A Calm That Brings Authority

July Teaching Letter from Denise Renner

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas and greetings in Jesus’ precious name! Christ came into this world “in the fullness of time” to redeem mankind from sin and to reconcile us to the Heavenly Father (Galatians 4:4,5). And what a great salvation it was and is that God wrought for us in Christ (see Hebrews 2:3-18)! Denise and I and our family wish you a warm and wonderful Christmas season and the best new year of your life in 2022.

Today I want to talk to you about opportunities and adversaries, but first I want to say thank you for being such a faithful partner with our ministry. As I told you in my letter last month, our ministry is bursting at the seams, and I am so humbled that God would use Denise and me, our family, and our team to minister to the many people who are reaching out to us every day.

Every soul is precious, and it is our heartfelt desire to convey that truth to every person God brings to us — that they are precious to Him and to us. And your gifts are so vital to our ability to touch every one of these treasured souls! So today I want to say a special thank you for all you do with us to take the trusted teaching of the Word of God to people in Russia and all over the world. From the depths of our hearts, Denise and I THANK YOU!

This month is the last month of the year — and I know you are probably preparing for Christmas and many different kinds of gatherings. But in addition to Christmas, it’s also almost 2022. As we come to the end of this year and to the beginning of a brand-new year, the Holy Spirit keeps telling me to “stay on track” with the assignments He has given us. I hear Him saying that even if we hit bumps along the way, everything will be all right if we’ll just stay on track and maintain our God-assigned territory — the many opportunities and assignments He has given us to inspire, strengthen, and equip believers with the sound teaching of the Bible.

But I’ve learned over the years that opportunities and adversaries usually go together — and today I want to encourage you to undergird yourself so that you can stay on track with what God has asked you to do this month and in the coming year.

Over the course of our ministry, we’ve had many great, effectual doors open to us to do the work of the Gospel. I’ll never forget when I received an opportunity to minister on television in the former Soviet Union. It was as if a great door had suddenly swung open to an entire vast territory — a door that had never before been opened for anyone else — and I knew I was experiencing something miraculous. By faith, Denise and I stepped through that door and began to preach the Word of God on television in this spiritually starved corner of the world.

Given the former socialist-communist campaigns against the Gospel in this particular region, this opportunity was as miraculous as the Jordan River dividing for Joshua and the children of Israel. But with this great open door also came a slew of adversaries, specifically dispatched by Satan to instill fear and doubt into my heart. The devil desperately wanted to prevent me from touching the lives of spiritually oppressed people, so he positioned evil people with insidious plans to try to block my view of what God had in store for our ministry.

I’m telling you that it was like the children of Israel looking at the Promised Land from the far side of the Jordan River. From that perspective, they saw only the fruitful land of blessing that lay before them. But once they entered the Promised Land, they had to fight giants of every kind before they could possess that land and enjoy the blessing. In much the same way, if Denise and I had taken our eyes off the Lord during that tumultuous period — or if we had focused only on the problems and forgotten about the fruit we were pursuing for God’s Kingdom — I’m sure we would have backpedaled to get out of the situation!

But we knew this was a God-given opportunity and worth the fight, so we fixed our gaze squarely on the Lord. Girded with the armor of God and the power of the Spirit, we pushed through every obstacle and possessed the ground that God called us to take. As a result, millions of souls began to hear the Gospel for the first time. We knew that only God could have opened this door!

In First Corinthians 16:9, the apostle Paul wrote about the strategic doors of opportunity that open for the Gospel and the adversaries that usually accompany them. He said, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.” Notice that Paul used the words “great,” “door,” “effectual,” and “is opened” to describe the opportunity that had been set before him.

The word “great” in this verse is translated from the Greek word megale, which means gigantic. The word “door” is the Greek word thura, which typically refers to a door, but in this context, denotes a rare opportunity. The word “effectual” is the Greek word energes, and it depicts something that is powerful and ready to be set into motion. Finally, the phrase “is opened” is the Greek word anoigo, which describes something standing wide open. In other words, the door in question couldn’t be any more open! Thus, an alternate translation of Paul’s words in First Corinthians 16:9 could be rendered, “A gigantic, powerful opportunity is already set in motion and standing wide open….”

Paul continued by saying, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me….” You see, Paul knew that the particular door he was referring to had never been opened to anyone else, and he stood in awe of the unprecedented opportunity. Walking through these kinds of doors is impossible without divine assistance, and Paul was fully aware of God’s role in the matter. That is why he specified that this door had been opened “unto me.”

Paul’s prayer request in First Corinthians 16:9 was not for a door to open because it had already opened. His prayer request was to receive God’s wisdom to deal with the numerous adversaries who were trying to come against him. Paul used the Greek word antikeimenoi to describe the vast number of “adversaries” that were sent to attack him. This Greek word describes something that was piled high and lying all around him. In other words, he was dealing with more than a few minor opponents. On the contrary, it felt like opposition was stacked high on every side!

I’ve learned that the enemy will try his best to keep you from stepping through the gigantic doors of opportunity God desires to open for you. Satan is afraid of what will happen when “his” territory is invaded by someone fully equipped with a full arsenal of spiritual weapons. So know this: God will open doors for you — but He needs you to make a determined decision that you will walk through them, no matter the opposition, with the help of His Spirit.

By opening the door, God has already done His part, which would have been impossible without His assistance. Now He beckons you to come, dressed in the whole armor of God and in the power of His Word — and proceed through that effectual door into new territory. It may look like enemies are everywhere, but it is simply a fact that the devil and his forces flee and collapse when they are subjected to a show of strong faith!

As I mentioned earlier, many great and effectual doors have been opened to us over the years to do the work of the Gospel. In each case, we knew these doors were unique to us and had never before been opened for anyone else. And just as Paul experienced opposition, there were plenty of enemies that came against us with each opportunity. But because we obeyed God, the devil was forced to move out of the way, and we walked right into the virgin territory that God had opened for our ministry.

Even if you think your situation looks threatening right now, I want to tell you that God is with you. He wants to supernaturally open new doors for you — doors that have never before been opened for you. He is not beckoning you to walk through these doors so you can fail. He is with you every step of the way, and He will empower you to defeat every foe and bring Him glory in that new territory that is yours to possess in Jesus’ name!

Your open door may be an opportunity to shine the light of God’s Word and God’s love to your family or friends during this holiday season. It may be a door that will open to you in the new year. Regardless of when it is or what it is, the same God who opens doors will empower you to walk through them — and then He’ll be right with you to give you the wisdom and strength needed to overcome any giant that tries to meet you on the other side.

I know this is not a typical December, “Christmas-style” letter, but this is what was on my heart to share with you today. I want you to always know that if we can join you in prayer, we would be delighted to do so. To be honest, we are praying for you anyway, but when we are alerted to know exactly “how” to pray, it increases our effectiveness as we pray for you. So if you have a special need, please either call or write to let us know how we can get in agreement with you for God to show Himself mighty to you according to Jeremiah 33:3, which says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

And please pray for us as we continue marching forward by faith to push back darkness, to shine the light of God’s Word, and to take territory for the Kingdom of God. Together — as partners — we can make a difference in the lives of throngs of people who are crying out to God for help. They are waiting for God to respond to their prayers, and God wants to use us — you and us together — to bring them the answers they desperately need.

But before I close, I want to say we are specifically asking God to do something special for you this month and before the end of the year. I don’t know what it is, but that is what we are praying. We are asking God to do something special that will bless your life! And please, please pray for us as we continue pushing ahead to build our studio in Moscow, to finalize the purchase of our new headquarters in Tulsa, and to continue to minister effectually to every precious soul Jesus brings to us!

Merry Christmas!

We love you and thank God for you!

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
along with Paul, Philip, and Joel and their families|Dear friend,

We are halfway through the year, and time is just flying by, isn’t it? I pray your year has been so blessed and filled with the Lord’s goodness, but even if it has been difficult so far, I am excited to be writing to you today, because I’m going to talk to you about something that will help you walk in peace and authority, even in the hard times.

You’ve probably heard people talk about how the brain is the control center of your whole life, but as Christians, what we really want is for the Holy Spirit to be the control center. Without Him, our minds can lead us so off-track and make us so fearful, angry, or stressed. But with Him at the center, we have something inside of us that is so powerful for taking captive the harmful thoughts that the enemy sends our way: self-control.

I have an amazing story for you today that is going to show you just how effective self-control is in causing our minds to think right, and that is the story of Daniel.

[If you started reading in your email, begin here]

When Daniel was a young man, he and his friends were taken as captives to Babylon, but because they were obedient to the Lord, they ended up getting promoted to serve the king among his many wise men.

The story I want to share with you starts one day when the king had a dream that started to haunt him. He couldn’t remember what it was, so of course he couldn’t figure out what it meant, and soon, he was losing sleep because he was so troubled by this dream, so he called his soothesayers, magicians, and wise men and commanded them, “Tell me what the interpretation of my dream is.”

They answered him, “Of course. Just tell us what your dream is, and we’ll give you the interpretation.”

That was not the answer that the king wanted to hear, and he told those men, “If you don’t tell me the interpretation of my dream, then I’m going to destroy all the wise men in Babylon.”

Well, none of those wise men and magicians could even tell him what his dream was, so the Bible tells us, “For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them”  (Daniel 2:12-13).

I want you to picture this situation: The decree had gone out, and the guards were already killing all these men and burning down their houses, and then the king’s captain came to Daniel’s door, maybe with an axe ready to kill him, but in the midst of that terrifying experience, the Bible says, “Then with counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon” (Daniel 2:14).

Friend, what kind of self-control is that? Someone was standing there threatening Daniel’s life and everything he owned, and he answered, not with fear or confusion, but with counsel and wisdom! He was even able to say, “Let me go talk to the king. I’ll ask him for a little more time to get that interpretation.”

This wasn’t an easy thing to do, friend. If he didn’t come back with that interpretation, he and his friends were going to die horribly! Daniel didn’t even have the Holy Spirit on the inside of him like we do, but he was still able to operate from that place of self-control and trust in the Holy Spirit on the outside of him. If he could do it, then why do we think that we can’t?

What I love about this story is that it also shows us the amazing things we open ourselves up to when we are moving in self-control. Daniel 2:19 tells us that when Daniel and his friends sought the Lord for the answer, “Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.” Notice that at the end of that verse, Daniel blessed God. Sometimes when we are looking for answers, we are in such a rush that when the answer actually comes, we just move on with it, and we don’t really stop to thank Him. But with self-control, we can take the time to stop and intentionally bless and praise the God who gives us what we need.

Something else that comes with self-control is humility. After receiving the answer, Daniel went to the king with all boldness and confidence and told him, “I have what you need.” He was able to tell the king in detail what the dream was and what each part of it meant. He did an amazing thing, and yet he was so humble about it. He said, “But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart” (Daniel 2:30).

When we are acting in self-control, we don’t have to say, “Oh, yes, I am the brilliant one. I am the smartest person alive.” Instead we can say, like Daniel, “I’m not the smartest person alive, but this has been revealed to me. This is a mercy to me and my friends, and it’s not because we’re so great.” It’s so wonderful that we don’t have to carry the pressure of finding all the answers!

The last thing I want to show you about self-control is the amazing way that it allows us to be used by God. As we read the interpretation that Daniel gives, we see that this dream that God gave to this wicked king was the culmination of the ages. It was an amazing revelation, and He trusted Daniel to deliver it.

Why did He trust Daniel? First of all, because Daniel was committed to following the Lord’s ways (see Daniel 1:8). Secondly, because Daniel had such self-control and trust in the Lord — so much that he was able to answer a man who was coming to kill him with wisdom and counsel! Friend, when we operate in self-control, God is able to trust us to do such amazing things.

If you have things that are coming against you — if you are in a threatening situation or even just struggling with a difficult relative or coworker — I want you to remember Daniel and his self-control. He was able to step into amazing authority when he walked in self-control, and we can do that too. 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us clearly, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” When you and I take advantage of and acknowledge what God has given us in our spirits, every enemy that comes against us has to move out of the way!

If you feel unable to move in this self-control that the Holy Spirit has put in you, I hope you will contact our prayer team and let us pray for you. Just call 1.844.473.6637 or email denisesocial@renner.org, and we will be happy to pray for renewed confidence, fresh provision, or whatever else you might need in your life right now.

I also want to invite you to my weekly program, TIME With Denise Renner. Right now, I am in the middle of a series called How Can I Love Others Better?, and I would love to share it with you and see what God is going to do in your life through it. You can watch Mondays at 7 AM CT on both Facebook and YouTube, or on just Facebook Wednesdays at 12 PM CT. You can also find my teachings any time by visiting renner.org. I can’t wait to see how the Lord moves through this time together!

We are moving forward together,

Denise Renner

|

Beyond the Curtain of Understanding

 

July Teaching Letter from Rick Renner

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas and greetings in Jesus’ precious name! Christ came into this world “in the fullness of time” to redeem mankind from sin and to reconcile us to the Heavenly Father (Galatians 4:4,5). And what a great salvation it was and is that God wrought for us in Christ (see Hebrews 2:3-18)! Denise and I and our family wish you a warm and wonderful Christmas season and the best new year of your life in 2022.

Today I want to talk to you about opportunities and adversaries, but first I want to say thank you for being such a faithful partner with our ministry. As I told you in my letter last month, our ministry is bursting at the seams, and I am so humbled that God would use Denise and me, our family, and our team to minister to the many people who are reaching out to us every day.

Every soul is precious, and it is our heartfelt desire to convey that truth to every person God brings to us — that they are precious to Him and to us. And your gifts are so vital to our ability to touch every one of these treasured souls! So today I want to say a special thank you for all you do with us to take the trusted teaching of the Word of God to people in Russia and all over the world. From the depths of our hearts, Denise and I THANK YOU!

This month is the last month of the year — and I know you are probably preparing for Christmas and many different kinds of gatherings. But in addition to Christmas, it’s also almost 2022. As we come to the end of this year and to the beginning of a brand-new year, the Holy Spirit keeps telling me to “stay on track” with the assignments He has given us. I hear Him saying that even if we hit bumps along the way, everything will be all right if we’ll just stay on track and maintain our God-assigned territory — the many opportunities and assignments He has given us to inspire, strengthen, and equip believers with the sound teaching of the Bible.

But I’ve learned over the years that opportunities and adversaries usually go together — and today I want to encourage you to undergird yourself so that you can stay on track with what God has asked you to do this month and in the coming year.

Over the course of our ministry, we’ve had many great, effectual doors open to us to do the work of the Gospel. I’ll never forget when I received an opportunity to minister on television in the former Soviet Union. It was as if a great door had suddenly swung open to an entire vast territory — a door that had never before been opened for anyone else — and I knew I was experiencing something miraculous. By faith, Denise and I stepped through that door and began to preach the Word of God on television in this spiritually starved corner of the world.

Given the former socialist-communist campaigns against the Gospel in this particular region, this opportunity was as miraculous as the Jordan River dividing for Joshua and the children of Israel. But with this great open door also came a slew of adversaries, specifically dispatched by Satan to instill fear and doubt into my heart. The devil desperately wanted to prevent me from touching the lives of spiritually oppressed people, so he positioned evil people with insidious plans to try to block my view of what God had in store for our ministry.

I’m telling you that it was like the children of Israel looking at the Promised Land from the far side of the Jordan River. From that perspective, they saw only the fruitful land of blessing that lay before them. But once they entered the Promised Land, they had to fight giants of every kind before they could possess that land and enjoy the blessing. In much the same way, if Denise and I had taken our eyes off the Lord during that tumultuous period — or if we had focused only on the problems and forgotten about the fruit we were pursuing for God’s Kingdom — I’m sure we would have backpedaled to get out of the situation!

But we knew this was a God-given opportunity and worth the fight, so we fixed our gaze squarely on the Lord. Girded with the armor of God and the power of the Spirit, we pushed through every obstacle and possessed the ground that God called us to take. As a result, millions of souls began to hear the Gospel for the first time. We knew that only God could have opened this door!

In First Corinthians 16:9, the apostle Paul wrote about the strategic doors of opportunity that open for the Gospel and the adversaries that usually accompany them. He said, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.” Notice that Paul used the words “great,” “door,” “effectual,” and “is opened” to describe the opportunity that had been set before him.

The word “great” in this verse is translated from the Greek word megale, which means gigantic. The word “door” is the Greek word thura, which typically refers to a door, but in this context, denotes a rare opportunity. The word “effectual” is the Greek word energes, and it depicts something that is powerful and ready to be set into motion. Finally, the phrase “is opened” is the Greek word anoigo, which describes something standing wide open. In other words, the door in question couldn’t be any more open! Thus, an alternate translation of Paul’s words in First Corinthians 16:9 could be rendered, “A gigantic, powerful opportunity is already set in motion and standing wide open….”

Paul continued by saying, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me….” You see, Paul knew that the particular door he was referring to had never been opened to anyone else, and he stood in awe of the unprecedented opportunity. Walking through these kinds of doors is impossible without divine assistance, and Paul was fully aware of God’s role in the matter. That is why he specified that this door had been opened “unto me.”

Paul’s prayer request in First Corinthians 16:9 was not for a door to open because it had already opened. His prayer request was to receive God’s wisdom to deal with the numerous adversaries who were trying to come against him. Paul used the Greek word antikeimenoi to describe the vast number of “adversaries” that were sent to attack him. This Greek word describes something that was piled high and lying all around him. In other words, he was dealing with more than a few minor opponents. On the contrary, it felt like opposition was stacked high on every side!

I’ve learned that the enemy will try his best to keep you from stepping through the gigantic doors of opportunity God desires to open for you. Satan is afraid of what will happen when “his” territory is invaded by someone fully equipped with a full arsenal of spiritual weapons. So know this: God will open doors for you — but He needs you to make a determined decision that you will walk through them, no matter the opposition, with the help of His Spirit.

By opening the door, God has already done His part, which would have been impossible without His assistance. Now He beckons you to come, dressed in the whole armor of God and in the power of His Word — and proceed through that effectual door into new territory. It may look like enemies are everywhere, but it is simply a fact that the devil and his forces flee and collapse when they are subjected to a show of strong faith!

As I mentioned earlier, many great and effectual doors have been opened to us over the years to do the work of the Gospel. In each case, we knew these doors were unique to us and had never before been opened for anyone else. And just as Paul experienced opposition, there were plenty of enemies that came against us with each opportunity. But because we obeyed God, the devil was forced to move out of the way, and we walked right into the virgin territory that God had opened for our ministry.

Even if you think your situation looks threatening right now, I want to tell you that God is with you. He wants to supernaturally open new doors for you — doors that have never before been opened for you. He is not beckoning you to walk through these doors so you can fail. He is with you every step of the way, and He will empower you to defeat every foe and bring Him glory in that new territory that is yours to possess in Jesus’ name!

Your open door may be an opportunity to shine the light of God’s Word and God’s love to your family or friends during this holiday season. It may be a door that will open to you in the new year. Regardless of when it is or what it is, the same God who opens doors will empower you to walk through them — and then He’ll be right with you to give you the wisdom and strength needed to overcome any giant that tries to meet you on the other side.

