Mark Hankins Ministries

The Greatest Thing in the World

 When I was a young evangelist, traveling around the country in a motorhome from church to church, someone handed me a book and said, “This book will really help you.”   The title caught my attention, “The Greatest Thing in the World” by Henry Drummond, who was good friends with DL Moody.  It was a classic message on 1 Corinthians 13 also known as the love chapter of the Bible.  As I began to read, I thought, “There is no way I can love people, be kind, think and talk nice, and forgive those who offend me!”  In my frustration and realizing how impossible it was for me to measure up to Paul’s description of the God-kind of love, I threw the book across the room and shouted, “There is no way I can love like this!” 

Then I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit say, “Go pick that book up, read it and put it into practice.”  I picked up the book again and began to read.  I can tell you today that what the Lord said is true about walking in the love of God and it has made a big difference in my life.  

 Henry Drummond said this about the Apostle Paul, and it gave me hop

Love was not Paul’s strong point. The observing student can detect a beautiful tenderness growing and ripening all through his character as Paul gets old; but the hand that wrote, “The greatest of these is love,” when we meet it first, is stained with blood.

Peter says, “Above all things have fervent love among yourselves.” Above all things. And John goes further, “God is love.” And you remember the profound remark which Paul makes elsewhere, “Love is the fulfilling of the law.”

The Lord Jesus Himself said in John 13:35, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” 

Paul, in three verses, gives us an amazing analysis of what this supreme thing is. It is a compound thing. It is like light. As a beam of light passes through a crystal prism, as you have seen it come out on the other side of the prism broken up into its component colors—red, and blue, and yellow, and violet, and orange, and all the colors of the rainbow—so Paul passes this thing, love, through the magnificent prism of his inspired intellect and it comes out on the other side broken up into its elements. One might call it the spectrum of love, the analysis of love. Will you observe what its elements are? Will you notice that they have common names; that they are virtues which we hear about every day.

The spectrum of love has nine ingredients.

Patience…………………………….……………..Love suffereth long
Kindness……………………….…………………………...And is kind
Generosity………………………….………………...Love envieth not
Humility………………….. Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up
Courtesy……………………………Doth not behave itself unseemly
Unselfishness……………………………………Seeketh not her own
Good Temper…………………………………..Is not easily provoked
Guilelessness…………………..……………………..Thinketh no evil
Sincerity………….Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth

            As I began to learn about love, to renew my mind and to put it into practice, my prayers started working and the blessing of the Lord was more evident.  Then I heard a message from my father in the faith, Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin.  It was also the last message I heard him preach before he went to be with the Lord.  It was titled, “What Have You Done With Love?”  He came down the steps of the platform, stood in front of me and began to minister about walking in God’s love.  He had left his notes on the podium and asked me to run up and get them for him.  He then began to unfold the most important revelation that night, and his words still burn in my heart about how to love those close to us and how to forgive anyone who has wronged us.  That night impacted my life, and I began to put into practice what all the writers of the New Testament have to say about the God-kind of love.  Dad Hagin said that walking in this love is the way to victory.  He also said that if you step out of love you’re on the devil’s territory and he will attack you.  You should jump back in as fast as you can.

            Paul summed up his words about love in 1 Corinthians 13:13, “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”  The Passion Translation says, “Until then, there are three things that remain: faith, hope, and love—yet love surpasses them all. So above all else, let love be the beautiful prize for which you run.”  Walking in the God-kind of love is the way to win in life.  The God-kind of love is inexhaustible and indestructible.

PARTNERS IN CHRIST

            To help you grow in your love walk, we are excited to announce we now have in print the book by Henry Drummond, The Greatest Thing in the World.  For your offering of $20 or more this month, we will send it, along with our book, Love: The Secret to Success.

Our next international trip will be in May ministering in Nigeria.  We are believing God for an extra $100,000 to cover the expenses for this trip and ministry.  Thousands of pastors and leaders will be charged up and equipped and we will also distribute hundreds of our books during these meetings.  The Word is growing and multiplying.

