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| Prophetess hilda arredondo |
"NOTHING MORE POWERFUL THAN PRAYER"
Dearest Ministry Friends, I want to Encourage some of "YOU" with this Newsletter. Our Lord has made you some promises concerning your children over the years and He will bring them to pass. HIS FAITHFULNESS NEVER FAILS! Years ago, when my children were much younger and not serving the Lord, the Holy Spirit gave me a word. “Lift up your eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to you: your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side.” Isaiah 60:4. With emphasis on “Thy Daughters Shall Be Nursed At Thy Side”. I wondered how my daughters could possibly nurse at my side when they were way past the nursing stage. I continued to pray for all my children to be saved. I asked friends and many people to join me in that prayer for them. Surely as He promised, my children walked one by one into the church where I was attending and joined me. My daughters eventually came to work with me in the ministry and AT MY SIDE THEY NURSED with THE MILK OF THE WORD. They were at my side for 17 years. Then one day He called them away to prepare them for the ministry of prayer that will be passed on to them when I am no longer here. Debra, my oldest, will take charge with all the other children assisting her in this ministry of prayer. I’m believing for a long and healthy life but nevertheless, these are events that we have to face in our lives and prepare. This newsletter is being dedicated to a NEW THING our God is doing in this NEW SEASON. There are two (2) TESTIMONIES in this Newsletter written by two(2) of my Daughters. I would like to share them with you:
TESTIMONY #1
"THE GREATEST THING"
by Nichol Arredondo Fortenberry
Recently, I went to see family and was visiting my home church. We began to sing a song that I hadn’t heard for sometime: “The Greatest Thing”. As I began to sing the words of the song I concentrated on what I was saying, “I want to know you, I want to serve you, and I want to love you more.” As a former music minstrel I can remember saying these same exact words many times but not really reflecting on what I was singing, just going through the motions. As I sang, the tears began, they were more than just words, and I now understood them with a whole different meaning. I know things affect us differently on where we are at in the stages of our walk with the Lord. But when I think that the greatest thing in all my life is knowing Jesus and that I want to know Him more it’s so awesome, especially since the Lord spoke of this as part of entering into eternal life with Him. “Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.” Jeremiah 24:7 (NKJV). As the song goes on it says “Serve Him”. When we serve God we grow in godliness, the more we grow the better we will be able to serve Him as He deserves; then we can serve others because we know that this is the greatest form of pure love that we can give. In Deuteronomy 13:4 it says, “It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.” In the final verse it says “Love Him”: "...you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment." Mark 12:30. We have the privilege as Christians to Love God. It’s a choice of obedience. He unselfishly died for us that we may live a life not to fulfill our own needs, but rather the needs of others and to be an example to those who don’t know the saving grace of our Father in heaven. Lord I pray that my words may always be full of grace and pleasing to You. When I proclaim Your greatness and spread Your Word, I do what is pleasing in Your sight. Help me that I might forever do what You want me to because the Greatest Thing in all my Life is Knowing You...
TESTIMONY #2
"A CLOSER WALK WITH JESUS"
by Debra Arredondo Crisp
How wonderful it is to know Jesus for 21 years! Our spiritual relationship with the Lord grows deep and matures over time and for the last 5 years God’s had me walking closer to Him more than ever before. The more I commune with the Lord I am fed and nourished by His Word which allows me to understand the true walk of faith and not be hindered or moved by what I see in the natural. (2 Corinthians 5:7) It’s exciting to see God move in our lives once we get out of the driver’s seat so to speak. He’s been teaching and speaking to my heart unfolding daily lessons in the areas of Prayer, His Characteristics, Scripture, Faith, Giving and Obedience. Everything is a lesson and if you listen close enough you’ll learn something and pass your test. He is the teacher and we are the students. We must raise our hands to Jesus and let Him give us the ANSWER for every situation, circumstance, and decision made in our lives. No shortcuts or trying to figure out a better way or maybe a back-up plan just in case God doesn’t do it the way we feel He should. “For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver.” Psalm 66:10 (NIV). We all face the struggles and uncertainties that everyday life brings our way—but with God’s help and the renewing of our minds (His way of thinking) we can overcome the enemy and be victorious. We must completely, unconditionally, without any reservations put our trust and faith in Jesus; releasing our agenda’s, children, husbands, wives, relationships, marriages, finances, etc. The Lord is Faithful to take care of us and meet our needs (spiritually, physically, mentally and financially). Trust that Father God knows best--He is always working behind the scenes - His timing is always perfect! "… no good thing will He withhold, from them that walk uprightly." Psalms 84:11.
