Ron Sawka Ministries
May 18, 2022; Iyar 17, 5782
www.rwsministries.com
“So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived” (Num. 21:9).
“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you” (Eph. 4:30–31).
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Prov. 18:21).
Need Healing? Contact Us
This Hebrew month, Iyar, is also about healing. This is the month when the Lord said, “I am God, your healer (Jehovah-Rapha)” (Exod. 15:26). I truly believe we have entered a time of healing and miracles. If you want us to pray for you, please write us at info@rwsministries.com. Or visit the MPP page on our website and connect with our ministry team.
Seeing the Snare—Take a Long, Hard Look at Murmuring and Complaining!
One of the focal points this Hebrew month, Iyar, is that we will see (and hopefully avoid) the snares. One of the major snares we all face is murmuring and complaining. Why is it important to not murmur and complain? Because murmuring/complaining grieves the Holy Spirit. It causes Him to withdraw from us.
We are in a time when God is pouring out the Holy Spirit on us in a new and powerful way. He wants us to talk about His goodness and miracles. The more we do so, the more they are activated, because as someone said, “God’s promises are voice activated.” If we talk about those promises, then He puts us in position to help them happen.
Murmuring and complaining is a trap and strategy of Satan, which if we fall into, will “short circuit” miracles and signs and wonders, and the blessings of God.
In Numbers 21 the Israelites began to murmur and complain—again. They didn’t like the wilderness—they didn’t like the scarcity of water—they hated the manna, saying, “Our soul loathes this worthless bread” (Num. 21:5). The Lord was displeased and sent fiery (poisonous) snakes. Many were bitten and many died. So that would be Lesson 1—Murmuring/complaining invites demons and the spirit of death. It may not be physical death, but it surely saps faith, hope, and love and replaces it with gloom, discouragement, and unbelief. Instead of blessing and miracles, all kinds of evil working is released.
The Israelites went to Moses, who then prayed for a solution. God told him to make a bronze likeness of that snake and raise it on a pole. If anyone needed healing, they could come and look at it and be healed. We read, “And so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived” (Num. 21:9).
Why a bronze snake? Why look carefully at what made me sick?
I have read this passage many times, but recently the obvious reason just jumped out at me. They had to look at the image of the very thing that bit them so they could see how ugly it really was and see that they themselves had caused it to happen by their complaining. It’s like God was saying, “If you want to be healed, you first have to look at and acknowledge what you and your murmuring/complaining released—a poisonous snake.”
Maybe we can sum all of this up in this way:
God longs to do miracles and signs and wonders for us and through us.
We can activate those things by talking about His goodness and power.
But when we murmur and complain, we instead release death and evil working.
In order to overcome, we must take a long, hard look at the power of the tongue and repent/take responsibility for any negativity. We must see that it is we ourselves who are cause for the “poison” before we can receive any help or healing from the Lord.
When we do repent, the Lord releases healing and life (victory over murmuring).
Thanks for praying,
Ron and Teddy
One-Day Prophetic Activation Seminar
Saturday, June 4, 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Seminar fee: $100 USD/10,000 JPY
Catch the Fire Japan headquarters in Sano. Online participation is also possible.
Understand the Times—We Are Anointed and Have Crossed Over into Harvest
Iyar—The Second Hebrew Month of 5782, May 2 – 30, 2022
Let’s be sure to keep counting toward Pentecost. Today, May 18, is 32 days after Passover (18 more days until Pentecost). After Christ’s resurrection, Pentecost was the day of outpouring of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2). However, the first Pentecost at Mt. Sinai marked the giving of the law and God entering into covenant with His people.
The more we understand God has covenant with us when we receive Jesus and His gift of salvation—that we are His people and He is our God—the more we will find victory and stability. It’s not a matter of “trying” now; through Jesus, we are in covenant with Him.
Resources
Passover through Pentecost is linked with freedom and moving ahead. To help you go forward, I have lowered the prices on all four of the Kindle books in my Building Apostolic-Prophetic Foundations series:
Judah Goes First: The Power of Apostolic-Prophetic Praise
Activated to Prophesy: The Essential Experience for This New Church Era
Apostles and Apostolic Anointing: Raising Up the End-Times Believers
Apostolic Centers: Wineskin for the New Era
All four titles can be found on my Amazon page: https://amazon.com/author/ronaldsawka.
For English or Japanese books, contact info@rwsministries.com.
For Chinese books, chinese@rwsministries.com
Join Pete Sawka for “30 Minutes of Worship,”
10:00–10:30 p.m., Sundays–Thursdays
Weekly Broadcast Schedule
(Times are listed in Japan Time [GMT +9])
Some of these may be viewed on Ron’s Facebook page.
Apostolic Center Training—Tuesdays, 8:30–10:00 p.m., English/Chinese. Registration required. Contact chinese@rwsminist