Dear Passion and Fire family,
God is good! Brian just returned from an awesome trip to Israel with Georgian and Winnie CoCo Banov. The highlight for him was the Valentine banquet where they honored the Palestinian refugee widows with a party complete with gifts and food to take home. Unfortunately for me, I had to stay back to get ready for a move. But I’m happy to say that we’re in our new home and I’m ready to travel again!
This last weekend both Brian and I had an opportunity to speak at our home church’s second annual Joy conference. It was definitely a game-changer! I can’t wait to hear all the testimonies. I believe that everyone that attended would say that it launched them into a beautiful new season in their life! The conference was truly that good!
Corona-Virus
No matter where you turn lately someone is talking about the Corona-virus. So, I feel like I can’t avoid addressing it too. Even churches that I know have suggested that their congregants stay home if they’re feeling ill, keep their hands washed, etc. It’s always right to take precautions, but I have a question for you: Where is your focus these days? Is your focus wrapped up in the corona-virus, the stock market, or some other problem or is it in Jesus to protect you and watch over you?
I believe this month is a time when God will increase our faith as we keep our focus where it needs to be, on Him. Pray and we will see Him move on our behalf!
Purim
Tonight, as I write this letter it’s March 9th the first evening of the celebration of the Jewish holiday of Purim. This is the Jewish celebration that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people through Esther. She risked her own life to rescue the lives of the Jewish people, her people. I believe that the Corona-virus scare, even though it is devised by the enemy to bring panic and fear will be a time where we will see a great release. It will release a deeper manifestation of faith to and through the church as they pray and see Him work.
A few months ago, the Lord asked me in a dream, “When I return will I find faith on the earth?” And just this month I heard Him ask me again, only this time He answered His own question and said, “Yes, I will find faith and not only will I find faith, but it’s on the increase. For I have sent Holy Spirit and He’s releasing more and more faith into the hearts of my people. Just you watch!”
We must not give in to fear
The opposite of faith is fear. Fear is the oldest tactic in the enemy’s playbook. I feel as though it’s his way of wasting our time. It immerses our thoughts into a war full of worry and anxiety. On the other hand, when we simply yield to Holy Spirit, He leads us into God’s love where there is the absence of fear. The scripture says that in His love there is no fear for fear is tormenting. And the one who fears hasn’t fully experienced His love, 1 John 4:18.
I believe the father is going to use this scare to pull us into His loving heart and will impart in us a greater level of faith, a mountain-moving type of faith!
Matthew 17:20 “I promise you, if you have faith inside of you no bigger than a small mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move away from here and go over there.’ And you will see it move! There is nothing you couldn’t do!”
Here are some ways you can partner with Holy Spirit to see this happen:
Determine to let God take over your fears and problems.
Prov. 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on Him to guide you, and He will lead you in every decision you make.”
How many times have you tried to find a solution on your own? In this case with the corona-virus, there’s nothing you can do about it anyway.
You can worry or you can trust God. Take your choice!
1 Peter 5:7 “Pour out all of your worries and stress upon Him and leave them there, for He always tenderly cares for you.”
Leave your worries at the feet of Jesus! Determine that nothing is worthy of anxiety, especially at the cost of losing your joy and peace!
Paul says in Phil. 4:6 “Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing.”
Half of the stuff we worry about rarely even happens anyway. Yet it’s so easy to let our imaginations get away with us. We are good at imagining trouble. Remember no worry is worth forfeiting your faith for. What a horrible trade; faith for anxiety. If everyone would practice this it would save thousands of dollars of grief on psychoanalysts and anxiety medicine.
The world’s reasoning leads us to fear. If you don’t believe me just listen to the news for a little while. It’s usually pessimistic and sprinkled with doomsday predictions. If they’re not talking about the corona-virus, it’s the stock market, the possibility of the next storm, and on and on. Even the television advertisements try to get us to worry about things such as bad breath, dandruff, under-eye bags, etc.
What is it that’s trying to get you to worry right now? What competing thoughts take you out of the game, besides worrying about the corona-virus? It’s time to turn off worry!
Let’s just stop for a minute and say these words with me: “Take this worry from me Lord. I give it to you. Speak to me and give the wisdom I need!” Amen
Determine that you will take everything to God in prayer.
Phil. 4:6 “Be saturated in prayer throughout each day…. Tell Him every detail of your life.”
I found out early on that a continual conversation with my Lord through prayer was my saving grace. Don’t just pray about some things, but tell Him everything. We need to make Jesus our best friend and confidant. Discuss everything with Him. Have an ongoing conversation with Him throughout the day. If we would do this, we would save ourselves more heartaches.
So, go ahead and tell the Father how you’re feeling. Tell him about your fears of corona-virus, if you have then, tell him about your life and all the rest. Just see if He doesn’t work in your heart. Nothing is hidden from Him anyway. He knows it all, but it helps us to get it off of our chest so that we can get His perspective. And listen, for the Father will come, give you an answer, and a better perspective.
James 4:3 “Until now you’ve not been bold enough to ask the Father for a single thing in my name, but now you can ask, and keep on asking Me! And you can be sure that you’ll receive what you ask for, and your joy will have no limits!”
Not only will the Father, give you an answer, but He’ll give you joy along with it—a limitless joy!