I know this is not a typical December, “Christmas-style” letter, but this is what was on my heart to share with you today. I want you to always know that if we can join you in prayer, we would be delighted to do so. To be honest, we are praying for you anyway, but when we are alerted to know exactly “how” to pray, it increases our effectiveness as we pray for you. So if you have a special need, please either call or write to let us know how we can get in agreement with you for God to show Himself mighty to you according to Jeremiah 33:3, which says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

And please pray for us as we continue marching forward by faith to push back darkness, to shine the light of God’s Word, and to take territory for the Kingdom of God. Together — as partners — we can make a difference in the lives of throngs of people who are crying out to God for help. They are waiting for God to respond to their prayers, and God wants to use us — you and us together — to bring them the answers they desperately need.

But before I close, I want to say we are specifically asking God to do something special for you this month and before the end of the year. I don’t know what it is, but that is what we are praying. We are asking God to do something special that will bless your life! And please, please pray for us as we continue pushing ahead to build our studio in Moscow, to finalize the purchase of our new headquarters in Tulsa, and to continue to minister effectually to every precious soul Jesus brings to us!

Merry Christmas!

We love you and thank God for you!

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
along with Paul, Philip, and Joel and their families|Dear Friends,

It’s hard to believe it’s already the month of July! Time is flying by so fast, and before we know it, it will be the end of the year again. But today, I want to talk to you about the Holy Spirit giving you the insight you need for any problem, project, or task in front of you. I will share a bit from my personal experience, and I believe that what I am going to share will really help you!

But before I get into this teaching, I first want to say that it is our mission to fulfill the Great Commission and “teach all nations.” Every prayer prayed — and every gift given — empowers us to be able to accomplish God’s call on our lives and ministry. The task is huge, and it seems the Lord has trusted us enough to place more and more on our plates for us to do. Everywhere I look in our ministry, I see productivity and growth as people are responding in record numbers to the teaching of God’s Word. We couldn’t do any of this alone, which is why we are so grateful to our wonderful partners. If you would like to support us in this God-called endeavor, please visit renner.org/partner. We’re so grateful to anyone willing to help us reach more people with the Gospel.

I also want to tell you that on September 1, my next book will be released. It is called The Miracles of Jesus Christ — An Eye-Opening Examination of Every Miracle, Healing, and Demonic Encounter in the Gospels and the Book of Acts. I can’t find another book similar to this one. What makes it so different? Well, it is a commentary on every supernatural event in the Gospels, and as I wrote it, it made me fall deeper in love with Jesus. He is so amazing — and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever — so we need to understand how He healed the sick, worked miracles, and cast out demons. I truly believe this book will enrich your understanding and make you fall deeper in love with Jesus. This book will be offered at an introductory price of $28 for a limited time. To order ahead, simply call 1-800-742-5593 or go online to renner.org.

Now to begin my teaching this month on receiving the insight of the Holy Spirit! For years early on in our ministry in Russia, I searched for a way to reach the very large elderly population in Moscow where we live. They are a very unique generation, and I had never understood the key to touching them in large numbers. I knew there was a way to do it, but I didn’t know that way. To be honest, I had nearly bent my brain trying to think of how “I” could reach them! I didn’t realize it at that time, but I had worked so hard thinking on my own that I hadn’t involved the Holy Spirit very much in obtaining the answer!

But I’ll never forget the day many years ago when I looked out the living-room window of our apartment in downtown Moscow — and there on the street that ran parallel to the Kremlin was a massive demonstration of pensioners, widows, and other elderly people, looking like they were having the greatest party of their lives! As I leaned out our window to get a better glimpse, I heard music from the Soviet era being played, and I saw that many of these pensioners were actually dancing in the streets to the music. They were reveling in the memories of earlier times when they were younger and life seemed easier than it had become in their old age.

I told Denise, “I want to go downstairs, get out on the street, and experience those elderly people!” Within minutes, I had my winter coat on; I pressed the button on our elevator to take me down to the street; and I nearly flew out of the door of our building to quickly join that big demonstration. I just wanted to share the experience with these thousands of lively elderly people!

When I stepped into the huge throng of people, I suddenly found myself engulfed by senior citizens who were behaving like teenagers. All around me was a mass of white-haired revelers who had seized the moment to step into earlier memories of life in the USSR. For several hours, they really “whooped it up” on the central street of downtown Moscow. It was so invigorating to see them enraptured in their memories that I lingered among them until several hours had passed and the crowd finally began to dwindle down. As I walked home toward our apartment, the streets were covered with confetti and large banners with old Soviet slogans that lay scattered on the ground.

As I stood there pondering the whole experience, I cried out, “Holy Spirit, please show me how to reach this generation!” Before I got back to our apartment, God had marvelously opened my heart and mind to a new idea of how to reach this older generation, and before I stepped back into our elevator, God had given me the plan for how to do it. He imparted to me a revelation that, when later acted on, enabled us to build what is now one of the largest senior-adult ministries in the world and is still a major part of our Moscow ministry today.

It all began with an “idea” from the Holy Spirit that was birthed in my heart when I was not expecting it. It had started out as just an ordinary day that then developed into an unusual set of circumstances that ultimately became our ministry to many thousands of elderly people over the years.

In the midst of that unexpected situation near the Kremlin that day, suddenly the Spirit of God showed me something to do that I had never thought of before. It was like a supernatural beam penetrated my mind, and I could see what to do. Since that moment, years of fruit born from the implementation of that idea have proven that it truly was a revelation from the Lord.

I had always prayed for a way to reach the senior population in Moscow because they represented such a large part of the city, but I would have never been smart enough to dream up the idea that the Holy Spirit dropped into my heart that afternoon. And not only did the Holy Spirit give me an inspired idea, He also injected me with the courage I needed to obey it. In one split second, I had both the idea and the courage to do what the Holy Spirit had shown me. Insight for the plan and the faith to move forward on it came simultaneously, and the outcome in the years since that moment has been truly profound. Through this outreach that was birthed in my heart in that moment years ago, many thousands and thousands of senior citizens have gotten saved and experienced the love of God in their sunset years. The path to reaching them was so simple and so powerful, yet I had never seen it before that moment.

This plan has become our Golden Age outreach — a weekly gathering where Moscow’s senior citizens come to enjoy live performances of the music they grew up with, lovingly presented by volunteer musicians. After the concert, they are invited to hear a message about Jesus, and each meeting is paired with practical care through the distribution of food, vitamins, arthritis creams, Bibles, Christian books, and other necessities. Through these gatherings, we minister to nearly 4,000 people every month. It is amazing what God can do, isn’t it?

Often we think so long and hard about how to do certain things that need to be done — when all along the Holy Spirit knows exactly how to do it. The Holy Spirit sees and knows everything. He knows the key to every heart. He knows the secret to every success, whether in ministry, business, education, family, or anything else. If we will listen to Him, the Holy Spirit will reveal exactly what we need to know for every situation we face in life. The question is — are we listening?

In First Corinthians 2:9, Paul wrote of the restrictions normally placed on our minds, but in verse 10, He told us that part of the Holy Spirit’s ministry is to remove those restrictions so we can see what we normally could not see on our own. He says, “But God hath revealed them [hidden things] unto us by his Spirit.…”

The word “revealed” is the Greek word apokalupto. The root word is kalupto, which describes something that is veiled or hidden to the human eye and mind. It is there, but it isn’t seeable or knowable. It’s like an entire lawn that is green, lush, and beautifully landscaped, but because the curtains inside the house are closed, you are unaware of the beauty that is right outside for you to see.

But in First Corinthians 2:10, the word apo is added to the front of the word kalupto, and that little addition of apo means the curtain that once hid our view has been removed. Suddenly what was unseen becomes visible, and what was hidden becomes revealed. This is the reason apokalupto is translated as something revealed or as a revelation. And Paul stated that this was a strategic part of the Holy Spirit’s ministry — to take hidden things that we can’t know on our own and reveal them to us.

On that day when the Holy Spirit spoke to me, it was as if He held the strings on an invisible curtain that had blocked my ability to see how to reach that older population. When I cried out to Him for answers, He lifted that curtain, and I instantly saw what I had never seen before. In a split second, I had an answer to a question I had been asking for years. It wasn’t something I sat around and concocted on my own; it was something revealed to me as the Spirit removed the invisible veil that had separated me from the answer I had been seeking.

God has blessed our ministry enormously over the years, and I am the first to tell you it isn’t because we are so smart. If Denise and I have done anything right, we have listened. We discovered that if we remember to ask the Holy Spirit for help, He will always be there to show us that which we’re not smart enough to figure out on our own. I don’t know what answer you’ve been seeking, but I know who has the answer!

The Holy Spirit sees everything and knows everything — including those things that your mind would never see or know on its own. Perhaps you’ve been seeking answers about your marriage, your business, your education, your finances, your health, your children, or an important relationship — the list could go on and on. You may have been seeking answers for years, but you just couldn’t see what to do. In my own case, all those years, the Holy Spirit had the answer I had been seeking, but I was so busy trying to brainstorm ideas by myself that I hadn’t allowed the Holy Spirit to operate in His revealing ministry on my behalf.

Today I want to encourage you to open your heart to the Holy Spirit in a new way. He is present with you right now, holding the strings to the curtain that has blocked your view. This may be the very moment that He pulls those strings, and you finally see what you’ve been seeking for so long. Instead of only brainstorming and trying to think it through on your own, look to Him — and let Him give you a revelation of what He wants to happen next. He has all the answers, but we must surrender to Him so that He can show us what we need to know and see!

This letter is simple, but this is a life-transforming truth that changed me and resulted in the salvation of tens of thousands of senior citizens. In like manner, the Holy Spirit has all the answers you are seeking, and He wants to reveal them to you. Today I encourage you to pray: “Holy Spirit, please open my eyes and mind to know and see what I haven’t been able to figure out on my own. You hold the answers I need, and it is God’s plan for You to show them to me, so I ask You to do what is necessary to open my eyes and mind to supernaturally know and see the answers that I am seeking!”

This may seem so simple, but when the Holy Spirit shows you what you need to know, you’ll want to shout, “Hallelujah!” Finally, you’ll see what you need to see, and you’ll know what you need to do. And if you want someone to pray with you so that you can more easily hear and see what the Holy Spirit wants to show you, please reach out to us by calling 1-800-742-5593 or write to us at prayer@renner.org. We are very sincerely praying for you, but when we know exactly how to pray, we become more effective in our praying for you. It always helps to have someone agreeing in prayer, so please reach out and let us know how we can pray for you.

Before I close, I want to ask you to also pray for us. Denise and I, our sons, and our team are on the frontlines and doing what Jesus has asked us to do. But it is your prayers and financial gifts that help us to take God’s Word to those who are languishing in darkness. They need answers, and we have the answers, but it is your prayers and gifts that help us do this job of impacting lives for the present and for eternity. Thank you for praying for us too!

We love you and thank God for you!

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
along with Paul, Philip, and Joel Renner and our entire ministry team

|

A Picture of Patience

June Teaching Letter from Denise Renner

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas and greetings in Jesus’ precious name! Christ came into this world “in the fullness of time” to redeem mankind from sin and to reconcile us to the Heavenly Father (Galatians 4:4,5). And what a great salvation it was and is that God wrought for us in Christ (see Hebrews 2:3-18)! Denise and I and our family wish you a warm and wonderful Christmas season and the best new year of your life in 2022.

Today I want to talk to you about opportunities and adversaries, but first I want to say thank you for being such a faithful partner with our ministry. As I told you in my letter last month, our ministry is bursting at the seams, and I am so humbled that God would use Denise and me, our family, and our team to minister to the many people who are reaching out to us every day.

Every soul is precious, and it is our heartfelt desire to convey that truth to every person God brings to us — that they are precious to Him and to us. And your gifts are so vital to our ability to touch every one of these treasured souls! So today I want to say a special thank you for all you do with us to take the trusted teaching of the Word of God to people in Russia and all over the world. From the depths of our hearts, Denise and I THANK YOU!

This month is the last month of the year — and I know you are probably preparing for Christmas and many different kinds of gatherings. But in addition to Christmas, it’s also almost 2022. As we come to the end of this year and to the beginning of a brand-new year, the Holy Spirit keeps telling me to “stay on track” with the assignments He has given us. I hear Him saying that even if we hit bumps along the way, everything will be all right if we’ll just stay on track and maintain our God-assigned territory — the many opportunities and assignments He has given us to inspire, strengthen, and equip believers with the sound teaching of the Bible.

But I’ve learned over the years that opportunities and adversaries usually go together — and today I want to encourage you to undergird yourself so that you can stay on track with what God has asked you to do this month and in the coming year.

Over the course of our ministry, we’ve had many great, effectual doors open to us to do the work of the Gospel. I’ll never forget when I received an opportunity to minister on television in the former Soviet Union. It was as if a great door had suddenly swung open to an entire vast territory — a door that had never before been opened for anyone else — and I knew I was experiencing something miraculous. By faith, Denise and I stepped through that door and began to preach the Word of God on television in this spiritually starved corner of the world.

Given the former socialist-communist campaigns against the Gospel in this particular region, this opportunity was as miraculous as the Jordan River dividing for Joshua and the children of Israel. But with this great open door also came a slew of adversaries, specifically dispatched by Satan to instill fear and doubt into my heart. The devil desperately wanted to prevent me from touching the lives of spiritually oppressed people, so he positioned evil people with insidious plans to try to block my view of what God had in store for our ministry.

I’m telling you that it was like the children of Israel looking at the Promised Land from the far side of the Jordan River. From that perspective, they saw only the fruitful land of blessing that lay before them. But once they entered the Promised Land, they had to fight giants of every kind before they could possess that land and enjoy the blessing. In much the same way, if Denise and I had taken our eyes off the Lord during that tumultuous period — or if we had focused only on the problems and forgotten about the fruit we were pursuing for God’s Kingdom — I’m sure we would have backpedaled to get out of the situation!

But we knew this was a God-given opportunity and worth the fight, so we fixed our gaze squarely on the Lord. Girded with the armor of God and the power of the Spirit, we pushed through every obstacle and possessed the ground that God called us to take. As a result, millions of souls began to hear the Gospel for the first time. We knew that only God could have opened this door!

In First Corinthians 16:9, the apostle Paul wrote about the strategic doors of opportunity that open for the Gospel and the adversaries that usually accompany them. He said, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.” Notice that Paul used the words “great,” “door,” “effectual,” and “is opened” to describe the opportunity that had been set before him.

The word “great” in this verse is translated from the Greek word megale, which means gigantic. The word “door” is the Greek word thura, which typically refers to a door, but in this context, denotes a rare opportunity. The word “effectual” is the Greek word energes, and it depicts something that is powerful and ready to be set into motion. Finally, the phrase “is opened” is the Greek word anoigo, which describes something standing wide open. In other words, the door in question couldn’t be any more open! Thus, an alternate translation of Paul’s words in First Corinthians 16:9 could be rendered, “A gigantic, powerful opportunity is already set in motion and standing wide open….”

Paul continued by saying, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me….” You see, Paul knew that the particular door he was referring to had never been opened to anyone else, and he stood in awe of the unprecedented opportunity. Walking through these kinds of doors is impossible without divine assistance, and Paul was fully aware of God’s role in the matter. That is why he specified that this door had been opened “unto me.”

Paul’s prayer request in First Corinthians 16:9 was not for a door to open because it had already opened. His prayer request was to receive God’s wisdom to deal with the numerous adversaries who were trying to come against him. Paul used the Greek word antikeimenoi to describe the vast number of “adversaries” that were sent to attack him. This Greek word describes something that was piled high and lying all around him. In other words, he was dealing with more than a few minor opponents. On the contrary, it felt like opposition was stacked high on every side!

I’ve learned that the enemy will try his best to keep you from stepping through the gigantic doors of opportunity God desires to open for you. Satan is afraid of what will happen when “his” territory is invaded by someone fully equipped with a full arsenal of spiritual weapons. So know this: God will open doors for you — but He needs you to make a determined decision that you will walk through them, no matter the opposition, with the help of His Spirit.

By opening the door, God has already done His part, which would have been impossible without His assistance. Now He beckons you to come, dressed in the whole armor of God and in the power of His Word — and proceed through that effectual door into new territory. It may look like enemies are everywhere, but it is simply a fact that the devil and his forces flee and collapse when they are subjected to a show of strong faith!

As I mentioned earlier, many great and effectual doors have been opened to us over the years to do the work of the Gospel. In each case, we knew these doors were unique to us and had never before been opened for anyone else. And just as Paul experienced opposition, there were plenty of enemies that came against us with each opportunity. But because we obeyed God, the devil was forced to move out of the way, and we walked right into the virgin territory that God had opened for our ministry.

Even if you think your situation looks threatening right now, I want to tell you that God is with you. He wants to supernaturally open new doors for you — doors that have never before been opened for you. He is not beckoning you to walk through these doors so you can fail. He is with you every step of the way, and He will empower you to defeat every foe and bring Him glory in that new territory that is yours to possess in Jesus’ name!

Your open door may be an opportunity to shine the light of God’s Word and God’s love to your family or friends during this holiday season. It may be a door that will open to you in the new year. Regardless of when it is or what it is, the same God who opens doors will empower you to walk through them — and then He’ll be right with you to give you the wisdom and strength needed to overcome any giant that tries to meet you on the other side.

I know this is not a typical December, “Christmas-style” letter, but this is what was on my heart to share with you today. I want you to always know that if we can join you in prayer, we would be delighted to do so. To be honest, we are praying for you anyway, but when we are alerted to know exactly “how” to pray, it increases our effectiveness as we pray for you. So if you have a special need, please either call or write to let us know how we can get in agreement with you for God to show Himself mighty to you according to Jeremiah 33:3, which says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

And please pray for us as we continue marching forward by faith to push back darkness, to shine the light of God’s Word, and to take territory for the Kingdom of God. Together — as partners — we can make a difference in the lives of throngs of people who are crying out to God for help. They are waiting for God to respond to their prayers, and God wants to use us — you and us together — to bring them the answers they desperately need.

But before I close, I want to say we are specifically asking God to do something special for you this month and before the end of the year. I don’t know what it is, but that is what we are praying. We are asking God to do something special that will bless your life! And please, please pray for us as we continue pushing ahead to build our studio in Moscow, to finalize the purchase of our new headquarters in Tulsa, and to continue to minister effectually to every precious soul Jesus brings to us!

Merry Christmas!

We love you and thank God for you!

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
along with Paul, Philip, and Joel and their families|Dear friend,

I pray you are having a wonderful summer! Whether this is a time of rest and vacation or a time of extra busyness for you, I hope you are finding peace and refreshment in the Lord. 

I am grateful to have this opportunity to write to you, because I have something on my heart that I believe will be so helpful to all of us as we try to live out our relationships in a way that is pleasing to God.

Living in relationship with other people is a natural part of our lives, but sometimes those relationships come with some challenges. Every one of us will have someone at some point who seems to always be testing our patience. You might have someone right now who comes to mind as you are reading this, and that’s why I wanted to share with you today about patience.

