Really Redeemed

April Teaching Letter from Rick Renner

Dear Friend,

As you get this letter today, I am praying for the anointing of the Holy Spirit to come upon you in a special way. I know God wants to touch you in a powerful way — and I’m praying for that divine touch to come to you right now in Jesus’ name!

Before I dive into my teaching this month, I feel the need to tell you about a development in our ministry.

On both sides of the world, our ministry is “bursting at the seams.” Denise and I are in awe of what the Lord is doing. The ministry in the former USSR continues to grow and increase in ways we could have never predicted. We are filming almost nonstop each weekday to produce quality TV programs, Home Group programs online, and a host of other programs for our Internet Good News Church in Moscow that air in the Russian language to a potential audience in the tens of millions. And now we are seeing a massive response from viewers in the English-speaking world too. Denise and I and our sons are nearly speechless at what the Lord is doing in our midst.

We know that God wants us to reach our arms around the globe with the Good News of the Gospel of Christ and with teaching from the Bible that people can trust. There are multitudes who are starving for teaching that will put a foundation underneath them, their families, and the people around them whom they love. And I know God has called us to shine the light of God’s Word into their lives! But our current equipment, TV studio, and U.S.-based offices are insufficient to keep up with the growth we are experiencing.

I RARELY ask for special giving from our friends and partners who already give so generously to support our vision of preaching the Gospel and making disciples of all nations. Our long-time partners know us and understand that we carefully steward all the funds we receive to stretch them as far as they can go to fulfill the vision He has given us.

But right now, we need your help.

We urgently need to expand our offices in Tulsa and Moscow because we are bursting at the seams with response from people who are reaching out to us. We are in desperate need of a larger studio in Moscow and a new building in Tulsa. In Moscow, we must construct a new studio while the weather is warm because once cold weather starts again in this part of the world, the building process will have to stop. We have already begun construction of a new TV studio in Moscow on property adjacent to our offices, and we absolutely know that God’s hand is on us, helping us! And in Tulsa, where we are reaching people who need our help with prayer, ministry, and resources, we desperately need a larger building — a new “ministry home” — to serve RENNER Ministries for years to come.

The total amount of space we need for both buildings in Moscow and Tulsa is approximately 50,000 square feet. If you are interested in knowing more details, I urge you to go to the home page of renner.org, where you can read more about this ministry expansion. If many people join hands with us to do this, it can be achieved quickly and victoriously. Again, I rarely ask for help with special financial projects, but today I am asking you to please consider giving into this urgent need in our ministry.

Because you are a partner, I felt you would want me to honestly tell you about this need. If you want to be a part of the giving to make this happen, please go to renner.org and click “Give” and then choose “Ministry Expansion Project.” You’ll see a short video in which I share more about how our ministry is growing and helping people.

Your current giving is what enables us to reach our arms around the world with the teaching of the Bible. But now we need extra gifts to help us with this extra push. If you are unable to sow beyond what you’re already giving, we are SO THANKFUL for what you are doing to make a difference in people’s lives! However, if you can give extra to help us right now, we’ll be so thankful — but if you cannot, please pray for us!

As I write this letter, I am sitting near Denise, and we were just talking about how thankful we are for our friends and partners who support our ministry with their prayers and finances. When we call people “partners,” we genuinely mean they are partners in the work God has entrusted to us. I often say that we can do the work, but our partners financially put fuel in the tank so we can get the message of God’s Word to those who are crying out for it. I want to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU AGAIN for all you do for this ministry and for the Kingdom of God.

This month, in which most of us will celebrate Easter — or have already celebrated this holiday — I believe the Holy Spirit wants me to talk to you about what it really means to be “redeemed” from the hands of the enemy. Let’s begin with First Corinthians 6:20 which says, “For ye are bought with a price….”

The New Testament words “bought” and “redeemed” come from the same Greek word. I’d like to take you into a Greek word study to help you really understand what the Bible means when it says you have been “bought” and “redeemed.”

The primary word translated “bought” and “redeemed” in the New Testament is the word agoradzo — a term that was used to describe the marketplace. But it was most frequently used to specifically describe the slave market — a dreadful and deplorable place that should have never been permitted. Human beings were paraded in front of potential buyers and then placed on the trading block where they were auctioned off like animals, old furniture, or even unwanted junk.

Before the nauseating process of buying, selling, and trading human beings began, potential buyers were allowed to check out the “merchandise.” The slaves’ heads were shoved up and backward; their mouths were forcibly jerked open; and their teeth were inspected to see if they were rotten or in fairly good shape.

As if this wasn’t inhumane and degrading enough, slave-buying customers were also encouraged to kick and hit the “merchandise” in order to determine the slave’s level of physical fitness. And to discover the slave’s temperament, buyers slapped them, cursed at them, and spat in their faces. If a slave could swallow his pride, grit his teeth, and hold his temper during such humiliating abuse, the buyer assumed he could be used to the point of abuse without giving his owner any kind of trouble.

In short, slaves were deemed to have no real human value and were viewed to be no better than animals. According to the thinking of the day, they were just another kind of workhorse. Their only purpose in the world was to serve the demands that their current owners exacted of them.

With all this in mind, we can see that the Holy Spirit has told us something extremely important by using the Greek word agoradzo to describe “redemption.”

You see, the world Jesus came into had become an utterly deplorable place — it had become a global “slave market.” Satan had gripped the hearts of men and filled their natures with violence and destruction. With each successive generation after Adam, spiritual death drove people of all nations, tribes, and ethnic groups deeper and deeper into slavery and total depravity.

Thus, the world that Jesus Christ was born into more than 2,000 years ago was a world of complete captivity. Through Adam’s disobedience, this spiritual death had seized the nature of all mankind. As Paul said, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12).

Our bondage at that time was so complete that Paul states we were “sold under sin” (Romans 7:14). The word “sold” is from the Greek word piprasko, and it literally describes a transfer of property. By using this word, Paul clearly tells us that mankind — and that includes you and me — were in the hands of Satan’s total ownership before Jesus Christ came into our lives.

Like slaves in the slave market, we stood helpless before the devil as he slapped our lives around — hitting us, kicking us, spitting upon us, and abusing us in every way he possibly could. Our “slaveowner” tried to damage our self-image, kill our bodies with various kinds of sin and vices, and mar us emotionally. When he was finished using one form of bondage on us, he would place us back on the trading block to be auctioned off again. Soon another form of bondage would overtake us and begin to make its own destructive mark on our lives.

We were passed from one bondage to the next in a never-ending cycle of defeat. Each day we lived, whether we were aware of it or not, this hellish ownership took us further downward and ever deeper into the captivity of sin and total depravity — lock, stock, and barrel, from the inside out, from the beginning to the end, every inch from head to toe, backward and forward and up to the brim.

This is the very reason Paul repeatedly told us in Scripture that we were previously “the servants of sin” (Romans 6:17,20). The word “servant” is taken from the word doulos, which is the most abject term for a slave in the Greek language. One expositor has explained that the word doulos describes one whose will is completely swallowed up in the will of another.

This means that prior to our salvation experience, we were “swallowed up” in the will of Satan. We may have intellectually thought we were in charge of our own lives and that we were the ones calling the shots. But in reality, we were abject slaves to sin, and our destinies were being orchestrated by an unseen, diabolical spirit that wanted to destroy us.

Our prior slavery to the devil was so deep-seated that our nature became intrinsically meshed together with the seed of rebellion, which is at the very core of Satan’s nature. Rebellion against God ran deep in our blood and became ingrained in our human disposition. Eventually the gulf between God and us was so vast that Scripture declares we became “…alienated and enemies in [our] minds through wicked works” (Colossians 1:21).

