The Bible is filled with stories of people at their wits’ end who cried out to the Lord! He then heard and answered by delivering them. The Hebrew children enslaved in Egypt, their entrapment at the Red Sea by the Egyptian army, the three Hebrew men in the fiery furnace, Daniel in the lions’ den, Mary and Martha at the tomb of Lazarus, and so many others too numerous to mention describe that desperate times can be stepping stones of experiencing God’s miraculous intervention on our behalf.
One story that is not as well known is that of the prophet Jeremiah who spoke God’s words to the defiant Judean king, Zedekiah. The king was enraged and had Jeremiah cruelly beaten and thrown into a dungeon for speaking the truth. The Bible says he was there for a long time.1 He was later released, but it wasn’t long before some other men became infuriated by Jeremiah’s boldness to speak God’s words to the people. These wicked men dumped him into a cistern of wet mud that he sank down into.2 A pit! There was no way out for Jeremiah who described his agonizing experience in Lamentations 3:53-57: They tried to end my life in a pit and threw stones at me; the waters closed over my head, and I thought I was about to be cut off. I called on your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.” You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.”
From up in Heaven, God heard Jeremiah’s cry of desperation from down in the pit! He came near and answered! Ebed-Melech,3 an African, who was an important government official, heard what had been done to Jeremiah. God moved him to boldly go before the king and intercede on Jeremiah’s behalf. As a result, the king responded to Ebed-Melech’s plea by sending him along with thirty of the king’s men to pull Jeremiah out of the pit! The Bible describes details of the incredible deliverance! Ebed-Melech lowered down rags and cloths to put under Jeremiah’s arms, so when he was pulled up out of the sucking mud the ropes wouldn’t burn him. Jeremiah was not just pulled out of the pit, he was gently pulled to safety, then tended to and cared for in the courtyard of the guard.4
Are you at your wits’ end? Are you in the “pit” with no way out? Then take this thrilling story to heart as encouragement! Keep praying! God’s Word to Jeremiah and to us is: Pray but do not fear! No matter how desperate your situation is, God will hear your cry! And He will send help! One key to receiving a miracle is that He wants you and me to trust in Him completely! To put the full weight of our faith down on Him. In fact, that could be the reason He has allowed you to be at your wits’ end with no one else to turn to, but God!
It may be that you are not at your wits’ end, but someone you are concerned for is. Then could you be like Ebed-Melech? Go before the King of kings on their behalf! God may use you to respond to someone else’s prayers as He sends you, along with His Angelic Royal Guard, to pull your loved ones out of a pit!
Your prayers matter! For yourself and for others. Your prayers of desperate faith in God, and God alone, bring the power of Heaven down to hopeless situations. He is the God of the impossible! He can make a way when there is no way!! When you have God, you are never without hope! Even in a world that has gone mad, God is still on the throne. He still responds to prayers of desperation with all the power and might of Heaven! No one or nothing is out of His grasp! So… pray with all your heart! Don’t stay in your pit of despair, hopelessness, desperation, and ruin! God will make a way, and He uses our prayers to catapult His deliverance. Pray! Trust! And wait with expectancy for the God of the impossible to move!!!
When pressures or problems or pain envelop our lives, we tend to trust God…plus our doctor or our lawyer or our counselor or our banker or our leaders or our own effort or our_____(fill in the blank). Yet God seems to demonstrate His power and glory to those who trust in Him alone. Which is why He often allows us to reach the end of our human resources or run the limit of conventional wisdom before He steps in and does the impossible. The miraculous. So when you are at your wits’ end…
Click here for the Bible Study especially developed for this newsletter.
Christ Community Church in Montreat, NC, was the church where I was raised, baptized, gave my first testimony, and was married! My mother and father, as well as Rachel-Ruth and Steven, were also married in this incredibly meaningful place. Rachel-Ruth and I were each given a morning session to speak at their women’s conference, challenging the ladies to receive and pass truth to those who follow. After lunch, I included my youngest granddaughter in a Q & A as a living example of three generations of faith.
Anne Christiansen was our bold and courageous Just Give Me Jesus revival chair in Oslo, Norway in 2007. She was told by national church leaders not to book the Spektrum Arena because she would be humiliated when few people came. But she forged ahead by faith, and the arena was filled! She is gorgeous, articulate, and passionate about reaching the next generation for Jesus. We had a wonderful visit when she and her husband Stephan recently visited AnGeL Ministries. Please visit Anne Christiansen’s website here.
RR: Coach Sylvia Hatchell is one of our dearest friends!! She was the head women’s basketball coach at the University of North Carolina for 33 years, won a national championship, and is in the Naismith Hall of Fame. Eleven years ago she asked if I would teach a Bible study she started for some of her staff, UNC faculty and friends, which I did. When COVID hit, we had to go online, and the study grew so much that we have kept it online. Coach Hatchell asked my mom, my youngest daughter, Riggin, and I to join her for the UNC-NC State men’s basketball game. The last time I was at a UNC game, two years ago, I had a SCAD heart attack…I left the game and called 911. So thankful God allowed me to come back and have a wonderful time. God is faithful!