AN ANSWER TO PRAYER: A couple of weeks ago my husband and I started putting a little money aside for a special weekend. We were diligent about saving because we didn’t want to take from the money we needed to meet the financial obligations of our household. Our intentions were to save and add a little bit every week and then when it was time we would have what we needed. Then 2 days ago, I received a call to pray for a brother in the Lord who was suffering with much pain in his body and taken to the emergency room. I prayed that it wouldn’t be anything serious and that the Lord be merciful to him and heal him. The good report is that it wasn’t serious and with medication he would be good as new in a few days. Thank you Jesus! “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways, says the LORD.” Isaiah 55:8.
PROVISION FOR OUR NEEDS: “And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.” Psalm 9:10. Now, this brother was in between paychecks and only had $12 to his name. When I spoke to him I could hear the burden he was carrying over the lack of finances that he needed to purchase the medications prescribed by the physician. And to make the situation worse, he couldn’t go back to work until he was better. I felt a “test” coming--the Lord was already speaking to my heart to help him out; nevertheless, I didn’t mention anything to him. As I was talking with him my mind was racing, trying to figure out how I could help him financially. The only extra money I had was the money I’d saved for our “Special Outing” and at that point who knows if that would be enough considering how expensive prescriptions are these days. Well, he said he was going home and would try and figure something out and we left it at that. Within a matter of minutes he called me back in tears. TEARS OF JOY! He said that he walked into the pharmacy to just see what the medications ran and when he was quoted a price it was ridiculously high and started to walk away from the counter and the pharmacist said, “Wait, do you have insurance?” He said, “Yes, I do.” The pharmacist checked and with his discount the order came to $12.14. The brother shook his head with disappointment, He said, “I only have $12.00.” The pharmacist said, “Don’t worry about it, I got it, I will take care of the difference.” He filled the order, Praise God, and gave it to him. When he finished sharing his testimony with me we both rejoiced, and then realized he didn’t know how he would make it till payday. It took all the money he had to fill the prescription but he was thankful to the Lord for meeting his need.
GOD REWARDS US: The Lord laid it upon my heart to bless him with the $12 that he started with and give him another $12 on top of that. I kept that thought to myself and at that time of the day neither one of us had a vehicle to do anything. So I waited till my husband got home from work and told him what took place that day and we were both in agreement to bless him “Double” for his trouble. I knew then; that the Lord had me saving that little extra not for our own personal need but to be a witness and help this brother out. You see, God’s been trying to prove himself to him and to me. The Lord wanted to see if I would put into action what He had been teaching me. Jesus spoke very loudly to my heart. He said, “You must release the finances you saved for yourself to meet the need of your brother.” “Tell them to do good, to be rich in the good things they do, to be generous, and to share with others.” 1 Timothy 6:18. Within 24 hours exactly of helping that brother we received 2 unexpected checks in the mail from out of state. Father God returned it to us and then some. “…knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord.” Ephesians 6:8. When He speaks to our hearts how blessed we are for trusting and obeying Him. Trials strengthen us and build our faith; they make us stronger and more powerful than any mountain that comes our way. We give Glory, Honor and Praise to Jesus. Thank you Lord for giving me the strength to pass my “Test”. “O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.” Isaiah 25:1.
Dear Ministry Friends…Thank you for all the prayers you pray for me and my family. Thank you for all that you do to help me keep our work of prayer moving forward. Without you we could not do all the good things we do for the Gospel. Thank you for all your visits to us here in Opelousas. We are always glad to see you. Don’t forget to send me the names of your loved ones before December 1, 2011 in the enclosed envelope. We are looking forward to many answered prayers. I love and appreciate you. In His love and service, hilda arredondo
Thank you so much for reading this message. If you would like to make a copy or copies of this newsletter, you are welcome to do so. Make sure your copy is in its entirety and the message should not be changed. Judgment messages are very serious and those declaring them carry a big responsibility.
Hilda Arredondo's name and her website http://NDCPrayer.com/ and e-mail address uipwc@bellsouth.net should accompany this message as you print it. If you have any questions or comments please e-mail us. At this point we have no representatives outside this ministry and all business for the ministry is handled by hilda arredondo, 195 El Shaddai Rd, Opelousas, La. 70570