In this verse, the Holy Spirit vividly portrays how destitute our spiritual condition was before we were born again. It was into this stinking, sinking, deteriorating, death-permeated, demonically energized world, where all of humankind was being auctioned off by the devil into various kinds of slavery and bondage, that Jesus Christ came some 2,000 years ago. God sent His Son into the enemy’s “slave market” with one purpose in mind — so Jesus could secure man’s deliverance from Satan’s bondage once and for all!

As I’ve stated, the words “bought” and “redeemed” are both from the Greek word agoradzo — and this tells us that Jesus came to redeem us from this miserable state of bondage. Jesus was the Buyer — and He paid the highest price ever paid for a slave when He paid the price of HIS BLOOD for you and me.

What Jesus did for us is so magnificent that when the 24 elders fall before the throne of God and begin to worship, they sing a song about Jesus’ work of redeeming us from Satan’s slave market. Revelation 5:9 says, “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed [agoradzo] us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.”

It’s imperative for us to understand that the words “bought” and “redeemed” — from the word agoradzo — portray both our spiritually bankrupt condition in the “slave market” of the world before Jesus Christ set us free and Jesus’ redemptive work to remove us from that terrible place. No wonder the psalmist proclaimed, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy!” (Psalm 107:2)

All of this is what Jesus did for you when He gave His blood on the cross of Calvary. He paid the highest price ever paid for a slave and purchased you out of Satan’s control. As Revelation 5:9 says, He redeemed you to God with His own blood!

Today I urge you to take a few minutes to stop and thank God for Jesus’ work of redemption in your life. Obey Psalm 107:2 and declare out loud:

I am the redeemed of the Lord…He has redeemed me out of the hand of the enemy!

Wow…that really is worth shouting about!

Thanks for letting me share this message with you today. Please let it sink deep into your heart and mind and let the Holy Spirit really give you a revelation of it. And remember, when you need prayer, we want to be included with those who pray for you. We feel a great spiritual responsibility for our partners. In fact, part of our God-given responsibility is to pray for our partner’s specific needs. So please…let us know how we can  pray for you!

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

A Heart of Praise

A Teaching from Denise Renner

Dear Friend,

I want to write to you today about an event recorded in the Bible that brings home an important point about our worship of God. This moment in time was so huge in God’s love story to us, and the account of the words that were spoken at this event are only mentioned one time in the Bible. Let’s take a closer look at the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey as the people cheered and worshiped Him.

The story starts to unfold before our eyes in Luke chapter 19: “Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him. And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road. Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying: ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! ‘Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’” (Luke 19:35-38)

The Bible tells us that a large crowd had gathered and they were screaming and praising God. Can you imagine this scene? Jesus was riding into town on a donkey, and a great number of people were praising Him and laying their clothes on the ground so He could pass over them. Then something happened to interrupt this celebration.

Luke 19:39 informs us, “And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, ‘Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.’” The Pharisees didn’t like seeing Jesus being exalted, and they instructed Him to “rebuke” His disciples. In essence, the Pharisees said, “We don’t like this. Now, do what we say and make them stop cheering!”

And Jesus’ response was absolutely amazing. He said, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out” (Luke 19:40). Jesus was declaring, This moment is so important for all mankind’s redemption — every man is about to be purchased. I will become the sacrificial Lamb, and their sins will be forever paid for. I am going to die a sinner’s death, and I will be their Substitute. And I will make it so whoever calls on My name will be saved from their sins and they will be with Me forever. There WILL BE PRAISE! Even if My disciples stop cheering, the rocks under your feet will immediately begin giving Me glory.

How important is it to God that we praise Him? Let’s take a look at three examples of kings who refused to glorify God — and God definitely had something to say about it. First, in Daniel chapter 5, even though God was revealing himself to King Nebuchadnezzar, this king soon became so full of himself that he was not glorifying God. Daniel 5:20 reveals, “But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him.” The next verse informs us that after Nebuchadnezzar was dethroned, he lost his mind for a time; he became like a beast, was living with the wild donkeys, and ate the grass alongside the oxen.

And then we read of another Babylonian king, King Belshazzar, who also refused to give God glory — and God noticed. Daniel 5:23 says, “…and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified.” That night there was strange writing on the wall which pronounced the king’s demise. Belshazzar’s kingdom was taken from him and he was killed. God saw that this king refused to glorify Him, but rather, gave and received glory to himself.

You may be thinking, Denise, that’s the Old Testament. Yes, but let’s look at that final example from the New Testament. Acts 12:21-23: “So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. And the people kept shouting, ‘The voice of a god and not of a man!’ Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.” Herod also had a bad habit of thinking himself more highly than he ought.

So, what are we to learn from these stories? God sees who gives Him glory. He notices if we are self-deceived and pat ourselves on the back for our accomplishments, and then hold back our praise to Him.

Let’s go back to the Pharisees in Luke 19. What was happening in the hearts of these Pharisees that they wanted to stop the praise and adoration for Jesus? What was in them that they would say to the Savior, “Rebuke your disciples and tell them to be quiet”?

Could it have been fear rearing its ugly head in the Pharisees? Or jealousy — that Jesus would get more praise than them? Maybe envy, offense, judgment, hate, or pride? Do any of these false ways have such an effect on us that we hold back our praise to Jesus? Do we resist bringing Him glory in our daily lives because our flesh gets in the way? I’m not just writing this to you — I’m preaching to myself also.

Psalm 19:10-13 in The Passion Translation really describes how the Scripture is there to protect our heart from departing from any false way.

“The rarest treasures of life are found in his truth. That’s why I prize God’s Word like others prize the finest gold. Nothing brings the soul such sweetness as seeking his living words. For they warn us, his servants, and keep us from following the wicked way, giving a lifetime guarantee: great success to every obedient soul! Without this revelation-light, how would I ever detect the waywardness of my heart? Lord, forgive my hidden flaws whenever you find them. Keep cleansing me, God, and keep me from my secret, selfish sins; may they never rule over me! For only then will I be free from fault and remain innocent of rebellion” (Psalm 19:10-13 TPT).

Do these verses touch your heart? God is so loving and gracious to us that He has given us these precious words to help keep our heart in the right place.

Friend, I realize this letter is rather sobering, but it’s time for us to be strong in these last days. We have to guard our heart with all diligence as Proverbs 4:23 admonishes: “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”

These are the truths that God has been stirring in my heart the last two weeks and I especially wanted to share them with you. These truths we have talked about in this letter will help us continue with joy in our journey with our Savior.

In these times of such instability, I think it causes us all to take a deeper look at the place that the worship and adoration of Jesus has in our hearts. I humbly submit this letter to you that, with me, you would ask yourself these important questions: Like the Pharisees, has my heart become hardened and my praise for God stopped? Or is my heart seeking after Him that He would show me any false ways in me? (See Psalm 139:24.)

Thank you for spending time with me. And please let us know if you have any prayer requests. I want to encourage you to contact us if you have a prayer need and would like someone to stand in faith with you. Just call us at 1-800-742-5593 or email us at prayer@renner.org. We are moving forward together!

Your sister in Christ,

Denise Renner

Overcoming Betrayal

March Teaching Letter from Rick Renner

Dear Friend,

Greetings in the wonderful name of Jesus!

