Hi Brian!

I hope Elle had a great time! The word for this week is "virtue". We find it only in these New Testament in these verses:

Mark 5:30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? KJV

Luke 6:19 And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all. KJV

Luke 8:45 And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? 46 And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me. KJV

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. KJV

2 Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: KJV

In the first three verses we have the Greek word "dunamis". Strong's Concordance says: force, specially, miraculous power, a miracle. Thayer's Greek Lexicon says: strength, ability, power, inherent power, power residing in a thing or which a person exerts and puts forth. The power of performing miracles. Vine's Expository Dictionary says: inherent ability, works of a supernatural origin and character, such as could not be produced by natural agents and means. In the last two verses we have the Greek word "arete". Strong's Concordance says: manliness, valor, excellence. Thayer's Greek Lexicon says: an excellence of person, or of a thing, an eminent endowment, poperty or quality. Vine's Expository Dictionary says:  intrinsic eminence, moral goodness. 

So the 'virtue' that we have IN us is meant, in the first example, to minister to the needs of others. We ARE the Body of Christ in the earth and we represent Him, or should be, in all that we do! People should and will be drawn to us as they see JESUS IN us, and operating through us. The second 'virtue' is a godly character that shines through all that we do, and this, too, points them to JESUS!  It is ALL Jesus! His ability, His Wisdom, His Anointing, His power flowing through OUR HANDS as we dare to believe that WE are carriers of this 'virtue'. This POWER! These miracles! Here, to encourage you in this, is Hillsong Worship with "No One But You":

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys

Hi Brian!

I want to share Rick Renner's "Sparkling Gems From The Greek - Volume 2" today! 

SUPERNATURAL ASSISTANCE

Are they [angels] not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? — Hebrews 1:14

Today I want to talk to you about the ministry of angels, and how they work to protect and deliver us in times of trouble. Let me begin by retelling a part of a story that I related to you in the May 29 Gem, and I want add a story at the end to demonstrate the point even stronger.

I had long wanted to visit the city of Vorkuta, located above the Arctic Circle in Russia. It was one of the major cities where Joseph Stalin deported believers during a raging period of persecution. There Christians were incarcerated in huge prison camps and forced to work deep under the earth in dangerous coal mines, where they dug the coal that fired the massive coal-burning factories and trains of the Soviet Union.

I sensed that it was a divine assignment to visit Vorkuta at that time. Because of its notorious place in history for Christian believers, I wanted to talk to the TV director that covered that large area in order to obtain a contract for broadcasting our TV program. I also intended to find out how many believers still lived there and what we could do to be of assistance to them.

As I related in the earlier Gem, my seat on the airplane was at the front of the plane near the flight attendant station, and I was seated next to a window, which made it possible for me to see everything happening outside of the airplane. My particular seat faced the tail of the plane, so I could also see everything that was happening inside the aircraft.

First, all the passengers boarded. Then I watched out my window as cargo handlers began to load cargo into the underside of the plane. I was shocked at the amount of boxes, suitcases, and cargo they were putting into the cargo hold. In fact, it was so overfilled that when it came time to shut the doors to the cargo hold, it took several men to shut it, because the overflowing cargo was pressing against the door.

Meanwhile, inside the plane from where I was seated, I watched as airport workers piled boxes, boxes, and more boxes in the tail of the plane, until the rear end of the plane — that is, the kitchen and the toilets — were no longer visible or accessible. After that, they began piling luggage and boxes into empty seats, and then they started stacking them from the back to the front of the center aisle of the plane. The extra cargo filled the cabin all the way from the very back to where I sat in the front of the plane!

Because I was seated close to the flight attendants, I could hear their conversations. I overheard one flight attendant say to another, “I’m getting off this plane, because it’s so severely overloaded that I’m afraid this plane is not going to make it.”

Yet I knew I was supposed to go to Vorkuta. So what should I do? I thought. I bowed my head with those who were traveling with me, and we prayed, “Lord, if this plane is going to crash, please do anything needed to get us off this plane!”

Just as we finished praying, a flight attendant frantically yelled, “Everyone — as quickly as possible — get off this plane! We just received a phone call that there’s a bomb on this plane!”

People started fighting with each other and shoving their way to the airplane door. At last when everyone was off the plane, and we were inside the terminal, a public announcement was made, which declared that the entire plane was being unloaded so the authorities could search for a bomb. After hours of our waiting and wondering what to do next, another public announcement was made over the intercom, saying, “After searching the aircraft, we found no bomb on the plane. It was a false threat. However, we have decided that when we all reboard the aircraft, no extra luggage or boxes will be permitted. Only the suitcases of passengers will be permitted on this airplane.”

