In the mid-1980s I was rushing through an airport in Rome with a friend of mine who was a television producer. Suddenly, I spotted at the opposite end of the tunnel a short, stooped woman wearing a familiar robe.
“Paul,” I called to my friend, “Watch our stuff.” I threw my bags at his feet and ran to her. “My name is Mike Evans,” I said as I approached, offering my hand to shake hers. Mother Teresa’s dark eyes twinkled as she grasped my outstretched hand and said, “Mr. Evans, it is very nice to meet you.”
All the love of the universe seemed to drain from the atmosphere at that moment. It was as if that love was concentrated within her tiny frame and radiated through her. My flight and my friend no longer existed. Like a schoolboy, I stammered a few words about my current mission to Israel, then collected myself and asked about her recent trip to the United States. I thought I would sympathize with her for returning to the suffering in India after enjoying the comforts of the States for a short time.
“No, no,” she said with a sad smile. “It is in the United States that I am sad. I believe it is the poorest country on earth.” “But why?” I asked, stumbling in my attempt at small talk with this giant of faith. “Ah,” she said, “the United States is poor in spirit, and that is the worst kind of poverty.”
I have meditated on Mother Teresa’s profound statement in the years since that encounter and have come to understand it more each day. In a land of wealth and opulence, with every opportunity afforded us—from time-saving gadgets to life-enhancing luxuries—our nation as a whole seems devoid of true fulfillment and lasting contentment. Even with all our computer-age technology, state-of-the-art communications satellites, multi-million dollar universities, and Internet-ready cell phones, we still don’t seem able to rise to a level of greatness equal to our level of wealth. Like a good dream that doesn’t last until morning, personal peace is fleeting and achieving a fulfilling purpose for living eludes us. We seem to be a nation of people who, while struggling to know our divine destiny, settle instead for complacency, missing God’s power and purpose in our lives.
The great failure of God’s people in our days is that we do not come into His presence through prayer as we should. When we live our lives spending time with God to get to know Him and His purposes, opening ourselves to consider and be part of manifesting His kingdom on the earth, then we should have constant joy within, welling up and spilling out. It should be an infectious joy that makes others want to partake. It should be in us as it was in Jesus and should attract people to us as it did to Him. Just as people should know we are Christians by our love, so should they know we are different because of our joy. If we are truly walking with Jesus, allowing Him to guide our steps, then we should be constantly experiencing the benefits of His Holy Spirit. Just as those who were healed when Peter’s shadow fell across them, we should be more fully experiencing the benefits of the Holy Spirit as we follow closely behind Jesus.
God’s presence changes things, so if He is truly in us and we are abiding in Him, then His life-changing power should shine through us. Yet, instead, we are often indistinguishable from the rest of the world. Some might call themselves undercover Christians, but the truth is we’re not under cover; we’re unchanged!
Nothing can blind us to that more than ego or self-deception. Sometimes it appears that those who seem to be doing the most for God are the most deceived. In the past three decades, scandals have rocked the Church on an international scale with every vice from greed to adultery to child molestation. Then, as if that were not enough, on the other side have been those of us who stand in judgment over these people, erring on the side of stiff religiosity and driving more away from God because of our unforgiveness and self righteous demeanor. Believe me, I know what I am talking about here; I have experienced this fleshly pride first-hand.
During the scandal surrounding the demise of the PTL television network in the mid-80s, I was invited on television news programs—Crossfire, CNN, Nightline, and so forth—to debate the various attorneys involved. Charles Gibson on “Good Morning, America” continued one such show through two extra segments because we were having such an insightful discussion. I thought I was doing a service to the Body of Christ. But instead I was engaging in what Evangelist Doug Stringer called the “Spiritual Immune Deficiency Disease”—cells eating other cells within the Body.
Consider all the energy I’ve wasted over the years seeking the approval of others, becoming intoxicated by someone else’s power, working as an unofficial arbitrator in big-name church cases, engaging in media fist-fights all over the nation. I thought I had arrived and was finally really doing something to help Jesus. But Jesus doesn’t need such help—He needs my humble obedience. I wasn’t carrying out His ministry on the earth—I was blindly exalting Self! I was seeking validation and justification for my flesh. I was allowing it to fight other flesh—and all under the Christian banner! That realization drove me to my knees.
When great saints pray, a flame of the Spirit is stirred up from within. Instead of praying, “God, send revival,” they all discover the same thing: The Person of Jesus Christ revealed by the Holy Spirit is revival. We need to stand up at His command and declare His presence. Declare God’s Glory! It’s all about Jesus! When we ultimately become acquainted with Jesus, we are drawn into the presence of the Father which leads us to His glory!