[If you started reading in your email, begin here]

Friend, if we are going to love others well, we need to have patience. That’s not just practical advice — that’s a command from God. If you are ever wondering how important patience is to God, I want you to remember what the Bible says in Proverbs 16:32: “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”

Friend, we can look at generals and people who have conquered cities and think that they are so powerful and ingenious — and it is true that they are due our respect — but it is God’s opinion that when you’re patient, you are even better than they are. That is how important it is to Him that we learn to use self-control and give patience to one another.

Now, friend, you might be reading this and saying, “That sounds great and everything, but how can I do that?” We actually get to see the answer when we look at James 1:19-20: “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”

Those are some very clear instructions: We are to be swift to some things, and slow to others. What are we supposed to be swift to? Hearing, listening, and just being quiet and paying attention. Then we’re supposed to be slow to two things: speaking and wrath.

This is so simple, friend. When a situation comes up and you need to give somebody patience, you just have to slow down. How many relationships have been destroyed by people who moved too quickly and said or did things that they never would have otherwise? Maybe you’ve done that, and maybe somebody did that to you as well, and even to this day, it has damaged that relationship.

Instead of doing damage like that, we have the choice to slow down. Maybe you have to excuse yourself. You can say, “Can you give me just a minute?” Maybe you have to go and count to 10 or 100. Whatever strategy you have to use, just remember that you don’t have to let the wrath and the rash words control you — you have the choice to slow down!

This is so simple, but it is also so difficult for us to do sometimes. The good news is that we are not expected to do it on our own. When you got born again, the Spirit of God came into you, and He brought self-control and patience with Him. Through His power, not our own, we really are able to give patience to someone else. Even when the thoughtless words are rising up inside of us and we’re about to burst, He gives us the power to recognize what’s about to happen and to instead give patience.

I want to show you how powerful this patience is when we choose to recognize it in ourselves, and of course the best example we have of this is Jesus. Just think about the night when He was about to be crucified. Think about the moment when Judas left to betray Him. Jesus knew what was going to happen. He knew why Judas was leaving, but instead of telling everyone in the room or yelling at Judas, He kept that secret to Himself. He just said, “What you do, do quickly” (John 13:27).

Later that night, Jesus asked His disciples to pray with Him. This is the only time that we know about where He asked them to just stay up and pray with Him, because He needed their support in this time. He was suffering under so much mental and emotional pressure that His sweat even turned to blood that night, but when He went to see His friends who were supposed to be supporting Him and praying with Him through it, they had fallen asleep!

What about everything that happened when the soldiers finally came to arrest Him? It must have taken so much patience not to say anything bitter or wrathful as Judas came up and kissed Him to identify Him, but then Peter dove in and cut off the high priest’s servant’s ear. In that moment, most of us probably would have said, “Peter, can’t you just hold it for a second? I am already having such a hard night, and I don’t need to deal with you acting like this!”

Jesus could have said all kinds of things to Peter or to Judas or to any of the disciples, but He had patience instead. He even took the time to fix the problem that Peter had caused. Now that’s patience!

I’m telling you this because I want you to see what is inside you right now. 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, “Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?” Friend, no matter how hard it feels for you to be patient with those difficult people in your life, you have Christ in you, and that means you have access to that amazing patience and self-control that He showed to His friends and His enemies on the night He was arrested.

That patience is not ineffective or broken — it is powerful, and it is operating just fine, but you have to recognize it, agree with it, and practice it. When a challenging situation arises and you feel tempted to give into wrath or rash words, you have to say, “You know what? I can act higher than this. I do not have to lose my temper or say the harsh words that are rising up in me. I am not a slave to those things. I have a choice to slow down.”

We really do have that authority inside of us, friend, so don’t sit there and act like you are powerless — claim that authority right now so that you can start giving patience to those around you.

I am so glad that I had the chance to write to you on this important subject, because God really does want us to be equipped to love the people around us as well as possible. In fact, for the next couple months, I am doing a teaching series that is all about the subject of loving others better, and I would love it if you would join me for it. You can watch my program, TIME With Denise Renner, live every Monday at 7 AM CT on both Facebook and YouTube or on just Facebook Wednesdays at 12 PM CT. If you’ve missed a program or just want to find a teaching on another topic, then you can find my past messages any time by looking on YouTube or renner.org. I can’t wait to share this time with you!

I also want to take a moment to offer you prayer if you are needing it right now. Whether it’s for relationships, health, finances, or anything else in your life, we would love to hear from you and have a chance to pray with you. We even love to hear about the wonderful things God is doing in your life! You can reach our prayer team by calling 1.844.473.6637 or emailing denisesocial@renner.org. We can’t wait to hear from you! 

Have a wonderful summer, friend.

We are moving forward together,

Denise Renner

|

Grateful Hearts Please God

 

June Teaching Letter from Rick Renner

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas and greetings in Jesus’ precious name! Christ came into this world “in the fullness of time” to redeem mankind from sin and to reconcile us to the Heavenly Father (Galatians 4:4,5). And what a great salvation it was and is that God wrought for us in Christ (see Hebrews 2:3-18)! Denise and I and our family wish you a warm and wonderful Christmas season and the best new year of your life in 2022.

Today I want to talk to you about opportunities and adversaries, but first I want to say thank you for being such a faithful partner with our ministry. As I told you in my letter last month, our ministry is bursting at the seams, and I am so humbled that God would use Denise and me, our family, and our team to minister to the many people who are reaching out to us every day.

Every soul is precious, and it is our heartfelt desire to convey that truth to every person God brings to us — that they are precious to Him and to us. And your gifts are so vital to our ability to touch every one of these treasured souls! So today I want to say a special thank you for all you do with us to take the trusted teaching of the Word of God to people in Russia and all over the world. From the depths of our hearts, Denise and I THANK YOU!

This month is the last month of the year — and I know you are probably preparing for Christmas and many different kinds of gatherings. But in addition to Christmas, it’s also almost 2022. As we come to the end of this year and to the beginning of a brand-new year, the Holy Spirit keeps telling me to “stay on track” with the assignments He has given us. I hear Him saying that even if we hit bumps along the way, everything will be all right if we’ll just stay on track and maintain our God-assigned territory — the many opportunities and assignments He has given us to inspire, strengthen, and equip believers with the sound teaching of the Bible.

But I’ve learned over the years that opportunities and adversaries usually go together — and today I want to encourage you to undergird yourself so that you can stay on track with what God has asked you to do this month and in the coming year.

Over the course of our ministry, we’ve had many great, effectual doors open to us to do the work of the Gospel. I’ll never forget when I received an opportunity to minister on television in the former Soviet Union. It was as if a great door had suddenly swung open to an entire vast territory — a door that had never before been opened for anyone else — and I knew I was experiencing something miraculous. By faith, Denise and I stepped through that door and began to preach the Word of God on television in this spiritually starved corner of the world.

Given the former socialist-communist campaigns against the Gospel in this particular region, this opportunity was as miraculous as the Jordan River dividing for Joshua and the children of Israel. But with this great open door also came a slew of adversaries, specifically dispatched by Satan to instill fear and doubt into my heart. The devil desperately wanted to prevent me from touching the lives of spiritually oppressed people, so he positioned evil people with insidious plans to try to block my view of what God had in store for our ministry.

I’m telling you that it was like the children of Israel looking at the Promised Land from the far side of the Jordan River. From that perspective, they saw only the fruitful land of blessing that lay before them. But once they entered the Promised Land, they had to fight giants of every kind before they could possess that land and enjoy the blessing. In much the same way, if Denise and I had taken our eyes off the Lord during that tumultuous period — or if we had focused only on the problems and forgotten about the fruit we were pursuing for God’s Kingdom — I’m sure we would have backpedaled to get out of the situation!

But we knew this was a God-given opportunity and worth the fight, so we fixed our gaze squarely on the Lord. Girded with the armor of God and the power of the Spirit, we pushed through every obstacle and possessed the ground that God called us to take. As a result, millions of souls began to hear the Gospel for the first time. We knew that only God could have opened this door!

In First Corinthians 16:9, the apostle Paul wrote about the strategic doors of opportunity that open for the Gospel and the adversaries that usually accompany them. He said, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.” Notice that Paul used the words “great,” “door,” “effectual,” and “is opened” to describe the opportunity that had been set before him.

The word “great” in this verse is translated from the Greek word megale, which means gigantic. The word “door” is the Greek word thura, which typically refers to a door, but in this context, denotes a rare opportunity. The word “effectual” is the Greek word energes, and it depicts something that is powerful and ready to be set into motion. Finally, the phrase “is opened” is the Greek word anoigo, which describes something standing wide open. In other words, the door in question couldn’t be any more open! Thus, an alternate translation of Paul’s words in First Corinthians 16:9 could be rendered, “A gigantic, powerful opportunity is already set in motion and standing wide open….”

Paul continued by saying, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me….” You see, Paul knew that the particular door he was referring to had never been opened to anyone else, and he stood in awe of the unprecedented opportunity. Walking through these kinds of doors is impossible without divine assistance, and Paul was fully aware of God’s role in the matter. That is why he specified that this door had been opened “unto me.”

Paul’s prayer request in First Corinthians 16:9 was not for a door to open because it had already opened. His prayer request was to receive God’s wisdom to deal with the numerous adversaries who were trying to come against him. Paul used the Greek word antikeimenoi to describe the vast number of “adversaries” that were sent to attack him. This Greek word describes something that was piled high and lying all around him. In other words, he was dealing with more than a few minor opponents. On the contrary, it felt like opposition was stacked high on every side!

I’ve learned that the enemy will try his best to keep you from stepping through the gigantic doors of opportunity God desires to open for you. Satan is afraid of what will happen when “his” territory is invaded by someone fully equipped with a full arsenal of spiritual weapons. So know this: God will open doors for you — but He needs you to make a determined decision that you will walk through them, no matter the opposition, with the help of His Spirit.

By opening the door, God has already done His part, which would have been impossible without His assistance. Now He beckons you to come, dressed in the whole armor of God and in the power of His Word — and proceed through that effectual door into new territory. It may look like enemies are everywhere, but it is simply a fact that the devil and his forces flee and collapse when they are subjected to a show of strong faith!

As I mentioned earlier, many great and effectual doors have been opened to us over the years to do the work of the Gospel. In each case, we knew these doors were unique to us and had never before been opened for anyone else. And just as Paul experienced opposition, there were plenty of enemies that came against us with each opportunity. But because we obeyed God, the devil was forced to move out of the way, and we walked right into the virgin territory that God had opened for our ministry.

Even if you think your situation looks threatening right now, I want to tell you that God is with you. He wants to supernaturally open new doors for you — doors that have never before been opened for you. He is not beckoning you to walk through these doors so you can fail. He is with you every step of the way, and He will empower you to defeat every foe and bring Him glory in that new territory that is yours to possess in Jesus’ name!

Your open door may be an opportunity to shine the light of God’s Word and God’s love to your family or friends during this holiday season. It may be a door that will open to you in the new year. Regardless of when it is or what it is, the same God who opens doors will empower you to walk through them — and then He’ll be right with you to give you the wisdom and strength needed to overcome any giant that tries to meet you on the other side.

I know this is not a typical December, “Christmas-style” letter, but this is what was on my heart to share with you today. I want you to always know that if we can join you in prayer, we would be delighted to do so. To be honest, we are praying for you anyway, but when we are alerted to know exactly “how” to pray, it increases our effectiveness as we pray for you. So if you have a special need, please either call or write to let us know how we can get in agreement with you for God to show Himself mighty to you according to Jeremiah 33:3, which says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

And please pray for us as we continue marching forward by faith to push back darkness, to shine the light of God’s Word, and to take territory for the Kingdom of God. Together — as partners — we can make a difference in the lives of throngs of people who are crying out to God for help. They are waiting for God to respond to their prayers, and God wants to use us — you and us together — to bring them the answers they desperately need.

But before I close, I want to say we are specifically asking God to do something special for you this month and before the end of the year. I don’t know what it is, but that is what we are praying. We are asking God to do something special that will bless your life! And please, please pray for us as we continue pushing ahead to build our studio in Moscow, to finalize the purchase of our new headquarters in Tulsa, and to continue to minister effectually to every precious soul Jesus brings to us!

Merry Christmas!

We love you and thank God for you!

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
along with Paul, Philip, and Joel and their families|Dear Friends,

It is my joy to greet you today in Jesus’ wonderful name!

Recently, I’ve been deeply pondering the miraculous works of Jesus, and today I want to share something new for me — and I believe it will be new and wonderful for you too. I would love to hear from you to know how these insights touched your heart!

But before I get into my letter, I want to express my heartfelt thanks for your amazing friendship and partnership with our ministry. Denise and I and our team are doing the work required to fulfill our mandate from Heaven, but it is our friends and partners who give financially and put the financial fuel in the tank so that we can take the message to people around the world. And when I say “around the world,” I really mean all over the world. Please understand that what you are doing is affecting people both near and far — you are a mighty instrument that God is using! I wanted to begin by saying thank you!

Today I want to speak to you about the ten lepers who were healed by Jesus. Luke 17:11 says, “And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.”

This verse pictures Jesus journeying straight through the heart of Samaria and Galilee on His way to Jerusalem. Interestingly, we know from John 4 that Jesus had already made a profound impact in Samaria earlier when He spoke with the woman at the well. John 4:40-42 tells us of the profound moment when the woman at the well returned to a Samaritan village to testify to them about Jesus. So moved were they by this interaction that the Samaritans pleaded with Him to remain with them a little longer, and He agreed, staying for two full days. As described in verses 41-42, many more came to believe, affirming to the woman, “…Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.”

Having already deeply impacted the Samaritans through the testimony of the woman at the well, Jesus would, not surprisingly, revisit a place and people who had welcomed Him so warmly. This serves as a reminder that Jesus repeatedly returns to those hearts and places that are open and receptive to His presence.

But when Jesus was en route to Jerusalem, he entered a village along the way. Luke 17:12 says, “And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off.” The words “certain village” are derived from the Greek words tina komen, which is the word tina, meaning a certain, and a form of the Greek word kome, indicating a town or village. The particularity of the word tina makes one wonder whether this is a reference to the same village that earlier so warmly welcomed Him. But while He was there, Luke 17:12 says “there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off.”

The word “met” is derived from a variant of the Greek word apantao, suggesting a deliberate meeting. It appears these ten lepers had heard rumors that Jesus was either approaching or had already arrived in the village, which prompted them to devise a plan to meet Him in person. The narrative states that these ten individuals were “lepers,” originating from the plural form of the Greek term lepros, which describes individuals who are stricken with leprosy.

Leprosy was a devastating disease that slowly consumed the flesh, disfiguring its victims by gnawing away at fingers, toes, and limbs, leaving terrible patches of raw flesh in its wake. The very sight of leprosy was not just horrid to see, but it was considered to be highly contagious, and people were terrified of coming near anyone with leprosy. Those afflicted with leprosy were burdened with societal rejection and were relegated to the confines of leper colonies.

But here, we see a band of ten lepers, huddled together, possibly seeking protection in their collective presence against a world that shunned them. But Luke 17:12 tells us that they “stood afar off.” The words “afar off” stem from the Greek word porrothen, signifying from a distance. By law, lepers were required to stay at least 100 paces — or roughly 250 feet — from other people. Seeing even one leper was a rarity since lepers lived in leper colonies. But to see a whole group of ten, who courageously left the confines of their seclusion, was enough to rattle the townspeople. These ten lepers ventured boldly into the heart of the village to appeal to Jesus to heal them.

Luke 17:13 says that from a distance, “…they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” The words “lifted up” are derived from a form of the Greek word airo, which means to lift or to raise, and the word “voices” comes from a plural form of the Greek word phone, which means not only voices, but loud voices. As a phrase, it tells us that from a distance these ten lepers corporately raised their voices and loudly said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”

The word “said” is used in a continuous tense, illustrating that this was an ongoing action as they were repeatedly vocalizing their plea. The word “Master” is derived from the Greek word epistata, which is a compound of the word epi, meaning on, and the word histemi, meaning to stand. Together, the word epistata captures the image of one who possesses tremendous authority and who is onsite at the moment. By using this term, the lepers acknowledged Jesus’ powerful presence as they persistently implored Him to have “mercy” on them.

The word “mercy” comes from a form of the Greek word eleeo, which is variously translated throughout Scripture as compassion, mercy, or pity. It denotes a powerful and unsettling surge of emotion that arises in response to the sights and sounds of human suffering. However, it transcends mere feelings of pity and embodies a profound inner compulsion that cries out for action. This is not simply a request for empathy for someone’s predicament; it is a heartfelt plea for intervention through concrete, merciful action that can change, relieve, or transform the circumstances at hand. In other words, they were not asking for mere pity, but for a compassion and mercy that would do something to change their afflicted condition.

Luke 17:14 says, “And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.” The word “saw” is derived from a form of the Greek word horao, and it goes beyond a simple glance; it conveys a profound recognition and understanding of their plight.

The word “shew” is derived from a form of the Greek word epideiknumi, which is a compound of the words epi and deiknumi. The prefix epi conveys a sense of over or upon, while deiknumi means to show. Together this compound signifies a thorough display or a complete demonstration. In this narrative, Jesus instructed the ten lepers to present themselves visibly to the “priests.” This word is derived from the Greek word hiereus, referring specifically to the Jewish priests residing in Jerusalem

Leviticus 14 gave a detailed set of guidelines that those cleansed of leprosy were to follow before priests could pronounce them ceremonially clean and re-admit them to the community. The priests had no power to heal lepers, but they were responsible for enforcing purification rites that were intricate, that lasted several days, and that were the most detailed of all cleansing rituals. The initial requirement to start the lengthy process of being declared “cleansed” was for a cleansed leper to present himself to a priest outside the city limits. This is what Jesus referred to when He told them to “Go shew yourselves unto the priests.”

At the moment Jesus told them to go to show themselves to the priests, there was no evidence that they had been cleansed. But Jesus told them to go, and this required faith on the part of the lepers. Luke 17:14 tells us, “…And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.”

The phrase “it came to pass” is the Greek word egeneto, which here indicates a gradual unfolding over time. This progression is echoed in the phrase “as they went.” The lepers took Jesus’ word, submitted to it, and followed His directive to go show themselves to the priest. As they journeyed, they were “cleansed,” which is derived from a form of the Greek word katharidzo, meaning to cleanse or to purify.

With each step toward the priests, the ten lepers witnessed transformation. They saw their diseased skin healing and consumed flesh regenerating into a soft, new layer of fresh skin. At long last, when the ten lepers stood before the priests, their affliction had vanished entirely, and they were no longer lepers.

Luke 17:15 says, “And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God….” The word “saw” is derived from a form of the Greek word horao, which depicts observation and full comprehension. A more fitting interpretation might be, “Having perceived and thoroughly grasped that he was healed.” The word “healed” is interestingly translated from a form of the Greek word iaomai, which means to cure or to heal, and it frequently pictures a healing that incrementally alleviates an ailment over time, contrasting with sudden recovery. Here, it precisely captures the journey of the ten lepers who were healed progressively as they followed Jesus’ command to present themselves to the priests.

Upon witnessing his own miraculous healing, this leper “turned back” and retraced his steps to Jesus. The words “turned back” are derived from a form of a Greek word signifying a physical turn. This particular leper literally turned around to head back to Jesus and “with a loud voice glorified God.” The words “loud voice” mean the leper lifted his voice with a thunderous intensity — so filled with gratitude that he began to “glorify” God. Notably, the tense implies that the leper offered continual, unwavering praise to God for the incredible cleansing he had received.

