Ron Sawka Ministries
July 10, 2024; Tamuz 4, 5784
“To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13).
“Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You” (Ps. 33:22).
A Time for Miracles!
Recently, my attention was drawn to Psalm 33:22, which states, “Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You.” The psalmist clearly recognized that the amount of mercy he could receive from the Lord was directly connected to his expectation or hope for it. To me, this means that if I’m expecting/hoping for His mercy, then likely it will be poured out on me. But if I’m not expecting/hoping for it, then it may well be that I won’t see much of His mercy at all.
All of this led me to do a study of hope, which is one of the key words in the Bible, especially in the New Testament. It ranks right up there with faith and love (“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” [1 Cor. 13:13]). I suspect a lot of us don’t pay enough attention to hope. Perhaps it’s because the way the word is used today feels too much like wishful thinking. It feels like something out of our own effort or imagination. But that isn’t what hope means in the Bible.
Hope is a choice, and one that I must make daily. I must continually choose to look at the Lord. He is good. He is loving and righteous. Nothing is impossible for Him. I may not know what He will do for me today, or I may be in the midst of a difficult situation. But because He is my Lord who sacrificed His own Son Jesus to save me, I can be confident that He will work all things together for good (see Rom. 8:28).
Choosing to hope immediately results in joy and peace. “And rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:3). That verse is pretty clear. Whenever I choose to hope, joy and peace arise.
God wants hope to be our default/automatic choice. If we don’t choose to hope in the Lord, we will stay in the default choice of the thinking of this world. We will go by how we feel, or by what we see/hear from news reports. This can mean fear and depression at worst, or dull, non-expectant, just-getting-by lives at best.
Hope comes from the power of the Holy Spirit. Yes, the choice to hope is ours, but the Holy Spirit will immediately provide the power. We read, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13, emphasis added). Some of us may have to daily ask the Holy Spirit—maybe multiple times throughout the day—to help us choose hope. But it will soon become part of our thinking.
Hope releases the glory of God. Whenever the glory of the Lord is mentioned in the Bible, miracles happen. Healings happen. The kingdom of God expands. Many are longing for this in their lives. Are you? It all starts with the choice to hope. And it is so very easy to do. Note, “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). We have Christ Himself inside of us. When we choose to hope in Him, His glory is released.
From this time onward, may it be a time for all of us to walk in the glory of God.
Thanks for praying.
Ron and Teddy
Tammuz—The Fourth Month of the Hebrew Year 5784: July 7–August 4, 2024
Three Strategies for Going Through Difficult Times!
We know this fourth month is a time to be watchful. This month also teaches us how to shine as we go through difficult times.
Since the main purpose of teaching on the Hebrew months is to help us have and hold Biblical mindsets, here are three strategies or mindsets that will help us:
1. Joy—“Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You” (Ps. 40:16, 70:4).
2. Keep talking and speaking—even if only to yourself—about how good God is—Those same verses go on to say, “Let such as love Your salvation say continually, ‘The Lord be magnified!’”
3. Hope in God and His mercy (continually expect something good from God)—“Hope” is a very misunderstood word, and its power often grossly ignored. Psalm 33:22 clearly shows that God will pour out His mercy and help on those who are expecting (hoping for) it. It states, “Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You.” In other words, if there is no expectation or hope from us, then probably not so much mercy/help will be poured out by Him. Let’s also remember the following promise from Romans 5:5, which states, “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Praying for One Nation Every Day (from now until Passover next year)
Below is a simple, but powerful, summary of a prayer strategy from Apostle Karen Dey (New Zealand/Sri Lanka):
“She saw hosts of angels—some were worshiping and some blowing trumpets; others were warring angels. Then she was impressed by the Lord to ask people to get a world map and to pray each day for a different nation. From this year’s Passover until next year’s Passover—365 days of praying for the nations!”
I urge everyone to do this. Your prayers will turn desolate places into “camps of God.” Please refer to the update from May 8.
Click here to read Apostle Karen Dey’s document.
My son Pete wrote a song, “Psalm 91,” for Pentecost. It’s only available in Japanese. The video may be seen here.
Apostles and Apostolic Anointing is a book I wrote a few years ago. God wants apostles to arise and take their proper places so all believers can understand, receive, and move in this anointing. It’s available in English, Japanese, and Mandarin.
A Kindle version in English is available on Amazon.
If you would like a physical copy, please contact us at: info@rwsministries.com.
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