Nick Vujicic
April 24, 2011 - W1117

Hi everyone, my name is Nick Vujicic. I was born in Australia, and currently living in Los Angeles. I am a citizen of heaven passing by. It’s my third time to be in Hawaii and I am happy to be here again on the Easter Sunday to celebrate such a memorable time with you all, to celebrate the fact that Jesus was crucified on the cross and has risen!

I was born with no arms and legs, but I still live a life with dreams and I like adventures. If people tell me that it’s impossible, I will ask “Why not?” People would use different words to describe me; they would say I am energetic, enthusiastic, full of lives, etc. But I would just use the word “verve” to describe myself. Being a limbless person, people would wonder why I still have a smile on my face all the time. So is it about telling myself that I have to be thankful for what I already have, and not to be angry with not having what I wanted? Is it a choice to be happy and stay happy? Is it simply just a choice to stay positive and things will be fine? No! We can’t choose to be happy and be positive and then life will be okay. There are indeed times that are painful. I have had my moments of ups and downs, too. When I was a kid, I would question why God didn’t give me limbs. Nevertheless, I have a smile on my face now because of Jesus being on my side. He promised to be with me and He gave me peace and joy. I have seen how God carries me through these days and turned my limbless life from bad to good. He changed my heart with His heart. When I was a kid, my parents kept telling me that life is going to be okay without understanding what I was going through. No one ever understands me and it was not easy when I was young. However, God later on showed me that if He doesn’t change my circumstances, He will change my heart, and He did.

I definitely prayed for having limbs. I told God that if He gave me arms and legs, I would tell everyone about Him by showing them my new arms and legs. Nonetheless, He hasn’t said yes to my prayers yet. In the midst of pain while God says no to my prayer, there were lies coming in to my head. I would start doubting and saying to myself, “Maybe He is not real.”, “Maybe I am not good enough yet so I don’t have my prayers answered.”, “Maybe He doesn’t love me.” But I am telling you that these are all lies from the enemy! It’s the demon trying to bring us down and turn us away from God. Why do we have to focus on our physical forms? I can live a life with no limbs but heart not being broken. I know there are people out there living a life with hearts broken but having arms and legs. However, we are all beautiful in any forms of appearance and we have to live as God designs each of us to be.

When I was at my age 8, I was told that I wouldn’t grow up with a job and no one would love me and marry me. I was told that I would be a burden and I should just give up. But again these are all lies from the enemy. When I was 10, I wanted a miracle that I would meet someone who was exactly like me, so that he could tell me that life was going to be okay. It would have been more convincing to hear from such a person than from anyone else. But there was nobody like me. Then I attempted suicide at my bathtub one day. While I was under the water, I had a picture of seeing my parents crying with sorrow, so I turned and gave up the attempt because my parents loved me though they didn’t understand how I felt. And I chose to live as I am here for a reason. I am here to know God, and to tell people about Him through my life. Jeremiah 29:11 said that, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” While we know that God’s plans for us are always good, I am sure we all get tempted to suggest God a plan B which is originated from us. While we suggest a plan B to God, it’s actually us forgetting the fact that He would change our hearts first before changing our circumstances. He can’t do much with your broken pieces until you give them all up to Him. You cannot walk around the corner until you do and He will carry you around the corner. If you ever feel that you have no strength to carry on anymore, you just go but let Jesus to carry you instead of relying on yourself. As people was telling me that I couldn’t get a job or couldn’t accomplish anything when I was a kid, now I can tell you that by the grace of God, I finished college with double majors, and I do have a job. Furthermore, God has brought me to speak in 1500 speaking engagement proclaiming His glory. I have met 7 presidents, 5 congresses and went through 39 countries to testify Him. It is about how God can use me as a limbless person, and He has used me in a way that is more than how I would have imagined with arms and legs.

Why do I choose to follow Jesus? The truth can be found in the Bible. There is only one man who has conquered death and risen again. There is only one man that is perfect, holy and knows the truth. He said he is the way, He is the life everlasting, and He is the only son of God who is willing to die for our sins. I know that I can’t live this limbless life on my own; I need Jesus to be with me and live this life with me. He promised that He will send down the Holy Spirit to those who believe in Him. And I accepted Him. When God is with me, nothing can be against me. By accepting Him as my Lord and Savior, He gave me eternity instead of arms and legs. A life in eternity is far greater than a life having just arms and legs. There will be spiritual warfare in life and we just have to turn our backs to satan, and listen to the truth from the Words of God, as Isaiah 40:31 said, “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Meanwhile, God allows us to choose. That’s how Adam and Eve sinned by choosing to disobey God and eat the fruit of knowledge. We all are not perfect, we all have sinned but our sins are forgiven because Jesus is perfect. All we need to do is to believe in Jesus who had risen from death. We can’t believe in ourselves to live this life. And I want to live with Jesus and I want to bring someone else to heaven with me. God’s grace is sufficient even though I am limbless. I am being used as God’s hands to reach people’s hearts, to see thousands of souls being saved.

