Welcome to Touching Lives Ministries

Thank you for visiting our site. We are Victor and Carmen Saunders and we’re excited about what God is doing in our lives and around our Nation. We’re desiring and seeing God moving by His Spirit in exciting ways, seeing the miraculous in demonstrations of the Holy Ghost. Who wants to join us in seeing an out-pour of His Spirit, His Power and His Anointing in ways we’ve never seen before? If that’s you then give us a call or send a comment and tell us what’s on your heart. We desire to take the Word of God and His Power and Anointing to another level. God wants to see His people going out to the world and sharing God’s Grace and Mercy God has for us and especially to boldly witness to the people with miracles, signs and wonders. Are you one that has the same heart, passion and desire? Then please, send us a comment. Let us know and let’s talk about and do what God has called us to do. Let’s put a dent in the enemy’s armour and take back the land in Jesus’ name….

Be THANKFUL

Being thankful in the midst of chaos sounds easier said than done is what most people think when they try to depend on their own strength. That’s what happened with the children of Israel when Moses came down with the Ten Commandments and he told them that they had to obey them. They said, “this we can do”. In other words they were saying it with their mouths but they failed at every opportunity and they of course failed and failed and failed and that’s when the murmuring and complaining really overwhelmed them at every step they took. The piece to the puzzle if you will is that they tried to live the life without God included and when that happens then there is nothing to be thankful for. How many times do we take for granted the simple things in life. The food on our tables, the lights, hot water, our spouses and the list goes on and on? God is good in spite of the situtation or the economy. When we have a thankful heart it overrides all the pain and despair. When we have a thankful heart it reminds us of the joy Jesus gave us when we received Him into our hearts which includes our lives and direction we go in. Thankfulness leads to Jesus for Jesus is our joy. Remember all the good things, where God brought you out from and be grateful during this Thanksgiving Season. If you’re one of those that lost money in the stock market or one that lost your home due to horrific fires in California just remember to thank the Lord that you have life and that Jesus is right by your side for He promised He would never leave us nor forsake us.

BLESS EQUALS INCREASE

Ever think about when Jesus fed the multitude? How did it happen? What power did He possess and why can’t I do it? What did He say are just a few questions people probably ask themselves. The thing is we have missed it when it comes to studying the Word. The Bible is written to say one thing but translators have done it a little injustice when they think something is saying or pointing to a thought, and one word added can take away the true meaning. What I am saying is this. I’m not an expert by any means but being that I have been studying the Hebrew I’ve noticed (with the help of course from tools used by scholars). The word “Blessed” has the word “it” added making it seem like Jesus blessed the “bread”. But He was not blessing the bread as we’ve been thinking it says but Jesus actually “BLESSED GOD THE FATHER”. The bread didn’t increase because the bread was blessed but because God the Father was acknowledged FIRST and the BREAD then INCREASED..As a matter of fact Jewish people take the time to bless God no matter what they do. They bless God when they buy fruit, or take a bath just to name a few. Blessing God for meeting all your needs is very powerful is why I believe is the reason Matthew states in Chapter 6 to “seek first the kingdom of God and everything else WILL be ADDED.” That’s good news. Try it…You might notice increase coming when you least expect it when you GOD FIRST.

God is GOOD

“Once a religious leader asked Jesus this question: “Good teacher, what should I do to get eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “Only God is truly good.” Luke 18:18,19 This is a very profound answer and I’ve often thought about what Jesus meant by His answer. I’ve often thought about how good Jesus was and is and yet He didn’t consider Himself good. Why? My Pastor brought it 0ut in a simplistic way. You have good food, clothing, weather and so on and we tend to throw that all in the mix and the word “GOOD” then loses its flavor or meaning. My truck is good but I don’t call it a good truck, I just call it a truck. My wife is definately good and I do tell people that but it’s not because she and I get along good all the time. We have our differences or “intense fellowships” but she is a good woman, wife and woman of God. We’ve taken the words “good, love” or even the names of God and slung them around like they’re common everyday language and making them common and taking away its significance and character. Jesus makes it clear that God is the One that is totally responsible for anything to be good and we can’t sling Him around like a pet rabbit by our loose way of expressing Jesus like as if He is a good piece of apple pie. God is GOOD PERIOD not because of anything that we consider good on the earth but because He loves us so much that He gave His only begotten Son Jesus Christ for the remission of sin. Jesus wasn’t just a good person because He did good things but because He is God. God is good because it’s His nature and not our opinion. When someone asks me if I believe in God? I says, “YES, and HE IS GOOD”. Try it sometimes..  :O)

Abba “DEAR” Father God wants you to enjoy life with Him.