Before I get into my teaching today, I want to thank you for signing up to receive your first teaching letter from me. Welcome! I’m so glad you decided to join our family of deeper readers. I spend hours writing these letters each month, sharing my heart and the insights gleaned from my studies in God’s Word. I pray that this letter, and every letter I write in the future, truly ministers to your heart and strengthens your walk with God.

Soon everyone will be getting ready for Easter — that hopeful and much-anticipated time when we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection! In His selfless act of love, He laid down His life on the Cross to forever conquer sin and death. And one event in particular that preceded the crucifixion of our Savior is what I want to speak to you about today.But before I share with you what’s on my heart, I want to remind you that we are here to pray for you. PLEASE…never think this is just a cliché with us. We are absolutely serious about praying for our partners and friends. James 5:16 (AMP) says, “The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) can accomplish much [when put into action and made effective by God — it is dynamic and can have tremendous power].” Not only do Denise and I pray, but our team earnestly calls out in faith-filled prayer for God to move in the lives of our partners. We truly believe that our prayers are dynamic and can have tremendous power. So, please, let us know how we can pray for you!

It is in this season that the Church around the world celebrates the Cross and the resurrection, but before Jesus went to the Cross, He was betrayed by a disciple. The act of betrayal is what I want to talk to you about today.

But first, I want to ask you: Have you ever felt betrayed by a friend or by someone you dearly loved? If you have:

It’s painful when a friend betrays you. It’s even worse when the person is your best friend or someone you’ve known and trusted for many years. Jesus certainly understands this, because He was betrayed by someone in His inner circle.

Betrayal is something that has happened to people since the beginning of time. It is simply a fact that the devil is a master at distorting and ruining relationships. He knows how to lure people into situations where they end up feeling hurt or offended; then he coaxes them into nurturing their offense until it mutates into strife that separates even the best of friends and the closest of family members.

Don’t forget — Satan was kicked out of Heaven because of his unique ability to create confusion, discord, and strife. Heaven is as perfect as an environment can be. Yet even in that perfect environment, the devil was still able to affect one third of the angels with his slanderous allegations against God. Angels who had worshiped together for eons of time now stood opposed to each other over issues the devil had conjured up in their minds.

That should tell you how clever the devil is at creating discord and strife! If the devil is persuasive enough to do this with angels, think how much easier it is for him to deceive people who live in a far-from-perfect environment and who wrestle daily with their own imperfections and self-image!

Satan watches for that opportune moment when a person is tired, weary, or exasperated. Then he waits until someone does something that person doesn’t understand or agree with. Suddenly it is as if the devil shoots a fiery arrow of rage straight into his or her emotions! Before long, strife, bitterness, unforgiveness, and division begin to mount. Friends who once stood side by side and cherished each other now stand facing each other as hostile rivals.

If this sounds familiar, know that this same scenario happened to Jesus! After working with Judas Iscariot for three years, the devil found his way into Judas’ soul, turning him so sour against Jesus that this disciple became His betrayer.

What opened the door for this deception to occur inside Judas?

In John 13:2, the Bible gives us powerful insight into the way the devil establishes a foothold in people’s minds. Looking back to John 12:3-7, we can read that Mary had brought a pound of spikenard and poured it on Jesus’ feet. Judas thought her act of love was a waste of money and took issue with Jesus about it. But Jesus told Judas to leave Mary alone and allowed her to continue. John 13:2 then tells us, “And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him.”

What was the exact moment that Satan put this thought into Judas’ heart? Apparently, it was when Judas became offended at Jesus about the spikenard. Perhaps Judas didn’t agree with Jesus’ decision, or maybe he didn’t like the fact that Jesus told him to leave Mary alone in front of the other disciples. Or maybe it was because Judas was a thief. As the ministry treasurer who stole regularly from the moneybag he held, he probably didn’t like it when money was spent elsewhere instead of being placed in the treasury!

Whatever the reason, it was at that moment of disagreement and offense that the devil found an open door into Judas’ heart.

Especially notice the phrase “…the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot….” The words “put into” come from the Greek word ballo, which means to throw, to cast, to thrust, or to inject. This word ballo carries the idea of a very fast action of throwing, thrusting, or injecting something forward, such as the throwing of a ball or rock, or the forward thrusting of a sharp knife.

It is significant that this word was used in this context, because it tells us how quickly the devil moved to inject a seed of betrayal into Judas’ heart. When the seed of betrayal was injected, it went so deep that it turned Judas — one of Jesus’ closest associates — into a deceiver and a betrayer. Judas became the epitome of a disloyal and unfaithful friend. And when Satan finally penetrated Judas’ mind and emotions with this seed of betrayal, he injected it so hard and fast that it became deeply embedded or lodged in Judas’ soul.
John 13:2 could therefore be translated:

There is no doubt that the word ballo means the devil quickly seized an opportunity to inject a seed of betrayal into Judas’ heart. Judas was so offended by Jesus that a window to his heart and emotions opened, even if only for a brief moment. When the devil saw that opening, he moved like lightning to penetrate Judas’ mind and emotions in order to sour a long-term relationship and turn a trusted friend into a betrayer.

Satan was able to use Judas as his instrument because Judas allowed the enemy to drive a wedge between him and Jesus. Rather than let go of the offense and forget about it, Judas let the issue become a big deal in his mind — something so blown out of proportion that the devil was able to use the offense to lure him into the ultimate act of disloyalty. Because Judas didn’t take his thoughts captive, the devil succeeded in tainting this disciple’s view of Jesus. This then led to a disastrous effect on Judas’ relationship with Jesus.

It’s important that you learn how to recognize those times when the devil tries to inject a seed of division into your heart. He wants to drive a wedge between you and the people you love. Rather than let him get away with this evil tactic, make a decision to resist every temptation to get angry and offended. By resisting these thoughts, you can take a stand against the devil and protect your relationships.

This is very different from the usual message of Easter, but these are the circumstances that led to Jesus’ betrayal before He went to the Cross. There is so much to learn from the disastrous mistake that Judas Iscariot made when he allowed the devil to use offense to turn him into a betrayer. We have all been hurt by others — and it’s probable that we’ve all been a source of hurt to someone else at some point in the past.

But we must determine to never let any issue get so blown out of proportion that it turns any of us into a disloyal, lying, betraying friend. And if you are hurting because someone has recently betrayed and hurt you, choose the route of forgiveness. Remember, what you sow is what you reap — if you sow forgiveness now, you will reap forgiveness from others when you need it in the future.

If anyone understands betrayal, it is Jesus — and if you are hurting from a disappointment you suffered in a relationship, Jesus will heal your heart. Go to Him and He will pour a healing balm into that wound!
I pray the words in this letter have ministered to you — or that they will help you minister to someone else who bears the wounds of a disappointing relationship.

Please remember that we want to pray for you — and please remember to pray for Denise and me and our team as we do what God has called us to do. It’s not just us — it’s us and our partners all working together that will get the job done, fulfilling God’s marvelous plan to reach people with help from His Word!

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

Breaking Through Obstacles

A Teaching from Denise Renner

Dear Precious Friend,

The Bible says, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10 NKJV). Jesus wants to give us a full and abundant life, but our adversary, the devil, wants to steal as much from us as he can — and he will use many different obstacles to discourage us and stop us from receiving that life and the blessings God has provided for us.

Today I want to talk to you about a very powerful story of breaking through the obstacles to receive what we need from Jesus.

In Mark 2:1-12, we find an important example of people breaking through obstacles to receive what they so desperately needed from Jesus.

In this passage, we find that the word got out that Jesus was in a house in Capernaum, so a large number of people had gathered in and around the house to hear Him speak. The crowd was so large that “there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door” (see Mark 2:2). The hungry crowd was straining to hear Jesus’ preaching.