I was at a church outside New Orleans many years ago when, before I preached, Jesus softly instructed, “Stand up and declare a spirit of salvation.” I thought, How odd. But I obeyed. When you say what Jesus says, you will see what Jesus sees and you will do what Jesus does. When I spoke Christ’s words, instantly the power of God fell on that congregation. The large chandelier began to shake; then the building shook. I was told later that the pastor’s wife called the police to ask if there had been an earthquake. There had not been, but 62 people who did not know Christ, rushed from their seats to the altar for salvation.
The visitation of God’s glory is a heaven-sent revival, the Holy Spirit power within us manifesting the present-day ministry of Jesus Christ. All we need are hearts hungry enough to believe His Word and act upon it in His wisdom. The Church in the Book of Acts caused demons to tremble.
Christians preached the Word with fire and glory; there was nothing they wouldn’t do for God. There were no territorial rights, no spirit of competition, no power plays, no arrogance and no big egos.
The great teacher E. M. Bounds said, “Programs, techniques, cam-paigns are utterly useless unless people are under the control of the Holy Spirit. Men are God’s methods. While men look for better methods, God looks for better men.” You and I can be among those for whom God is looking!
At the age of 31, I faced one of the greatest crises of my life. I had been working 18 hours a day, seven days a week, striving to be the best I could be. I had no comprehension that I was competing for acceptance among my peers. I was addicted to work in the same way an alcoholic is addicted to alcohol, or a drug addict is addicted to drugs. That addiction began to break my health.
An undiagnosed neurological disease began to manifest itself. It caused all the muscles in my neck to spasm. I began to experience panic attacks and tachycardia. My heart rate would jump from 80 to 200 beats in a matter of seconds. In the midst of the darkness, I became depressed, discouraged, and physically drained. I cried out to God from the midst of that cardiology ward, “Lord, I’ve never wanted to know You in the fellowship of your suffering, but I do now.” As I said that the Lord said, “Then you shall know Me in the power of My resurrection. Because you are willing to admit what you are not, I will empower you with what I am. Where those two points meet, destiny will be manifested in your life.”
Little did I know that several months later, the soft, gentle voice of the Holy Spirit would speak to me to read the following: “Remember not the former things, neither consider the things of old, behold I will do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth. Shall ye not know it; I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18-19). Through this Scripture, it was as though a drop of water had fallen on my parched spirit. Next the Holy Spirit instructed me to go home, send a fax to Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and ask if he would meet with me. I argued, “No Lord, there’s no way. He doesn’t even like me, so why would he want to see me?”
Eventually, I obeyed His voice and sent the fax telling Prime Minister Begin I’d be in a Jerusalem hotel for six days and desired to meet with him. I flew there, checked in, and began to pray.
On the second day, I found myself in the Prime Minister’s office. I approached him with “Hello, how are you?” He then talked for almost 30 minutes, which was good because I had nothing to say.
Finally, he asked, “Why did you come?” “I don’t know why I came.” “You don’t know?” he said with astonishment. “What do you know?” “God sent me,” I said. “God sent you but didn’t tell you why?” he asked, becoming amused at the situation. “No, He didn’t tell me why,” I said, somewhat embarrassed. He called for his secretary to come into his office. “Eight thousand miles, Kadashai, to meet with me, and he says nothing except God sent him. Kadashai, shake his hand. We have finally found an honest man!”
Then he turned to me and said, “When God tells you why, will you come back and tell me?” After leaving the Prime Minister’s office I still didn’t know why I’d gone, so I prayed and waited for an answer. Finally, Jesus softly spoke one word to me, “Bridge.” Once I had that, I called the prime minister’s office and we met again. As before, after our greeting, he asked, “Why did you come?” I only had the one word, so I said, “To build a bridge.”
“A bridge? Like the Brooklyn Bridge?” the Prime Minister asked. “What kind of bridge?” I had no idea what to answer, but as I opened my mouth, out popped, “A bridge of love.” Immediately, Jesus’ soft voice became clear on the inside of me as to what He intended for my life through this meeting. “A bridge of love,” he mused. “For whom?” “Between Christians in America and Jews in Israel,” I answered. “I like that,” Begin said again. “I will help you.”
That was the start of more than four decades of a Jesus-blessed ministry to the nation of Israel. It revolutionized my life and helped develop the bridge Jesus wanted to build. By my not caring about my reputation, God was able to use me. Somehow I fit into His plan, allowing my imperfections to draw me closer to Him.
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