Luke 17:16 says that the healed leper “fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.” The words “fell down” tell us that in this moment when the leper encountered Jesus, he was so overwhelmed with gratitude for His miraculous healing that he quite literally buckled, crumpling onto the ground with his face on the earth with his entire being laid “at his feet.” Previously, this leper was bound by the rule to remain at least 100 paces away from others, but now he sprawled on the ground, clinging to Jesus’ feet while “giving him thanks.” The words “giving…thanks” paint a poignant picture of the leper’s overflowing gratitude. His heart was so filled with thankfulness that he lay prostrate at Jesus’ feet as he freely poured out appropriate thankfulness from the very core of his being.

Luke 17:16 then tells us that the healed leper was “a Samaritan.” Historically, the general Jewish perception of Samaritans was that they were uneducated and lacked piety, but it was the Samaritan among them who returned to express his gratitude to God for the miraculous healing he received.

Luke 17:17 says, “And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?” The word “where” is translated from an interrogative pronoun that sets the scene for Jesus’ intense questioning of the healed leper with the words, “Were there not ten cleansed?” With full knowledge that all ten lepers had been wholly cleansed, purified, and freed from the ravaging disease that once consumed them, Jesus sought to understand why only one among them returned to express gratitude.

Luke 17:18 says, “There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.” The word “found” conveys the essence of earnest inquiry. This insight allows us to envision Jesus scanning the horizon as He searched for the other nine lepers He had healed only this “stranger” returned to give God glory.

The word “stranger” hails from a Greek word that speaks of an individual perceived as an outsider or who was an alien to the people of Israel. Here, it is implied that the other nine lepers who were healed were likely Jews — but after they received the healing they had sought, their minds quickly set aside any thoughts of gratitude. In their eagerness to be restored to ordinary life, they rushed to the priests to secure their clean bills of health and resume the lives they knew before leprosy struck them. They, too, should have returned to glorify God. But Jesus observed that it was a Samaritan — the quintessential outsider — who was so moved by gratitude that he turned back to glorify God. From this, we learn that showing gratitude for the wonders Jesus has performed in our lives holds great significance for Him. Let us remember to always voice our thanks to Jesus for all His blessings and not fall into the trap of neglecting this expression of our heartfelt appreciation.

Luke 17:19 says, “And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” The words “go thy way” are interpreted from a Greek word that means to move from one place to another, and it evokes the image of one who embarks on a new journey. It was the equivalent of saying, “You can move beyond your past existence and move forward into a fresh chapter of life.”

When Satan has ravaged people’s lives, it is always God’s will to free them and set them on a new trajectory toward a better life. Because of Christ’s work on the Cross, every person can be set free and made whole. After God has touched us and changed our lives, we must remember how important it is to express our gratitude to God for what He has done in our lives. Let’s not be guilty of being among the nine lepers who forget to return to say thanks to Jesus!

I pray this letter has blessed you today. If you have any prayer needs, we want to know about them, so we can pray with you. We are promised in First John 5:14-15 that if we pray scripturally, God will hear us and answer us. It is our honor to pray biblically based prayers with you, and we are confident that God will hear us and do what needs to be done! Please either call us at 1-800-742-5593 or write to us at prayer@renner.org to let us know how we can join our faith with yours for God to do a special work in any situation you are facing. Also please pray for Denise and me and our team. We need lots of prayer power behind us, as what we are doing requires the supernatural strength and anointing of God. People need the Word of God, and we are giving our all to see that it gets to them

We love you and thank God for you!

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
along with Paul, Philip, and Joel Renner and our entire ministry team

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Restoration Beyond Imagination

May Teaching Letter from Denise Renner

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas and greetings in Jesus’ precious name! Christ came into this world “in the fullness of time” to redeem mankind from sin and to reconcile us to the Heavenly Father (Galatians 4:4,5). And what a great salvation it was and is that God wrought for us in Christ (see Hebrews 2:3-18)! Denise and I and our family wish you a warm and wonderful Christmas season and the best new year of your life in 2022.

Today I want to talk to you about opportunities and adversaries, but first I want to say thank you for being such a faithful partner with our ministry. As I told you in my letter last month, our ministry is bursting at the seams, and I am so humbled that God would use Denise and me, our family, and our team to minister to the many people who are reaching out to us every day.

Every soul is precious, and it is our heartfelt desire to convey that truth to every person God brings to us — that they are precious to Him and to us. And your gifts are so vital to our ability to touch every one of these treasured souls! So today I want to say a special thank you for all you do with us to take the trusted teaching of the Word of God to people in Russia and all over the world. From the depths of our hearts, Denise and I THANK YOU!

This month is the last month of the year — and I know you are probably preparing for Christmas and many different kinds of gatherings. But in addition to Christmas, it’s also almost 2022. As we come to the end of this year and to the beginning of a brand-new year, the Holy Spirit keeps telling me to “stay on track” with the assignments He has given us. I hear Him saying that even if we hit bumps along the way, everything will be all right if we’ll just stay on track and maintain our God-assigned territory — the many opportunities and assignments He has given us to inspire, strengthen, and equip believers with the sound teaching of the Bible.

But I’ve learned over the years that opportunities and adversaries usually go together — and today I want to encourage you to undergird yourself so that you can stay on track with what God has asked you to do this month and in the coming year.

Over the course of our ministry, we’ve had many great, effectual doors open to us to do the work of the Gospel. I’ll never forget when I received an opportunity to minister on television in the former Soviet Union. It was as if a great door had suddenly swung open to an entire vast territory — a door that had never before been opened for anyone else — and I knew I was experiencing something miraculous. By faith, Denise and I stepped through that door and began to preach the Word of God on television in this spiritually starved corner of the world.

Given the former socialist-communist campaigns against the Gospel in this particular region, this opportunity was as miraculous as the Jordan River dividing for Joshua and the children of Israel. But with this great open door also came a slew of adversaries, specifically dispatched by Satan to instill fear and doubt into my heart. The devil desperately wanted to prevent me from touching the lives of spiritually oppressed people, so he positioned evil people with insidious plans to try to block my view of what God had in store for our ministry.

I’m telling you that it was like the children of Israel looking at the Promised Land from the far side of the Jordan River. From that perspective, they saw only the fruitful land of blessing that lay before them. But once they entered the Promised Land, they had to fight giants of every kind before they could possess that land and enjoy the blessing. In much the same way, if Denise and I had taken our eyes off the Lord during that tumultuous period — or if we had focused only on the problems and forgotten about the fruit we were pursuing for God’s Kingdom — I’m sure we would have backpedaled to get out of the situation!

But we knew this was a God-given opportunity and worth the fight, so we fixed our gaze squarely on the Lord. Girded with the armor of God and the power of the Spirit, we pushed through every obstacle and possessed the ground that God called us to take. As a result, millions of souls began to hear the Gospel for the first time. We knew that only God could have opened this door!

In First Corinthians 16:9, the apostle Paul wrote about the strategic doors of opportunity that open for the Gospel and the adversaries that usually accompany them. He said, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.” Notice that Paul used the words “great,” “door,” “effectual,” and “is opened” to describe the opportunity that had been set before him.

The word “great” in this verse is translated from the Greek word megale, which means gigantic. The word “door” is the Greek word thura, which typically refers to a door, but in this context, denotes a rare opportunity. The word “effectual” is the Greek word energes, and it depicts something that is powerful and ready to be set into motion. Finally, the phrase “is opened” is the Greek word anoigo, which describes something standing wide open. In other words, the door in question couldn’t be any more open! Thus, an alternate translation of Paul’s words in First Corinthians 16:9 could be rendered, “A gigantic, powerful opportunity is already set in motion and standing wide open….”

Paul continued by saying, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me….” You see, Paul knew that the particular door he was referring to had never been opened to anyone else, and he stood in awe of the unprecedented opportunity. Walking through these kinds of doors is impossible without divine assistance, and Paul was fully aware of God’s role in the matter. That is why he specified that this door had been opened “unto me.”

Paul’s prayer request in First Corinthians 16:9 was not for a door to open because it had already opened. His prayer request was to receive God’s wisdom to deal with the numerous adversaries who were trying to come against him. Paul used the Greek word antikeimenoi to describe the vast number of “adversaries” that were sent to attack him. This Greek word describes something that was piled high and lying all around him. In other words, he was dealing with more than a few minor opponents. On the contrary, it felt like opposition was stacked high on every side!

I’ve learned that the enemy will try his best to keep you from stepping through the gigantic doors of opportunity God desires to open for you. Satan is afraid of what will happen when “his” territory is invaded by someone fully equipped with a full arsenal of spiritual weapons. So know this: God will open doors for you — but He needs you to make a determined decision that you will walk through them, no matter the opposition, with the help of His Spirit.

By opening the door, God has already done His part, which would have been impossible without His assistance. Now He beckons you to come, dressed in the whole armor of God and in the power of His Word — and proceed through that effectual door into new territory. It may look like enemies are everywhere, but it is simply a fact that the devil and his forces flee and collapse when they are subjected to a show of strong faith!

As I mentioned earlier, many great and effectual doors have been opened to us over the years to do the work of the Gospel. In each case, we knew these doors were unique to us and had never before been opened for anyone else. And just as Paul experienced opposition, there were plenty of enemies that came against us with each opportunity. But because we obeyed God, the devil was forced to move out of the way, and we walked right into the virgin territory that God had opened for our ministry.

Even if you think your situation looks threatening right now, I want to tell you that God is with you. He wants to supernaturally open new doors for you — doors that have never before been opened for you. He is not beckoning you to walk through these doors so you can fail. He is with you every step of the way, and He will empower you to defeat every foe and bring Him glory in that new territory that is yours to possess in Jesus’ name!

Your open door may be an opportunity to shine the light of God’s Word and God’s love to your family or friends during this holiday season. It may be a door that will open to you in the new year. Regardless of when it is or what it is, the same God who opens doors will empower you to walk through them — and then He’ll be right with you to give you the wisdom and strength needed to overcome any giant that tries to meet you on the other side.

I know this is not a typical December, “Christmas-style” letter, but this is what was on my heart to share with you today. I want you to always know that if we can join you in prayer, we would be delighted to do so. To be honest, we are praying for you anyway, but when we are alerted to know exactly “how” to pray, it increases our effectiveness as we pray for you. So if you have a special need, please either call or write to let us know how we can get in agreement with you for God to show Himself mighty to you according to Jeremiah 33:3, which says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

And please pray for us as we continue marching forward by faith to push back darkness, to shine the light of God’s Word, and to take territory for the Kingdom of God. Together — as partners — we can make a difference in the lives of throngs of people who are crying out to God for help. They are waiting for God to respond to their prayers, and God wants to use us — you and us together — to bring them the answers they desperately need.

But before I close, I want to say we are specifically asking God to do something special for you this month and before the end of the year. I don’t know what it is, but that is what we are praying. We are asking God to do something special that will bless your life! And please, please pray for us as we continue pushing ahead to build our studio in Moscow, to finalize the purchase of our new headquarters in Tulsa, and to continue to minister effectually to every precious soul Jesus brings to us!

Merry Christmas!

We love you and thank God for you!

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
along with Paul, Philip, and Joel and their families|Dear friend,

It is always such a blessing to write to you, and I pray that the Lord uses these letters to powerfully touch your heart, no matter what may be happening in your life. 

Today I want to ask you something: Has the enemy ever stolen something from you? He is a thief, and he will always try to take away the wonderful things we have in life, whether that is a dream, a person we love, or even the state of peace and joy that God wants us to live our lives in.

When the devil steals something, it can be a struggle to take that thing back — some people never do get it back — but God didn’t intend for us to live robbed lives. I want to give you an example today of a person who lost so many things, but thanks to her obedient posture and our Lord’s graciousness, she recovered it all — more abundantly than anyone could have expected!

[If you started reading in your email, begin here]

It might sound strange to say, but the moment that Esther was chosen as one of the many beautiful women who might become the queen, she must have felt like she had lost it all. When the soldiers came to take her to the palace, they were taking her away from her home, her friends, and her dear cousin Mordecai, who she loved like a father. As if all that wasn’t enough, the last thing Mordecai said to her was, “Don’t reveal your identity as a Jew. Do not even go by your Jewish name, Hadassa, but by the Persian name, Esther.”

In a single moment, poor Esther had lost her home, her father, her friends in the town where she lived, and even her cultural identity, language, and name. All at once, this young woman truly lost everything — but friend, our God is a great restorer, and He was going to restore Esther in a wonderful way.

Of course, Esther’s restoration started with becoming queen. As she was undergoing 12 months of beauty treatments to get ready to see the king, the Bible says that she found favor with the head eunuch who was taking care of all the girls, so he made sure that she had seven attendants from the palace, that she got to stay in the best place in the house of women, and that she even got extra beauty treatments.

When it was finally time for her to come before the king, the Bible tells us, “The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti” (Esther 2:17).

Think about that, friend: Esther had lost so much, but God took her horrible situation and gave her favor so that she would be comfortable in her time of waiting, and when the day came for her to see the king, God restored her dignity and gave her the position, power, and riches of a queen. 

God is so gracious, friend, but you and I know that this was just the beginning of His restoration in Esther’s life. When our Lord restores, He doesn’t just give us back what we’ve lost — He showers us with blessings that are exceedingly and abundantly above all that we could ask or think (see Ephesians 3:20)! When the wicked man Haman tried to wipe out the whole Jewish nation, Esther was in exactly the right place to stand up and save her people. 

Something I want to remind you of is that our restoration doesn’t always come easily. When Esther heard the bad news about the king’s decree to kill all the Jews, she could have felt hopeless. She could have given up and said, “Well, I’ve already lost so much, and now it looks like I’m going to lose all my people too.” When Mordecai asked her to go before the king, she could have said, “Oh, but if he doesn’t want to see me, I could be put to death. I’m too scared,” or, “But I’m so comfortable living as a queen. I don’t want to put my nice new life at risk.”

She could have said all those things, but instead she said, “…I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16). What amazing courage! Even after losing so much, she was ready to put everything on the line that she had recovered and even lose her life if that was part of God’s plan — and of course, her reward was great for her obedience.

When she finally appealed to the king and told him about her identity and the threat to her people, God’s plan for restoration was absolutely complete. Friend, Esther had lost her language, her family, and her culture, but through her, they were all saved from complete destruction. She had been taken away from her beloved cousin Mordecai, but in the end, he was promoted to be Haman’s replacement, so she could see him all the time. Esther, with her courageous and sacrificial attitude, had absolutely everything restored to her on a greater scale than she could ever have imagined!

Friend, you can’t outgive the Lord. He’s always going to give back more than you ever did. That’s why I want to encourage you to look at Esther’s example. If the enemy has stolen something from you, it’s God’s will for you to recover it. Esther lost everything, but she recovered it all and then some more, more than she could ever have imagined. Her humility and obedience opened the door for God to do amazing things, and those qualities in your life can open that same door.

I just love Esther’s story, and there is so much more that I would love to share with you, so I want to invite you to my weekly program, TIME With Denise Renner. I’m currently in the middle of a series that is all about the restorative power of God, and if you are feeling like life has stolen everything from you, then you won’t want to miss it. I hope you’ll come watch live on Monday at 7 AM CT on either Facebook or YouTube, or on Wednesday at 12 PM CT on Facebook. You can also watch my programs any time by visiting my YouTube channel or renner.org.

I also want to invite you to contact our team for prayer if you need it. The number is 1.844.473.6637, and you can also email denisesocial@renner.org. We love having the opportunity to stand with you in the hard times and to celebrate with you when the Lord’s restoring power moves in your life, so don’t hesitate to reach out!

We are moving forward together,

Denise Renner

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Living Past the Emergency

 

May Teaching Letter from Rick Renner

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas and greetings in Jesus’ precious name! Christ came into this world “in the fullness of time” to redeem mankind from sin and to reconcile us to the Heavenly Father (Galatians 4:4,5). And what a great salvation it was and is that God wrought for us in Christ (see Hebrews 2:3-18)! Denise and I and our family wish you a warm and wonderful Christmas season and the best new year of your life in 2022.

Today I want to talk to you about opportunities and adversaries, but first I want to say thank you for being such a faithful partner with our ministry. As I told you in my letter last month, our ministry is bursting at the seams, and I am so humbled that God would use Denise and me, our family, and our team to minister to the many people who are reaching out to us every day.

Every soul is precious, and it is our heartfelt desire to convey that truth to every person God brings to us — that they are precious to Him and to us. And your gifts are so vital to our ability to touch every one of these treasured souls! So today I want to say a special thank you for all you do with us to take the trusted teaching of the Word of God to people in Russia and all over the world. From the depths of our hearts, Denise and I THANK YOU!

This month is the last month of the year — and I know you are probably preparing for Christmas and many different kinds of gatherings. But in addition to Christmas, it’s also almost 2022. As we come to the end of this year and to the beginning of a brand-new year, the Holy Spirit keeps telling me to “stay on track” with the assignments He has given us. I hear Him saying that even if we hit bumps along the way, everything will be all right if we’ll just stay on track and maintain our God-assigned territory — the many opportunities and assignments He has given us to inspire, strengthen, and equip believers with the sound teaching of the Bible.

But I’ve learned over the years that opportunities and adversaries usually go together — and today I want to encourage you to undergird yourself so that you can stay on track with what God has asked you to do this month and in the coming year.

Over the course of our ministry, we’ve had many great, effectual doors open to us to do the work of the Gospel. I’ll never forget when I received an opportunity to minister on television in the former Soviet Union. It was as if a great door had suddenly swung open to an entire vast territory — a door that had never before been opened for anyone else — and I knew I was experiencing something miraculous. By faith, Denise and I stepped through that door and began to preach the Word of God on television in this spiritually starved corner of the world.

Given the former socialist-communist campaigns against the Gospel in this particular region, this opportunity was as miraculous as the Jordan River dividing for Joshua and the children of Israel. But with this great open door also came a slew of adversaries, specifically dispatched by Satan to instill fear and doubt into my heart. The devil desperately wanted to prevent me from touching the lives of spiritually oppressed people, so he positioned evil people with insidious plans to try to block my view of what God had in store for our ministry.

I’m telling you that it was like the children of Israel looking at the Promised Land from the far side of the Jordan River. From that perspective, they saw only the fruitful land of blessing that lay before them. But once they entered the Promised Land, they had to fight giants of every kind before they could possess that land and enjoy the blessing. In much the same way, if Denise and I had taken our eyes off the Lord during that tumultuous period — or if we had focused only on the problems and forgotten about the fruit we were pursuing for God’s Kingdom — I’m sure we would have backpedaled to get out of the situation!

But we knew this was a God-given opportunity and worth the fight, so we fixed our gaze squarely on the Lord. Girded with the armor of God and the power of the Spirit, we pushed through every obstacle and possessed the ground that God called us to take. As a result, millions of souls began to hear the Gospel for the first time. We knew that only God could have opened this door!