In verse 3, it says that four men approached the house carrying a paralyzed man on a bed. The men were intent on getting their friend to Jesus. As they got close to the house, they were met by an obstacle — the multitude of people prevented them from getting anywhere near the Lord. They had arrived believing they would get their paralyzed friend to Jesus, but they couldn’t even get near the door! What would they do? Would they give up and go back home?

Friend, what will you do when you hit an obstacle? Will you give up and say, “It’s not worth it. It’s too hard”? Will you think, I have tried this many times before and it never works. There are too many obstacles that are trying to stop me. I can’t do this!

The reaction of these four friends was quite different. They did something completely amazing and very much out of the ordinary. In essence, they said, “If we can’t get in through the door, we’ll go through the roof.”

They may have thought, What? We can’t do this! This is not our house. What will the owner of the house do to us? Who will pay for the damages? What if we drop our friend? There were so many challenges — but it did not stop them.

They climbed up on top of the house, and verse 4 says that they “…uncovered the roof where He was….” But that was only the first obstacle to getting their desired result.

Verse 4 continues, “…So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.” Can you imagine what this looked like? Everyone was listening to Jesus when, suddenly, they heard the roof breaking apart and saw particles from the roof falling on Him. All eyes would have been staring up through the hole in the roof right at those four men and their friend.

Then the man was lowered on a bed right in front of Jesus. All the people saw was this paralyzed man on a bed. Jesus saw all this, but He saw something else too — He saw the faith of these four men. Can you imagine how seeing the friends’ determination — getting through the crowd, breaking through the roof, then lowering their friend down to Jesus — must have grabbed Jesus’ heart?

We don’t know, but Jesus could have been thinking, These men believe so strongly that I can heal their friend that they risked everything to get him to Me. Jesus then says something amazing: “Son, your sins are forgiven you” (Mark 2:5).

Now, if we had been there that day, we may have thought to ourselves, This isn’t a sin problem. This is a paralyzed man and a broken-roof problem. So why is Jesus talking about sin? But Jesus saw the condition of the paralyzed man’s heart. And Jesus saw the faith of the four men.

Sickness does not separate us from God, but sin does. Everyone saw this man’s physical condition, but Jesus saw the condition of his heart. Jesus has the same power to heal someone as he does to forgive someone. The same blood it took to forgive you and me also heals us.

We see in Isaiah 53 that the suffering Savior did not just take our sins, but that same sacrifice and horrible death brought healing to our bodies as well. And we see it again in Psalm 103:3: “Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases.” Jesus came for the whole man. He is so kind.

We don’t know why Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven you,” but with sin usually comes guilt, condemnation, and sometimes shame. He didn’t want that man just to be healed in his body, He also wanted him to be healed in his soul. Jesus came to bring salvation to the whole man: spirit, soul, and body. And He is the same today.

So what obstacle is trying to stop you from receiving from Jesus? It may take extra time and prayer and refusing to stop, but what you so desperately need could be just on the other side of the roof! The enemy wants to stop you from breaking through and receiving the abundance that Jesus wants to give. But it is the enemy that has to move out of the way — not you.

My friend, don’t let anything stop you from believing and growing in your faith and receiving for yourself and your family. According to the riches of His glory, He has provided for your every need (see Philippians 4:19). Those provisions are there for you to receive them.

Thank you for spending this time with me. And I want to encourage you to contact us if you would like someone to stand in faith with you. Call us at 1-800-742-5593 or email us at prayer@renner.org. We look forward to being your “friends on the roof” — joining our faith with yours to help you break through the obstacles so you can get what you need from Jesus.

Your sister in Christ,


Denise Renner

Faith Worthy of
the ‘Hall of Faith’

February Teaching Letter from Rick Renner

Dear Friend,

Greetings in Jesus’ name! I have some exciting news for you. THIS MONTH, we begin offering my new book Build Your Foundation — Six Must-Have Beliefs for Constructing an Unshakable Christian Life, which will be released next month in March! You can go to our online store at renner.org to order your copy. This book will help ground you in the six foundational doctrines of the Christian faith in Hebrews 6 that every believer should know. To be rooted in the sound teaching and the safe doctrine of Scripture is the foundation we all need to build our lives on effectively for the Lord. You will want this book for your personal Bible study or group studies!

This month, I want to especially let you know that one of our most personal and greatest honors is to minister to our friends and partners and to pray for what they are standing for in their lives. So before I share what’s on my heart for you today, I want to tell you that we are here for YOU, and we would be delighted to put our faith together with yours for whatever you are facing or believing God for. When you call or write to us with your prayer request, we’ll pray and pray fervently. And we’ll always keep your prayer request confidential. Truthfully, we pray for you every day anyway — but when you let us know how to pray specifically, it just helps us to be more targeted when we pray for you!

So much is happening in the world, and this is really a time for all of us to keep our eyes on Jesus and to stay in a place, or position, of faith. Today I want to speak to you about holding on to your faith for whatever you have been praying for and believing to come to pass in your life. Hebrews 10:23 says, “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised).”

• What are you believing for to come to pass in your life?
• What do you want God to accomplish through you?
• What are you believing to see come to pass in your family?
• What do you want to see God do in your job? In your business?

Dreams are powerful, but they usually seem impossible at first. However, those who dare to do the impossible are the ones who eventually see the impossible come to pass.

There are myriad examples in the Bible of individuals who had a dream. For instance, consider the dream God gave Abraham — called the father of our faith — regarding a new land and a new people. When God first spoke to Abraham about the son He would give him, Abraham and his wife had long been infertile and unable to conceive a child. The thought of having a baby probably seemed like an unattainable fantasy to them. They could have asked themselves, Is this really the plan of God for our lives, or is this a hallucination?

God also promised Abraham a new land but didn’t tell him where it was located. In their efforts to find that land, Abraham and Sarah were stricken with colossal challenges, problematic circumstances, and horrible internal family problems. First, Abraham’s father died. Then they lost their nephew, Lot, to Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham also took Hagar as a second wife, producing a son that didn’t belong to Sarah, along with a great deal of jealousy and strife. In addition, Abraham and Sarah experienced a terrible famine in their promised territory that forced them to leave due to a lack of food. Traveling to Egypt in search for food, they soon found themselves evicted from that land as well.

At any moment, it would have been so easy for Abraham and Sarah to say, “Enough is enough! Pack it up — we’re going back home to the city of Ur!” But instead of giving in to defeat and discouragement, they held tightly to the dreams God had put in their hearts and kept pursuing those dreams until they had witnessed their fulfillment.

If you want to see the dream God has given you be fulfilled in your life, it is imperative that you have this same attitude. As Hebrews 10:23 says, “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised).”

Today I want to point out the words “hold fast” in this verse. Abraham and Sarah “held fast” to their dream, and that is what you must do as well. The phrase “hold fast” is taken from the Greek word katecho, which is a compound of the two words kata and echo. The first word, kata, carries the idea of something that comes downward.

You could say the word kata carries the force of something that comes down so hard and so heavily, it is overpowering and dominating to the point of being subjugating. When this force arrives on the scene, it conquers, subdues, and immediately begins expressing its overwhelming, influencing power.

The second part of the word katecho is the word echo, which simply means I have and carries the notion of possession. This is the picture of someone who has sought and searched for one particular thing his entire life. After years of seeking and searching, he finally finds the object of his dreams. Joyfully he rushes forward to seize it and hold it tight. He wraps his arms around that object, making it his very own. Finally, he can say, “I have it! At long last it is mine!”

