“The Spirit of the LORd in upon Me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set a liberty those who are oppressed.”
Luke 4:18
Nobody has had a greater heart of compassion than Jesus. The anointing He received from the Holy Spirit was poured out for the people most in need. The Lord had a message of hope for those He called poor, or those who recognized their spiritual need. He knew that there were many who lived completely reliant on their own strength and abilities and the last thing they would do was turn to God for help. They believed that they did not need Him.
Jesus had compassion and felt for those whose lives had been through paths full of thorns, inflicting deep and painful wounds on their hearts. He also thought about those who were held captive to vices and sin and always had words of hope and encouragement for them. Jesus’ entire ministry focused on reaching the needs of people. In starting this ministry He declared the reason He was there, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor; He has sent me to heal…” (Authors paraphrase, Luke 4:18).
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
“I received a letter from a woman in Lima, Peru called Gina. She wrote, I am serving God with my husband, I have two children, a girl five years old and a boy almost one. As a family we recently experienced the real power of prayer and the power of the Blood of Jesus.
The day started like any other. The daily activities of the leadership were as usual. However, in the afternoon I received a phone call, it was my husband and he said, “Come quickly, our son is dying.” Shocked, I struggled to understand the impact and meaning of his words. About two hours before, I had left my ten-month-old baby with his father in the house sleeping. I rushed to the hospital and ran to the emergency room. My son had had a seizure and his fever had subsequently risen to 104 degrees. He had almost lost consciousness when he had another seizure. At that moment the doctors made us sign the authorization form to perform an examination on his spine and brain, due to the risks involved. My son collapsed in my arms. The doctors added, “Sorry but the child has contracted meningitis and it has caused a vein to rupture in his brain. He will not be able to react anymore and if he has another convulsion he will die.”
I remember that both my husband and I refused to accept the medical opinion in our hearts. I called our Pastor and she told me to declare the Word of God, because it is life, and sprinkle the blood of Jesus over every part of his little body and brain by declaring that the hand of God redeems him and the power of God liberates him. Right there we got on our knees, ignoring everybody around us. We watched as our son’s life was ebbing away, but we kept on declaring His Word and God began to work a miracle. Every test they made on him came back with more bad news. After three days, my husband and I continued declaring and believing in God with all our hearts. By the sixth day he was completely restored to the child God had given us; a healthy, strong baby boy. He began playing, and laughing, to see him full of joy was contagious. Like every other child that age, he strained to get out of his cot and his appetite returned to normal. The doctors who came told us, “Your son is completely healthy, we are going to discharge him.” God is almighty and He always comes in the hour of our greatest need.” (Gina Sandoval)
TODAY’S DECLARATION
“I have God’s anointing to preach, I have His grace to heal and I have His power to deliver.”
Today’s post is an excerpt from Pastor Cesar Castellanos’ book, Declarations of Power for 365 Days of the Year: Volume Two.
TODAY’S BIBLE READING
Our Bible Reading Plan gives 25 daily readings per month. There is no scheduled reading for today. You can use this time to catch up on any readings you may have missed, or read through previous passages again.