In First Corinthians 16:9, the apostle Paul wrote about the strategic doors of opportunity that open for the Gospel and the adversaries that usually accompany them. He said, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.” Notice that Paul used the words “great,” “door,” “effectual,” and “is opened” to describe the opportunity that had been set before him.

The word “great” in this verse is translated from the Greek word megale, which means gigantic. The word “door” is the Greek word thura, which typically refers to a door, but in this context, denotes a rare opportunity. The word “effectual” is the Greek word energes, and it depicts something that is powerful and ready to be set into motion. Finally, the phrase “is opened” is the Greek word anoigo, which describes something standing wide open. In other words, the door in question couldn’t be any more open! Thus, an alternate translation of Paul’s words in First Corinthians 16:9 could be rendered, “A gigantic, powerful opportunity is already set in motion and standing wide open….”

Paul continued by saying, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me….” You see, Paul knew that the particular door he was referring to had never been opened to anyone else, and he stood in awe of the unprecedented opportunity. Walking through these kinds of doors is impossible without divine assistance, and Paul was fully aware of God’s role in the matter. That is why he specified that this door had been opened “unto me.”

Paul’s prayer request in First Corinthians 16:9 was not for a door to open because it had already opened. His prayer request was to receive God’s wisdom to deal with the numerous adversaries who were trying to come against him. Paul used the Greek word antikeimenoi to describe the vast number of “adversaries” that were sent to attack him. This Greek word describes something that was piled high and lying all around him. In other words, he was dealing with more than a few minor opponents. On the contrary, it felt like opposition was stacked high on every side!

I’ve learned that the enemy will try his best to keep you from stepping through the gigantic doors of opportunity God desires to open for you. Satan is afraid of what will happen when “his” territory is invaded by someone fully equipped with a full arsenal of spiritual weapons. So know this: God will open doors for you — but He needs you to make a determined decision that you will walk through them, no matter the opposition, with the help of His Spirit.

By opening the door, God has already done His part, which would have been impossible without His assistance. Now He beckons you to come, dressed in the whole armor of God and in the power of His Word — and proceed through that effectual door into new territory. It may look like enemies are everywhere, but it is simply a fact that the devil and his forces flee and collapse when they are subjected to a show of strong faith!

As I mentioned earlier, many great and effectual doors have been opened to us over the years to do the work of the Gospel. In each case, we knew these doors were unique to us and had never before been opened for anyone else. And just as Paul experienced opposition, there were plenty of enemies that came against us with each opportunity. But because we obeyed God, the devil was forced to move out of the way, and we walked right into the virgin territory that God had opened for our ministry.

Even if you think your situation looks threatening right now, I want to tell you that God is with you. He wants to supernaturally open new doors for you — doors that have never before been opened for you. He is not beckoning you to walk through these doors so you can fail. He is with you every step of the way, and He will empower you to defeat every foe and bring Him glory in that new territory that is yours to possess in Jesus’ name!

Your open door may be an opportunity to shine the light of God’s Word and God’s love to your family or friends during this holiday season. It may be a door that will open to you in the new year. Regardless of when it is or what it is, the same God who opens doors will empower you to walk through them — and then He’ll be right with you to give you the wisdom and strength needed to overcome any giant that tries to meet you on the other side.

I know this is not a typical December, “Christmas-style” letter, but this is what was on my heart to share with you today. I want you to always know that if we can join you in prayer, we would be delighted to do so. To be honest, we are praying for you anyway, but when we are alerted to know exactly “how” to pray, it increases our effectiveness as we pray for you. So if you have a special need, please either call or write to let us know how we can get in agreement with you for God to show Himself mighty to you according to Jeremiah 33:3, which says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

And please pray for us as we continue marching forward by faith to push back darkness, to shine the light of God’s Word, and to take territory for the Kingdom of God. Together — as partners — we can make a difference in the lives of throngs of people who are crying out to God for help. They are waiting for God to respond to their prayers, and God wants to use us — you and us together — to bring them the answers they desperately need.

But before I close, I want to say we are specifically asking God to do something special for you this month and before the end of the year. I don’t know what it is, but that is what we are praying. We are asking God to do something special that will bless your life! And please, please pray for us as we continue pushing ahead to build our studio in Moscow, to finalize the purchase of our new headquarters in Tulsa, and to continue to minister effectually to every precious soul Jesus brings to us!

Merry Christmas!

We love you and thank God for you!

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
along with Paul, Philip, and Joel and their families|Dear Friends,

Greetings in Jesus’ wonderful name!

I’m excited about what I’m going to be sharing with you today, but before I get into it, I want to say THANK YOU for being such an amazing friend! It truly is a joy and an honor to write to you. I’m especially thrilled to share that my newest book Fulfilling Your God-Given Purpose — A Sparkling Gems from the Greek Guided Devotional Journal for Your Divine Destiny releases May 5. If you’d like to purchase a copy, you can call 1-800-742-5593 or go online at renner.org.

I also want you to know how grateful we are for those who stand with us as financial partners. Everything we do at RENNER Ministries is about carrying God’s Word further and touching more lives, and that simply wouldn’t be possible without the faithful prayers and support of people standing with us. If becoming a partner is something the Lord might place on your heart, we would be so grateful to you if you could prayerfully consider joining us in this work. No matter what, please know how much we appreciate you and the part you already play by walking this journey with us.

Today I want to talk to you about moments of trouble when calamity seems to unleash on us and emergencies tower like giants — whether through family turmoil, financial upheavals, health crises, relationship challenges, or any other dire predicament. It’s often then that we discover the profound truth that reaching out to God in faith summons His presence and help. Thankfully, emergency help is promised in Hebrews 4:16, where the Bible says, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

The words “help in time of need” are a translation of the Greek word boetheia — an old word with a military connotation. In the time of the early New Testament, this word specifically depicted the urgent cry from a soldier who had fallen — who was besieged, ensnared, or wounded in conflict. When a fellow soldier heard his cry for help, he swiftly mobilized and moved to liberate his fellow warrior. And when that nearby soldier heard that cry for “help in time of need,” he spared no effort to do whatever was necessary to deliver his fellow soldier and to rescue and bring him back into a place of safety, security, and protection.

In Hebrews 4:16, the word boetheia paints a vivid picture of divine intervention. It describes how Jesus — like a Mighty Warrior — swiftly springs into action whenever we find ourselves in distress and call upon God for assistance with unwavering faith. With determination, Jesus charges forth to protect us and liberate us from our troubles. For those who lift their voice in faith and seek help in their time of need, they can rest assured that Christ will spring into action and provide the urgent assistance they require.

God’s faithfulness knows no bounds and extends even to those entangled in self-wrought troubles. For example, consider the individuals ensnared by family strife, financial instability, health emergencies, relationship woes, and countless other challenges — predicaments often created by their own actions or inactions. Yet despite having brought these predicaments on themselves, these people are not forsaken. God — in His boundless mercy — responds and moves to liberate them when they call out in faith during their time of need.

I have personally experienced such grace, and I am sure you have too. No matter the origins of one’s difficulty, Jesus remains the steadfast Shepherd who answers cries for “help in time of need.”

When life morphs into a relentless cycle of turmoil, in which each day demands the improbable intervention of a miracle just to survive, the result is an existence steeped in despair. Enduring crisis after crisis is an arduous burden. To illustrate my point, imagine facing turbulent financial waters, where each dawn greets you with the weight of fervent hopes for a reprieve, just for you to meet another emergency. Have you ever walked that tightrope?

If you have, you surely understand how such relentless pressure can turn life into a grim endurance test. Occasionally, these periods are the result of our own choices, but there are also moments when they seem like direct attacks from forces determined to derail you. When divine intervention finally arrives, and an unexpected windfall materializes to temporarily lift you over the looming obstacle, your heart overflows with gratitude. However, this momentary relief often acts like a “band-aid” — a short-term solution that covers the immediate need but fails to secure your future stability. Until that financial predicament is completely resolved and steps are taken to make yourself less vulnerable to falling into the same trouble in the future, you will likely be swept once again into a vortex of anxiety, pleading for another miraculous intervention to carry you through.

Dwelling amidst the relentless turmoil of perpetual crises is a formidable challenge. I can testify that over the years of our ministry, we’ve navigated the terrains both of financial plenty and financial scarcity. In times of abundance, it has been easier to stay focused on our God-given mission. In darker hours when we’ve experienced scarcity, we’ve raised our voices in faith and sought divine intervention while continuing our ministry activities and operations. And time after time, we’ve witnessed the steadfast mercy of God to meet our needs allowing us to exhale a sigh of relief.

But the rollercoaster of stress — marked by relentless ups and downs circumstantially — is notoriously mentally challenging to endure even when hearts are full of faith and expectation that God has heard and is answering. Often, such dilemmas in personal lives or organizations spring from our own missteps, be it ill-considered choices or inadequate planning. Yet in moments of divine intervention, when unexpected financial support arrives, hearts swell with gratitude to God and to those He used to help.

But when individuals, businesses, churches, or ministries live in stability — which renders urgent and emergency prayers a rarity rather than a routine — they are able to shift their focus from survival to growth. What a testimony not just of God’s present help to rescue, but of His grace to grow and sustain!

Undoubtedly, the stories of God’s intervention are wondrous and deserve to be shared, yet the most profound testimony is when one can give witness to God’s unwavering faithfulness, which transforms life’s tumultuous rollercoaster of ups and downs into a journey free of stress. While miracles are awe-inspiring and necessary at times, they are not meant to be a constant lifeline. It is not God’s intention for anyone to remain in a perpetual state of tension and emergency. Eventually a time comes when you must move from living from emergency to emergency into a higher state. God does not wish for you to live in this nonstop pressure cooker for the rest of your life.

During Israel’s journey through the barren wilderness, a miraculous provision appeared in the form of “manna” — a mysterious gift from the heavens. When the Israelites needed God to provide an emergency provision of food, they discovered that manna settled like dew upon the earth, and neither its origins nor its supernatural delivery were understood by anyone. Every time the Israelites gathered this sustenance and tasted its mysterious texture, they were indulging in a divine wonder beyond earthly reasoning.

Indeed, in a spectacular display of mercy, God bestowed this otherworldly nourishment upon them as a testament to His care in their dire moments. Although other foods existed at their disposal, none could compare to the manna’s miraculous essence that fulfilled needs beyond the capabilities of mere earthly fare. This extraordinary sustenance was a marvel that met every requirement as if tailored to their souls.

God lavished manna upon His people, as is recounted in Psalm 78:23-25, where it is written that God “…opened the doors of heaven, and had rained down manna upon them to eat….” Determining the exact quantity of manna that cascaded from the heavens during those 40 years is beyond our grasp. But with the consensus among biblical scholars proposing the Israelites numbered around 3,000,000, it is estimated that they required approximately 4,500 tons of manna daily to sustain themselves. Imagine a daily harvest of 4,500 tons for every day spanning those 40 years. This would mean an astounding total of about 65,700,000 tons of manna supernaturally appeared over that epic journey.

Imagine waking up to a city blanketed in 4,500 tons of fragrant manna, a miraculous feast gifted freely to anyone willing to step outside and gather it. The alluring scent would waft through the streets and draw people from their homes like moths to a flame. If such an astonishing event happened today, it would spark an international frenzy — scientists would descend from every corner of the globe to analyze its wonders, while journalists would scramble to capture the essence of this edible enigma. Major news outlets would buzz with excitement, chronicling every detail of this extraordinary phenomenon.

Yet for the children of Israel, this daily spectacle was as routine as the sunrise, a testament to the everyday supernatural miracles they experienced. A whole generation of young ones came into the world and grew up with the belief that it was perfectly normal for 4,500 tons of manna to materialize “out of thin air” each morning (see Exodus 16:35).

The manna descended with such clockwork precision and unwavering consistency that, eventually, the Israelites scarcely marveled at its arrival. In a gradual fade from wonder to familiarity, the miraculous became mundane, its divine splendor blending seamlessly into their everyday existence. The extraordinary nature of this heavenly sustenance slipped into obscurity, and this supernatural food, along with its supernatural delivery system, began to be seen as a normal occurrence.

But when the next generation entered the Promised Land, the daily manifestation of manna ended. For 40 years, God had intervened and met their emergency need. But a time came when, as Joshua 5:12 tells us, “…the manna ceased…neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.”

In time, the wondrous supply of manna ceased, and God beckoned His children to embrace a more elevated way of life. God stopped feeding them hand to mouth and required them to use their faith to conquer the Promised Land and to take the fruit — and their long-term blessing and sustenance — for themselves.

I share this to remind you that while God stands ready to greet you repeatedly with emergency miracles when needed, His ultimate desire is for you to step into a realm where you enjoy a vigorous and enduring life of faith for daily living that’s brimming with vitality. Fully living in a state of victory is a magnificent testament to God’s glory!

In Psalm 37:25, we read, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” What a powerful testimony! Yet few people today can lay claim to it. But such a statement demonstrates God’s absolute faithfulness and it brings honor and glory to His name.

I realize this letter is a little shorter than usual, but it’s packed with what God has put on my heart for you this month. Oh, how God wants all of us to step upward into a higher level of living that is better than living in a constant pressure cooker of stress. This is what I am praying for you. BUT…if you are in a tough place right now, remember that Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

According to this Bible promise, Jesus is available right now to come to your assistance and to deliver you from whatever is assailing you. He is a Mighty Warrior who will swiftly spring into action to protect you and liberate you from troubles. If you will lift your voice in faith and seek help in your time of need, you can be sure He will spring into action to provide the urgent assistance you need.

And I want to remind you that we are here to pray with you — and praying with you would be an honor for us. In our Partner Care department, we really take “care” of those who reach out to us. Denise and I and our team fervently pray for those who contact us with their prayer needs. I assure you that if you need prayer — and if you reach out to us — you will be scripturally and ferociously prayed for with faith that God will do what needs to be done! So please either call us at 1-800-742-5593 or write to us at prayer@renner.org to let us know how we can be praying for you — and we promise that whatever you share will be kept confidential.

Please pray for us, too, as we step forward by faith to resist the enemy, drive back darkness, and take the light of God’s Word to those who are crying out for it. This is our assignment — which you are a big part of — but we cherish your prayers too!

We love you and thank God for you!

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
along with Paul, Philip, and Joel Renner and our entire ministry team

P.S. Click here to download the Ministry Update printable pdf flyer.

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Removing the Limits

April Teaching Letter from Denise Renner

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas and greetings in Jesus’ precious name! Christ came into this world “in the fullness of time” to redeem mankind from sin and to reconcile us to the Heavenly Father (Galatians 4:4,5). And what a great salvation it was and is that God wrought for us in Christ (see Hebrews 2:3-18)! Denise and I and our family wish you a warm and wonderful Christmas season and the best new year of your life in 2022.

Today I want to talk to you about opportunities and adversaries, but first I want to say thank you for being such a faithful partner with our ministry. As I told you in my letter last month, our ministry is bursting at the seams, and I am so humbled that God would use Denise and me, our family, and our team to minister to the many people who are reaching out to us every day.

Every soul is precious, and it is our heartfelt desire to convey that truth to every person God brings to us — that they are precious to Him and to us. And your gifts are so vital to our ability to touch every one of these treasured souls! So today I want to say a special thank you for all you do with us to take the trusted teaching of the Word of God to people in Russia and all over the world. From the depths of our hearts, Denise and I THANK YOU!

This month is the last month of the year — and I know you are probably preparing for Christmas and many different kinds of gatherings. But in addition to Christmas, it’s also almost 2022. As we come to the end of this year and to the beginning of a brand-new year, the Holy Spirit keeps telling me to “stay on track” with the assignments He has given us. I hear Him saying that even if we hit bumps along the way, everything will be all right if we’ll just stay on track and maintain our God-assigned territory — the many opportunities and assignments He has given us to inspire, strengthen, and equip believers with the sound teaching of the Bible.

But I’ve learned over the years that opportunities and adversaries usually go together — and today I want to encourage you to undergird yourself so that you can stay on track with what God has asked you to do this month and in the coming year.

Over the course of our ministry, we’ve had many great, effectual doors open to us to do the work of the Gospel. I’ll never forget when I received an opportunity to minister on television in the former Soviet Union. It was as if a great door had suddenly swung open to an entire vast territory — a door that had never before been opened for anyone else — and I knew I was experiencing something miraculous. By faith, Denise and I stepped through that door and began to preach the Word of God on television in this spiritually starved corner of the world.

Given the former socialist-communist campaigns against the Gospel in this particular region, this opportunity was as miraculous as the Jordan River dividing for Joshua and the children of Israel. But with this great open door also came a slew of adversaries, specifically dispatched by Satan to instill fear and doubt into my heart. The devil desperately wanted to prevent me from touching the lives of spiritually oppressed people, so he positioned evil people with insidious plans to try to block my view of what God had in store for our ministry.

I’m telling you that it was like the children of Israel looking at the Promised Land from the far side of the Jordan River. From that perspective, they saw only the fruitful land of blessing that lay before them. But once they entered the Promised Land, they had to fight giants of every kind before they could possess that land and enjoy the blessing. In much the same way, if Denise and I had taken our eyes off the Lord during that tumultuous period — or if we had focused only on the problems and forgotten about the fruit we were pursuing for God’s Kingdom — I’m sure we would have backpedaled to get out of the situation!

But we knew this was a God-given opportunity and worth the fight, so we fixed our gaze squarely on the Lord. Girded with the armor of God and the power of the Spirit, we pushed through every obstacle and possessed the ground that God called us to take. As a result, millions of souls began to hear the Gospel for the first time. We knew that only God could have opened this door!

In First Corinthians 16:9, the apostle Paul wrote about the strategic doors of opportunity that open for the Gospel and the adversaries that usually accompany them. He said, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.” Notice that Paul used the words “great,” “door,” “effectual,” and “is opened” to describe the opportunity that had been set before him.

The word “great” in this verse is translated from the Greek word megale, which means gigantic. The word “door” is the Greek word thura, which typically refers to a door, but in this context, denotes a rare opportunity. The word “effectual” is the Greek word energes, and it depicts something that is powerful and ready to be set into motion. Finally, the phrase “is opened” is the Greek word anoigo, which describes something standing wide open. In other words, the door in question couldn’t be any more open! Thus, an alternate translation of Paul’s words in First Corinthians 16:9 could be rendered, “A gigantic, powerful opportunity is already set in motion and standing wide open….”

Paul continued by saying, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me….” You see, Paul knew that the particular door he was referring to had never been opened to anyone else, and he stood in awe of the unprecedented opportunity. Walking through these kinds of doors is impossible without divine assistance, and Paul was fully aware of God’s role in the matter. That is why he specified that this door had been opened “unto me.”

Paul’s prayer request in First Corinthians 16:9 was not for a door to open because it had already opened. His prayer request was to receive God’s wisdom to deal with the numerous adversaries who were trying to come against him. Paul used the Greek word antikeimenoi to describe the vast number of “adversaries” that were sent to attack him. This Greek word describes something that was piled high and lying all around him. In other words, he was dealing with more than a few minor opponents. On the contrary, it felt like opposition was stacked high on every side!

I’ve learned that the enemy will try his best to keep you from stepping through the gigantic doors of opportunity God desires to open for you. Satan is afraid of what will happen when “his” territory is invaded by someone fully equipped with a full arsenal of spiritual weapons. So know this: God will open doors for you — but He needs you to make a determined decision that you will walk through them, no matter the opposition, with the help of His Spirit.

