Every fourth Sunday of the month, we begin our year with the awareness that we must reserve that day for the entire year due to our commitment with Pastor Jorge Benavides, who leads The Good News Church in Arequipa, Peru. Both of us recognize the intricacies of our ministries, and as a result, we remain flexible in handling unexpected scheduling conflicts.
On January 29th, we inaugurated the year with our initial meeting at Pastor Jorge’s church. Their service commences at 12:30 PM because they rent the premises from an Anglican church for the afternoon. Finding an affordable venue has been challenging, especially considering the lingering effects of the pandemic. Surprisingly, post-COVID, some property owners raised their prices to compensate for revenue losses during the lockdown period. However, Pastor Jorge and we are in agreement that they will eventually secure their own space, one that is favorable for their congregation. 🙏🏽🏢
At the beginning of the year, I sensed in my spirit that I was going to be ministering as much as possible along the line of the importance of faith in our church life but home life as well, the truth is that both are intwined! I had not talked with Pastor Jorge before the service so he had no idea what I would be speaking on. Well, as fate would have it, as I talked with him at the end of the service, he approached me and told me that my message was right on target with what God had been ministering him about, and that was starting this year off with a bigger emphasis on topic of faith! I was pleased to hear this but more than that I was pleased to see the Spirit of God putting upon the hearts of pastors and ministers to begin to put more emphasis on this topic sensed the main thing Jesus would be looking for on His return to the earth was would he find faith on the earth when He returns! As I finish sharing with you, I want to end with the following scriptures and let the scripture speak for itself:
(Luk 18:1-8 TPT)
One day Jesus taught the apostles to keep praying and never stop or lose hope. He shared with them this illustration: “In a certain town there was a civil judge, a thick-skinned and godless man who had no fear of others’ opinions. And there was a poor widow in that town who kept pleading with the judge, ‘Grant me justice and protect me against my oppressor!’ (4-5) “He ignored her pleas for quite some time, but she kept asking. Eventually he said to himself, ‘This widow keeps annoying me, demanding her rights, and I’m tired of listening to her. Even though I’m not a religious man and don’t care about the opinions of others, I’ll just get her off my back by answering her claims for justice and I’ll rule in her favor. Then she’ll leave me alone.’” The Lord continued, “Did you hear what the ungodly judge said—that he would answer her persistent request? Don’t you know that God, the true judge, will grant justice to all of his chosen ones who cry out to him night and day? He will pour out his Spirit upon them. He will not delay answering you and give you what you ask for. God will give swift justice to those who don’t give up. So be ever praying, ever expecting, just like the widow was with the judge. Yet when the Son of Man comes back, will he find this kind of persistent faithfulness in his people?”
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