“But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions; do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2 Tim. 4:5)

August, 2010

Dear Friend,

Trusting that all is well with you and your loved ones. Everything is fine here, we are joyfully pressing in to all that God has called us to do. It is such a privilege to serve the Lord!

This month, I want to encourage you to press in to all that God has called you to do! When we received Jesus into our heart as our personal Lord and Savior, it began a brand new life for us! The old was gone, the new had come! Can you recall the day you turned your life over to Him and dedicated yourself to Him, for His honor and glory? What a day that was! For some of us we may have done this and then re-dedicated ourselves several times. When I was eight years old, laying in bed, totally paralyzed from polio, I called upon Him just as my 3^rd grade teacher had said for us to do. She said whenever we are alone, or afraid, we can call upon Jesus and He will answer us. He is waiting to become our Best Friend. So, I did that, and had my daily conversations with Him which delighted my heart. When I ran out of things to tell Him, I asked Him to give me another language so that I could speak to Him. I thought this was a game, I knew nothing about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit! He gave me that language, and I used it whenever I ran out of English words, and soon, He spoke back to me, bringing me to the point of my healing. As I grew up, I loved Him and served Him, and then got lost a bit in life and its challenges. Then one day I reached out to Him again and re-dedicated my life to Him and asked for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. I understood at that point what had happened when I was a child, and I wanted it back and full speed ahead!

So, to get back to you, where are you right now with Him? Are you at that point where you want to press in and go further? Do you need a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit? I read somewhere that we need to ask for an infilling of the Holy Spirit every day because we leak! (Smile) I think that is very wise advice, because it is the Holy Spirit who anoints us and recharges us and gives us all that we need to live the Christian life.

Let us take a few minutes to do that right now... “Holy Spirit, we love You. We acknowledge that You are the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, and we need Your infilling so that we can live powerful Christian lives. Fill us up Lord! Empower us to be all that God has called us to be! Anoint us so that we can be a witness to others and win many souls for the Lord. We want and need Your Gifts so that we can bless others! Fill us up Lord to overflowing! Thank You Holy Spirit, we receive all You have to give right now. Let us become a sign and a wonder! Let us reach out to the masses with the Word of God and His testimony! Let us be Your mouthpiece to win the lost for Christ. We submit ourselves to Christ and thank You in advance for Your anointing and power. In Jesus Name, we pray. Amen.

Okay, are you recharged? Glory! This can be the first day of the rest of your life! As we start new and afresh, let us, as soldiers in God’s army, take on our marching orders!  Paul tells Timothy tells to be watchful in all things...this is for us too,  we are to continue to be strong, and be tirelessly faithful in the things that God has commissioned us to do. We are to fulfill our MINISTRY. Did you realize that everyone, as soon as they receive Jesus in their heart, are called to ministry? We tend to think of only those special people who become pastors or teachers, or evangelists as the ones who are called. Yes, they are called to the office in such areas, but... we are all called to do the work of those areas. People may not see us on television preaching to millions, but throughout our lifetime, we can certainly be doing that! Just think of this... You spoke with a neighbor yesterday about Jesus. That neighbor accepted Jesus into his heart as Lord and Savior. So, you pray for that neighbor now to bear fruit. What happens next? He goes into his home and tells his wife what he just did. In time, or hopefully right away, he leads her to the Lord! Later on, they lead their five children to the Lord. Those five children lead their friends to the Lord, and those friends do the same. Other neighbors and family members come into the picture as this husband and wife tell others, and it goes on and on. So, at the end of your lifetime, you could very well have led millions to the Lord! Just think of that for a moment! How exciting, and what a privilege!

There will be times when others will reject what we have to say. Paul tells Timothy to endure these afflictions, and do the work! Paul was sent to prison because of his spreading the Gospel, and eventually he was martyred. People will not always take what we have to say to heart, and we may be persecuted. We have to remember that it is not us who are being persecuted, but Christ all over again. And He died for these people! So we press on and continue, and pray for each precious soul. We do not want these precious souls to miss heaven!

Paul says there is a fight! Yes! There is also a race, and it is a race that we want to finish well! The future of the next generations depend on how hard we are willing to fight and how well we finish our race. When we are rejected because of the message that we bring, what are we to do? Dust off our feet and go on. But.... continue to pray for those who rejected what we had to give. Always pray! Always show love! Never nag! Just be a picture of who Christ is by our love and prayers. Then someday, we can say that we have fought the good fight, we have finished the race, and we have kept the faith.

Father, I pray for this reader right now, and ask that You would empower him or her with Your Holy Spirit and Your Gifts, so that he or she will be equipped to go forward in victory doing the work of the ministry. Thank You Lord for hearing our prayer. Amen!

Rev. Barbara Anne Yovino, Ph.D.