Mark Hankins Ministries

Filter By:
in Prayer

January 2019 - Going Up by Getting Down

GOING UP BY GETTING DOWN

 

Can you imagine a big majestic deer crawling on his belly across an open field?  That is exactly what happened!  A big buck, with a great set of antlers, crawled on his knees.  I heard the story of a hunter who was hunting with a bow and arrow, trying to bag a trophy buck.  As he hunted that day, he had the buck in his sights.  It seemed like an easy shot.  He pulled back the arrow and let it fly.  To his surprise the buck dodged the arrow by falling to his belly.  The once accurately aimed arrow had missed the mark and flew over the top of the targeted deer.  The deer proceeded to crawl on his knees across the open field to the edge of the woods, and then ran safely away.  Sounds unusual, but it is a true story.  Somehow the buck heard or sensed the arrow coming and got down low.  This action saved his life.  How did he know to get down?  Perhaps he has a buck friend that walked into the open acting high and mighty, thinking, “I’m a big beautiful buck, I don’t have to get down.  I’m not getting down on my knees and now he is a trophy on somebody’s wall, hanging in some hunter’s den - big, beautiful, and dead!!!  If you learn to “get down” you may look funny to others but you will live longer.

 

DEER INTELLIGENCE

 

I really enjoy deer hunting and was fascinated by the intelligence of the buck.  I wonder if we as Christians could be smart enough to recognize the dangers of our adversary the devil and avoid his arrows aimed to destroy us.  I wonder how many arrows we could miss if we would humble ourselves or get down.  The Apostle Paul said, “I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” in his prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21.  Prayer is one way that we get down.  As we humble ourselves, pray and seek God’s face, we avoid many arrows of the enemy (2 Chronicles 7:14).  Many Christians have arrows stuck in them because they don’t take the time to pray.  There is no telling how many arrows fly over the top of us when we are praying.  I like the way Bro. Kenneth Copeland said, “Every failure in life is a prayer failure.”  We must take time to get down and pray to hear from Heaven continually.

 

LOW ENOUGH TO RECEIVE GRACE

 

God gives grace to those who learn how to get down.  James 4:6 says, “God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.”  The Amplified Bible says, “…to the lowly, those humble enough to receive it…”  When we get down, we find grace.  God’s favor and ability is lower than many people want to get to receive it.  The leper, Naaman, almost died because he did not want to get low enough to dip in the muddy Jordan River.  Pride and self-sufficiency leave us a wide-open target to be destroyed by the enemy.  When Naaman finally obeyed, he was totally cleaned.  Every situation in our lives change when God’s favor and ability are working for and in us.  “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He shall lift you up” (James 4:10).

 

SUPERNATURAL RELATIONSHIPS

 

First Peter 5:5-10 is a great passage regarding humbling yourself.  Verse 5 says that we are to humble ourselves to those who are over us in the Lord.  This means we are to be open to instruction and correction from supernatural relationships in the body of Christ.  The Lord said it to me this way, “There are important things you need to know that I am not going to tell you.  If I told it to somebody you are supposed to be in relationship with, you will have to get it from them.” That made me put a higher value on supernatural relationships in the body of Christ.  Actually, we must humble ourselves to others to receive the supply of the Spirit in the body of Christ.  Even though there is rank in the body of Christ, we are also instructed to humble ourselves to those around us and under us.  Humility is an attitude that enables us to receive grace from God and also those He has placed in our lives.  How can you tell when you get down sufficiently?  It is very evident when God’s grace, favor, and blessing come on the scene in your life!

“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabited eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15).  God inhabits eternity and dwells in the high and holy place, but He also dwells our lives with those who are of a humble spirit.  Those who get low - get with God.  Those who get down - go up!

 

“LIFTED UP” IN CHRIST

 

“My soul shall make her boast in the Lord, the humble shall hear thereof and be glad” (Psalm 34:2).  True humility likes to boast in the Lord.  We can brag on what Jesus has done for us and in us.  We can boast in God’s ability and who we are in Christ.  True humility also gives us boldness and confidence in prayer and in life because we acknowledge our dependency on the blood of Jesus and not on ourselves.  Through faith in the blood of Jesus, we are lifted up in Christ.  We acknowledge our dependency on the Holy Spirit as the Greater One in us.  We can take our place in the Blood Covenant and lose our self-consciousness and become God-conscious. We are not looking to ourselves.  We are looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.

It is an act of getting down or humbling yourself to forget yourself and act like the Bible is true.  It is also an act of humility when we rejoice because the Bible says to.  It is an act of humility to lift our voice and praise God when we don’t feel like it.  It is an act of humility to give when it looks like we can’t afford it.  It is an act of humility to find a place to serve in your church and be a blessing to others.  There are many ways we can humble ourselves before God and others.  One thing is certain - when we get down - we will be going up.  Surely, we are as smart as that deer and can live long enough to grow a great set of antlers.