By opening the door, God has already done His part, which would have been impossible without His assistance. Now He beckons you to come, dressed in the whole armor of God and in the power of His Word — and proceed through that effectual door into new territory. It may look like enemies are everywhere, but it is simply a fact that the devil and his forces flee and collapse when they are subjected to a show of strong faith!

As I mentioned earlier, many great and effectual doors have been opened to us over the years to do the work of the Gospel. In each case, we knew these doors were unique to us and had never before been opened for anyone else. And just as Paul experienced opposition, there were plenty of enemies that came against us with each opportunity. But because we obeyed God, the devil was forced to move out of the way, and we walked right into the virgin territory that God had opened for our ministry.

Even if you think your situation looks threatening right now, I want to tell you that God is with you. He wants to supernaturally open new doors for you — doors that have never before been opened for you. He is not beckoning you to walk through these doors so you can fail. He is with you every step of the way, and He will empower you to defeat every foe and bring Him glory in that new territory that is yours to possess in Jesus’ name!

Your open door may be an opportunity to shine the light of God’s Word and God’s love to your family or friends during this holiday season. It may be a door that will open to you in the new year. Regardless of when it is or what it is, the same God who opens doors will empower you to walk through them — and then He’ll be right with you to give you the wisdom and strength needed to overcome any giant that tries to meet you on the other side.

I know this is not a typical December, “Christmas-style” letter, but this is what was on my heart to share with you today. I want you to always know that if we can join you in prayer, we would be delighted to do so. To be honest, we are praying for you anyway, but when we are alerted to know exactly “how” to pray, it increases our effectiveness as we pray for you. So if you have a special need, please either call or write to let us know how we can get in agreement with you for God to show Himself mighty to you according to Jeremiah 33:3, which says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

And please pray for us as we continue marching forward by faith to push back darkness, to shine the light of God’s Word, and to take territory for the Kingdom of God. Together — as partners — we can make a difference in the lives of throngs of people who are crying out to God for help. They are waiting for God to respond to their prayers, and God wants to use us — you and us together — to bring them the answers they desperately need.

But before I close, I want to say we are specifically asking God to do something special for you this month and before the end of the year. I don’t know what it is, but that is what we are praying. We are asking God to do something special that will bless your life! And please, please pray for us as we continue pushing ahead to build our studio in Moscow, to finalize the purchase of our new headquarters in Tulsa, and to continue to minister effectually to every precious soul Jesus brings to us!

Merry Christmas!

We love you and thank God for you!

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
along with Paul, Philip, and Joel and their families|Dear Friend,

I hope your year has been so blessed so far. Our God is so faithful to take care of us and to move through us in amazing ways, and I am just so excited thinking about all the things that He is doing and preparing to do in and through your life right now! I truly hope that you realize what a wonderful road is ahead of you.

This reminds me of such a powerful truth that we can all hold to: every one of us has a divine destiny. Maybe you think that sounds too grand or important to apply to you. I remember when I thought like that. In fact, I remember a time when I met this couple who said they were going to move to Latvia for ministry, and I just thought that they were heroes. I thought, “Oh my gosh, I have so much respect and admiration for these people. I could never do that.”

That’s the way so many of us respond when we hear about other people’s callings, and we tend to think that those thoughts really don’t apply to us, but we should never underestimate the Lord, friend. In my case, it was just a year after I talked to that couple that Rick and I were on a plane with our three boys on our way to the former Soviet Union. As that plane was taking off, God said, “Now ministry begins.”

God does have a plan, friend, and what you and I have to do is say “Yes” to it. I’ve said “Yes” so many times, and I can tell you that it’s the most powerful word. It gives you a future and a hope. 

[If you began reading in your email, start here]

What is so sad to me is that so many people don’t even realize what an amazing plan is in store just for them — they actually hold themselves back from stepping into that plan! They say, “Well, I’m not very gifted or outgoing. I don’t have great talents or good looks. I’ve messed up too many times for God to use me.”

Maybe you’re one of those people. Maybe you’ve had some really serious problems in your life, and now you’re thinking, “What can God do with me? I’m sick, I’m divorced, I’ve lost too much, or I’ve done this and that. What can God do with me?”

I want to say that not one of us has ever done it perfectly, and God still uses us anyway. There’s such a destiny in everything, so don’t limit God. Don’t think that His power isn’t enough to use your messy situation. That is a lie from the devil! 

Friend, the enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy. He is a liar, a thief, and a murderer, and he wants to hurt God’s beautiful creation. He wants to destroy us. That’s his whole goal. I remember thinking years ago that he just came after a few, a certain group of people, but then I lived a little bit longer, and I found out that he is not prejudiced — he will come after anybody and do anything he can to hammer our hearts with pain and doubt.

But if we let those things tell us that God can’t use us, then we are putting barriers on Him, and we aren’t seeing the real picture of Him. The truth is that He’s God, and everything that He wants to give us and pour through us and bless us with will come, just because He wills it.

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” His miraculous power can take the worst hurt and the worst problems and turn them around for good — that is a promise, and He absolutely keeps His promises.

Friend, the devil wants us to think that we’re just weak, struggling Christians, that we have no purpose and God can’t use us, but he’s a liar! Don’t let him put limits on what you believe God can do — take those limits off by taking that lie down! Declare the truth that you are called according to God’s purpose, and everything is going to work for your good. Believe what it says in Ephesians 1:19 that God’s power is moving toward you right now! You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. You’re not His hotel — He didn’t move in and then decide to move out. He’s dwelling in you right now with all His love and power, that same power that raised Jesus from the dead!

You have a divine destiny, friend. You really do, but you have to stop limiting God by thinking He can’t use you or He can’t use your situation. It isn’t about how nice your hair or clothes look. It isn’t about whether you came from a big city or a small town. It isn’t about how many or how few mistakes you’ve made or how many times you’ve been hurt. What matters is being in His will, hearing His voice, and then being obedient to what you hear.

Isn’t that freeing? It’s not about you — it’s about the power of God in you! All He asks us to do is to believe in Him and to give Him our lives. If this is new to you, then you can start today by saying, “God, I only have today. Yesterday’s gone, and I don’t have a guarantee of tomorrow, so I’m going to take these few hours that I am awake today to listen to what you want me to do. Lead me, Holy Spirit. I’m just going to believe You. I’m just going to take the limits off of You and believe that You have the power to use my messy life and make everything work for my good.”

That is all He’s looking for. That is an attitude that He can use.

If you have been inspired by this letter, then I hope you will watch my weekly program, because right now, I am doing a series with Dru Hammer, and she has such an incredible story. Dru has met so many amazing people and done so many amazing things, but the most amazing part of her story is God’s hand working to make everything come together. It is really a testimony of what He can do when we take the limits off of His power! You can watch TIME with Denise Renner live every Monday at 7 AM CT on both Facebook and YouTube, or on just Facebook Wednesdays at 12 PM CT. You can also find any teachings you missed by visiting renner.org.

I also want to invite you to contact our prayer team if there is anything in your life that you need prayer for or that you want to rejoice with someone else for. We love having the opportunity to pray over you and hear your amazing testimonies of God’s power, so please call us at 1.844.473.6637  or email denisesocial@renner.org. We can’t wait to hear what He does in your life!

We are moving forward together,

Denise Renner

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Calling On Church Leaders for Healing Prayer

 

May Teaching Letter from Rick Renner

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas and greetings in Jesus’ precious name! Christ came into this world “in the fullness of time” to redeem mankind from sin and to reconcile us to the Heavenly Father (Galatians 4:4,5). And what a great salvation it was and is that God wrought for us in Christ (see Hebrews 2:3-18)! Denise and I and our family wish you a warm and wonderful Christmas season and the best new year of your life in 2022.

Today I want to talk to you about opportunities and adversaries, but first I want to say thank you for being such a faithful partner with our ministry. As I told you in my letter last month, our ministry is bursting at the seams, and I am so humbled that God would use Denise and me, our family, and our team to minister to the many people who are reaching out to us every day.

Every soul is precious, and it is our heartfelt desire to convey that truth to every person God brings to us — that they are precious to Him and to us. And your gifts are so vital to our ability to touch every one of these treasured souls! So today I want to say a special thank you for all you do with us to take the trusted teaching of the Word of God to people in Russia and all over the world. From the depths of our hearts, Denise and I THANK YOU!

This month is the last month of the year — and I know you are probably preparing for Christmas and many different kinds of gatherings. But in addition to Christmas, it’s also almost 2022. As we come to the end of this year and to the beginning of a brand-new year, the Holy Spirit keeps telling me to “stay on track” with the assignments He has given us. I hear Him saying that even if we hit bumps along the way, everything will be all right if we’ll just stay on track and maintain our God-assigned territory — the many opportunities and assignments He has given us to inspire, strengthen, and equip believers with the sound teaching of the Bible.

But I’ve learned over the years that opportunities and adversaries usually go together — and today I want to encourage you to undergird yourself so that you can stay on track with what God has asked you to do this month and in the coming year.

Over the course of our ministry, we’ve had many great, effectual doors open to us to do the work of the Gospel. I’ll never forget when I received an opportunity to minister on television in the former Soviet Union. It was as if a great door had suddenly swung open to an entire vast territory — a door that had never before been opened for anyone else — and I knew I was experiencing something miraculous. By faith, Denise and I stepped through that door and began to preach the Word of God on television in this spiritually starved corner of the world.

Given the former socialist-communist campaigns against the Gospel in this particular region, this opportunity was as miraculous as the Jordan River dividing for Joshua and the children of Israel. But with this great open door also came a slew of adversaries, specifically dispatched by Satan to instill fear and doubt into my heart. The devil desperately wanted to prevent me from touching the lives of spiritually oppressed people, so he positioned evil people with insidious plans to try to block my view of what God had in store for our ministry.

I’m telling you that it was like the children of Israel looking at the Promised Land from the far side of the Jordan River. From that perspective, they saw only the fruitful land of blessing that lay before them. But once they entered the Promised Land, they had to fight giants of every kind before they could possess that land and enjoy the blessing. In much the same way, if Denise and I had taken our eyes off the Lord during that tumultuous period — or if we had focused only on the problems and forgotten about the fruit we were pursuing for God’s Kingdom — I’m sure we would have backpedaled to get out of the situation!

But we knew this was a God-given opportunity and worth the fight, so we fixed our gaze squarely on the Lord. Girded with the armor of God and the power of the Spirit, we pushed through every obstacle and possessed the ground that God called us to take. As a result, millions of souls began to hear the Gospel for the first time. We knew that only God could have opened this door!

In First Corinthians 16:9, the apostle Paul wrote about the strategic doors of opportunity that open for the Gospel and the adversaries that usually accompany them. He said, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.” Notice that Paul used the words “great,” “door,” “effectual,” and “is opened” to describe the opportunity that had been set before him.

The word “great” in this verse is translated from the Greek word megale, which means gigantic. The word “door” is the Greek word thura, which typically refers to a door, but in this context, denotes a rare opportunity. The word “effectual” is the Greek word energes, and it depicts something that is powerful and ready to be set into motion. Finally, the phrase “is opened” is the Greek word anoigo, which describes something standing wide open. In other words, the door in question couldn’t be any more open! Thus, an alternate translation of Paul’s words in First Corinthians 16:9 could be rendered, “A gigantic, powerful opportunity is already set in motion and standing wide open….”

Paul continued by saying, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me….” You see, Paul knew that the particular door he was referring to had never been opened to anyone else, and he stood in awe of the unprecedented opportunity. Walking through these kinds of doors is impossible without divine assistance, and Paul was fully aware of God’s role in the matter. That is why he specified that this door had been opened “unto me.”

Paul’s prayer request in First Corinthians 16:9 was not for a door to open because it had already opened. His prayer request was to receive God’s wisdom to deal with the numerous adversaries who were trying to come against him. Paul used the Greek word antikeimenoi to describe the vast number of “adversaries” that were sent to attack him. This Greek word describes something that was piled high and lying all around him. In other words, he was dealing with more than a few minor opponents. On the contrary, it felt like opposition was stacked high on every side!

I’ve learned that the enemy will try his best to keep you from stepping through the gigantic doors of opportunity God desires to open for you. Satan is afraid of what will happen when “his” territory is invaded by someone fully equipped with a full arsenal of spiritual weapons. So know this: God will open doors for you — but He needs you to make a determined decision that you will walk through them, no matter the opposition, with the help of His Spirit.

By opening the door, God has already done His part, which would have been impossible without His assistance. Now He beckons you to come, dressed in the whole armor of God and in the power of His Word — and proceed through that effectual door into new territory. It may look like enemies are everywhere, but it is simply a fact that the devil and his forces flee and collapse when they are subjected to a show of strong faith!

As I mentioned earlier, many great and effectual doors have been opened to us over the years to do the work of the Gospel. In each case, we knew these doors were unique to us and had never before been opened for anyone else. And just as Paul experienced opposition, there were plenty of enemies that came against us with each opportunity. But because we obeyed God, the devil was forced to move out of the way, and we walked right into the virgin territory that God had opened for our ministry.

Even if you think your situation looks threatening right now, I want to tell you that God is with you. He wants to supernaturally open new doors for you — doors that have never before been opened for you. He is not beckoning you to walk through these doors so you can fail. He is with you every step of the way, and He will empower you to defeat every foe and bring Him glory in that new territory that is yours to possess in Jesus’ name!

Your open door may be an opportunity to shine the light of God’s Word and God’s love to your family or friends during this holiday season. It may be a door that will open to you in the new year. Regardless of when it is or what it is, the same God who opens doors will empower you to walk through them — and then He’ll be right with you to give you the wisdom and strength needed to overcome any giant that tries to meet you on the other side.

I know this is not a typical December, “Christmas-style” letter, but this is what was on my heart to share with you today. I want you to always know that if we can join you in prayer, we would be delighted to do so. To be honest, we are praying for you anyway, but when we are alerted to know exactly “how” to pray, it increases our effectiveness as we pray for you. So if you have a special need, please either call or write to let us know how we can get in agreement with you for God to show Himself mighty to you according to Jeremiah 33:3, which says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

And please pray for us as we continue marching forward by faith to push back darkness, to shine the light of God’s Word, and to take territory for the Kingdom of God. Together — as partners — we can make a difference in the lives of throngs of people who are crying out to God for help. They are waiting for God to respond to their prayers, and God wants to use us — you and us together — to bring them the answers they desperately need.

But before I close, I want to say we are specifically asking God to do something special for you this month and before the end of the year. I don’t know what it is, but that is what we are praying. We are asking God to do something special that will bless your life! And please, please pray for us as we continue pushing ahead to build our studio in Moscow, to finalize the purchase of our new headquarters in Tulsa, and to continue to minister effectually to every precious soul Jesus brings to us!

Merry Christmas!

We love you and thank God for you!

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
along with Paul, Philip, and Joel and their families|Dear Friends,

Greetings in JESUS’ NAME!

This month, believers are gathering all around the world to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus! Let me encourage you to let the Easter season be an opportunity you use to bring unsaved family and friends to church where they will hear the Gospel and be touched by the Holy Spirit. This could be the time when they really hear the Gospel, repent, and make Jesus the Lord of their lives. Don’t miss this golden opportunity!

There are still so many people who have yet to hear the message of salvation and receive Jesus, and we know the time is short for them to miss hell, make Heaven their eternal home, become disciples for Christ, and fulfill the plan of God for their lives. Would you consider coming alongside us in this endeavor and becoming a partner with this ministry? God works through our partners in mightier ways than they can ever comprehend this side of Heaven, and we would love to rejoice with you on the day you meet all the people whose lives you have touched through your giving! Simply go to renner.org/partner or call 1-800-742-5593 and join the RENNER partner family!

Today I am going to conclude my series of letters about how to receive healing for your body and mind, and I feel the need to take us to an often-overlooked scripture about yet another important way for that to occur.

Calling For the Elders of the Church
To Anoint With Oil and To Pray the Prayer of Faith

James 5:14 says, “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” In this verse, we find yet another way to obtain healing and health for your body and mind.

In James 5:14, the word “sick” is translated from a form of the Greek word astheneo, a word that generally describes one who is frail in health or so physically weak that he is unable to travel, one who is a shut-in or homebound. It can also describe people who are strapped by financial need, which is a common predicament when one’s body is besieged by illness that necessitates substantial funds for recovery.

It is always best if a sick person can muster the strength to get up and go to a church meeting to receive prayer. In the assembly of the saints, there is a powerful corporate anointing that works wonders. But if a person is so ill that he cannot physically get up and go to the church to receive prayer, James wrote that a person in this predicament should “call for the elders of the church” to come to him for prayer.

I have noted that when illness strikes a person, people anticipate that the church’s spiritual leaders will reach out and offer to visit, pray, and anoint that person with oil. Yet James reversed this expectation and suggested that the responsibility falls on the sick individual to initiate this process. Instead of waiting for the leaders to assess the severity of every church member’s illness, James wrote that it is up to the sick person to inform the leadership of his condition and request them to fulfill the directive of James 5:14.

Again, James 5:14 says, “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church….” The word “call” is interpreted from a form of proskaleo, a compound of the words pros and kaleo. The word pros suggests a movement towards, and the word kaleo means to beckon, to call, or to invite. But when compounded, it means to personally ask, beckon, call, invite, or summon to one’s side. It’s important to remember that this doesn’t pertain to those with mild symptoms, but to individuals who are so severely unwell that venturing to the church for prayer is impossible.

James 5:14 also specifically says the sick person should call for the “elders” of the church. The word “elders” is interpreted from the plural form of the Greek word presbuteros, a word that is traditionally used to refer to the spiritual leaders of Israel, such as the influential figures within local synagogues or those who expounded the Law in public gatherings. In the context of the New Testament, it signifies formally designated church authorities.

When these spiritual leaders arrive at the home of such a person, James 5:14 says that they are to “pray” over him. The word “pray” is an interpretation of a form of the Greek word proseuchomai, which is the most common word for prayer in the New Testament. It is a compound of pros and euchomai. Here the word pros depicts a sense of closeness or intimate connection, while the second part of the word, euchomai, means I beseech or I pray. It is derived from the word euche, which is a word that originally depicted a person who made some kind of a vow to God in exchange for a favorable answer to prayer.

By using this word, James stated that when the spiritual leaders come to pray for the sick person, everyone involved is to draw near to God as they make their petition, and at the same time, they are to make a vow that they will give God something in exchange for a positive answer. In this case, as they ask God to heal, perhaps they “vow” that as a result of the sick individual receiving healing, they will give God glory and praise Him for what He has done.

One of the best examples of this is found in First Samuel 1:10-20 in the story of Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel. Hannah deeply desired a baby boy but was unable to become pregnant and faced the heartache of barrenness year after year. She made a vow to the Lord and in exchange, He honored her request.

The reason I share this is, I want you to see that the “prayer” James describes depicts a place of exchange where one gives God his defects, problems, sicknesses, and weaknesses — and in exchange, God generously supplies His power, His presence, and His goodness. Thus, James 5:14 means when we ask God to heal the sick person who has summoned the spiritual leadership of the church to come and pray for him, it is correct for those who pray and for the one who is sick to vow to give God glory and praise in exchange for healing the one afflicted.