For Women’s History Month, Study Gateway asked me to share who my most influential female mentor was. I was blessed to answer that outside of my family, it was Miss
A. Wetherell Johnson, founder of Bible Study Fellowship.
RR: In March I went to San Antonio to speak at a Youth for Christ Fundraising Gala! My grandfather was Youth for Christ’s first evangelist way back at the beginning of his ministry!
The Daniel Prayer
Based on Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9, will help you pray effectively for your nation, for your family, and for yourself. Click to Order
Why?
Anne shares her heart and God’s teachings on the universal problem of suffering, using the familiar story of Lazarus. It will help you understand and deal with suffering by leading you to the One Who knows your needs, shares your grief, sheds your tears and promises glory to come! Based on John 11. Click to Order
Daily Light Journal
Since she was a young girl, Anne has read Daily Light, the life-changing devotional of Scripture compilations given to her by her mother, Ruth Bell Graham. Anne decided to write out her thoughts on the Daily Light to sharpen her attentiveness to the voice of God. This journal is the result.
Click to Order
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When pressures or problems or pain envelop our lives, we tend to trust God…plus our doctor or our lawyer or our counselor or our banker or our leaders or our own effort or our (fill in the blank). Yet God seems to demonstrate His power and glory to those who trust in Him alone. Which is why He often allows us to reach the end of our human resources or run the limit of conventional wisdom before He steps in and does the impossible. The miraculous. So when you are at your wits’ end…
When you are at your wits’ end, cry out to God…then trust Him to hear and answer!
This Bible study was prepared especially for the Spring 2024 Newsletter.
*How important is your physical focus when walking or driving or even watching TV?
*How important is your spiritual focus when walking with God and seeking to live for Him?
*What do you think it means to walk with God? See 1 John 1:6-7; Ephesians 4:1-3; Micah 6:8.
*As we walk with God, how critical is it for our focus to be clear? Ephesians 5:15 (NASB); Ephesians 5:2 (NASB); Galatians 5:16 (NASB); 1 John 1:6-7
*What difference do you think focus made in Enoch’s walk in Genesis 5:21-24?. In Noah’s walk in Genesis 6:8-18 and 7:23? In Abraham’s walk in Genesis 18:16-19? (Use your imagination based on the circumstances surrounding each of these three characters.)
*Apply each of the above situations to your own focus as you walk with God and the difference it makes.
*What is required in order to be spiritually focused? 2 Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 11:6
*Describe the One on whom we are to focus from John 6:48; 8:12; 10:9; 10:14; 11:25; 14:6; 15:5; John 1:1-5, 15; Hebrews 1:1-3; Colossians 1:15-20
*How does the hope of seeing Jesus sharpen your focus according to 1 John 3:3? Romans 14:11-12? 1 Corinthians 13:12?
As you begin 2024, what are some practical things you need to do to adjust and/or sharpen your focus so that your walk is pleasing to Him?
* Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are based on ‘78 NIV.
This Bible study was prepared especially for the Winter 2024 Newsletter.
Some time ago, while sitting on the porch of a beach house, I was enjoying watching people walk by. I began to be curious as four people approached because I noticed that the two guys were dressed exactly alike, and the two women walking with them were dressed exactly alike! Not only that, the four of them were walking with two dogs that were exactly alike! As I watched, I thought this can’t be! So I closed one eye, and sure enough…there was only one couple walking one dog! When I opened my other eye, I saw four people and two dogs. That’s the first indication I had of double vision.
Double vision is exhausting because everything looks confusing. Straining to constantly focus is wearying. I can’t see clearly unless I wear glasses, or close one eye…does the pastor and/or worship leader in church think I’m winking at him?
While physical double vision is exhausting, spiritual double vision is more so. Life can become confusing, a wise decision can turn into multiple choice, our goals can become divided, our reason and purpose for living can become ambiguous, and weariness takes over.
In Matthew 6:22-23, Jesus said: The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! Put another way, He is saying that your focus determines the direction of your life. If your focus is healthy, your whole life will be full of light. But if your focus is off…if you have spiritual double vision…you will become confused, susceptible to deception, and end up lost on the road going nowhere with a life that is wasted.
Spiritual double vision produces an erratic, inconsistent walk. Some days you read your Bible—some days you don’t. Some days you pray—some days you don’t. Some things you surrender to the Lord—some things you hold on to. Some time and money you give Him…some time and money you spend the way you want. It’s exhausting.