“Abba” Father God is a reality to me. I was one of the many statistics of a broken family, full of confusion and chaos. The so called reality show “Nanny” on television wouldn’t have nothing on our household. I believe she would have gone home with her makeup all off and her hair and clothes all in disarray and UPSET! I wasn’t able to go to movies, my school prom, the beach or even have friends from over after school to do homework or just have plain fun. I worked in our family business at the age of 10 years old or maybe even earlier. I didn’t have a childhood that I can remember that I actually enjoyed. My youth years had slipped away and before I knew it life is passing me by and I wondered where has it all gone? I thank the Lord though for the many wonderful years I have had and still enjoy with my wife of 23 years this December. We recently enjoyed a family movie at the theater and we acted like we were kids on a date. I didn’t know how to enjoy life at one time. After becoming a Christian I was so frustrated thinking I had to perform to be a good  Christian and when I failed I felt so terrible and beaten up like my real dad treated me when I was a child. The way I thought about God was through the lens of childhood punishment every time I made a mistake until I came across Romans 8:15 “So you should not be like cowering, fearful slaves. You should behave instead like God’s very own children, adopted into his family-calling him “Father, dear Father.” (NLT) God is “dear”. Interpreted from the Greek He is “Abba”. I had a step dad after my real father left when I was 6 years old and, even though my step dad didn’t abuse me he was a lot older than my mom and he wasn’t intimate with me to do things like play baseball or wrestle etc. It was always all strictly business is why I had started working at such a young age in our family business. When my step dad died over 30 years ago my heart was crushed for even though we didn’t have an intimate relationship I felt a separation of someone that had influenced my life in a powerful way. When I came to realize God as “Abba” and that He loves me and that He was interested in my desires and needs and especially my life, I sensed this peace that I’ve never felt before. I heard in my spirit that Abba Father, dear Daddy loves me in spite of my insecurities, failures or mistakes because of Jesus’ finished work at the cross and through Him I have been MADE the righteousness of God and I am adopted by my Heavenly Father whom I can now call, Abba, Dear Daddy and that He enjoys me as much as I enjoy Him. What great love He has for His children. When my wife Carmen and I went to the movie to see “Journey to the Center of the earth” I heard my dear Daddy tell me, “baby boy, did you enjoy My creation on the screen? Isn’t the earth I created awesome?” I said, “yes, Abba Daddy. Hollywood can only imagine Your awesomeness and they came close. I enjoy their imagination but I enjoy the reality of Your Power of what they tried to display on the screen.” Man can’t come close to try and figure out God. The same way about knowing God as Abba. You can’t experience Him through your experience of an earthly father, it only comes through the Holy Spirit and God’s Word and your time with Him. As exciting as the movie was is the same way if not more of an exciting experience you can have with God if you’ll allow Him to be a part of your life.

Appreciate every moment

We can get into a position of thinking that the world is caving in on us or that we are going through so much when in reality there are people who are in very bad and awkward situations that make ours look like kindergarten. Not saying of course that the problems we face are not real but if we understand that we are believers that are not alone for God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and the Precious Holy Spirit is with us, what problem or situation can overcome us? In I John 4:4 it says, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcomethem: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” We are over comers because we have the greater one on the inside of us. I’ve often thought about “how in the world did I make it through life without God?” It comforts me to know that Jesus is my righteousness in spite of any difficulty life tries to deal out. You have to realize that God the Father loves you in spite of you failures and mistakes. With this awareness of how much Abba Father God loves you sense a peace that surpasses all understanding and it gets my mind off of myself and unto the attitude of gratefulness. Enjoy each moment and be appreciative of how good God is. Life will have its ups and downs but you are more than a conqueror for you are IN CHRIST Jesus. Start telling yourself when you blow it that “I AM the RIGHTEOUSNESS of GOD IN CHRIST.” It’s not based on anything you do but what Christ did for us on the cross. Each moment then will be filled with righteousness and His Grace will Shine upon your moments each day that goes by.

Knowing Father God

There is a difference knowing about God and knowing Him in an intimate way. We’ve conceived Him as some old man on a throne with a long white beard and a fly swat in His hand ready to hit you over the top of the head every time you make a mistake. That’s how “Religion” portrays Him and that’s the way I used to think growing up in Church why I left the Church as a young 16 year old teenager full of hatred and rebellion. For a few years I’ve noticed that even though I knew who I was in Christ I still was living in a works mentality thinking I had to perform in order to please God. I really didn’t know Him as a Father or really as a good God. To really know God is to understand that He loves you in spite of your imperfections, flaws or mistakes you have made or will make now or in the future. In John 3:16 which is a very familiar verse popped out at me. It says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life“. Everlasting Life. Wow! Is it something I can enjoy now or only when I get into heaven when I get to glory? But then I read in John 17:3 where Jesus says, “Now, this is Eternal Life: That you should know the Father.” To know the Father! Wow! What does He mean? Then it dawned on me that I need to know God in an intimate way and when I realize it and live that reality then I can also not only experience that relationship with Him but also experience that “Eternal Life”. Eternal lIfe is here and NOW!!! To know God the Father is an intimate relationship like a husband and wife knowing each other. Like Adam knowing Eve and thus bearing children. There’s a powerful transference of God’s LIFE when you receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. Jesus came that we would have life and have it to the fullest. To know God the Father is to know that you have become His child and that you have the same DNA as Jesus for you have been translated into the Kingdom of His Dear Son of His Love as it says in Colossians 1:13. It is so awesome to realize that God is not mad at you and sees you righteous not because of anything that we do but because of what Jesus did for us and our faith in Jesus’ finished work on the cross.