 

THANK YOU PARTNERS

 

We desire for you to GO UP in every area of your life!  This month we want to offer you 2 brand-new CD’s titled, “How to Have a Meeting with God” that we believe will strengthen your faith.  For your offering of $25 or more, we will send this new cd set, as well as the 4 cd set, “Draw Near to the Father”, and book, The Bloodline of a Champion.

Trina and I thank you for your help and partnership in what God has called us to do. Thank you for joining with us in prayer and in giving.   “The Lord taketh my part with them that help me...”. (Psalm 118:7).  Thank you for taking a part in this ministry!  Together, we have possessed the NEW MHM property!  This land and its buildings are dedicated to the production, distribution, and broadcasting of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  May you be strengthened with God’s mighty power. 

2019 IS THE YEAR TO BE STRONG AND POSSESS ALL THE NEW GOD HAS FOR YOU! 

 

In Christ,
Mark & Trina Hankins

Posted by Mark and Trina Hankins with

November 2018 - What Happened in Christ

When Trina and I went on a tour of Israel we visited the security wall in Jerusalem.  It was built to protect citizens from terrorists who were coming in and killing innocent people. This wall is 26 feet high and 330 feet wide in some places.  It has an intricate network of technology to alarm and stop any incoming enemy.

Like that wall, the cross has formed a barrier to protect anyone who is “in Christ” from the strategies of the enemy. Galatians 6:14 says, “But far be it from me to boast about anything except the cross of our head Jesus Christ: that cross forms a permanent barrier (to erect a fence) between the world and me, and between me and the world” (Bruce).  Acknowledging your identification with Christ is the way to separate yourself from sin and its power in your life. The cross brings sin to an end and the old man is destroyed (Romans 6:6).  There is a resurrection provided which brings a complete continuation of Christ’s victory.

In the human body, one drop of blood contains the history of any disease an individual has overcome.  The antibodies in the blood are also called memory cells.  Those antibodies carry the memory of how it defeated any disease. One drop of Jesus’ blood contains the total history of all He has overcome for us.  His blood contains the memory cells of how it defeated sin and all its consequence. When sin or Satan try to enter your life, you apply or plead the blood and it breaks the power of the enemy. 

 

SANCTIFIED BY THE BLOOD AND THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit and the blood always go together. In 1 Peter 1:2, it says it is “through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” The blood of Jesus cleanses your conscience by the power of the Holy Spirit.  There is wonder-working power in the blood!

 

Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?   - Hebrews 9:12–14

 

NOT MY WILL

When Jesus prayed in the garden, “Not my will, but Thine, be done” (Luke 22:42), He was sanctifying His own will and humbling Himself to the plan of redemption. His obedience broke the curse that came from Adam’s disobedience. Now, like Him, we sanctify our will and present our bodies for Him to use—a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Rom. 12:1).

We must humble ourselves in order to go higher. Even the Apostle Paul practiced this lifestyle.  He said in 1 Corinthians 9:27, “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”  When we submit ourselves to Him for cleansing, we can move into new territory in our prayer lives, personal lives, relationships, work, and ministry.

 

HOW TO BECOME A VESSEL OF HONOR

 

We must take responsibility to separate ourselves from iniquity and become vessels of honor. Look at what Paul told Timothy:

 

…let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.    - 2 Timothy 2:19–21

 

We are empowered by the Holy Spirit and the blood of Jesus to be obedient to the will of God.  By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all,” Hebrews 10:10.  1 Peter 1:2 says, “through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.”  You can see the blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit working together enabling the believer to surrender to and obey the will of God. 

All Jesus did for us in redemption is in His blood. Naturally speaking, our DNA (our identification) is in our blood. But when the blood of Jesus cleanses us, it purges and washes our “genes.”  Hebrews 10:22 says, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” Jesus makes us brand new!

 

NOT VICTIMS, BUT VICTORS

In the letters to the Church, the Epistles, no one is called a victim. Instead, Paul tells us we have the power to purge ourselves. That means you and I are not helpless victims. In Christ, we are no longer victims. Jesus became sin and through His blood broke the curse and purchased our complete freedom from Satan’s power. In Him, we are victors!

A victor is one who defeats the enemy or opponent.  Start declaring that today. “I am victorious in Christ!”  You overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of your testimony (Rev. 12:11). Your testimony releases sanctifying power. As 2 Corinthians 5:17 (AMP) says, “The old previous moral and spiritual condition has passed away. Behold the fresh and new has begun.” JESUS CHRIST MAKES YOU NEW!

2018 is almost over, but God is not finished doing NEW things in your life!  This month we have 3 BRAND NEW messages titled, What Happened in Christ and the book, Paul’s System of Truth for your gift of $25 or more.  What happened in Christ is greater than anything that has ever happened to you.  We believe these messages will strengthen and feed your faith. 

May God abundantly bless you for your partnership with us as we continue to train and equip pastors and leaders around the World.  Just as Paul did in the book of Philippians, we declare to our partners, “My God shall supply all your need, according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus.”

 

In Christ,
Mark and Trina

Posted by Mark and Trina Hankins with

12...16171819202122232425 ... 2930