Sept Month of Miracles!

Hello Dear Ones!

In June we studied the word spot. And Apostle Peter urged us to look to the coming of our Lord and to be found of Him without spot, and blameless.  (2Pet. 3:14.  He finishes that chapter by warning us not to be led away in deception and then saying this:

 2Pet. 3:18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen.

The word grow means this:

1)    to cause to grow, augment  2) to increase, become greater//

AUGMENT', v.t. [L. augmento, augmentum, from augeo, auxi, to increase; Gr. It seems to be the Eng. to wax, or to eke.] 1. To increase; to enlarge in size or extent; to swell; to make bigger; as, to augment an army, by reinforcement; rain augments a stream. 2. To increase or swell the degree, amount or magnitude; as, impatience augments an evil.

AUGMENT', v.i. To increase; to grow larger; as, a stream augments by rain.

AUG'MENT, n.  1. Increase; enlargement by addition; state of increase.

 

The word Grace may prove a little more tricky,  because of how we have always been taught.  We have been told it is unmerited favor.  But Jesus grew in Grace, and certainly that wouldn’t have been unmerited!  And we are in Him.  So what is Grace?  Thayer describes it as thus:   1a) that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech.  2) good will, loving-kindness, favour  2a) of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues  3) what is due to grace  3a) the spiritual condition of one governed by the power of divine grace

Grace is God’s ability working in and through us, kindling, igniting or urging us to exercise Christian virtues; Love, Joy, Peace, long-suffering ( patience) gentleness, goodness (kindness,) faith, meekness, and temperance (self-control.) The fruit of the Spirit that Paul tells us that we possess, but must learn to walk in.  Peter also tells us to give diligence and to add to our faith; virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity (love.)    Apostle Bobbie Jean Merck gave this definition of Grace: “Grace is God’s Ability, God’s Efficiency, God’s Proficiency, God’s Power, God’s Sufficiency, God’s Strength, and God’s Help In, Upon, With and Through us!”   Grow in Grace- grow in good will, loving-kindness and favour.  Increase, extend, and reinforce Grace and it’s characteristics in your life and towards others.  What we sow, we will also reap.  Is our first words, “I can’t do ________” or is it, “By God’s Grace I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  How does He strengthen us?  By giving us His Grace! 

Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

He sits upon a throne of Grace and we are told to come boldly!  Thayers: Boldly: free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, assurance.

We are to GROW in this fearless confidence and assurance.  We are to GROW in the attributes of Grace by exercising them and by giving of those things freely to others as the occasions arise.  So to do that, we must believe that we have received and SAY of the Lord, “He has bestowed me with His Grace and I am walking in Grace and Growing in Grace daily!”  Amen!

And surely, He graced me for the trip to South Africa, an 18 hr. trip!  I am rejoicing for the lives that were touched and impacted.  We ordained and set into office a Prophet and an Apostle, while I was there.  Plus, all who attended were encouraged and lifted.

I am also in the planning stages to return to Nigeria!  YES!  I have been asked to speak at a church in Ben We (pronounced Ben WAY) state that seats 6000!  Also several churches in Abuja are clamoring for me to come and Idah eagerly awaits my return to their village.  Plus, I have promised to go to Uyo in Akwo Bom State (in the south) to visit Pastor Ibanga’s church and strengthen and encourage him. He is steadily recovering from a stroke. Traveling there is labeled as dangerous, so please do pray for me!  There are also a couple of churches in Port Harcourt, one of which is a branch of Joshua’s ministry. This is also dangerous territory.  Basically, I need to slip in, do what God wants and get back out rather quickly.  I’ll be arranging all this with my Personal Assistant; Prophet Joshua Izugbara who is one of my spiritual sons and will act as liaison with each pastor and church to facilitate my itinerary and safety.  Tommy is planning some little surprise for my birthday, Oct. 18th, so I won’t be going until October 28th- Nov. 21th, as God provides the finances for the trip. (pray for favor at work to let me off!) So far I have $300 towards the air fare!  The cheapest fare I have found is United for $839. Please pray for the remainder to come in along with in country travel expenses and hotel fares.( $1000)

Ben has been in Congo preaching.  There is war in Congo right now.  He flew into Rwanda and they DROVE to where he would be ministering. But he did manage to email Tom birthday greetings for his birthday Aug.23^rd. Upon returning, he wrote: Congo was fantastic, I did officiate the occasions of over 184 pastors and leaders graduated and I gave them the certificates.” He also previously spent a week preaching in south western Uganda and checking on 3 branch churches in that area.  His boys are getting so big.  Gabby turned 10 Aug 30^th and Honour was 7 on Aug 15^th!  Anointed is 8 going on 9. Gods Army- Victorious is 5, and Generous turns 3 on Sept. 26^th. Honour and Anointed are going to a children’s crusade at Pastor Asaph’s church ( a JCC Branch.) Honour will sing in the kids choir and Anointed has some of ‘his own music” to perform and will also PREACH! My grandbabies are ministering!!!

