 |
GWEA Monthly Messages
New Year is the Time of Spiritual Renewal
JANUARY 2024
|
 |
|
|
Welcome to the New Year! We would like to take this time out to say a heartfelt thank you to all of you for your faithfulness as members and ministry partners. This past year has been a very successful year of ministry despite all the challenges we’ve faced. We’ve seen God's hand at work countless times as many people have received Salvation and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, healings, deliverances, and all kinds of prayer requests were met. We are very grateful to have “the ministry of equipping the Saints” with the “signs following” as outlined in Mark 16:16-18.
The New Year is a time for new beginnings, a fresh new start. Like the coming of Pentecost, it is also a time for spiritual renewal. The Bible tells us in Isaiah 43:18-19: "Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. As Christians, we are “a new person, a new creation, the old has passed away and the new has come" (2 Cor. 5:17). To forget the past is to forget the self we were before our rebirth; to forget the things of the past is to forget our old selves. It means Salvation is here today (2 Cor. 6:2) because it “will spring forth now.” On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to this earth and changed the world. There was revival, a renewal of creation, and thousands of people were Saved and Baptized with the Holy Spirit, receiving the “gift of speaking in tongues” (Acts 2:4; 10:46; 19:6). They were empowered with Holy Spirit Fire (Acts 2:3), the “same resurrection power that rose Jesus Christ from the dead” was now living inside each one of them (Eph. 1:19-20). It was the time of new beginnings and the birth of the church – spiritual renewal – the transformation from old to new. When Jesus went to be with the Father, He told His disciples (and He tells us) He had no plan “to leave us like orphans,” the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Truth, the Comforter, the Helper would come to guide and direct us into all righteousness (Jn. 14:18, 26; 16:8-11, 13-15). He told His disciples to go wait in Jerusalem for the “power from on high” to come. That command is still in effect today for all His disciples. But we no longer need to wait or tarry, receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit (with the evidence of speaking in tongues) is available to each believer now by faith (Rom. 8:9; Acts 2:17-18). The Holy Spirit renews us by renewing our heart and by renewing our spirit. Ezekiel 36:26 says that God gives us a new heart and puts a new spirit within us. Actually, the new heart and the new spirit are the “renewed heart” and the “renewed spirit”. Paul tells us that we ought not to think like those who are caught up with all the cares and worries of this life (Mk. 4:19). Rather, we should submit to the Holy Spirit's transforming power, which results in the “renewing of our minds”, and leads to the Holy Spirit's Fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Rom. 12:2; Gal. 5:22-23) in our lives. As His children, our loving heavenly Father wants to give each one of us the supernatural power we need to live this new life in victory (Lk 11:10-13). He will make the impossible, possible! (Mk. 9:23) He will make a way for us (Isa. 43:19) in every circumstance in our lives through the Power of His Holy Spirit (Mk. 16:16-18), and through exercising our authority in Christ (Lk. 10:19).
If you or a family member, a friend, a co-worker, etc. have not yet received a “renewed heart” and a “renewed spirit” (Salvation and/or the Baptism in the Holy Spirit with the Gift of Speaking in Tongues), please contact us, or send us a message.
Also if you would like us to pray with you for any of your needs, we invite you to come to one of our House Church Worship Meetings either in person or online. See the GWEA Ministry Calendar for details. And this year, let us all have a “Happy reNEWal Year!
Copyright © 2024. The Gordon Williams Evangelistic Association. All rights reserved
|
When Jesus first sent the Holy Spirit to us, the phenomenon was likened to the coming of a "rushing mighty wind" and "there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them" (Acts 2:2-3).
In John 3:8 He said, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
With increased manifestations of the supernatural in our society, there is tremendous spiritual confusion. People are asking, "Can the Holy spirit do something new that is not in the Bible?" No! Absolutely not! Never! One of the most important reasons God gave the Bible to us was to give us a "covenant" or "contract' describing the kind of things that He will and will not do. Paul warns, "Do not go beyond what is written. Then you will not take pride in one man over against another" (1 Corinthians 4:6). Spiritual pride is running rampant today throughout groups claiming "deeper revelations" and "new things." The dangers are critical at a time when even the elect are vulnerable to deception (Matthew 24:24). Christians must be firm in their understanding of the ways of the Holy Spirit as outlined by Scripture. |