I remember when I first surrendered everything to the Lord. I did so because I was tired. Tired of the multiple decisions I made every day, “Do I do this His way? In obedience to His Word? In accordance to His will? Or do I do things my way, according to what I want?” Finally, it just seemed easier and less exhausting to let Him have everything and give me back what He wanted me to have. So I did. I surrendered all. Immediately I felt a release. A sweet peace. My life, my decisions, my goals that included family and ministry, were in His hands. And my focus was clear. I would live for Him alone. For His pleasure. For His glory.
Over the years, God has taken me deeper in that surrender as I have been challenged in new ways: to surrender my children…and my grandchildren…their decisions and well-being; to surrender the future of the ministry He has entrusted to me; to surrender my time and the way I use it as I seem to get busier and busier; to surrender my health, or lack of it; to surrender my reputation as I come under assault; and the list goes on.
The blessing has been not only peace and spiritual “rest” from the striving, but also a clearer focus on my supreme goal of pursuing Him…of knowing Him, loving Him, pleasing Him, serving Him, glorifying Him until I see Him face to face.
So at the beginning of this New Year 2024, check your focus. What consumes your time? Your thoughts? What are your goals? Your priorities? Do you lack deep inner peace because without realizing it, you have gradually developed double vision? If so, it’s time to surrender all. Make the words of this classic hymn by Judson Van DeVenter not just your New Year’s resolution but your prayer for life:
All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Humbly at His feet I bow;
Worldly pleasures all forsaken,
Take me, Jesus, take me now.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Lord I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power,
Let Thy blessing fall on me.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Now I feel the sacred flame;
Oh, the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to His name!
I surrender all,
I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Savior
I surrender all.
For His Glory,
Click here for the Bible Study especially developed for this newsletter.
Rachel-Ruth has overcome daunting, life-threatening health issues not just somehow, but triumphantly, as she has kept her eyes fixed on Jesus. Her life, as well as her message, impacted the hundreds of Intercessors for America who gathered in Washington, DC as she shared the platform with Michele Bachmann, Richard Blackaby and Eric Metaxas.
The King’s personal Christmas gift to me this year was the opportunity to speak at a women’s event at Cornerstone Church in Leesburg, VA, as a substitute for Rachel-Ruth whose doctor did not want her to fly. Two thousand women were seated before me and 3500 were watching by live stream, as I challenged them to surrender their hearts to The King for His birthday. I’m excited to welcome Cornerstone’s pastor, Gary Hamrick, as a teacher at my Cove seminar this November 1-3.
Dino Kartsonakis and his beautiful wife, Cheryl, led worship for my Cove seminar in November. The Cove training center was filled to capacity, with 1500 watching on live stream, as Dino thrilled us with his music. He will be back to lead worship at my Cove seminar November 1-3. The seminar was truly a mountaintop experience as we were all challenged to get ready to meet Jesus—He’s coming!
Thanksgiving was a small celebration in our beloved NC mountains near my father’s house. My spirit was refreshed as I walked around the town I grew up in with my youngest granddaughter, Riggin, and my Golden Retriever, Churchill.
As the world keeps getting darker morally and spiritually, as rumors of wars increase, as nations rise against nations, as anger boils over in homes and on the streets, as our culture has gone so woke it denies the basic science of gender identity…and the list goes on…followers of Jesus are on high alert. The signs of His imminent return are more and more obvious. It’s time to get ready to meet Him face to face!
These messages were recorded at The Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove and are more timely today than they were even then. Dino Kartsonakis has graciously given us his permission to include his Cove seminar concert as a bonus track.
Getting up early in the morning to fix your eyes on Jesus through prayer and reading His Word is like setting your spiritual compass. Because no matter what faces you during the day, or how “lost” and confused you can become…He invariably leads you on the right path.
Our prayer is that the devotions in this updated deluxe edition will help you fix your eyes on Jesus every day, so that you, too, can set your spiritual compass.
If you would like to receive AnGeL Ministries’ full newsletter by email or postal delivery, click here to sign up for our free resources!
*How many times does the universe raise a hallelujah in Revelation 19:1-9? Give verses.
*Who is the focus of the thunderous, universal praise? Give verses.
*What are some of the stated reasons for raising these hallelujahs? Put them in your own words, with the verses.
*What are four reasons for the last hallelujah? 19:7-9
*Is there any doubt that one day the Bride will be ready as she enjoys the wedding feast with the Bridegroom? Give the phrase and the verse
*What further insight do you gain from Matthew 24:42-44? Matthew 25:1-13? Ephesians 5:25-27, 32?
*Are you ready to meet the Bridegroom? Five minutes before you do meet Him, what will you wish you had done differently?
*As you daily live out the difference with the expectancy of seeing Him face to face, list as
many reasons as you can for raising a hallelujah now. Then don’t stop…
This Bible study was prepared especially for the Fall 2023 Newsletter.