When kata and echo are compounded into the word katecho, it literally means to embrace something tightly. However, because of the word kata, we know that this is the image of someone who finds the object of his dreams and then holds it down — taking control of it, dominating it — even sitting on it so it doesn’t slip away!

In Hebrews 10:23, this same idea is used positively to describe sitting on your word from God and refusing to let it slip out and get away from you. This is the attitude you must have if you want to see your God-given dream come to pass. You have to wrap your arms around that word from God and never stop believing and pursuing your dream until it comes to pass. If you’ll “katecho” your dream, it won’t be able to get away from you, nor will anyone else be able to take it away from you!

The word katecho in Hebrews 10:23 could be interpreted this way: “And let us hold fast to our confession, tightly wrapping our arms around it and embracing it with all our might, rejecting all attempts of anyone who tries to steal it from us.…”

When you finally discover God’s will for your life — when His plan finally begins to awaken in your heart and you know exactly what you are to do — hold fast to that dream. Tightly embrace what God has shown you. Seize it — wrap your arms of faith around it. Hold it down, and hold it tight!

Whenever you are tempted to become discouraged, give up, and release your dream, remember Abraham and Sarah. Although it took them awhile to receive their dream of having a son — and although they had to overcome titanic hurdles along the way — they refused to let go of that dream, and they eventually saw it come to pass. In the end, they discovered that their dream was not a hallucination; it really was a word from God!

If you’ll hold tight and refuse to let go of YOUR dream, it will just be a matter of time until you see it come to pass! Place all your weight on top of that dream so that NOTHING can steal it away from you!

Maybe you’ve been telling yourself, Come on! I’ve waited and waited for my dream to come to pass. God hasn’t done anything that I thought He was going to do. I’ve seen others blessed; I’ve seen others healed. But I’m still sitting here with the same old unanswered prayers. I’m sick of it all! I’m not going to believe and wait any longer. Forget it — I’m letting it all go!

If this sounds like you, I want to encourage you to read again the instruction found in Hebrews 10:23. It says, “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering.…”

The word “waver” is taken from the Greek word aklines, which conveys the picture of something that does not bend or something that is fixed and unmoving and is therefore stable and enduring.

Interestingly, if you remove the a from the word aklines, you are left with the word klines, which pictures a person who is bowed down. With shoulders sloped and body bent over, this person is so tired that he can barely stand. Ultimately, he becomes so exhausted that he throws in the towel and gives up. In fact, the word klines is the same root in Greek for a couch or a bed. So when a person is klines, his “give-up” attitude causes him to head for the couch or bed where he lies down, stagnates, and wastes away.

Many people give up hope and quit believing because they get tired. The devil whispers in their ears and tells them, This thing you’re believing for isn’t ever going to happen! If it was going to happen, it would have happened by now! This is just a fantasy. You are wasting your time and throwing away precious years of your life. Why don’t you forget it, let it go, and move on with your life?

As long as you are energized by faith, you’ll keep moving in a forward direction. But the day you let loose of your faith and back off your position, it won’t be too long until a spiritual sadness will come over your life. Spiritually speaking, your shoulders will slope; your head will drop; and you’ll feel like someone pulled the plug on your energy level. Your eyes will drift toward the couch or bed, and soon you’ll end up completely going to bed on your faith!

Don’t let that happen to you!

What God promises, He will perform. It may take a while for that promise to come into manifestation, but eventually it will come. In the meantime, you must choose to believe that He will do what He has promised. That is the key! You must set your heart and commit your will, making an irrevocable decision to believe His Word regardless of how you feel, what you t hink in your natural mind, what others say, or how circumstances look.

It’s time for you to make the decision that you have too much invested to turn back now! Dig in your heels; drive down your stake; and tell the devil that you are not going to move from your position of faith! Aggressively choose to believe that what God has promised, He will always do. Once you’ve made that kind of life-changing decision, it will only be a matter of time before you’re rejoicing because of your manifestation!

Oh, I’ve so enjoyed ministering this to you today!

It’s time for me to close my letter to you this month. But let me tell you again that we would love to pray with you for whatever you are standing in faith for in your life. And please…pray for us as we push the powers of darkness out of so many people’s lives with the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. We need your prayers!

We love you and thank God for you!

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

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

Finish What You’ve Started…

A Teaching from Denise Renner

Dear Precious Friend,

Have you ever stopped or given up on a dream, a plan, or a vision too soon, when you were almost at the finish line? If so, you could say…you didn’t finish what you started.

Many years ago, when I was between the ages of 13-17 years old, I made all my own clothes. I would go to the store to pick out the pattern, material, zipper, buttons, and the matching thread. Happily, I would take my treasures home, lay the pattern on the material, cut it out, and start sewing. Oh, how I loved creating my own garments. I would even lie in bed at night and think about how to add my personal touch to each piece of clothing to make it more interesting and beautiful. I was very proud of my creations. Sewing was so much fun for me, and it also saved money.

However, sometimes I would start one project and then decide to move to another project before I finished the first one. My mother would say, “Denise, you need to finish what you’ve started before you go on to the next project.” I didn’t know at the time the value and wisdom of her words, and how right she was.

As I became an adult, I would often find myself starting a project with great excitement, but not finishing it. A habit like this is more than just failure to complete a project; it can influence our character to give up on other difficult tasks that don’t seem to be going the way we want them to go. We’ll just give up on the project at hand and start something else — or maybe even quit trying all together.

God’s character and reputation are completely the opposite. Philippians 1:6 (NKJV) says, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” God started His great work of salvation in you, and He will not stop until it is finished.

It’s very important that you do not give up in the middle of what God has shown you to do. Maybe you are believing for a baby, but the baby hasn’t come yet. Or you have prayed for God to heal your marriage, but you and your spouse are still arguing. Maybe you are believing for a better job and you’re still having trouble paying your bills. Developing an “I will not give up” attitude is so important to your faith being effective no matter what is happening around you.

I want to give you one example from the Word of God about a woman who would not give up. In Matthew 15:22, we become acquainted with a woman who was in a desperate situation.

“And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour” (Matthew 15:22-28).

The woman’s daughter was grievously vexed with a devil. Somehow this woman heard about Jesus and went to Him, crying out to Him, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David.” In verse 23, we read that Jesus did not answer her — not even one word! To make matters worse, the disciples started planning to send her away. The situation did not look good for this woman. It didn’t look like she would get any help at all. Jesus seemingly ignored her, and the disciples were trying to get rid of her. But she didn’t give up. She believed her daughter would be set free.

In verse 24, Jesus spoke to her, but he said, “…I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” This woman was a Canaanite, not a Jew. But even that didn’t stop her. Enduring those three rejections, she could have given up and said, “Forget it. He’s not going to help me.”

Most people would have responded that way and just given up…but not this woman. In verse 25, we read that she became more determined and went straight to Jesus and worshiped Him. Then she said the simplest prayer, “Lord, help me.”

Jesus replied, in effect, “I’m not supposed to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs.” Jesus was not being condescending, but this was how the Jews spoke of anyone who didn’t have a covenant with God.

Most of us would have given up if Jesus had referred to us as a dog! But this woman was determined that she was going to get what she had come for — her daughter’s deliverance.

In verse 27, she again called Him Lord and in essence said, “You’re right. I am not a Jew, and I don’t deserve the children’s bread. But even the little dogs can eat the crumbs off the floor.” Then Jesus said, “Woman, great is your faith. Be it unto you what you want” (see v. 28).

