There can be times when the enemy tries to thwart your ongoing ministry by whispering to you that “you are not effective.”  You may feel that what you are doing…or the lack thereof…is not yielding the fruit you would like to “see.” 

Listen to this wonderful example, a story told by Jamie Buckingham at the New Orleans International Conference in 1991.

He started by sharing the Scripture out of Acts about Peter walking with his eyes on Jesus and how they brought people out to the streets in the hope that Peter’s shadow would fall on them and they would be healed.  (Acts 5:15)  Jamie then went on to encourage each one of us to walk with our eyes on Jesus and our shadow, too, would fall and have an influence. 

Jamie shared how he was in Israel doing research for a book.  He was planning to be at the summit of Mt. Sinai by daybreak for a prayer meeting.  He had spent the night at the foot of the mountain.

About halfway up the mountain, a tribe of aborigines passed him, some of them elderly, some barefooted, with a white man.

Last evening, Tony and I, along with some of our family members, were once again privileged to experience the sacred sounds of Christmas, performed by Seattle Pacific University’s choirs and instrumentalists.

The inspirational concert opened to the sounds of the extraordinary Fisk pipe organ. It is a powerfully commanding sound that draws the listener’s ear to a heavenly place. Surely there will be a Fisk pipe organ in heaven….we are just being prepared.

The tears were already beginning to roll down my face as I, along with the audience, rose to our feet to welcome the focus of the season…..Jesus. As we sang together the hymn, Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus, tears trickled down my face. I could not hold them back. We were singing a song of old, calling for Jesus to come, but in my heart, I felt we were a modern-day congregation, again calling for the long-expected return of Jesus to come.

One of the most touching stories in the New Testament is the life-changing encounter that a woman, held in demonic bondage for years, had as she encountered Jesus the Redeemer of all things, and was set free from years of mental illness…years of confused thinking…years of depression.