My companions and I stepped into the plane and reseated ourselves in the same seats that had been assigned to us. People looked relieved, peaceful, and thankful that the plane was no longer overloaded. I heard the same flight attendant who had earlier threatened to get off the plane tell his colleague, “Now we’ll have a safe flight.”

This brings me to what I want to share today about the delivering and protective ministry of angels — because I asked myself that day, Who was that mysterious phone caller who said there was a bomb on the airplane? Who caused the airplane to be so quickly emptied, leading to the fortuitous decision to remove all that dangerous extra cargo? I wondered, Is it possible that an angel was the unidentified mystery caller?

Hebrews 1:14 declares, “Are they [angels] not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” According to this verse, angels are “sent forth to minister” on behalf of those who belong to the family of God.

The word “minister” is the Greek word diakonia, a word that depicts high-level service. It is important to note that rabbis in New Testament times used a very similar phrase to describe what they called “angels of service or ministry” — angels whom they believed were assigned to protect individuals and deliver them from harm.

Let us be confident that part of the angelic ministry is to ensure a believer’s safety from dangerous and harmful things. Certainly that day at the airport, something inexplicable happened that saved the lives of my team and everyone else who was on that airplane. There were five believers on my team. I would not be surprised if that event was some type of angelic intervention to spare our lives from tragedy. In fact, I truly believe this is what happened.

Especially during the time period when Hebrews 1:14 was written, believers were often forced to physically move from one place to another and were regularly caught in difficult circumstances. But “ministering spirits” — that is, angels — were sent forth to “minister” to them. These angels provided the highest level of service available to help these believers and protect them from harm as they were en route from one place to another.

The phrase “sent forth” in Hebrews 1:14 is a translation of the Greek word apostello, which describes one who is dispatched on a mission. Therefore, these angels spoken of in this verse are purposefully dispatched on a mission to serve and protect the heirs of salvation. It was, and it remains, the mission of angels to serve the needs of the saints and to provide them protection.

Even as you read this, perhaps you can think of people who were in the direct path of harm until something happened to divert their course, and it was that change of direction that spared them from a catastrophic event. I am reminded of a time when our eldest son Paul had a car accident in Moscow. He hit a pole, and it turned the car over multiple times, totally crushing the vehicle. Yet all three people in that car walked away unharmed! The street-side pole was destroyed; the car was completely crushed. But the three people traveling in the car were unscathed. It was truly miraculous.

When Denise and I saw the car, we cried, because we realized there was no human way that death could have been avoided. It was clear to us that our son and his companions had been protected by angels who were assigned to protect them and save them from harm.

So today I want to encourage you to know that there are angels on assignment, sent to minister to you and to protect you in times of danger. To qualify for this angelic protection, Hebrews 1:14 states that one must be an “heir of salvation” — or one must be a child of God. So if you have made Jesus the Lord of your life, you qualify — and it’s time for you to recognize that angels have been assigned to you and to call upon them as you travel and traverse the twists and turns of your life.

Now every time I enter a plane, I lay my hands on its exterior and thank God for the angels who are traveling with me and who are assigned to keep me and all those traveling with me from harm. Knowing that God has provided such protection has kept me in peace on many occasions when I could have been inwardly disturbed in difficult situations. I keep in mind that 

Psalm 34:7 declares, “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.”

This is a good day to take a few minutes to reflect on the times when your life has been spared by the divine intervention of God and His angelic hosts. Or perhaps you can think back to times when the lives of people near and dear to you were divinely protected. If they are heirs of salvation and the way they were spared was absolutely miraculous, you can know that they lived to tell the story because of angelic intervention. Angels were sent on assignment to travel with them and to protect them.

Although we certainly don’t worship angels, I think it’s right for us to thank God for providing this high-level service to keep us and protect us from harm!

I am certain that we have all been the recipients of angelic intervention at some point and I am looking forward to watching the replay of that at some point in Heaven! More inportantly, as WE pray, I fully expect that we can count on angelic intervention in the future! MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all! We love you and your beautiful family so much! Here is Hillsong with "We Have A Saviour":

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!

Hi Brian!