The Bible says in verse 28 that she got exactly what she wanted, and her daughter was made whole from that moment. That woman did not quit until the desired end! She pressed on to the finish line and didn’t stop short of her desired goal.

Oh, friend, do not stop believing, do not stop expecting, and do not stop praying! Jesus is faithful. You need to finish the assignment in front of you before you go on to another.

I never knew when my mother was telling me to finish the garment I’d started before moving on to the next that her words would be a foundational truth in my walk with God. It is very important that we take the assignments of God and bring them to completion.

What will happen if we refuse to give up and we push forward to the finish line with what God has put in our heart to do? We will see the fruit of our labor and persistence!

My friend, do not quit! Keep pushing forward! Let’s be like this woman in Matthew 15 who would not give up until she reached the finish line and got her miracle.

Thank you so much for spending this time with me. And thank you for your responses and prayer requests. We care about you, and we want to know how we can pray for you. You can reach us at 1-800-742-5593 or by email at prayer@renner.org. We look forward to joining our faith with yours so we can rejoice with you all the way to the finish line!

Your sister in Christ,

Denise Renner

People have been asking me, “Rick, how should we respond to all the events that are happening in society and around the world today?” Well, I’m excited to minister to you from my heart about the times we are living in right now and how we must respond to everything we are seeing around us!

But first, I want to remind you about our big Renner TV Family Meeting online on Friday, January 22, at 7:00 p.m. CST. We’ve been planning this special meeting for months, and you won’t want to miss it! My sons Paul Renner and Joel Renner will host, Denise will sing, and I will be ministering from Red Square in Moscow! There will also be special praise and worship by some of our own Russian team on this side of the world. We are so looking forward to this meeting, so please put this date on your calendar and join us! Also, on that night only, we’ll be giving away as a downloadable PDF the first three chapters of my newest book Build Your Foundation, which will be released in March — and on that special night, everything in our online store will be 30 percent off the regular retail price! You can go to renner.org or call us for more information.

I also want to say THANK YOU for your prayers and support for what God has called us to do in our ministry. Denise and I are willing to do our part, but what our partners do is vital for us to be able to fulfill our God-given assignment to take teaching that can be trusted to people all over the world. How I wish I could sit down with you and show you the multitudes of people from a long list of nations that are being fed right now through RENNER Ministries. And what is happening in our Russian outreach is just explosive! It is growth beyond our wildest imagination! But we are only able to do it because of our partners’ sustaining prayers and financial support. And for this, we are so very thankful.

If there is a special way that Denise and I and our team can be praying for you today, please don’t hesitate to let us know. I know you understand how serious we are about praying for our partners and friends. The moment we hear from you, we enter into prayer for you about whatever you are facing. Jeremiah 33:3 promises that if we call out to God in faith, He will respond with amazing answers. We have seen it, and we believe it. We pray for our partners every day anyway, but if we know how to pray more specifically for you, it will help us pray even more effectively!

Today I want to share with you about how we must — and how we must not — respond to events happening in society and around the world right now. I personally believe we are living in the greatest hour for the Church of Jesus Christ. God promises that in this end of the age, a massive harvest of souls will come into the Church. But right in the midst of all this, events have occurred throughout the earth that have shaken the nations of the world and filled men’s hearts with fear.

I am convinced that part of this worldwide assault has been the devil’s attempt to put believers in fear so they will retreat from this worldwide advance of the Gospel. Although we need to be wise and do what we can to protect ourselves in times such as these, we do not need to react in fear. Fear is never the answer; it results in blurred thinking and bad decisions.

God’s Word promises us a sound mind if we will claim it. When Timothy was facing hard times, Paul told him, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

This verse says that God has given us a “sound mind.” This phrase comes from the Greek word sophroneo, and it is a compound of the words sozo and phroneo. The word sozo is the Greek word for “salvation.” It means deliverance, protection, and soundness. The word phroneo is the root for the word “mind.” When these two words are put together as they are in this verse, the new word is translated “sound mind.” The idea presented by the word sophroneo is a mind that is saved and protected or a mind that is sound. It is just the opposite of a mind given to fear, panic, or unfounded and unreasonable thinking. This word describes a mind that is thinking correctly!

Because God has given us a “sound mind,” we can think correctly about how to live in these last days — a time that Second Timothy 3:1 predicts will be “perilous.” The word “perilous” is a translation of the Greek word chalepos, and it literally means something that is difficult, dangerous, or filled with risk. This is a prophetic warning to let us know that those who live in the very last of the last days will be confronted with a strange period of time like mankind has never seen before. It will be a time filled with difficulty, danger, and risk.

Today I want to give you what I believe is a sensible approach to living in these last days. To ensure that we are doing all we can to remain in the blessings of God, these are the practices Denise and I apply to our own lives. These are the Holy Spirit’s orders to us, and now I am passing them on to you as they’ve been given to us.

Living in the last days requires that we have a greater sensitivity to the Spirit of God. Romans 8:14 declares that one of the privileges of being a son of God is that the Spirit of God leads us. The word “led” is the Greek word ago. It is the picture of someone extending his hand to you so he can gently lead you.

In these last days, we must be led by the Holy Spirit. However, the Holy Spirit will lead us only if we allow Him to lead us. How many times has the Spirit of God wanted to be our Leader, but we went our own way and ultimately suffered the consequences! He knew exactly how to lead us past every attack. He knew how to avoid each strategy of the devil.

Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would “guide you” (John 16:13). The word “guide” is the Greek word hodegeo and is the word for a guide who shows a traveler the safest course through an unknown country. This means the Holy Spirit is our Guide. He knows the way we should go. He understands how to avoid every trap and obstacle along the way. When we are going into an area we’ve never been before, the Holy Spirit wants to show us how to take the safest route. He knows exactly how to get us safely to our destination!

The Holy Spirit often stopped Jesus from going to certain regions because the Jews were waiting to ambush Him. To avoid these traps, the Holy Spirit would guide Jesus another way. The Spirit also warned Paul not to go to certain places for the same reason. And in the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit warned the Early Church in advance about persecution, famine, and other trials.

The Holy Spirit knows the future and wants to enlighten us with all the information we need in every situation. This is part of His ministry to you and me.

If the Holy Spirit speaks to you and tells you to do something specific, be quick to obey Him! Do you remember when the death angel passed through Egypt and took the firstborn of all the Egyptians? The reason Israel was unaffected was, the Israelites obeyed the instructions God gave them to put blood on the doorposts of their houses. They brushed the lamb’s blood on the doors of their homes just as God had ordered. Later when the death angel came, he passed by every home where he saw blood on the doorposts. The result: Not one of the Israelites was touched!

But what if Israel had disregarded God’s instructions and tried to protect themselves another way? Would their efforts have worked? Of course not. God told them how to be protected. All they had to do was obey. If they did what God told them, they were guaranteed protection and blessing. They were untouched because they walked in obedience. Weeping, crying, and mourning were heard in Egypt, but not in the land of Goshen where the children of Israel lived. They found protection in their obedience to the Word of God.

As we obey the Word of God and listen to the Holy Spirit’s leading, we will have wisdom to know every step we need to take in the days ahead. All we have to do is obey God’s instructions, and He guarantees us blessing and provision — even in difficult times. But if we try to take another approach, there is no guarantee for us to claim. We must do what God says if we want to be assured of His divine blessing and protection.

As a spiritual leader and friend, I feel the responsibility to encourage you to increase your level of faith, especially if you are facing challenging times. Stand on the Word of God; exercise your faith; listen to the Holy Spirit; and obey what He tells you to do. As you do these things, God’s supernatural blessings will kick into action, and you will soon find a river of supernatural provision flowing to you.

