has been a six-year dry period of keeping in touch through newsletters, texts, emails and an occasional phone call!

We are blessed that Evident Life Church in Gilbert is again making their Fellowship Hall available to us for an update/interest coffee get-together! The date is Wednesday, September 17th, 5-8pm, and the address is 415 N Gilbert Rd.

Here’s the evening’s schedule:

5pm Casual Meet & Greet

6pm Ministry Update

Stay and Mingle until 8pm!

If you are in the area, we would love to have you come and bring your friends! We are so looking forward to this time together!

Three New Sites

In just a week, the Lord gave us three additional sites in Spencer for Free Prayer! All four spots are in high traffic areas. The Lord told us to get ready for more, and He did it very quickly. We are excited to have so many options. When we started out almost 22 years ago, we had five roads in the Queen Creek area in Arizona from which He would choose to send us each day. So nice to have a variety!

Ministering in Mason City

We returned Friday afternoon from spending several days in Mason City Iowa doing Free Prayer in the Ashley Furniture parking lot. We are so grateful to the manager who says he’s happy to have us set up in their lot any time! We had 14 people stop, plus we met with people after the roadside, and we prayed with people in the hotel, a restaurant, and even Fleet Farm! We saw God do many amazing things like setting addicts free as well as people tormented by demons. A woman even stopped to give us a praise report, “I’m doing so much better since you prayed for me last year when you were here.” And a man said, “Please come back more often because we desperately need you in this town!”We are so grateful to the couple who sowed into the ministry specifically to make our trip possible! We look forward to the next time we get to go!

24 Stop!

Since we obeyed the Lord‘s direction to focus totally on the roadside, 24 people have stopped in the trailer in five outings! This has not happened in the 4-1/2 years since we returned to Iowa! More, Lord—You are so good!

The Necessity of Retreat

We spent 3 days in retreat with the Lord the first part of this month, and it was wonderful. Even when it’s just the two of us at home, we need to go away and be with Him without all the common day-to-day distractions of life. In fact, He told us years ago to go away with Him once a quarter–we got out of the habit when we began to feel it was a luxury more than a necessity and felt guilty for spending the money on it. However, we found out during this time away it is a necessity. We have felt somewhat lost the last six months, continuing to minister as usual while feeling a bit unsettled. We would spend hours asking the Lord why. Finally we scheduled the much-needed time away. Revelation regarding some smaller questions and needs came quickly over the first two days, and then His direction for us came on the third day: “Devote yourselves 100% to the roadside and to the roadside alone. A shift is coming, and I need you out there 5-6 days a week!” Although this was not at all what we expected, immediately a great peace and knowing came over us — this was the Lord and our spirits witnessed to it! We have gone through many emotions–peace, joy, excitement–since we received His word two weeks ago. The hard emotions come as we prepare for tomorrow night’s last gathering of our home group which we have led for over 4 years, since we moved back to Iowa. It’s a bittersweet time of anticipation for the new promise, “Watch what I will do,” and of sorrow as we let go of this major piece of our life which we know will leave a great void. We love these people. This wasn’t a surprise to God, so we know He has plans for each of them and ways unknown to us now to keep us all connected. We are family.