I was asked again to preach by phone to Calvary Church Household of Eagles, Sept1^st for their miracle service.  What a privilege.  The line connection was not good and I could not get through.  I have a pastor friend looking into a satellite set up between Idah and me so no more phone-line issues.  Needed is approx. $1000.00 to buy the equipment and get set up, and then monthly fee of some amount…

But Tuesday the 3^rd, I called to take part in Pastor Ocheje’s week-long “War Against unseen Enemy-Who Is Doing this to Me?”  I felt led to teach on the unseen enemy of ‘ignorance”.  I told them that we must KNOW God, His Word, His Character and Ways.  My first scriptures were:  “Pro 29:18(AMP)  Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish; but he who keeps the law [of God, which includes that of man]--blessed (happy, fortunate, and enviable) is he. [1 Samuel 3:1; Amos 8:11, 12] Job 28:20,28  Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? And unto man He said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

 After I had prayed for God to touch their hearts and make them fertile soil, and to use me, I barely got 6 scriptures read and the Spirit of Conviction fell upon the people! They began to weep and cry out in repentance, and miracles began to break out all over!  The people ran out of the church and into the village shouting! God Sovereignly moved! We praise God for His mighty hand of mercy and kindness, for who He is, and of course for all that He does for us and through us.  What a mighty God we serve! He is rich in mercy and grace, Just and True, Righteous in all His ways.  How blessed we are to know Him and have a real and personal, intimate relationship with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!  We must not keep silent.  As the old song says, “Everybody oughta know who Jesus is!”

Thank you for partnering with us as we tell the world of how Great and Loving He is!  God bless you, and keep you, and make His face to shine upon you.  God shower you with His Grace.  In Jesus Name.  Amen!

Love, 

Nancy, Tom and the Board of Directors

Praying for Missionaries, b y Rick Renner, Sparkling Gems

This was posted by a friend on a prayer group! It's by Pastor Rick Renner on praying for missionaries... POWERFUL instruction from the Word of God! Long but vital if we are serious about praying for missionaries!" Have you read this? This is copied from Sparkling Gems From the Greek by Rick Renner which you can obtain by going to renner.org

Pray That the Word of the Lord May Have Free Course!

Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you.  -- 2 Thessalonians 3:1

Have you ever wondered how you should pray for missionaries or for people who are preaching the Word on the front lines where it is more difficult? Well, today I'm going to give you the answer. And please - while you're praying for people on the front lines, be sure to remember to pray for me too!

The apostle Paul did what I call "front-line ministry work." As noted earlier (see August 3), Paul's ministry took him places where the Church was non-existent. He dealt with hostile governments; he faced opposition from false religions; he pushed the evil forces of the demonic realm out of the way; he brought converts from the bleakness of paganism and turned them into living, breathing members of the Body of Christ. This task is never for the light-hearted, but only for the extremely committed.

As Paul makes his final remarks to the Thessalonians in Second Thessalonians 3, he says, "Finally, brethren, pray for us...." The word "finally" comes from the Greek words to loipon, which mean for the rest of the matter or to the last issue at hand. Paul has saved some very vital information for the end of his letter; therefore, he uses the words to loipon to let us know that although his letter is concluding, he still has something of high importance to say to the Thessalonian church.

Then Paul makes his request: "Finally, brethren, pray for us...." The Greek word translated "pray" is from the wordproseuchomai. As it is used in this verse, this word means to pray continually or to pray without stopping. Paul is sincerely asking for committed prayer partners who will pray nonstop for his team, his ministry, and for himself. When he says, "Pray for us," the word "for" is the Greek word peri, which means around or about. Paul is specifically requesting prayer for those things that are around or aboutthem - hence, the things that concern them and their ministry.

Next, Paul gets more specific about how to pray. He says,"Pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course...." The Greek could be better translated, "Pray for us, that the Lord's word may have free course...." The Greek actually means the word that originates from the Lord.

This tells us that Paul was very conscious of the fact that he was not preaching his own manmade message or a message that belonged to him (see Galatians 1:11,12). He was carrying a divinely revealed message that originated with and belonged to the Lord. In all his years of ministry, Paul was always mindful that the message he carried was given to him by the Lord.

Furthermore, Paul knew that his responsibility was to preach that message. Therefore, he asked the Thessalonians to join him in praying that the Lord's message might have "free course." These words "free course" come from the Greek word trecho, which means to run.

Before we go any further, let's stop and look deeper into the meaning of the word trecho. This word often referred torunners who ran a foot race in a huge stadium before adoring crowds of fans. In order for the runner to run successfully and finish triumphantly, every ounce of his strength and his complete attention was required.

There is no doubt that Paul had this picture in his mind as he wrote this verse, for he was in a race to preach the Gospel to as many souls as possible before he came to the end of his life. He was in a spiritual race, a real competition. Racing urgently and with all his might against the enemy who wants to eternally destroy and damn souls, Paul put forth his best efforts to save as many souls as possible.