We also invite you to our Holy Ghost Conference in our MHM Conference Center, April 23-25!  It will be a glorious time as we study about the work and person of the Holy Spirit and experience powerful demonstrations of His power during the night meetings. 

We declare to you, our partners, “Our God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

In Christ,
Mark and Trina

April 2021 - ALL IS FORGIVEN

Dear Partner,

I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.  Isaiah 43:25-26

In Ernest Hemingway’s short story, The Capital of the World, he tells the story about a father and his teenage son who lived in Spain. Their relationship became strained, eventually shattered, and the son ran away from home. The father began a long journey in search of his lost and rebellious son. Finally, as a last resort, he put an ad in the Madrid newspaper. His son’s name was Paco, a very common name in Spain. The ad simply read, “Dear Paco, meet me in front of the Madrid newspaper office tomorrow at noon. All is forgiven. I love you.” As Hemingway writes, the next day at noon in front of the newspaper office there were 800 “Pacos” — all seeking forgiveness and reconciliation.

 COME HOME…BE BLESSED

 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. Isaiah 44:22

God is in the forgiveness business. Today many people have trouble accepting the fact that God offers total forgiveness. Psalm 32:1 says, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” The Apostle Paul refers to this verse in Romans 4:6-8. This forgiveness includes the total erasing from His memory that sin was ever committed. He does this for His own sake, so He can bless us the way He wants.  If God doesn’t remember that we have done anything wrong, then we should allow Him to erase it from our memory also. Smith Wigglesworth said, “Never look back if you want the power of God in your life.” God’s power is always propelling us forward.

NO MORE PARALYSIS

The story of the man with four crazy friends in Luke 5:17-26 is one of my favorites. When Jesus saw their faith, He told the man with paralysis, “Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.” Jesus spoke to that man’s deepest need. If Jesus calls you forgiven, you are totally forgiven and released from the condition and consequences of sin. You are redeemed. Then Jesus told him to “Arise!” The man got up and was totally healed of all paralysis.

This miracle caused the religious leaders much trouble. The rules and regulations of religion have paralyzed many people. However, when you get in the presence of Jesus, forgiveness and restoration are freely given. What a wonderful Jesus we have who forgives and heals! He is our Redeemer today.

REMIND ME OF THIS PROMISE

Because of Isaiah 43:25-26, we know God promises to blot out our transgressions and not remember our sins. God says remind me of this promise. This promise of forgiveness and our faith in this Word opens the door to God’s goodness. When we receive forgiveness and freely forgive ourselves and others our faith will work. God forgives us so radically and totally that He commands us to forgive others the same way. God’s kind of forgiveness even erases the memory of all sin, failure, guilt, and accusation.

God loves and forgives like this and we, as His children and with His love nature, can and must do the same. Ephesians 4:32-5:2 makes this truth clear: “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us....”

When we choose to forgive others, the weight of anger and bad feelings toward ourselves and others is gone. Remember 1 John 1:9 says that when we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Instead of living life under the power of darkness and unforgiveness we can live in the light of God’s love. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin,” (1 John 1:7).

We acknowledge the power of the blood of Jesus cleanses us. It is the liquid love of God that will overflow into our lives to others. The blood gives us the power to live free from self-condemnation and accusation. Righteousness is restored and our prayers get results.

 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.   James 5:15-16

Talk to your soul and let this praise continually flow from your lips: Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases…Psalms 103:1-4

All is forgiven! God loves you! Now your faith is working, your prayers are heard, and mountains will move.

LOVE THE SECRET TO SUCCESS

This month we want to offer you our book and CD set, Love: The Secret to Success.  For your offering of $20 or more we will send these resources to you.  We believe they will strengthen your faith and help you to grow in love. 

Thank you so much for your continued and faithful partnership with us.  We are moving forward with our New MHM Conference Center which will be a tool to help us distribute the Word of God more than ever before.  We are also excited about the growth of our Daily Livestream Bible School and plan to make that available on our website and app starting in March.  The Word is growing and multiplying.  YOUR PARTNERSHIP IS MAKING THIS POSSIBLE! 

 IN Christ,

Mark and Trina