James 1:5 “And If anyone longs to be wise, ask God for wisdom and He will give it! He won’t see your lack of wisdom as an opportunity to scold you over your failures because He is generous with His grace.”
I love that the Father will not look at us like we’re dumb for asking, but that He’ll be gracious and kind and will give us the wisdom we need. And there’s no need to beg because we’re no longer orphans, but sons and daughters. The Father loves us so much that He’s poised and ready to give us good things.
Matt. 7:11 “If you, imperfect as you are and know how to lovingly take care of your children and give them what’s best, how much more ready is your heavenly Father ready to give wonderful gifts to those who ask Him?”
We must determine to think positive
4:8 “So keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure ad holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising Him always.”
It’s so easy to be negative. We like developing our negatives when we’re in the dark. Then we begin to think about all the bad things that could happen. And we talk ourselves right out of being full of faith and go right into despondency instead.
No Fear
“The Lord is my revelation-light to guide me along the way; He’s the source of my salvation to defend me every day. I fear no one!” Ps. 27:1
“Be brave, courageous, never lose hope. Yes, keep waiting, for God will never disappoint you!” Ps. 27:14
The Father has set His love and favor upon you. And as it was with Esther, He has been preparing you for such an hour as this. And like Gideon, He’s moving you out of your fear, your hiding place, and calling you to arise with a new courage, a new boldness, and a new fearlessness.
And He is increasing your faith in this hour as you focus on Him. Be gone fear and unbelief! A breakthrough is coming through the faith-filled prayers of the Saints! Thank you, Lord!
Calendar
March
13-15 Madison, WI, Global Presence
19-22 Pasadena, CA ONLINE, TPT Bible School, The Vision, Isaiah
26-29 Houston, TX, Victory Outreach Church
April
March 31-April 7 Jakarta, Indonesia
17-19 Franklin, TN, Generations Church
29-May10 Guyana – Passion & Fire Missions Trip
To get more info and updates about our schedule go to our calendar at passionandfire.com/calendar
NEW THIS YEAR
Missions Trip to Guyana
April 29 – May 10, 2020! Make plans to join us for the inaugural TPT mission trip to the beautiful nation of Guyana, South America. Look for all the information on our passionandfire.com web site. Click on join us and then missions.
TPT ONLINE BIBLE COURSES
Our online Bible courses are Revelation-Part 1 & 2, Song of Songs, Ephesians and Philippians. For more information and updates on the school please check us out on our website.
The Passion & Fire Bible School will be CANCELLED for the in-person event, BUT will be offered as a FREE a weekend course on Isaiah: The Vision, on Facebook LIVE Saturday, Mar 21: 11:00am-1:00pm Pacific Time (2:00pm-4:00pm Eastern Time)
TPT SCHOOL IN PASADENA—UPDATE: Now on Facebook LIVE on March 21!
The Passion & Fire Bible School will be CANCELLED for the in-person event, BUT will be offered as a FREE a weekend course on Isaiah: The Vision, on Facebook LIVE Saturday, Mar 21: 11:00am-1:00pm Pacific Time (2:00pm-4:00pm Eastern Time).
REGISTER HERE! (FREE)
WEBINARS
We’re hosting various webinars each month. If you’re interested in being a part of a webinar you can go to passionandfire.com to sign up.
ISRAEL TRIP
Sign up at tptisraeltour.com. You can ask anyone who has gone with us how it affected them. I’m confident that they’ll tell you that it was worth the money and time. It’s a fabulous trip! Life changing! Please reserve your space now.
TPT Update
Brian has been working on Jeremiah and also finishing up material for His Isaiah class which he’ll be teaching in Pasadena next week. I’ve been preoccupied by our move and we just finished up in time to prepare for our home church conference. Still working on “The Dreamer”.
Of course, you can find the Translation & some of our books on audio. And look for other information at our passionandfire.com site. If you’re one of our Aussie friends, you can purchase the translation and all the books from Korong and amazon.com.au and our Canadians friends can purchase them at amazon.com.ca.
A special thank you to all our Passion Translation Partners for your monthly donations, and all of you for your incredible prayers and for following us daily on our websites. You have no idea how much we appreciate your sacrifices of love for us!
If you’re a partner, we’ll automatically send you each new book of the translation as it comes out. (This does not include the other books, only the translation.) You will also receive the webinars, notes and the archive of the webinar and you will have the opportunity to meet us personally during one of our conferences when we’re in your area. It’s just another way of saying thanks and of getting to know you.
TO BECOME A PARTNER
If you would like to become one of our Partner’s, you can do so by making a monthly donation of $39 or more. Or you can make a one-time tax-deductible gift by credit card at our web site www.passionandfire.com or through our PayPal account (click the link below for easy access) or you can mail your offering to Passion and Fire Ministries, PO Box 4068, Madison, CT, 06443.
QUESTIONS
If you have any questions, feel free to email or call our administrator, Tiffany at mageetiffany777@gmail.com or you can call 877-566-4289.
PRAYER REQUESTS
- Safe travels, especially the upcoming Indonesia trip
- Wisdom in scheduling meetings
- Good relationships everywhere we travel
- Good health for us and our family
- Wisdom and revelation for the translation and our other projects
Yours for transformation,
Candice Simmons