Great game today! The word for this week is "Godward". It's found in these two verses in the New Testament:

2 Corinthians 3:4 And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; 6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. KJV

1 Thessalonians 1:8 For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing. KJV

 This 'word' is actually a phrase in the Greek. "Pros ton Theon". "Pros" is a preposition of direction, according to Strong's Concordance. It also says: forward to, or toward, pertaining to. Thayer's Greek Lexicon adds this: it is used of close proximity, at, by, with, the relation or close connection entered into by one person with another. According to Thayer's Greek Lexicon, "ton" is a demonstrative pronoun. It also says: The article, in all genders, indicates kinship, affinity, some kind of connection, association or fellowship. "Theon", according to Strong's Concordance, means: a deity, the supreme Divinity. Thayer's Greek Lexicon adds: spoken of the only and true God, used of whatever can in any respect be likened to God. Rick Renner, in his older video series introducing basic Greek, used John 1:1 to teach these Greek words, because the phrase is also in that verse.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. KJV

Rick, being a Greek scholar, said that further study indicated that this phrase, especially when pertaining to this verse in Luke, means extremely close. Like "face to face", "nose to nose", or "eyeball to eyeball"! JESUS, the living Word of God, was so close to the Father God that there was no space between them! They are one, which means that they are of the same mind . There is NO division among them! The first verses that we looked at REALLY tell us that WE can be of one mind and in one accord with THEM, the Father, JESUS and Holy Spirit! As long as we keep feeding on and obeying God's Word, and spend time in intimate fellowship with Holy Spirit by praying in the Spirit and listening as HE speaks to US, then we can know His will and His ways! That puts us in a higher level of potential victory and success! I LOVE that HE leaves it all up to us! He will never force us to have fellowship with Him, but if we want to, we can know HIM as we are known BY HIM! What a treasure we possess! Here is Hillsong Worship with a new song from their new "Awake" album called "Come Alive":

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!

Hi Brian!

The word for this week is "notable". It appears three times in the New Testament, each time from a different Greek word. First we have Matthew 27:15-16:

Mathew 27:15 Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would. 16 And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. KJV

This is the Greek word "episemos". Strong's Concordance says: remarkable, eminent. Thayer's Greek Leixon says: marked; in a good sense: of note, illustrious; in a bad sense: notorious, infamous. In this case it would be in the bad sense as it is referring to the criminal, Barabbas, who the crowd wanted released instead of JESUS! The next one is found in Acts 2:16-21:

Acts 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. KJV

This is the Greek word "epiphanes". Strong's Concordance says: conspicuous, i.e. memorable. Thayer's Greek Lexicon adds: illustrious. Vine's Expository Dictionary says: renowned, to show forth, to appear. The Theological Dictionary adds: visible, magnificent. This is quite appropriate for the day this is speaking of, when the Lord Jesus shall stand again in Jerusalem! The last one is found in Acts 4:13-16:

Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. 14 And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. 15 But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, 16 Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it. KJV

This is the Greek word "gnostos". Strong's Concordance says: well-known. The Theological Dictionary says: knowable, known, made known. The sense seems to be "recognizable" in Acts 14:16. This was the account of the crippled man at the gate of the temple who was begging for money when Peter and John told him, in the Name of Jesus, to rise up and walk! And HE DID! The religious leaders were NOT happy with Peter and John, but because the miracle of this man's healing was SO "notable", they really could do nothing to them, except to warn them to stop using the Name of Jesus! We KNOW how that went! From many trusted sources I have heard accounts of very 'notable' things happening again when God's people are unafraid to speak His Word and obey the leading of His Spirit! I am especially excited about the way that He is using children! They are bold, unafraid and ready to believe! I am sure that your lovely little ladies are going to be used mightily in the coming days and weeks! You and Kristine have instilled so much Wisdom into them! This song is for you AND them! Hillsong Kids with "Voices of Freedom":

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!

Hi Brian! 

The word for this week is "hail". We find it in these verses in the New Testament:

Matthew 26:48 Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. 49 And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him. KJV

Matthew27:29 And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! KJV

Mark 15:17 And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, 18 And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! KJV

Luke 1:28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. KJV

Matthew 28:9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. 10 Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me. KJV

In the first three examples we see the soldiers mocking JESUS with these words. Little did they know that He WAS the King of the Jews AND the soon to be Saviour of the world. They said the words mockingly, but also prophetically! We see this same word used by the angel Gabriel when he approached Mary to give her the message that shew had been chosen to carry the Son of the living God! In the last example we see the resurrected JESUS addressing the ladies who had run to the tomb. These are all the Greek word "chairo". Strong's Concordance says: to be cheerful, calmly happy or well off, especially as a salutation (be well). Thayer's Greek Lexicon says: to rejoice, to thrive. The Theological Dictionary says: Full of joy, rejoice, be merry. There have been other songs that use this word in praise and adoration of JESUS as Lord, but this new song by Hillsong Worship called "Awake My Soul" does it right! "Awake My Soul":

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!