When Wicked Weather Heads Your Way

April 2018 Partner Letter

It is actually springtime in Oklahoma and we really didn’t have much of a winter at all. We have certainly enjoyed the mild winter months here after the many long months of winter in Russia. It really is so good to be home!

Over the next two months, we will be sharing with you some of the most valuable information we have ever learned and put into practice in our lives. These simple truths set into motion have literally saved our lives, the lives of our family members, and protected our property.

What kind of emotions and thoughts do you encounter when you see news headlines? Every day we become aware of alarming information, scandals, turmoil, disaster, tragedy, and heartbreak in immense proportion. This continual barrage of ‘bad news’ can often make us feel helpless, trapped, disappointed and afraid. You may even currently be facing an alarming situation. It seems disaster and heartbreak to be commonplace for many. But we have ‘good news’ for you today!

How thankful we are to those who have taught us from God’s Word and equipped us for the day and hour in which we live. More than 30 years ago Sister Billye Brim taught us how to keep disaster from striking our home. By the Spirit of God, she understood some things about the times in which we live and told us that as we drew nearer to the return of the Lord Jesus to the earth there would be erratic, destructive weather systems increasing.

She also told us what to do about this. Let’s look at what Jesus did when faced with a destructive weather system. “One day Jesus got into a boat with his disciples and said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they started out. As they were sailing, Jesus fell asleep. Suddenly a strong wind blew down on the lake, and the boat began to fill with water so that they were all in great danger. The disciples went to Jesus and woke him up, saying, “Master, Master! We are about to die!” Jesus got up and gave an order to the wind and the stormy water; they died down, and there was a great calm. Then he said to the disciples, “Where is your faith?” But they were amazed and afraid, and said to one another, “Who is this man? He gives orders to the winds and waves, and they obey him!”

You might be thinking, “But that was Jesus.” Then why did Jesus ask His disciples where their faith was? He was showing them how to exercise their faith. And that is exactly what we need to do when faced with wicked weather systems. As born-again believers in Jesus Christ, we have been given certain rights through our relationship with Him. Jesus overcame evil and darkness on every level through His death on the cross, His burial, and resurrection. He fought our every enemy and defeated them.

When the Apostle Paul wrote the Book of Ephesians He was speaking to Christian believers. And He is still speaking to us through the written Word of God. Please read Ephesians 1:17-2:6, for the sake of space we will summarize. In these verses the Apostle Paul is sharing the principles of truth in the Word of God that empowers us as Christians:

• He was praying for the Christians of his day and asking God to give them wisdom and revelation-knowledge of Him.
• He asked that their spiritual eyes be opened so they could see what God had provided to His children. He goes on to say that believers were given power (authority) when the Father God raised His Son from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.
• He goes on to say Jesus obtained a throne and a seat of authority through which He exercises complete dominion over every evil work of darkness.
• As the Apostle Paul continues teaching, he says that God made us alive together with Christ and raised us up together with Him, and seated us together in this place of authority with Jesus!

And that’s ‘GOOD NEWS’ for us. We don’t have to worry and wring our hands in anxiety and fear. We need to learn from what we saw Jesus do about wicked weather. He took authority over the wind and the waves—they took orders from Him. As born-again believers empowered by His life-giving Spirit within us, the elements become subject to His authority exercised through us.

So why do bad things happen to good people? Maybe we need to learn more about our authority as Christians and renew our commitment to strengthen our relationship with God so He may teach us His ways. If we do not know these truths, if we do not put into practice what we know, we may be subject to the effects of wicked weather through our lack of knowledge or our failure to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit in our lives. As Christians, we are here in the earth to enforce the defeat of Satan and to restrain calamity and destruction fueled by darkness in our worlds.

Many years ago while living in Springfield, Missouri, we came face-to-face in the direct path of a wicked weather system—a vicious tornado! There was no time to evacuate. If we had not been taught what to do when wicked weather systems head our way, we would have been hiding under our mattress hoping for the best.

Standing in our kitchen Katherine heard these words, “Your neighbors are blessed because you live here.” She shrugged her shoulders thinking, “OK…” Within minutes, tornado sirens began sounding all around us and she sprang into action taking authority over death, destruction, havoc, and mayhem. She had just finished transplanting some spring flowers into our garden. She began ordering destructive forces of darkness in the name of Jesus—“You will not touch one petal of one flower in my garden! I forbid you to come near us, I bind and gag you hand and foot and mouth, I render and deem you helpless to operate against us in the name of Jesus. I plead the blood of Jesus, the eternal power of God, over this region and you will not prevail against us.”

Later, when we looked at the weather report and saw the path of the tornado, we saw it had changed its course and traveled slightly south of us. We were close enough to the tornado to experience the effects of the debris field, but not one petal of one flower was damaged in Katherine’s garden. Sadly, about a mile from us, houses were ripped from foundations and one person died.

Friends, we do not have to be victims of wicked weather. This month we are including a card with Bible verses we have paraphrased that you can put to memory and to practice. Like Katherine, you can be a blessing to your neighborhood and keep yourselves and your loved ones out of the danger of wicked weather systems.

We really hope you will take this information to heart and be a doer of the Word of God. We are equipped and empowered by God. The Bible says the Word of God is powerful. Speak the Word of God over your life, relationships, finances, health and especially wicked weather systems. We don’t have to take it anymore.

Next month we will be sharing about how to protect yourselves and your loved ones from harm. We will also include a special gift for your children and grandchildren which is a unique and effective way to teach them how to speak the Word of God to protect themselves.

We love you and we are so grateful to God for all our wonderful friends and partners of this ministry. Although our focus has changed in this new season, we are more passionate and resolute in our efforts to serve the needs of the hurting and those who need Jesus and to continue to strengthen the Body of Christ. Thank you for helping us through your prayers and financial support. We believe this work to be good ground bearing fruit that remains. If there is anything we can do to help you spiritually grow or some way we can pray with you, please contact us. We would be blessed to do so.

We really do love and care about you!

Bob & Katherine