By His Stripes you ARE HEALED

Isaiah 53:55… The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

You know, one of the biggest outcries against Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion Of The Christ, was that it was too violent, especially the part where Jesus was scourged.
Let me tell you this: It was not violent enough! The Bible says that at the cross, Jesus’ visage was marred beyond that of any man. (Isaiah 52:14) In the movie, even after all the beatings, the actor who played Jesus, James Caviezel, still looked quite handsome.
But the reality is that when Jesus hung on the cross, He had “no form or comeliness… there is no beauty that we should desire Him”. (Isaiah 53:2) He was beaten to a pulp until His face looked like jelly hanging out!
In the movie, when they scourged Him, only a small portion of His bones was exposed, so it was still quite tidy. But the messianic psalms say, “The plowers plowed on my back; they made their furrows long” (Psalm 129:3), and “I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me”. (Psalm 22:17) All His bones were exposed!
My friend, He was thinking of you when the soldiers tied Him to the scourging post. As they raised their whips, He said, “Let it all come on me!”
But what came on Him was not just the whip stripping the flesh off His bare back, but your sicknesses and diseases. Each time He was whipped, every form of sickness and disease, including arthritis, cancer, diabetes, bird flu and dengue fever, came upon Him. “The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”
Today, healing is your right because Jesus paid the price for your healing. So if the devil says, “You cannot be healed,” tell him, “Jesus has paid for my healing. Disease has no right to be in my body. I am healed in Jesus’ name!”
Every curse of sickness that was supposed to fall on you fell on Jesus instead. He bore every one of those stripes, so that you can walk in divine health all the days of your life. The price has been paid so that you can rise up and out of your bed of affliction!

Joseph Prince Devotion

No Condemnation

Romans 8:1 says,

“There is therefore NOW NO CONDEMNATION to those that are IN CHRIST JESUS.” WOW! What an awesome statement the Apostle Paul made. We as human beings seem to forget that we’re born of the Spirit of Christ. My wife mentioned to me yesterday something that really stuck to me and it was this. “Honey, you know why Christians are so hungry to see the move of God? It’s because we who are born again are spirit first.” That really stayed with me all day. We are spirit, created in the image of God and now we are recreated into the image of CHRIST. INTO HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS!!! We’re no longer condemned. I pictured a condemned building with broken windows, graffiti, really terrible looking.

That’s the way I used to see myself. No matter how good I tried to be on the outside I pictured myself as a condemned building. The image I had of myself was how I thought God the Father saw me whenever I blew it. I was self righteous. I had poor self esteem from childhood up until a couple of years ago. Even while being a Christian I thought I impressed God with how long I prayed, read the Word, acting like a Pharisee. When I had gotten a revelation of my Heavenly Father and His Unfailing Love and the price that Jesus Christ paid, His Finished Work, I then realized I am no longer condemned, for Jesus was Condemned in My PLACE. I am the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:17-21). When I do something wrong, God the Holy Spirit doesn’t bring to your face sin, but righteousness (John 16:10) , for sin has already been paid for with the precious gift of Jesus’ shed blood. Hallelujah. Walk in the freedom of not only knowing who YOU ARE but WHO’S YOU ARE….

A move of God’s Grace

Hi! We’re Victor and Carmen Saunders and we’re excited to share with you what God has placed in our hearts. We sense for quite a while now that God wants to move in His people resulting in miracles, signs and wonders and it is being hindered by becoming complacent and putting God in a box. God is moving by His Spirit in tangible ways especially now being that we’re in the last days and Jesus’ soon return. For almost 2 years now since I’ve been studying the Hebrew Language and also an avid follower of Pastor Joseph Prince and Andrew Wommack I’ve noticed how our attitudes and views with ourselves, others and believe it or not God Himself, have changed us in a dramatic way by showing us His love and Grace and thus receiving powerful healings in our lives. I believe as we enter into understanding His Love, His Grace and allowing the Holy Spirit to minister is why powerful moves are happening because it’s time to take the limits off of God. We’ve put Him into a box by us being wrapped up in our own agendas and programs. It’s time to see miracles happen on the streets, in stores and wherever we go. Why? Because the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit LIVES in us. What Jesus did while on the earth is the same things that we’re to do for Jesus said that greater things will we do because He goes to the Father. So, Jesus left us an awesome responsibility to minister to the needs of people. That’s what ministry is all about. We want to see this happen to others is the reason for this blog. I want to gather with other believers who are hungry for God, to see a move of His Mighty Hand, to gather to Praise and Worship Jesus Who did and does so much for us but take so much for granted. Many people are wanting more from God other than going to hear a couple of “Praise & Worship” songs, receive offering and a 40 minute sermon. There’s needs that people have and that’s what Jesus did while on the earth. He demonstrated God the Father’s Love through Himself, Grace Himself never turns away a hand that reaches out, a condition that’s marked their lives as the world dictates incurable or a heart that’s wanting to touch the Tangible Grace of God to turn away from sin. It is happening in different parts of our Nation and it can happen here in Irving, Dallas, Texas metroplex. We would love to hear from you. God loves you so much and He wants to see you free from condemnation and guilt.