Mark Hankins Ministries

May 2019 - Meditation

But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night; and He shall be like a tree that’s planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Psalm 1:2,3

The Hebrew word for meditate in verse 2 is “hagah.”  The Spirit Filled Life Bible has this note: “Hagah represents something quite unlike the English “meditation,” which may be a mental exercise only.  In Hebrews though, to meditate upon the Scriptures is to quietly repeat them in a soft, droning sound, while utterly abandoning outside distractions.  From this tradition comes a specialized type of Jewish prayers called “davening,” that is reciting texts, praying intense prayers, or getting lost in communion with God while bowing or rocking back and forth.  Evidently this dynamic form of meditation-prayer goes back to David’s time.”

Most blessed is the man who believes in, trusts in, and relies on the Lord, and whose hope and confidence the Lord is. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters that spreads out its roots by the river; and it shall not see and fear when heat comes; but its leaf shall be green, It shall not be anxious and full of care in the year of drought, nor shall it cease yielding fruit.
Jeremiah 17:7,8 Amplified

In 1 Timothy 4:15, Paul said to “meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear to all.” When a tree is well watered, it is evident to all because you can see the fruit and the green leaves. In the same way, those around you can see the results of the Word working in your life. The fruit of blessing, health and peace is very tangible!

HOW TO MEDITATE

The dictionary defines the word meditate as this: to talk with yourself, mutter, cogitate; it is an inward and outward conversation; it means to study, chew over, think over, ponder, excogitate, muse, reflect, mull over, speculate. The word “cogitate” means to think deeply, think out, think up, dream up, and to hatch. Excogitate is to invent; create mentally. Christian meditation is NOT sitting on the floor with your legs crossed, humming to yourself and emptying your mind. Meditation is a relationship with the Word of God.

If you know how to worry or if you have been offended, then you know how to meditate. You constantly think about what could happen, what is happening and speculate about the results. It even affects your body and emotions! The Bible originated in the East where the culture is given to meditation and it has much to say about this exercise. Philippians 4:6,7 says not to worry about anything, but to turn those worries into requests followed by thanksgiving. God promises to surround your heart with His peace. According to verse 8, our part is to do something with our thoughts. We are to meditate or think about things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and begin praising instead of worrying.

According as His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
2 Peter 1:3,4

As Christians, we do not have to participate in the corruption around us. There is an escape! Because of the new birth, you are a partaker of God’s divine nature and have in you everything you need to overcome in life. Through meditation, the Word becomes engrafted in you and is able to save or restore your soul which is your mind, will and emotions (James 1:21). When you are speaking the Word of God, pondering, muttering, turning it over, digesting, and dreaming about all of these great promises that are given to you, you begin to draw up divine power, just like a tree draws water out of the soil it is planted in.

DELIGHT IN THE LAW OF THE LORD

David said his delight was in the Law of the Lord. What are those laws? They are His Word. They are the Law of Faith (Romans 3:27); the Law of Love (1 Corinthians 13); the Law of the Spirit of Life (Romans 8:2); the Law of Sowing and Reaping (2 Corinthians 9:6-11). Every Christian must be personally responsible to tap into the power of God in these areas in order to live above the corruption in the world.  Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, overflows with David’s love for God’s Word. He mentions meditation seven times. When you sing psalms like David, it is a form of meditation. He said, “I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord,” Psalm 104:33,34.

PARTNERS IN CHRIST

This month we are offering six powerful messages entitled, Meditation: Moving from Information to Revelation and Trina’s teaching, Biblical Meditation – God’s Medication.    These messages will stir you up to make the Word of God your meditation - day and night.  We also want to offer you our Spirit-Filled Scripture Study Guide.  This is a powerful tool that will help meditate on the Word of God.  As you do this, you will see supernatural results in every area of your life.

We are getting ready to preach at a great church in Lusaka, Zambia and also at a wonderful faith conference in Nairobi, Kenya in May.  We love being in Africa and are expecting powerful times in the Word and the Holy Spirit.  Not only will we be ministering but we will also be distributing hundreds of books in these meetings.  The Word is multiplying around the World AND your faithful WORLD MISSIONS PARTNERSHIP is making this possible!  Thank you for being faithful to pray and also to give as we continue to train and equip believers around the World.  We pray you will prosper and be in health as your soul prospers with every need met according to God's riches in glory!

In Christ,
Mark and Trina Hankins

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