Pressing on by Roland and Heidi Baker

Roland and Heidi Baker lead Iris Ministries in Mozambique.

Heidi and I would both be dead by now if our doctors had been right.

A few years ago Heidi was in the hospital for a month with a staph infection that went out of control. The doctors gave up on her and told her she could write her tombstone. Then suddenly, while preaching in a lot of pain, God healed her, and the next morning she was out jogging!

Four months ago I was diagnosed with terminal dementia, and was barely alive. I needed help to shower, change clothes, put on my shoes, clip my fingernails. I didn't know what country I was in, and couldn't remember anything from the day before. Heidi built a room for a full-time caregiver for me in Mozambique. Doctors said I wouldn't live long, and family was called.

I had friends who wouldn't give up on me, and they sent me to a Christian center in Germany where I received incredible medical care in a faith-filled environment. Today I am back in Pemba ministering the Gospel, ready to fly my plane again, and reconnected with our friends and staff here. I look forward to pushing back the frontiers of missions in Sudan, DRCongo and wherever the need is greatest.

We cannot function in this world without the power of our God. Some of us haven't yet been brought to our extremity, and so we aren't fully and forcibly aware of our dependence. But our time will come. We need Him to stay alive. We need Him for our health. We need Him for our healing. We need Him for righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

We need more than talk. We need Him more than church, a missions program or financial support. We need more than any human being can do for us. We need sheer, raw power in the goodness and love of God. We need power to appreciate our God, to make Him the greatest pleasure in our lives. We need power to rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. We need power to experience His Kingdom, to move in His environment.

How do we get power? It is the grace and gift of God. He plants in us a hunger that will not be denied. He opens our eyes to our poverty without His powerful Presence. He grants faith where there was none. In His power we can rest even while under demonic attack. His power fixes our eyes on Him. In His power we are able to discipline ourselves in everything. We can cast our cares on Him because He is willing to use His power on our behalf.

How can we be sure He cares for us? The cross. We go to the cross always to find confidence to approach Him. We will not empty the cross of its power. There and only there we find salvation of every kind. At the cross we come to know our God and His heart toward us. At the cross we learn to become utterly dependent on His power.