Dear Friends and praying saints,

Jeremiah has been among my readings for most of this month, and it is pretty intense. God commands him to expose and confront the stubborn sinfulness of human nature almost all the way through the entire book. Thankfully, however, it highlights God’s mercy in a few key places along the way.

Here’s an example from Jeremiah 11:4-5. “…I said, ‘Obey me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God. Then I will fulfill the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’—the land you possess today.” And in chapter 12:15 we read, "But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to their own inheritance and their own country."

In the New Testament we see God’s promises take on a much broader application. Through the fruit of his sinless life, sacrificial death, and triumphant resurrection, Jesus extends God's promise of life to all who come to him in faith. This is beautifully expressed in Revelation 21:6, "He said to me: 'It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.' "

I began to reflect on the significance of this in terms of our modern world. Just taking in the greatness and the breadth of God's love and his dealings with individuals takes on a new scale of meaning when we look at this amazing information about the human race from a massive global database. This graphic is taken from a website called worldometers.info, and it provides some pretty eye-opening statistics.

But of much more transcendent importance is the magnitude of the power of the Gospel to bring people into God’s eternal kingdom. And here again we can see the Lord’s invitation in the words of Jeremiah 29:11, " 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' " Take a look at these numbers—heaven is getting happier by the day!

This glorious hope and future has personally taken on greater significance as we have “lost” several friends to heaven in recent days. And this helps us to keep the proper focus on what matters the most. What would be loss is gain; what really dies is pain. In Christ we live and move and have our being. The rest is all just passing fancy. (Acts 17:28)

Some good fuel for revival prayer is found in 2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

Thank you for praying with us for our needy world,

Dick and Gladys

Dear Friends,

I've been sporadically reading through a book called The Welsh Revival of 1904 by Eifion Evans. I recently read Chapter 8, titled "The Inspired Itinerary." He mentions many travelled to Wales to experience the revival firsthand, but also some who were unable to travel to see it for themselves.

Among those was R. A. Torrey, who you may have heard of. He was used greatly by the Lord in Australia and the southern Pacific area years ago around the same time. And curiously, Gladys had just run across something about him the other day and mentioned his name to me. And so when I picked up the book and read this portion, I thought it was worth passing along here.

"R. A. Torrey was unable to make the journey to the Principality, confined to Liverpool by his mission activities. On reading of the revival he wrote the following letter to Roberts, dated 29th November, 1904:

" 'I have heard with great joy of the way in which God has been using you as the instrument of his power in different places in Wales. I simply write you this letter to let you know of my interest in you, and to tell you that I am praying for you I have been praying for a long time that God would raise up men of his own choosing in different parts of the world, and mightily anoint them with the Holy Spirit, and bring in a mighty revival of his work. It is so sadly needed in these times.

" 'I cannot tell you the joy that has come to my heart, as I have read of the mighty work of God in Wales. I am praying that God will keep you, simply trusting in him, and obedient to him, going not where men shall call you, but going where he shall lead you, and that he may keep you humble. It is easy for us to become exalted when God uses us as the instruments of his power. It is so easy to think that we are something ourselves, and when we get to thinking that, God will set us aside. May God keep you humble, and fill you more and more with his mighty power.' "

That is an important lesson that we see illustrated throughout the scriptures time and time again. When Jesus also gave it special emphasis when he said in Matthew 5:3, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." and verse 5, "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." God is the center and the source of it all, and without him we can do nothing.

In the midst of my recent illness, the fact that He was all I had became very real. I'm relieved and happy to report that the Lord has been restoring my strength and I'm able to do some work in the garden with Gladys. But here too is the lesson repeated. We can dig and plant and pull weeds, but only He is the one that sends rain and sunshine makes things grow.

I find that pulling weeds and trying to get all the roots out is hard but good exercise, both physical and spiritual. It is an ideal medium for prayer and meditation. I liken the weeds to my own stubborn ways of thinking, and how important it is to allow God's word to be the judge of all that. During these recent months, time and time again I find that His word or worship song lyrics easily bring me to the point of tears as I realize it is only His goodness that's kept me in the land of the living.

God's word and time with Him in prayer are the source of our strength and hope. And we delight to see Him moving in hearts and lives in the challenging world around us. We find powerful fuel for prayer in David's words in Psalm 19:14, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer."

Dick and Gladys

Dear Praying Friends,

The onset of spring presents us with wildly vivid displays of color and innumerable shades of fresh green growth. Everywhere we go, the roads are lined with white flowering hedges and houses’ gardens are ablaze with colours and textures that take your breath away!

This newness of life has been of great encouragement to us as it seems to speak of healing and wholeness. That is good news we’ve been waiting and praying for, and now we are seeing improvement. It is slow in coming, but it is sure on the way. The scripture in the subject line from Malachi 4:2 is such a glorious declaration. "But to you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings."

Even through this prolonged recovery, we have thankfully been able to get out and about to enjoy the beauty of nature around us. It has been very good medicine. We have also been able to visit some friends and even get back to our chapel a few times, though the unseasonably cold weather has been a challenge. But the beginning taste of “normal” is wonderful. I have kept more details on the dedicated webpage at “salud.walesawakening.org” for those interested.

You may or may not be familiar with Pete Greig, who was instrumental in starting the 24/7 prayer movement here in London in 1999. He is a 3-minute video clip taken from one of his messages that is just brilliant, and I felt impressed to pass it along. I believe it highlights a key element to the growth of Christ’s church that we are praying for. You can enjoy it at this link.

Again we would like to express our enormous thanks for your prayers for us during this challenging time. And our prayer for you is according to 2 Peter 2:2, "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord."

Dick and Gladys

Dear Friends and praying Saints,

I just want to say a big thank you to all who've been praying for my latest "health adventure!" I will be posting things at the link below, as I can't answer individually and be resting up at the same time!

It certainly wouldn’t have been my choice of mission fields, but the amount of divine appointments and opportunities for both Gladys and I was beyond belief. No wonder the writer of the gospel said in the end of John 21:25, “Jesus did many other things as well... I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”

Please visit: salud.walesawakening.org

Blessings in Jesus' Name above them all,

Dick and Gladys