The Secret Place

John liked this song. It refers to the way Jesus heals your deepest hurts or mistakes.

Lyrics by Michael Booth from the album Michael Booth

My heart is like a house.

One day I let the Savior in.

There are many rooms where we would visit now and then.

But then one day He saw that door. I knew the day had come too soon.

I said, “Jesus, I’m not ready for us to visit in that room.

Cuz that’s a place in my heart where even I don’t go.

I have some things hidden there I don’t want no one to know.”

But He handed me the key with tears of love on His face.

He said, “I want to make you clean. Let Me go in your secret place.”

So I opened up the door and as the two of us walked in,

I was so ashamed. His light revealed my hidden sin.

But when I think about that room now, I’m not afraid anymore.

Cuz I know my hidden sin no longer hides behind that door.

That was a place in my heart where even I wouldn’t go

I had some things hidden there I didn’t want no one to know

But He handed me the key with tears of love on His face

And He made me clean.

I let Him in my secret place.

Is there a place in your heart where even you don’t go?

Personal Healing Testimony of John Marx as told to Fran Marx

The picture is of John sitting with the Chief of the village and his mother, 400 miles in the bush in Africa.

In 1990 I went to Africa as a missionary. I was sent 400 miles in the bush to man the infirmary. A problem was that there were no supplies in the infirmary. All I could do was preach and pray for the people. I was so touched by the people, their respect for each other and their willingness to share the little that they had with anyone who needed it. It was during this time that I came to understand that I really can’t do anything spiritual or Godly in my own power. I had no tools, didn’t speak the language, except through an interpreter, no previous knowledge of the culture and I was in a little village 400 miles in the bush where the people struggled each day to find something to eat. Usually, it was cassava root smashed up.

I was in Africa for almost four months. What I discovered, is that in my emptiness, God would do mighty works. If I would be obedient to do what He asked, His Spirit would move through me to touch the people with healings, peace, joy and the love of God. It was one of the most memorable and enriching times of my life. I learned that God just wanted me to be an empty vessel which carried the Holy Spirit to where He wanted to go so that He could do the work of the Lord. I just had to be obedient to follow His lead. It took time, but the more I practiced, the more He could use me.

Then I got sick. I had cerebral malaria with a 105-degree fever for over three days and had an aversion to drinking water. My interpreter would take me out of my hut each day and lay me on the ground in the shade of a tree. On the third day, I saw a vision and heard a voice: it was a 20-foot-tall glass of water, and I heard a small voice saying, “If you don’t drink the water, it will be hard to get home.” The next day, as I was laying under the tree, I saw the vision again. Then I was set free from my aversion to drinking water. My interpreter was walking by just then. I motioned for him to bring me water. As I drank it, it was as if I was drinking life into myself. I was healed and sent home. I had no recurrences when I returned home.

Beside the miraculous healing, when I returned home, I discovered that during my time of illness, even though there was no way to communicate, one of my best friends and his mother as well as my brother felt compelled to pray for me. They knew in their spirits that there was something wrong with me and I needed fervent prayer, which is what they did. I believe it was their obedience to pray fervently for me which is what helped bring forth my healing. “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:16 NKJV

The New Commandment - Part 5 - Love is the Answer

This is the final segment that John wrote in 2018. I hope this series has blessed you.

Today we will show in Scripture how often people did a lot of religious works but were still unpleasing to God. How could that be?

Matthew 7:22-23 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your Name, and in Your Name cast out demons, and in Your Name perform many miracles?” “And then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you: Away from Me, you evildoers.” (NIV)

Why would Jesus say that to the people who did all these religious works?

We find the answer in 1 Corinthians 13:1-8, 13. “If I speak with the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all I possess to the poor, and if I give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away…..And now these three remain; faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

As we can see from these Scriptures, it is important for us to examine our hearts to search for the motivation behind our actions. If our motivation is not rooted in love, our actions will not be pleasing to God. Love is the bottom line. God is looking to see in us a reflection of Himself, and God is love.

But what is this love that God is talking about? Since we all were brought up in different circumstances and in different cultures, we all have different perceptions about what love is. God wants to be sure we are all on the same page, so He gives us His ultimate definition of love in the Scripture cited above. In this way, we can look at His definition and know if we are really being loving or not. If we are not, we can ask our Father to help us learn to love, in Jesus’ Name, by the power of the Holy Spirit. And He will.