Ron Sawka Ministries
August 28, 2024; Av 24, 5784
How Resting Helps Shift Us into God’s Desired Changes
Greetings.
I am rested and refreshed at the end of our summer break. We rested from MPP, rested from posting weekly updates, and rested from online meetings as well. It was great. I am so thankful God insists we rest. He demonstrated this for us by resting on the seventh day of creation. He then required His people, Israel, to rest on the seventh day, the sabbath, when He gave them His law. Jesus fulfilled the law, but still wants us to rest. Hebrews 4:9–10 states, “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.”
It seems to me that one of the main purposes of resting is to help us keep the proper mindset that it is God who is our wisdom, strength, and success. Yes, we must work diligently and wisely, but the main thing is to do this relying entirely on Him. It’s so easy to start thinking our own strength or our own intelligence or our own schedule-making is the key, and we can begin to rely on those things and not the Lord. The result of doing so is actually putting ourselves under a curse. Jeremiah 17:5–6 states, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes” (emphasis added).
Therefore, obeying the Lord and choosing to physically rest helps us in the following ways:
1. To not trust in our own strength
2. Helps keep our heart (including thoughts and mindset) fixed on the Lord
3. Enables us to both hear the Lord and follow Him into the changes and new things He has for us
And yes, the Lord has many new things—lots of new changes He wants to lead us into. I feel most of us will see marked changes in our lives and ministries, and for many those changes will be coming forth in the next weeks and months. Many of us will be stepping into changes that are so much bigger and better. We have been following God and doing what He wanted. Now He will lead us into the next stage that He has already prepared. It’s kind of like the shift/change that happened from David to Solomon (see 2 Chron. 1), which I will explain more about next week.
Perhaps one of those changes for me is overseas travel. I will go to Burma (with my son Pete) from September 6–13. Burma was the very first nation God sent our ministry to in 1993. Subsequent yearly trips were made for almost ten years to establish prophetic training. This trip, we will minister at that very same church which is now a huge apostolic center.
Thanks for praying.
Ron and Teddy
A Month for New Beginnings
Elul—The Sixth Month of the Hebrew Year 5784
September 4–October 2, 2024
I feel “New Beginnings” is an apropos title for this sixth Hebrew month, Elul. We have come through the three weeks of “dire straits” in Tammuz and Av (Tammuz 17–Av 9/July 23–August 13). Although “dire,” we are to look at them as a time of birth pangs, and therefore birthing. Also, the whole month of Av was about the Lord “roaring from Zion” (see Joel 3:16).
Recently, the idea of new beginnings was further impressed on me while reading Haggai. I hadn’t really noticed before, but Haggai gave that important prophetic word that now was time to build the temple on the first day of Elul (see Hag. 1). The returned exiles were impoverished and in disarray. Things weren’t going well in Jerusalem or in Israel as a whole. Yet it was to these very discouraged people that the prophet thundered out, “Now is time to build.” He prophesied that they were continually saying, “Now isn’t the right time,” but that directly contradicted God’s prophetic word that “Now is the time.” The prophecy explained that the reason for their hardship and poverty was because they weren’t doing what God said.
We know the rest of the story. Their hearts were stirred. They obeyed and began to rebuild. From then on, the blessing of God was poured upon them. Everything began to change for the better.
So, let this be an exciting month. Move into the new beginnings the Lord has for you. Read Here.
Praying for One Nation Every Day
Let’s keep praying, declaring, and believing every day for our own city, our own nation and one other nation in the world. Prayer strategy that comes from Apostle Karen Dey (New Zealand/Sri Lanka)
Click here to read Apostle Karen Dey’s document.
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