There is no doubt that we are living in some of the most challenging days the world has ever seen. But you can face these times victoriously because God has given you a sound mind. He has given you the promises of His Word. And He has given you the leadership of His Spirit. Never has there been a more crucial time for you to operate in faith and not fear, and to believe for a mighty move of God to take place on this earth!

My precious friend, we are anointed for these times! We can navigate these times successfully if we embrace the sound mind that God promises us and if we do not give way to a spirit of fear! I’m praying this over my life and over the lives of our partners all the time! We can live victorious in the power of the Holy Spirit in whatever season we find ourselves in!

It would be good for you to say out loud, “AMEN!”

THANK YOU so much for letting me have this time to open the Word to you in this way today. If you don’t have my books Last-Days Survival Guide and Signs You’ll See Just Before Jesus Comes, and you would like to go deeper in the Word to understand the events that are unfolding around us, I encourage you to go to our store at renner.org and order these books. Reading them will fortify your faith for the season we are living in right now!

Please remember to let us know how to pray for you. Denise and I love you, and we pray for you faithfully! And please, please, pray for us too. Just like you, we are giving our best to do what Jesus has asked us to do. But we need your prayers to undergird us as we press ahead by faith!

We love you and thank God for you!

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

On December 25, people in most parts of the world will be celebrating Christmas. However, for us in Russia, Christmas Day is on January 7. But because we know you will soon be celebrating the birth of our Savior, we are asking God to give you a warm time with friends and family. What a marvelous opportunity to reflect on the incredible miracle of Jesus’ birth and to share valuable time with others.

I know that many people are struggling financially this year because of so many disruptions to life due to the pandemic. If you’re facing difficult financial challenges, or simply have a tight budget as you approach this gift-giving season, or you don’t know how to handle stressed relationships with the people you’ll see — and you need prayer for any of it — please let us know and we’ll pray with you. And please pray for us as our Moscow ministry gets ready for a massive push during the Russian Christmas season to share Jesus with unsaved people in Moscow and throughout the former Soviet Union.

At this time of year, I would normally write to you about Christmas, but this year, I feel led to write to you about something else.

In just a matter of days, all of us will be wrapping up 2020 and starting a new year. It has been a good year for many people, despite the global pandemic. For me personally, it has been a very productive year of ministry, full of good fruits. I am so thankful for this — yet I know there are still some things the Holy Spirit wants to accomplish in my life before the clock strikes midnight on December 31 and a new year begins. The new year is just days away — so it means I must really focus on what the Holy Spirit desires to get done in my life before this year ends.

I am aware that this year has been filled with both challenges and victories for many people. But I know that you want the year to end in total victory by allowing the Spirit of God to inwardly finish what He started in you at the first of this year. Philippians 1:6 says, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

The word “confident” is the Greek word peitho, and it means to be sure, to be certain, and to have absolute conviction. The Holy Spirit has been working fervently in the hearts of each of us this year, and I have absolute conviction that He is going to finish what He has already started in us. Do you have that same conviction concerning your life?

What does the Holy Spirit want to accomplish in your life between now and December 31? You might say, “There’s not enough time left to get anything done!” But nothing is impossible when the Holy Spirit has a yielded vessel who is willing to cooperate with Him. If you are willing, the Holy Spirit can accomplish anything in you — even in just days before the year ends! Then you can start the new year fresh and ready for what God wants to do next, with nothing trailing behind you from the year before. Don’t let yourself drag anything negative from this year into the new year. The Holy Spirit’s power is available to do a quick, fresh work of grace in your life. He wants to set you free and get you ready for a brand-new start!

This is also a good time to seek forgiveness for what you didn’t accomplish in 2020 in His plan — and to move into the new year with a fresh sense of faith and courage, allowing the Holy Spirit to do the work He desires to do in you in 2021.

Knowing God’s plan — and operating according to that plan — is essential for living effectively for Him. If you don’t know the Lord’s will for the next year of your life, the Holy Spirit does, and He wants to help! Ask Him to show you. As I’ve already noted, the Holy Spirit will work fervently in you to finish what He has started. Philippians 1:6 assures us that this is true: “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

Stop for a moment to consider that promise! God begins the good work in you, and then He performs it. From start to finish, it’s His grace that enables you to accomplish what you need to do before the clock strikes midnight on December 31. So don’t say it’s too late, because it’s never too late to address those issues the Holy Spirit has been talking to you about. If nothing else, He will help get you started afresh and anew in this new calendar year — and His power will help you quickly get the victory.

I am praying for you today and this month! God has wonderful things in store for you. He simply needs your cooperation, and His supernatural power will quickly do what otherwise would take a long time to do. Throw open your arms and say, “Holy Spirit, I am ready to cooperate with You. Do quickly in my life what only You can do and show me what my part is so I can do what You want me to do.”

•    So what internal changes do you need to wrap up before the clock strikes midnight on December 31? The Holy Spirit can quickly do what you could never do on your own. Why not write down the changes today you desire to make and release your faith for a quick work to be done.

•    Do you have a relationship that needs to be mended and healed before the end of this year? If so, you know that restoration is possible through the power of the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to help you know how to approach that person, how to apologize, and how to make amends. He will show you what to do, when to do it, and even give you the words to say.

•    Do you owe a debt to someone that you should have taken care of this year but failed to do so? Has that unpaid debt grieved you and hurt the person you owe? Why don’t you humble yourself, make a phone call, sincerely apologize, and get on the path toward making things right with that person.

It’s never too late with the Lord, but He needs a willing partner to work with so He can do the miraculous and the supernatural. If you are willing, He is ready to be your Partner to do a quick work this month — and on December 31, you can say farewell to 2020 with a shout of victory instead of defeat!

One more thing — in the busyness of this month, please don’t forget to read your Bible. It will strengthen you for every meeting and every event, and will keep the peace of God reigning in your heart. And please remember to pray for us as we reach out to many lost people this month in Moscow and throughout Russia!

We are so thankful for you — we truly do love you and thank God for you.

Merry Christmas and God bless your new beginning in 2021!

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

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

Controlling Our Emotions!

A Teaching from Denise Renner

This has been a very unique year. I know many of us still have some very serious questions about what’s really going on, and of course, this can affect our emotions. This is what I want to talk to you about today — controlling our emotions. But how do we do that? The Bible says, for example, that we can be angry and sin not (see Ephesians 4:26). So anger is normal, but then we have to learn how to control it.

You may ask, “How can I control myself?” That’s a good question. We cannot excuse ourselves by simply saying, “I can’t help it. My mom was this way, my father was always yelling, and I’m just acting like them. I can’t help myself.” But that would not be true, because God does not ask us to do things that we are not able to do. Let me explain. He loves you and me so much. And because He is also just, He would not ask us to do things that He did not equip us to do. So today, we are going to talk about what we can do and about training ourselves to do what the Holy Spirit will do, with our cooperation, to help us.

The word “emotion” comes from a Latin word that means to move. Emotions have moving power. They move us to be mad, sad, happy, confused, fearful, and excited. And they change all the time! You can have emotions of happiness, but then hear something from someone, or even “hear” from your own thoughts, and immediately be moved to become sad and discouraged. Emotions can change that quickly. You can be happy with a new haircut and then decide you don’t like it, and you become upset — only to figure out how to better style it and then you’re glad again.

So what kind of power do we need to control these emotions that have such a great moving influence?