James 5:14 goes on to say, “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him…”  The word “over” is translated from a form of the Greek word epi, which means over or upon, and it depicts the position held by those summoned of hovering over the sick person who is receiving prayer, almost enveloping the person in need with their presence like a gentle canopy of care directly above the sick individual.

James 5:14 furthermore says to “let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” Notice that the words anointing, oil, name, and Lord are italicized for emphasis because each of these four words is important and needs explanation. First, the word “anointing” is interpreted from a form of the Greek word aleipho, a word that refers to the physical anointing of the body with oil. Second, the word “oil” is interpreted from a form of the Greek word elaio, which denotes olive oil. From the earliest beginnings in the Old Testament to the conclusion of the New Testament and to the present, the substance of olive oil has been, and still is, a symbol of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. The moment the oil is applied in a time of prayer is the moment the sick person is to release his faith for Christ’s healing to manifest in his body.

Third, the word “name” is interpreted from a form of the Greek word onoma, which means a name or a reputation. Not only does Jesus have the name that is higher than any other name, and His name is exceptional, good, noble, and superior — but the reputation of His name is above the reputation of all others. So when one prays in His name, that person prays in both the name and reputation of the One who indisputably has the power to heal any sick person. Fourth, the word “Lord” is an interpretation of the Greek word Kurios. Here it denotes the Master and Supreme Lord or the One who has ultimate authority in every realm, seen and unseen, which in this case, includes authority over sickness and disease.

If all the conditions of James 5:14 have been fulfilled, James 5:15 says, “And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” This word “prayer” is also translated from a form of proseuchomai, which we previously encountered in verse 14. But then James added that it is a prayer of “faith.” The word “faith” is drawn from a form of the Greek word pistis, which is the word for “faith” throughout the New Testament. This isn’t a hope-so kind of faith that simply wishes, but it is a robust, rock-solid, unwavering faith that believes the One who has been petitioned will positively respond with healing.

The King James Version of James 5:15 says the prayer of faith shall “save” the sick. The word “save” is interpreted from a form of the Greek word sodzo, a word that is most often translated salvation in the New Testament. However, this word also importantly depicts deliverance, healing, liberation, and wholeness in every part of life. This word sodzo also means to deliver a person or country from enemies or to deliver, heal, keep safe, preserve, or keep under protection. The full meaning of sodzo is very broad, and the believers in the Early Church understood this word to contain all these meanings.

By using this word, James declared that the prayer of faith will completely deliver, heal, liberate, and return wholeness to the “sick.” But here the word “sick” is a bit different from the one previously used in verse 14. This word “sick” is translated from a form of the Greek word kamno, and it refers to a person who has long suffered from an affliction and is extremely weakened from the effects of this disease. The use of this word confirms that the person calling for the spiritual leaders of the church to come and pray for him is one who is so sick he is unable to go to them to receive prayer, so he beckons the leaders of the church to come to where he is to anoint him with oil and pray the prayer of faith over him.

In James 5:15 we find that as a result of meeting all these prerequisites, “the Lord shall raise him up.” The word “Lord” is again an interpretation of the Greek word Kurios, which denotes the Master and Supreme Lord or the One who has ultimate authority in every realm, seen and unseen, which, of course, includes authority over sickness and disease. The words “raise him up” are interpreted from a form of egeiro, which not only means to lift or raise but is also the root from which we derive the word resurrection. Thus, those who have been suffering a long time from the effects of disease will be raised up, and because their condition was so grave, their recovery will seem nothing short of a resurrection.

Then James 5:15 adds that “if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” The word “committed” is interpreted from a form of poieo, which here carries the notion of one who has done some kind of sin. The word “sins” is interpreted from a form of hamartia, which is the Greek word primarily translated as sin in the New Testament. It pictures one who misses the mark concerning what is right and wrong. Because this missing of the mark may at times be unintentional, in ancient Greek texts, it is sometimes translated as the word mistake, but it primarily carries the idea of one who either intentionally or unintentionally does what is wrong and who is thereby guilty of sin.

Oftentimes, disease, illness, and sickness are self-inflicted, whether through deliberate choices or inadvertent actions that create an “entry point” for the devil to exploit us. These words in James 5:15 tell us that in addition to healing us, God may speak to us by His Spirit, by His Word, or by the spiritual leaders who have come to pray for us to point out that it may be our own conduct that opened the door to the sickness. Embracing such loving correction can help us break free from a cycle that could invite the return of disease, illness, or sickness.

But James 5:15 goes on to say that if we acknowledge that our conduct is likely the reason why sickness showed up in the first place, and if we seek forgiveness for it, our wrong behaviors that led to that situation will be “forgiven.” The word “forgiven” comes from a form of the Greek word aphiemi, which means to discharge, forgive, let go, release, set free, or to permanently send away. We see the concept of such forgiveness in Psalm 103:12, which gloriously tells us that God has dismissed our sins from us, and He sent them away, never to be retrieved. Thus, the word aphiemi, translated “forgiven” in James 5:15, means to forgive, to permanently release, and to send away forever.

Calling on the leaders of the Church to pray over you and anoint you with oil is powerful because it can bring the amazing results I’ve covered in this letter. But remember, it is your job to let the leaders know you need prayer, so be sure to inform them and ask them to send someone to pray for you.

Since the month of September, I’ve been writing to you about how Christ has provided healing and health for your body and mind. As a child of God, it is right for you to lay claim to what Christ did for you on the Cross. But since September, I have provided ten different ways for you to appropriate the healing and health that Jesus purchased for you: 1) renewing your mind to the truth; 2) aligning your heart and mouth; 3) holding fast to your confession; 4) letting patience do its work; 5) asking God for clarification; 6) staying in unwavering faith; 7) laying hands on the sick; 8) letting the gifts of healing and working of miracles do their work; 9) taking Communion; and 10) calling the elders of the church to pray and anoint the sick person with oil. If you do all of these things, stick with them, and don’t stray from them — it is sure that you will eventually begin to see God’s Word take effect inside you as your body and mind begin to get stronger. I cover all of these topics in-depth in my new book EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HEALING, so I encourage you to get your copy today if you have not already done so.

It was on my heart today to share this subject with you, but if there is no one you can call for prayer, then please call us! When you let us know what your needs are, we will release our faith and ask for the power of the Holy Spirit to meet you right where you are, and we believe God will do precisely what needs to be done. Just call us at 1-800-742-5593, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CT or send an email to prayer@renner.org. We are always here for you, and we will believe for Jesus to mightily move on your behalf!

Please also pray for Denise and me, our family, and our team as we take the Gospel and God’s Word to the ends of the earth. We are very serious about what God has called us to do, and we are giving our “all” to do it! But we greatly cherish your prayers for us. Once again, THANK YOU SO MUCH for being a partner!

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
along with Paul, Philip, and Joel Renner and our entire ministry team

P.S. Click here to download the Ministry Update printable pdf flyer.

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Jesus Sees Your Faith

March Teaching Letter from Denise Renner

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas and greetings in Jesus’ precious name! Christ came into this world “in the fullness of time” to redeem mankind from sin and to reconcile us to the Heavenly Father (Galatians 4:4,5). And what a great salvation it was and is that God wrought for us in Christ (see Hebrews 2:3-18)! Denise and I and our family wish you a warm and wonderful Christmas season and the best new year of your life in 2022.

Today I want to talk to you about opportunities and adversaries, but first I want to say thank you for being such a faithful partner with our ministry. As I told you in my letter last month, our ministry is bursting at the seams, and I am so humbled that God would use Denise and me, our family, and our team to minister to the many people who are reaching out to us every day.

Every soul is precious, and it is our heartfelt desire to convey that truth to every person God brings to us — that they are precious to Him and to us. And your gifts are so vital to our ability to touch every one of these treasured souls! So today I want to say a special thank you for all you do with us to take the trusted teaching of the Word of God to people in Russia and all over the world. From the depths of our hearts, Denise and I THANK YOU!

This month is the last month of the year — and I know you are probably preparing for Christmas and many different kinds of gatherings. But in addition to Christmas, it’s also almost 2022. As we come to the end of this year and to the beginning of a brand-new year, the Holy Spirit keeps telling me to “stay on track” with the assignments He has given us. I hear Him saying that even if we hit bumps along the way, everything will be all right if we’ll just stay on track and maintain our God-assigned territory — the many opportunities and assignments He has given us to inspire, strengthen, and equip believers with the sound teaching of the Bible.

But I’ve learned over the years that opportunities and adversaries usually go together — and today I want to encourage you to undergird yourself so that you can stay on track with what God has asked you to do this month and in the coming year.

Over the course of our ministry, we’ve had many great, effectual doors open to us to do the work of the Gospel. I’ll never forget when I received an opportunity to minister on television in the former Soviet Union. It was as if a great door had suddenly swung open to an entire vast territory — a door that had never before been opened for anyone else — and I knew I was experiencing something miraculous. By faith, Denise and I stepped through that door and began to preach the Word of God on television in this spiritually starved corner of the world.

Given the former socialist-communist campaigns against the Gospel in this particular region, this opportunity was as miraculous as the Jordan River dividing for Joshua and the children of Israel. But with this great open door also came a slew of adversaries, specifically dispatched by Satan to instill fear and doubt into my heart. The devil desperately wanted to prevent me from touching the lives of spiritually oppressed people, so he positioned evil people with insidious plans to try to block my view of what God had in store for our ministry.

I’m telling you that it was like the children of Israel looking at the Promised Land from the far side of the Jordan River. From that perspective, they saw only the fruitful land of blessing that lay before them. But once they entered the Promised Land, they had to fight giants of every kind before they could possess that land and enjoy the blessing. In much the same way, if Denise and I had taken our eyes off the Lord during that tumultuous period — or if we had focused only on the problems and forgotten about the fruit we were pursuing for God’s Kingdom — I’m sure we would have backpedaled to get out of the situation!

But we knew this was a God-given opportunity and worth the fight, so we fixed our gaze squarely on the Lord. Girded with the armor of God and the power of the Spirit, we pushed through every obstacle and possessed the ground that God called us to take. As a result, millions of souls began to hear the Gospel for the first time. We knew that only God could have opened this door!

In First Corinthians 16:9, the apostle Paul wrote about the strategic doors of opportunity that open for the Gospel and the adversaries that usually accompany them. He said, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.” Notice that Paul used the words “great,” “door,” “effectual,” and “is opened” to describe the opportunity that had been set before him.

The word “great” in this verse is translated from the Greek word megale, which means gigantic. The word “door” is the Greek word thura, which typically refers to a door, but in this context, denotes a rare opportunity. The word “effectual” is the Greek word energes, and it depicts something that is powerful and ready to be set into motion. Finally, the phrase “is opened” is the Greek word anoigo, which describes something standing wide open. In other words, the door in question couldn’t be any more open! Thus, an alternate translation of Paul’s words in First Corinthians 16:9 could be rendered, “A gigantic, powerful opportunity is already set in motion and standing wide open….”

Paul continued by saying, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me….” You see, Paul knew that the particular door he was referring to had never been opened to anyone else, and he stood in awe of the unprecedented opportunity. Walking through these kinds of doors is impossible without divine assistance, and Paul was fully aware of God’s role in the matter. That is why he specified that this door had been opened “unto me.”

Paul’s prayer request in First Corinthians 16:9 was not for a door to open because it had already opened. His prayer request was to receive God’s wisdom to deal with the numerous adversaries who were trying to come against him. Paul used the Greek word antikeimenoi to describe the vast number of “adversaries” that were sent to attack him. This Greek word describes something that was piled high and lying all around him. In other words, he was dealing with more than a few minor opponents. On the contrary, it felt like opposition was stacked high on every side!

I’ve learned that the enemy will try his best to keep you from stepping through the gigantic doors of opportunity God desires to open for you. Satan is afraid of what will happen when “his” territory is invaded by someone fully equipped with a full arsenal of spiritual weapons. So know this: God will open doors for you — but He needs you to make a determined decision that you will walk through them, no matter the opposition, with the help of His Spirit.

By opening the door, God has already done His part, which would have been impossible without His assistance. Now He beckons you to come, dressed in the whole armor of God and in the power of His Word — and proceed through that effectual door into new territory. It may look like enemies are everywhere, but it is simply a fact that the devil and his forces flee and collapse when they are subjected to a show of strong faith!

As I mentioned earlier, many great and effectual doors have been opened to us over the years to do the work of the Gospel. In each case, we knew these doors were unique to us and had never before been opened for anyone else. And just as Paul experienced opposition, there were plenty of enemies that came against us with each opportunity. But because we obeyed God, the devil was forced to move out of the way, and we walked right into the virgin territory that God had opened for our ministry.

Even if you think your situation looks threatening right now, I want to tell you that God is with you. He wants to supernaturally open new doors for you — doors that have never before been opened for you. He is not beckoning you to walk through these doors so you can fail. He is with you every step of the way, and He will empower you to defeat every foe and bring Him glory in that new territory that is yours to possess in Jesus’ name!

Your open door may be an opportunity to shine the light of God’s Word and God’s love to your family or friends during this holiday season. It may be a door that will open to you in the new year. Regardless of when it is or what it is, the same God who opens doors will empower you to walk through them — and then He’ll be right with you to give you the wisdom and strength needed to overcome any giant that tries to meet you on the other side.

I know this is not a typical December, “Christmas-style” letter, but this is what was on my heart to share with you today. I want you to always know that if we can join you in prayer, we would be delighted to do so. To be honest, we are praying for you anyway, but when we are alerted to know exactly “how” to pray, it increases our effectiveness as we pray for you. So if you have a special need, please either call or write to let us know how we can get in agreement with you for God to show Himself mighty to you according to Jeremiah 33:3, which says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

And please pray for us as we continue marching forward by faith to push back darkness, to shine the light of God’s Word, and to take territory for the Kingdom of God. Together — as partners — we can make a difference in the lives of throngs of people who are crying out to God for help. They are waiting for God to respond to their prayers, and God wants to use us — you and us together — to bring them the answers they desperately need.

But before I close, I want to say we are specifically asking God to do something special for you this month and before the end of the year. I don’t know what it is, but that is what we are praying. We are asking God to do something special that will bless your life! And please, please pray for us as we continue pushing ahead to build our studio in Moscow, to finalize the purchase of our new headquarters in Tulsa, and to continue to minister effectually to every precious soul Jesus brings to us!

Merry Christmas!

We love you and thank God for you!

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
along with Paul, Philip, and Joel and their families|Dear Friend,

I am so glad to be writing to you this month. I pray that your year has been blessed so far and that you are just experiencing an outpouring of God’s peace and wisdom in your life right now! That said, I also know that life can get difficult sometimes, and it might be hard to see the way ahead. If that is how you are feeling right now, then I know this letter will be an encouragement to you.

I want to start by sharing with you about a struggle I faced recently.

I had watched a dear friend of mine — a woman who I loved like a daughter — fight as hard as she could against cancer for four years, but it was so heartbreaking because her health just kept on going downhill. Eventually she got so sick that she didn’t even want to see anybody anymore.

Friend, I just didn’t know what to do. Maybe you’ve been in a situation where you can’t understand what’s happening. You can’t explain it with your mind, you don’t even want to think about it, and of course you can’t go to all your painful emotions, so you just feel stuck and lost. Friend, that’s how I felt, but God showed me that there was still one more place I could go.

[If you started reading in your email, begin here]

As I was preparing to film some programs one day to get my mind off my poor friend, I opened my Bible up to Mark chapter 2, and all I could do was stare. Right there in front of me was Mark 2:5: “When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven you.’”

You probably know the story of Mark 2: four friends carried their paralytic friend to the roof and opened a hole in it to lower him down in front of Jesus. It is such a beautiful story of God’s healing power, but what I want to focus on today is that statement at the beginning of verse 5, “When Jesus saw their faith….”

This was such a dramatic moment, so Jesus could have noticed many things about the situation. This verse could have said, “When Jesus saw the hole in the roof,” or, “When Jesus saw everybody screaming and pointing at the man coming from the ceiling,” or even, “When Jesus got bothered by the particles that were falling down on Him from the roof.”

But this verse doesn’t say any of those things. There was one thing that Jesus saw in that moment — their faith.

Friend, I want to tell you that faith interrupts. When that man was lowered down by those four friends, their faith interrupted the whole teaching session. Your faith can interrupt too. It can interrupt sickness, poverty, depression, fear, or terminal disease. It can interrupt your confused thoughts or your pain from being betrayed by someone you loved. It can interrupt anything that the enemy tries to use to take you down, and that interruption will take you out of the horrible reality you are in and into a new reality!

Think about the reality of those four friends and their paralytic friend. That morning, that paralytic probably woke up the same way he always had, laying on that mat, in the midst of this horrible disease or injury that was just stealing his life. It was stealing his joy and his peace, and he might have been in pain all the time, and all his friends could do was watch and maybe try to cheer him up or make him more comfortable. That was their reality.

But they were all moved into a new reality that day. Thanks to their faith in what Jesus could do for their friend, that paralytic was about to pick up his mat and walk himself home! He must have been so happy to be healed, he probably skipped all the way home. And it must have been such a relief to those friends’ hearts to see him so filled with joy, no longer in pain, totally able to walk and dance and carry his mat home!

Friend, they all started that day with the horrible reality of sickness and pain — but they ended that day with rejoicing, with their paralytic friend skipping home! What I want to remind you is that the bridge between those two places was faith, faith that Jesus’ power could provide what they needed. They moved into that place of faith, and they stayed in it so that it strengthened them to do what they had to do.

When the house was too crowded for them to get in, they moved in faith up to the roof. Even though it seemed crazy to open up a hole in the roof and lower their friend down, they moved in faith that everything would work out and that they wouldn’t drop him and hurt him worse. They moved in faith that even though Jesus was teaching, He could and would stop and help this paralyzed man. They moved in total faith, and it interrupted their friend’s disease and totally changed their reality!

Friend, as I was sitting there thinking about my friend, reading my Bible, trying to prepare myself to teach from the Word of God, my mind was asking all the usual questions: “Why is my friend dying? Why hasn’t she been healed? Does she want to go? Does she not want to go? Why doesn’t she want to see anyone?” I was thinking about how much I loved her and how much I was going to miss her, but when I read that little phrase — “When Jesus saw their faith….” — I said, “Lord, my mind’s not doing me any good. My emotions aren’t doing me any good. I’ve got to use my faith.”

I didn’t have answers to my questions. I didn’t have a fix for my emotions, but I had my faith, and it gave me peace of mind, purpose, energy — everything I needed to get up from that place and go teach the Word of God.

I want to tell you, friend, our lives aren’t always going to be smooth, there will be difficult things that happen to us and to people who we love, but our faith can pull us through. Our faith can completely change the situation that we are in.

If you need someone to stand with you and help you stand in faith through your struggles, then I hope you’ll contact our prayer team. We would be so honored to pray with you and see what the Lord does in your life, so please call us at 1.844.473.6637 or email denisesocial@renner.org.