However, there is another powerful image in the wordtrecho that applies to this verse. This word was also used to describe the swift-running messengers who dashed between enemy lines to carry vital messages of instruction to those who waited on the other side of the battle. These especially brave and courageous messengers were essential if battles were to be won.

You can clearly see why Paul would have chosen to use this illustration, for he was indeed a God-sent messenger running back and forth through enemy territory, delivering the message of the Cross, as well as instructions to the churches that looked to him for apostolic leadership. Paul was God's special, swift-running messenger!

There is no doubt in my mind that Paul used the Greek word trecho to convey both of these ideas to his readers. Paul saw himself as one who was running in a race, competing for the souls of men. He also saw himself as God's messenger, whose principal goal was to run back and forth through enemy territory, delivering vital information to the people who awaited it. Paul's intention was that both of these ideas would convey the challenge that lay before him - as well as the reason he needed people to regularly pray for him.

One more important fact must be pointed out. The tense Paul uses when he requests prayer that the word of the Lord may have "free course" indicates a constant and continuous pace. Thus, it is possible to translate this phrase, "Pray that we will be able to keep up the pace that is required for us to get this message out!"

You see, Paul and his associates were already running very hard. If they were going to keep up with God's pace - if the Gospel message was going to keep spreading at such a miraculous rate of speed - they would need supernatural assistance and empowerment from above!

Finally, Paul makes one last prayer request. He asks for prayer that the word of the Lord may "...be glorified, even as it is with you." The word "glorified" is the Greek word doxadzo, which paints the picture of the triumphant arrival of God's glory, ushering in a new and glorious day in the lives and the territories where the word of the Lord is heard and received.

Dr. John Catlin, Professor of Classical Greek and Chairman of the Classics Department at a leading university, once wrote this to me:

At first glance, the language of the New Testament appears to be disarmingly simple, but a deeper look gives us an appreciation of the difficulties facing translators of that work.It is clear that whereas no translation can exactly reproduce the original meaning, nevertheless, through an understanding of the original language, or at least the broad range of meaning that many of the words in that language have, it is more readily possible to penetrate and comprehend the meaning of that original language. It's all too easy for those who are fluent in only one language to assume that there are exact equivalents between languages.

One of the greatest challenges of Bible translators is to translate into English the many ideas and images that are in Greek words. Perhaps no example makes this clearer than Paul's prayer request in this verse, which in English is a mere twenty-four words in length. But those twenty-four words are packed with power and meaning!

These powerful words used by Paul in Second Thessalonians 3:1 convey the following ideas:

"Finally, brothers, pray for us and for those things that concern us. Pray that the word of the Lord will spread quickly and without resistance. Pray that we will be able to keep up the pace that is required for us to get this message out!

"To fulfill this task, we have to be like runners whose eyes are fixed on the goal before us! We must be like brave, bold, daring, and courageous messengers, whose job is to carry vital information across enemy lines. We have to move promptly and swiftly to get the message of the Gospel to the other side where people are desperately waiting.

"Since the Lord has dispatched us to carry this message, and since this task requires us to run speedily through dangerous territory, we request prayer that we will be able to make it through every skirmish, clash, confrontation, and struggle that we might come across as we run to the other side to deliver the word of the Lord. I request that your prayers be unbroken, uninterrupted, and never-ending. As you pray, remember to specifically stipulate that the word of the Lord would usher in a triumphant and glorious new day in the lives of those who hear it, as it has done among you."

So now you have an idea of how to pray for missionaries, preachers, or people who are ministering the Word and planting churches in new, unreached regions - the difficult front lines where the Word has never or rarely been preached. Here is a wrap-up of Paul's prayer request for you to use as you pray for people you know who are working in difficult parts of the world:
Pray for the missionaries and preachers themselves.
Pray for the things that concern them, i.e., their families, their finances, their health, etc.
Pray for the Lord's message to spread without hindrance from hostile forces.
Pray for the missionaries and preachers to win the race for souls.
Pray for them to be protected as they dash through enemy territory.
Pray constantly, around the clock, for those who are laboring on the front lines!

Now that you know how the apostle Paul wanted people to pray for him, you can use this as a guide to pray for missionaries and preachers in other parts of the world. Why don't you take a few minutes to start praying for them today?

Lord, I ask You today to bless missionaries who are living and working in other parts of the world. Bless their families, their health, their finances, and everything that concerns them. Help them preach with little or no resistance. Empower them to run fiercely as they race to reach souls from being eternally lost. Protect them as they live, work, and dash back and forth through dangerous territory. I pray that the entrance of God's Word in their communities will break the powers of darkness and usher in a new triumphant day! Help me to remember to pray for them every day!
I pray this in Jesus' name!

I confess that I love missionaries and support them with my prayers and finances. I appreciate them for leaving their homes, their families, and their natural surroundings, and for uprooting their wives and children and moving to the other side of the world to take the Good News to those who do not have it. I will be faithful to remember them, to honor them, to pray for them, and to support them with my substance. The role I play to support them in prayer and with my finances is essential for their success, so I will fulfill my role faithfully!
I declare this by faith in Jesus' name!