Before I answer that question, I want to use myself as an example concerning the emotion of fear. First of all, perfect love casts out fear (see 1 John 4:18). God’s perfect love has been working in me and I’m not as fearful as I once was. I have grown in this area through the years. But many years ago, the enemy planted a terrible stronghold in my mind, and I feared that someone would try to do great harm to me. This imagination lorded itself over my life. When my children were younger, I was dominated by this fear.

I remember one particular day when we were living in Latvia. Paul, our oldest son, was about ten years old, and he had asked me to go to the store with him. I’m embarrassed to say that I was so ruled by fear that someone was waiting outside to hurt us that I, sadly, told my precious son no. I was controlled by the emotion of fear.

If I had been more spiritually mature, I could have told myself, Denise, this is ridiculous! Go to the store with Paul. Those thoughts are lies, and you are being moved by an emotion of fear. This fear is ruling over you — stop it! God has not given you that spirit of fear. Go to the store with Paul. But I let my emotions dictate my actions, and I lost out on what could have been a fun outing with my son.

Let’s take a look at how the Bible brings light to us and helps us with our emotions. Consider the emotion of anger. It can quickly move you somewhere that is not good. So what do you do when you’re angry? There are two possibilities. You can yell, scream, develop bitterness in your heart, or maybe even throw something. Many people choose one or more of these behaviors as an option.

But what about us? We are Christians, with the Spirit of God living inside of us. We shouldn’t be screaming and yelling and threatening people. I’ve learned (and I am still learning) to choose the second possibility — I talk to myself.

What do I mean by that?

Proverbs 15:28 (NKJV) says, “The heart of the righteous studies how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil.” Again, we have two choices: We can study how to answer and stay in control, or we can just pour forth any evil thing we feel like saying or doing.

Here are some real, practical suggestions for dealing with anger:

1. The Bible says to flee temptation (see 2 Timothy 2:22). If you find yourself in a growing argument, you can politely excuse yourself, and then ask yourself, What am I doing? Am I losing control of my emotions? Stop and think: What good is it going to do if I continue with this argument? What damage will I do if this continues? Is this going to matter in five years? Is this really worth arguing about and causing so much unrest and strife in my home? These are great questions to stop and ask!

2. Another practical suggestion is to count to 10. Or to 100! You could also take a few deep breaths. Whatever you choose to do, it’s you taking control of your emotions and not letting those emotions take control of you.

If you are a Christian, never forget that the power of the Holy Spirit is inside of you. He is your Comforter, Helper, and Guide. That’s His job description: to guide, help, and comfort! The Bible says He is in you and with you. It doesn’t matter how loud your emotions are screaming — you have a Helper who is especially equipped at that very moment with help that has your name on it! It’s help that is specifically and uniquely designed for you and your situation. He is the perfect Comforter, perfect Helper, and perfect Guide. And all you have to do is ask Him for His help.

What’s more practical than having the Answer living on the inside of you? Your GPS on your phone might miss it sometimes, or you might type in the wrong address, but the Holy Spirit is the perfect Guide. He never misses it!

Thank you for letting me share what was on my heart for you today. It’s almost a certainty in this unique time and season — when there are many unanswered questions — that we will be tempted to lose control of our emotions and say or do things we will later regret. I hope these purposeful words and practical teaching will encourage and strengthen you and help you gain the victory at every opportunity.

Before I close, I want to remind you that we are here to pray for you. A friendly voice, ready to stand with you in prayer, is just a phone call (or email) away. You can reach us at 1-800-742-5593, or by email at prayer@renner.org. It’s our greatest joy to join our faith with yours and then see God move mightily on your behalf.

Thank you for spending this time with me today.

Love,


Denise Renner

Don’t Give Up!

A Teaching from Denise Renner

For us to be strong in these last days, we need to understand more clearly and deeply the treasure that we have on the inside of us. Second Corinthians 4:7 says that “…we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”

This invaluable part of that treasure is what I want to talk to you about today — and this is the treasure of endurance. Endurance is part of the “treasure-package” that is inside of you, and it can be unwrapped and discovered when you are enduring.

So how important is it for us to know about endurance? Enduring power comes from the Holy Spirit on the inside. The Holy Spirit is a supernatural Friend who shows up to push you over into victory when it looks and feels like winning is nowhere in sight. Throughout the centuries, this supernatural Helper has enabled believers not to give up even in the midst of horrible circumstances.

Maybe you’re tempted right now to throw in the towel and say, “I can’t do this anymore — it’s not worth it!” But endurance is standing right there to carry you through. So don’t quit! You can’t quit! God is inside you to carry you through your situation to the end. Nothing — absolutely nothing — can separate you from His love for you. And His love will see you through!

Romans 8:38,39 says, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God is for you and He will never leave you. He is right there with you. The enduring power of the Holy Spirit will grasp hands with you and pull you over the finish line victoriously.

So how do you discover this secret weapon called endurance? Let’s begin with James 1:2,3: “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”

This is not to say that we are simply to embrace or glorify hardship. The truths I’m sharing are to help you embrace God’s power to bring you through the hardship. God wants to lead you into victory so that you will be better and not bitter. On the other side of your trial, you will be more convinced of His love for you than wanting to quit. You will be more in love with Him and His great love and power than resentful of your circumstances. And you will be more confident of the fact that the Greater One in you is truly greater than he who is in the world (see 1 John 4:4).

Let’s look at this first word “count” in James 1:2. It means to consider it or to think about it. This is so powerful! It’s important to look at what is trying to bring you down and then consider it all joy. This joy is supernatural, but it is available to us.

The next word I want to focus on is “fall.” That verse says, “…Count it all joy when you fall into various trials” (NKJV). In other words, you didn’t plan to fall into that trial. You didn’t want to fall. You just fell. But remember that endurance is “stay-in-there, never-give-up” power — and it is available to you and can work in you even when you fall.

Verse 3 gives us the next word — “knowing.” In other words, you can count it all joy, knowing that this test is working for you instead of against you. The problem came to crush you, and the devil is testing you, trying to steal from you. But the Holy Spirit is there with you with His enduring power. Through this test, where the devil wanted to break you, the Holy Spirit wants to show you that, with Him, you’re unbreakable!

From this teaching so far, what have we learned?

1. We learned that our problems are not from God.

2. We know that we can resist them.

3. We know that God’s presence is in us to work endurance through us as we’re resisting and defeating the enemy.

4. We know we are going to come out on the other side having experienced this supernatural power of endurance. This is the “I-will-not-quit” attitude that says, “I’m not stopping until I get what is mine.”

My husband explains it like this: “Endurance pictures one who is under a heavy burden, but refuses to bend, break, or surrender because he is convinced that the territory promised or the principle under assault rightfully belongs to him.”

That’s a “never-give-up” attitude!

We know that this mindset and experience called endurance is a supernatural power that is especially needed for these last days. Some situations may come to press on us to give up, but we have a Non-Quitter on the inside! He is the Holy Spirit and He shares with us His enduring power.

Philippians 2:13 says, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

I want you to recognize in this verse who is working in you. It’s God! He comes with His energy and power, and He has committed Himself to work in you and bring you to the finish line.

Here is one more promise: Philippians 1:6 (TPT) says, “I pray with great faith for you, because I’m fully convinced that the One who began this glorious work in you will faithfully continue the process of maturing you and will put His finishing touches to it until the unveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ!”

Friend, God is committed to the end to see that we remain faithful and victorious. His presence and the power of endurance are working in you right now. This is not a time for us to give up, but a time for us to press in.

Thank you for taking this time with me.

I love you,

Pastor Denise