Before I finish, I also want to invite you to my program, TIME with Denise Renner. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to open up the Word of God with you each week, so I hope you will join me on Monday at 7 AM CT on both Facebook and YouTube, or on Facebook Wednesdays at 12 PM CT. I pray that these teachings are such a blessing to you!

We are moving forward together,

Denise Renner

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Two Wonderful Ways You Can Receive Healing

 

March Teaching Letter from Rick Renner

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas and greetings in Jesus’ precious name! Christ came into this world “in the fullness of time” to redeem mankind from sin and to reconcile us to the Heavenly Father (Galatians 4:4,5). And what a great salvation it was and is that God wrought for us in Christ (see Hebrews 2:3-18)! Denise and I and our family wish you a warm and wonderful Christmas season and the best new year of your life in 2022.

Today I want to talk to you about opportunities and adversaries, but first I want to say thank you for being such a faithful partner with our ministry. As I told you in my letter last month, our ministry is bursting at the seams, and I am so humbled that God would use Denise and me, our family, and our team to minister to the many people who are reaching out to us every day.

Every soul is precious, and it is our heartfelt desire to convey that truth to every person God brings to us — that they are precious to Him and to us. And your gifts are so vital to our ability to touch every one of these treasured souls! So today I want to say a special thank you for all you do with us to take the trusted teaching of the Word of God to people in Russia and all over the world. From the depths of our hearts, Denise and I THANK YOU!

This month is the last month of the year — and I know you are probably preparing for Christmas and many different kinds of gatherings. But in addition to Christmas, it’s also almost 2022. As we come to the end of this year and to the beginning of a brand-new year, the Holy Spirit keeps telling me to “stay on track” with the assignments He has given us. I hear Him saying that even if we hit bumps along the way, everything will be all right if we’ll just stay on track and maintain our God-assigned territory — the many opportunities and assignments He has given us to inspire, strengthen, and equip believers with the sound teaching of the Bible.

But I’ve learned over the years that opportunities and adversaries usually go together — and today I want to encourage you to undergird yourself so that you can stay on track with what God has asked you to do this month and in the coming year.

Over the course of our ministry, we’ve had many great, effectual doors open to us to do the work of the Gospel. I’ll never forget when I received an opportunity to minister on television in the former Soviet Union. It was as if a great door had suddenly swung open to an entire vast territory — a door that had never before been opened for anyone else — and I knew I was experiencing something miraculous. By faith, Denise and I stepped through that door and began to preach the Word of God on television in this spiritually starved corner of the world.

Given the former socialist-communist campaigns against the Gospel in this particular region, this opportunity was as miraculous as the Jordan River dividing for Joshua and the children of Israel. But with this great open door also came a slew of adversaries, specifically dispatched by Satan to instill fear and doubt into my heart. The devil desperately wanted to prevent me from touching the lives of spiritually oppressed people, so he positioned evil people with insidious plans to try to block my view of what God had in store for our ministry.

I’m telling you that it was like the children of Israel looking at the Promised Land from the far side of the Jordan River. From that perspective, they saw only the fruitful land of blessing that lay before them. But once they entered the Promised Land, they had to fight giants of every kind before they could possess that land and enjoy the blessing. In much the same way, if Denise and I had taken our eyes off the Lord during that tumultuous period — or if we had focused only on the problems and forgotten about the fruit we were pursuing for God’s Kingdom — I’m sure we would have backpedaled to get out of the situation!

But we knew this was a God-given opportunity and worth the fight, so we fixed our gaze squarely on the Lord. Girded with the armor of God and the power of the Spirit, we pushed through every obstacle and possessed the ground that God called us to take. As a result, millions of souls began to hear the Gospel for the first time. We knew that only God could have opened this door!

In First Corinthians 16:9, the apostle Paul wrote about the strategic doors of opportunity that open for the Gospel and the adversaries that usually accompany them. He said, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.” Notice that Paul used the words “great,” “door,” “effectual,” and “is opened” to describe the opportunity that had been set before him.

The word “great” in this verse is translated from the Greek word megale, which means gigantic. The word “door” is the Greek word thura, which typically refers to a door, but in this context, denotes a rare opportunity. The word “effectual” is the Greek word energes, and it depicts something that is powerful and ready to be set into motion. Finally, the phrase “is opened” is the Greek word anoigo, which describes something standing wide open. In other words, the door in question couldn’t be any more open! Thus, an alternate translation of Paul’s words in First Corinthians 16:9 could be rendered, “A gigantic, powerful opportunity is already set in motion and standing wide open….”

Paul continued by saying, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me….” You see, Paul knew that the particular door he was referring to had never been opened to anyone else, and he stood in awe of the unprecedented opportunity. Walking through these kinds of doors is impossible without divine assistance, and Paul was fully aware of God’s role in the matter. That is why he specified that this door had been opened “unto me.”

Paul’s prayer request in First Corinthians 16:9 was not for a door to open because it had already opened. His prayer request was to receive God’s wisdom to deal with the numerous adversaries who were trying to come against him. Paul used the Greek word antikeimenoi to describe the vast number of “adversaries” that were sent to attack him. This Greek word describes something that was piled high and lying all around him. In other words, he was dealing with more than a few minor opponents. On the contrary, it felt like opposition was stacked high on every side!

I’ve learned that the enemy will try his best to keep you from stepping through the gigantic doors of opportunity God desires to open for you. Satan is afraid of what will happen when “his” territory is invaded by someone fully equipped with a full arsenal of spiritual weapons. So know this: God will open doors for you — but He needs you to make a determined decision that you will walk through them, no matter the opposition, with the help of His Spirit.

By opening the door, God has already done His part, which would have been impossible without His assistance. Now He beckons you to come, dressed in the whole armor of God and in the power of His Word — and proceed through that effectual door into new territory. It may look like enemies are everywhere, but it is simply a fact that the devil and his forces flee and collapse when they are subjected to a show of strong faith!

As I mentioned earlier, many great and effectual doors have been opened to us over the years to do the work of the Gospel. In each case, we knew these doors were unique to us and had never before been opened for anyone else. And just as Paul experienced opposition, there were plenty of enemies that came against us with each opportunity. But because we obeyed God, the devil was forced to move out of the way, and we walked right into the virgin territory that God had opened for our ministry.

Even if you think your situation looks threatening right now, I want to tell you that God is with you. He wants to supernaturally open new doors for you — doors that have never before been opened for you. He is not beckoning you to walk through these doors so you can fail. He is with you every step of the way, and He will empower you to defeat every foe and bring Him glory in that new territory that is yours to possess in Jesus’ name!

Your open door may be an opportunity to shine the light of God’s Word and God’s love to your family or friends during this holiday season. It may be a door that will open to you in the new year. Regardless of when it is or what it is, the same God who opens doors will empower you to walk through them — and then He’ll be right with you to give you the wisdom and strength needed to overcome any giant that tries to meet you on the other side.

I know this is not a typical December, “Christmas-style” letter, but this is what was on my heart to share with you today. I want you to always know that if we can join you in prayer, we would be delighted to do so. To be honest, we are praying for you anyway, but when we are alerted to know exactly “how” to pray, it increases our effectiveness as we pray for you. So if you have a special need, please either call or write to let us know how we can get in agreement with you for God to show Himself mighty to you according to Jeremiah 33:3, which says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

And please pray for us as we continue marching forward by faith to push back darkness, to shine the light of God’s Word, and to take territory for the Kingdom of God. Together — as partners — we can make a difference in the lives of throngs of people who are crying out to God for help. They are waiting for God to respond to their prayers, and God wants to use us — you and us together — to bring them the answers they desperately need.

But before I close, I want to say we are specifically asking God to do something special for you this month and before the end of the year. I don’t know what it is, but that is what we are praying. We are asking God to do something special that will bless your life! And please, please pray for us as we continue pushing ahead to build our studio in Moscow, to finalize the purchase of our new headquarters in Tulsa, and to continue to minister effectually to every precious soul Jesus brings to us!

Merry Christmas!

We love you and thank God for you!

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
along with Paul, Philip, and Joel and their families|Dear Friends,

Greetings in the powerful name of Jesus!

I am so thankful to be able to write to you today and continue sharing how to appropriate the healing and health that Jesus purchased for you on the Cross. In this letter, we are going to explore two additional points: 1) The Gifts of Healing and the Working of Miracles and 2) Taking Communion for Healing.

Someone wrote and asked, “Is any of the information you have been writing about in this series of letters covered in your new book called EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HEALING?” Yes, it is, but only a very tiny part, as this new book is so comprehensive regarding the subject of healing and health. It deals with every aspect that I always wished someone would touch upon concerning this subject. But because I couldn’t find a book that included this wide array of topics connected to healing and health, I felt the Holy Spirit telling me to write it. So with His help, I wrote it, and my prayer is that it will be a God-sent answer into your life. You can order it by calling 1-800-742-5593 or going online to renner.org/store (international shipping rates apply for international orders). You may want to order more than one copy — I’m certain this is one you’ll want to not only share with others, but also keep a copy for yourself! 

Before I get into today’s letter, I want to express my heartfelt THANK YOU for being connected with this ministry. The Gospel itself is free, but the methods to get it to people are not free. It requires Denise and me, our family, and our team to really stay engaged in our faith to believe for all the finances necessary to do the job. Would you prayerfully consider becoming a partner with us in this work to take the trusted teaching of the Word of God to others who also need it? To learn more about us and what we do, please visit renner.org/partner or call us at 1-800-742-5593.

In recent letters, we’ve covered many points about how to appropriate healing and health for your body and mind. Here are the next two points I want to share with you.

#1: The Gifts of Healing and the Working of Miracles

It is a fact that sometimes healing and health are supernaturally manifested as a result of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, so it is important to understand what the Bible says to us about the “gifts of healing” and “the working of miracles.” We read about them in First Corinthians 12:9-10. These verses say that “…to another [is given] the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another [is given] the working of miracles….” I want you to notice that the “gifts of healing” is plural. This lets us know that there are different manifestations of this spiritual gift — or there are various ways that the gift of healing operates. But the mere fact that the “gifts of healing” and “the working of miracles” are listed separately highlights how each gift manifests uniquely in its own remarkable way.

For example, the word “healing” finds its roots in the Greek word iaomai, which means to cure, and it can also refer to receiving treatment from a physician. This is significant because when a doctor treats a patient, the results are rarely immediate; instead, a doctor may begin a course of medication or a suggested procedure that gradually restores the patient’s health. The fact that the Holy Spirit used the word iaomai to describe the gifts of healing informs us that, in the same way medicine works progressively, often a supernatural cure begins with a prayer or with the laying on of hands, but it may take the healing a period of time for its full effect to occur. Although the process remains supernatural, the use of “healing” in this context suggests it may occur in stages over time.

An example of a progressive healing is found in Luke 17 when Jesus entered a certain village and a group of lepers met Him to seek His healing touch. Luke 17:14 says these lepers were cleansed and healed “as they went.” This was a manifestation of a gift of healing — a supernatural touch of the Holy Spirit that ultimately cures a person from his ailment over a period of time. Most people would prefer a miracle, which is usually instantaneous, but the word iaomai is often used in the gospels to describe many whom Jesus healed. This means there were vast scores of people who were recipients of progressive healing, in addition to those who were instantaneously changed. But whether it was instantaneous or progressive, the results were nevertheless supernatural.  

I tell you this because when asking for someone to pray for you through the laying on of hands, it is very possible that the touch you receive will be one of a progressive nature. At that moment, it is of utmost importance that you inwardly say, “Regardless of how it manifests — instantly or progressively — right now I receive God’s healing touch in my body. Just as I believe medicine works to reverse a condition, I release my faith right now to believe that from this moment onward, God’s power will work in me to reverse this condition until I am made completely whole and free of this disease, illness, or sickness.”

The apostle Paul went on in First Corinthians 12:10 to list the “working of miracles” as another gift of the Holy Spirit. The King James Version translates it as “the working of miracles,” but the Greek text actually says “the operation of powers.” The word “working” is derived from a form of energema, which is related to the Greek word energeo. The word energeo is the word for energy, but when it becomes energema, as in First Corinthians 12:10, it depicts divine activity, divine energy, divine empowerment, or divine involvement. The word “miracles” is from the Greek word dunameon, the plural form of dunamis, which carries the idea of explosive, superhuman power that comes with enormous energy and produces phenomenal, extraordinary, and unparalleled results. It is the very word used throughout the New Testament to depict mighty deeds that are impressive, incomparable, and beyond human ability to perform. It denotes miraculous power or miraculous manifestations. 

So when Paul wrote about the “working of miracles,” he described a divine operation of supernatural power that comes with enormous energy and produces phenomenal, extraordinary, and unparalleled results. This divine operation of power overrides natural laws and quickly or instantaneously does what would never naturally take place or what might normally take place over a long duration. An example would be when a damaged organ or limb is instantly and supernaturally restored. When the gift of working of miracles is in operation, the power of God overrides the laws of nature and enables the impossible to miraculously come to pass. 

As you press forward to appropriate the healing and health that Christ purchased for you in His redemptive work on the Cross, do not dismiss the fact that God may choose to release the healing and health you are believing for through the gifts of healing or the working of miracles. Very often these gifts are manifested in corporate church services, and it is possible that you may be sitting in a service when these gifts begin to operate on your behalf to put your body or mind back in order again.

#2: Taking Communion for Healing

There is yet another important way to receive healing — and that is by taking Communion. On the eve of His betrayal, Jesus gathered His disciples for one final meal and served them what we as believers have come to know as Communion. In those sacred moments, Jesus and His disciples entered into covenant with one another. In the same way, when we partake of Communion, we acknowledge our covenant with Christ and, among other important things, we acknowledge what Christ did when His body was broken for us and when He shed His blood.

When Paul wrote of this event in First Corinthians 11, he encouraged us by stating in verse 26 that regularly taking Communion is a way of remembering what Jesus did for us. In Communion, what we drink from the cup represents Jesus’ blood that was shed to purchase us from Satan’s dominion and to give us forgiveness of sin, freedom from guilt and shame, and peace of mind. The broken bread that we share represents Jesus’ body that was broken for our physical and mental healing.

It’s important to note that Second Peter 1:3 says there is not a part of our being that remains untouched by this act of redemption. It says, “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” When this verse says that his divine power “hath given” unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness, these words are interpreted from the Greek word dureomai, which is past tense in this verse, and means God has amply given, bequeathed, generously donated, or fully supplied. Then the verse goes on to say that He has given us “all things” that pertain to life and godliness. The phrase “all things” is from the Greek word panta, literally meaning all things. It is all encompassing and leaves nothing excluded or untouched. 

Peter wrote that God’s divine power has given us all things — that is, absolutely everything that touches any part of our being — or anything which pertains to “life and godliness.” The word “life” is derived from the Greek word zoe, which indicates life of all kinds, but especially spiritual life. The word “godliness” is from a form of the Greek word eusebeia, which particularly describes what is related to godlikeness. This means that Jesus has given us everything we need for this present life and our future life, and that His redemptive work on the Cross has touched every sphere of temporal and eternal existence.

Then Second Peter 1:4 says, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” The word “given” in this verse is again from a form of the Greek word dureomai, which means God has amply given, bequeathed, generously donated, or fully supplied us with “exceeding great and precious promises.” The words “exceeding great” in Greek describe something impressive, magnificent, and stunning. The word “precious” is derived from the Greek word timios, which means of great value or great worth. The word “promises” is translated from a form of the Greek word epangelma, which describes pronouncements or promises. As a phrase, it means that God has fully supplied impressive, magnificent, and stunning promises in the covenant He made with us through Jesus. 

In fact, Second Peter 1:4 goes on to say that we have become “partakers of the divine nature.” The word “partakers” here is koinonos, derived from a form of the Greek word koinos, a word that refers to things that are mutually shared. This word koinos could be used to depict property that jointly belongs to two or more people. The idea of commonality or connectedness is intrinsic to the meaning of this word. But when koinos develops into the word koinonos that is used in Second Peter 1:4, it conveys engagement, fellowship, involvement, participation, or mutual sharing. So when Peter writes that we are “partakers of the divine nature,” it irrefutably means that through Christ’s sacrifice, we have not merely become the sons and daughters of God, but we now are literally partakers of Christ’s nature!

According to these verses, when we are born again, we are infused with Christ’s nature, and it lifts us beyond the reach of the world’s decay and corruption — separating us from the effects of disease, illness, and sickness that afflict the body and mind. God has given us impressive, magnificent, and stunning promises through the covenant He made with us through Jesus, and these divine promises touch every realm of our beings, physically and spiritually. This includes forgiveness of sin, freedom from guilt and shame, peace of mind, and physical and mental healing, along with other things too numerous to mention here.

The reason we diverted from the subject of Communion to Second Peter is I wanted you to really see and understand what has been given to you through the shed blood and broken body of Jesus. If you’ve already been doing what you have been reading in my letters so far, but you still haven’t seen the results you desire in regard to healing and health, then perhaps it is time for you to obey Paul’s admonishment to take Communion. It is a way to remember that Jesus’ shed blood was spilled for your forgiveness, freedom from guilt and shame, and peace of mind — and that His body was broken for the healing of your body and mind.  

You can partake of Communion by yourself in the privacy of your own home, with family and friends, or at church when it is offered. But First Corinthians 11:28-29 tells us that before we partake of it, we should examine our hearts to make sure we are in right relationship with others in the Body of Christ. Verse 30 goes on to say that many are sick and have even died because they have unresolved, hidden issues with others. Before you eat the bread and drink the cup, make sure you have laid any issues of this kind at the foot of the Cross and that you have forgiven whomever you need to forgive.

After you have examined yourself and have peace to proceed, reach out to drink of the cup that represents Jesus’ shed blood. Stop to thank God for the forgiveness, freedom from guilt and shame, and peace of mind that is yours because of Christ’s work on the Cross. Then reach out to take the bread that represents Jesus’ body that was broken for the full restoration of your own body and mind. Stop to thank God for the healing and health that is yours because of Christ’s work on the Cross. Let this be your moment to release your faith and allow God’s healing power to invade every part of your being so that you fully receive the healing that is yours in Christ. You are in covenant with Jesus Christ, and all of these things have been purchased for you at the Cross. Jesus has given you His identity, His authority, His power, His name, and His protection — everything He has is now at your disposal.

The act of receiving Communion is powerful, and it is something that you can do daily if needed. Do it now, do it often, and let Communion become a transactional moment when you appropriate the benefits of Christ’s redemptive work on the Cross for you.

As always, I want you to know that we are here to pray for you about anything on your heart or that you are facing in your life. Would you allow us to pray with you? Just call 1-800-742-5593 or write to us at prayer@renner.org. I promise that when we hear from you, we will pray scripturally, and God will do what needs to be done! We believe it and that is why we want to pray with you!

Also, please pray for us too. Denise and I, our family, and our team, are working nonstop — and I literally mean nonstop around the world in various time zones — to take the Gospel and God’s Word to the ends of the earth. People are responding from everywhere, and we cherish your prayers as God has entrusted us to minister to so many. Next month, I’m going to wrap up this series of letters by talking about one final way to receive healing.

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
along with Paul, Philip, and Joel Renner and our entire ministry team

P.S. Click here to download the Ministry Update printable pdf flyer.

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