It is God’s truth that set me free, the arms and legs cannot set me free. The things that we ever wanted cannot set us free. Only by holding onto God’s truth we can be set free. God can do all things, and all we need to do is being patient. We just have to breathe when things fall apart. It’s easier said than done, but we really just have to breathe, and let God use us. He filled me with His Holy Spirit and peace that are far more valuable than having arms and legs.  He never promised an easy life, but He promised to be with me and you when we choose Him. If you can’t see any miracle, then you become one. God keeps me limbless and not answered yes to my prayers so that He can use me in a way I couldn’t imagine. Because of me staying limbless, God brought me to speak in California 5 years ago to meet a 19 month old kid who has the exact same physical situation as mine. The doctor originally said that this kid would never be able to walk; however, after the doctor seeing me walking, he now said the kid will be able to walk! The parents were praying for a miracle and God used me to tell them that their kid is going to be fine, and I became the miracle they prayed for! That reminded me about wishing to meet someone who was exactly the same as me when I was a kid. I couldn’t meet such a person but God made me to be such a person instead for this 19 month old boy. God is good, His grace is always sufficient. God loves you now! There is no pressure of achieving anything first as He already loves you no matter what. But we cannot take this for granted. We have to receive Him, get to know Him and find out what God wants us to do. So today I want to ask you how deep your relationship is with God. How can He use you? Do you know God? For sure you will fall at times, but you just need to get back up. No one else besides God can heal you when you are down. Nothing can satisfy you when you stay down. However, we are God’s children and He never punishes us for falling down. He gives us strength to get back up instead. We need to wrap our heads with His Words when we fall so we can get back up.

God never forgets you. He is waiting for each of you to come back to Him. Some of you might have lost something dearly. I know I can never understand your pain, but God does. God’s grace is sufficient for you. There are regrets, pains, loss, depressions and all kinds of problems in life, but God is here waiting for you to let Him heal you. He doesn’t have to heal you physically; He just has to heal your hearts. He will give you peace, love and joy. He hears our prayers so we keep on praying, and remember that He may not answer your prayers the way you want, or at the time you want. But His grace is always sufficient. He has a greater purpose for each of you. When things in your life are not making sense, you can keep on praying. You can keep praying for your home and the people around you. When people fight, it’s not about who is right or wrong; instead, it is a time when angel and demon are fighting. So all you need is God. We need to ask God what He wants us to do and let Him heal us on the inside from today. We need to examine ourselves if we are loving people like God does. When we hold the heart of God in our hearts, He holds our hearts back and never let go. I am not perfect. I am work in progress, but I lift myself to God and let Him works in me. It’s more than just principles. It’s a reality that I am alive because Jesus is alive. My peace is coming from the fact that He has forgiven me. Being a good person doesn’t help you live. We all are not perfect and we all have sinned. We need God to live. God never fail us and we are His princes and princesses. We are children of God, so nothing can stop us from loving God and others, and nothing can stop us from standing in front of the gate of hell to redirect traffic to heaven. I definitely don’t need arms and legs to do all these. I am not concerned if I can hold someone’s hands, I am only concerned if my heart can hold someone’s heart. God is perfect and beautiful, and as the song said, Jesus loves me as I know, for the Bible tells me so. If you are disabled in spirit, you have a disabled soul, then God is your way and answer to life.

Today I am not asking you to play down your complaints or problems by comparing yours with mine. For sure each of us does have complaints and problems. We all have our problems that no one else understands. It’s not a time to see whose problem is worse, but it’s a time to give you a new perspective, that God is bigger than problems! Jesus doesn’t promise to make life better but He can make dead men alive. However, we are separated from Him by rejecting Him. God keeps on pursuing us as the Bible shows us that He does. It is only us working so hard to stay away from Him, and this leads us to death, which means an eternal separation from life. If you want to keep on doing your own things and ignore Him, you are separated from Him. Hell is a meaning of falling away from God and His grace for the rest of eternity. Today I encourage you to give God a chance to convince you, because He is pursuing you. God never send people to hell, hell is merely human’s own choice of staying away from God, and it’s never His choice. Besides, we can’t receive His grace without receiving the author. We cannot receive His peace without receiving Jesus. Jesus came not because He wanted to bring us a religion. He came because He wanted to be the bridge between men and God so that we can be connected back to God through receiving Jesus. We cannot receive blessings without receiving the one who blesses. Jesus is the one who blesses and the giver of gift of salvation. Today you are here because God invites you Himself. He planned all these out because He loves you. The wages of sin is death. He knows we will spend much more time in the eternity than here, so He keeps pursuing us and giving us chances so we don’t spend our eternity in hell. He doesn’t want to just cut you off. He wants to give you future and hope. Are you going to receive the author of life and peace, and His gift today?

If you are saying “yes” to Jesus today, please pray the following prayer with all your heart to God:

“Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for Jesus, thank you that you came, and you died for my sins, that I might have life everlasting. I turn from my sins and I turn to you. Change me into the person you want me to be, renew my faith and use me for your purposes. Now I say this, so everyone can hear me, so you can hear me, so I can hear myself, so the devil can hear, Jesus Christ is my Lord, He’s my Savior and I belong to Him. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen”

Discussion Questions:

1. What can keep us going on with life?

2. How are we going to get back up after we fall?

3. How can we receive God’s grace and the gift of salvation?

4. Whose choice is it for going to hell?

5. Do you have Jesus in your heart today?