In Pursuit of Peace

May Teaching Letter from Denise Renner

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas and greetings in Jesus’ precious name! Christ came into this world “in the fullness of time” to redeem mankind from sin and to reconcile us to the Heavenly Father (Galatians 4:4,5). And what a great salvation it was and is that God wrought for us in Christ (see Hebrews 2:3-18)! Denise and I and our family wish you a warm and wonderful Christmas season and the best new year of your life in 2022.

Today I want to talk to you about opportunities and adversaries, but first I want to say thank you for being such a faithful partner with our ministry. As I told you in my letter last month, our ministry is bursting at the seams, and I am so humbled that God would use Denise and me, our family, and our team to minister to the many people who are reaching out to us every day.

Every soul is precious, and it is our heartfelt desire to convey that truth to every person God brings to us — that they are precious to Him and to us. And your gifts are so vital to our ability to touch every one of these treasured souls! So today I want to say a special thank you for all you do with us to take the trusted teaching of the Word of God to people in Russia and all over the world. From the depths of our hearts, Denise and I THANK YOU!

This month is the last month of the year — and I know you are probably preparing for Christmas and many different kinds of gatherings. But in addition to Christmas, it’s also almost 2022. As we come to the end of this year and to the beginning of a brand-new year, the Holy Spirit keeps telling me to “stay on track” with the assignments He has given us. I hear Him saying that even if we hit bumps along the way, everything will be all right if we’ll just stay on track and maintain our God-assigned territory — the many opportunities and assignments He has given us to inspire, strengthen, and equip believers with the sound teaching of the Bible.

But I’ve learned over the years that opportunities and adversaries usually go together — and today I want to encourage you to undergird yourself so that you can stay on track with what God has asked you to do this month and in the coming year.

Over the course of our ministry, we’ve had many great, effectual doors open to us to do the work of the Gospel. I’ll never forget when I received an opportunity to minister on television in the former Soviet Union. It was as if a great door had suddenly swung open to an entire vast territory — a door that had never before been opened for anyone else — and I knew I was experiencing something miraculous. By faith, Denise and I stepped through that door and began to preach the Word of God on television in this spiritually starved corner of the world.

Given the former socialist-communist campaigns against the Gospel in this particular region, this opportunity was as miraculous as the Jordan River dividing for Joshua and the children of Israel. But with this great open door also came a slew of adversaries, specifically dispatched by Satan to instill fear and doubt into my heart. The devil desperately wanted to prevent me from touching the lives of spiritually oppressed people, so he positioned evil people with insidious plans to try to block my view of what God had in store for our ministry.

I’m telling you that it was like the children of Israel looking at the Promised Land from the far side of the Jordan River. From that perspective, they saw only the fruitful land of blessing that lay before them. But once they entered the Promised Land, they had to fight giants of every kind before they could possess that land and enjoy the blessing. In much the same way, if Denise and I had taken our eyes off the Lord during that tumultuous period — or if we had focused only on the problems and forgotten about the fruit we were pursuing for God’s Kingdom — I’m sure we would have backpedaled to get out of the situation!

But we knew this was a God-given opportunity and worth the fight, so we fixed our gaze squarely on the Lord. Girded with the armor of God and the power of the Spirit, we pushed through every obstacle and possessed the ground that God called us to take. As a result, millions of souls began to hear the Gospel for the first time. We knew that only God could have opened this door!

In First Corinthians 16:9, the apostle Paul wrote about the strategic doors of opportunity that open for the Gospel and the adversaries that usually accompany them. He said, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.” Notice that Paul used the words “great,” “door,” “effectual,” and “is opened” to describe the opportunity that had been set before him.

The word “great” in this verse is translated from the Greek word megale, which means gigantic. The word “door” is the Greek word thura, which typically refers to a door, but in this context, denotes a rare opportunity. The word “effectual” is the Greek word energes, and it depicts something that is powerful and ready to be set into motion. Finally, the phrase “is opened” is the Greek word anoigo, which describes something standing wide open. In other words, the door in question couldn’t be any more open! Thus, an alternate translation of Paul’s words in First Corinthians 16:9 could be rendered, “A gigantic, powerful opportunity is already set in motion and standing wide open….”

Paul continued by saying, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me….” You see, Paul knew that the particular door he was referring to had never been opened to anyone else, and he stood in awe of the unprecedented opportunity. Walking through these kinds of doors is impossible without divine assistance, and Paul was fully aware of God’s role in the matter. That is why he specified that this door had been opened “unto me.”

Paul’s prayer request in First Corinthians 16:9 was not for a door to open because it had already opened. His prayer request was to receive God’s wisdom to deal with the numerous adversaries who were trying to come against him. Paul used the Greek word antikeimenoi to describe the vast number of “adversaries” that were sent to attack him. This Greek word describes something that was piled high and lying all around him. In other words, he was dealing with more than a few minor opponents. On the contrary, it felt like opposition was stacked high on every side!

I’ve learned that the enemy will try his best to keep you from stepping through the gigantic doors of opportunity God desires to open for you. Satan is afraid of what will happen when “his” territory is invaded by someone fully equipped with a full arsenal of spiritual weapons. So know this: God will open doors for you — but He needs you to make a determined decision that you will walk through them, no matter the opposition, with the help of His Spirit.

By opening the door, God has already done His part, which would have been impossible without His assistance. Now He beckons you to come, dressed in the whole armor of God and in the power of His Word — and proceed through that effectual door into new territory. It may look like enemies are everywhere, but it is simply a fact that the devil and his forces flee and collapse when they are subjected to a show of strong faith!

As I mentioned earlier, many great and effectual doors have been opened to us over the years to do the work of the Gospel. In each case, we knew these doors were unique to us and had never before been opened for anyone else. And just as Paul experienced opposition, there were plenty of enemies that came against us with each opportunity. But because we obeyed God, the devil was forced to move out of the way, and we walked right into the virgin territory that God had opened for our ministry.

Even if you think your situation looks threatening right now, I want to tell you that God is with you. He wants to supernaturally open new doors for you — doors that have never before been opened for you. He is not beckoning you to walk through these doors so you can fail. He is with you every step of the way, and He will empower you to defeat every foe and bring Him glory in that new territory that is yours to possess in Jesus’ name!

Your open door may be an opportunity to shine the light of God’s Word and God’s love to your family or friends during this holiday season. It may be a door that will open to you in the new year. Regardless of when it is or what it is, the same God who opens doors will empower you to walk through them — and then He’ll be right with you to give you the wisdom and strength needed to overcome any giant that tries to meet you on the other side.

I know this is not a typical December, “Christmas-style” letter, but this is what was on my heart to share with you today. I want you to always know that if we can join you in prayer, we would be delighted to do so. To be honest, we are praying for you anyway, but when we are alerted to know exactly “how” to pray, it increases our effectiveness as we pray for you. So if you have a special need, please either call or write to let us know how we can get in agreement with you for God to show Himself mighty to you according to Jeremiah 33:3, which says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

And please pray for us as we continue marching forward by faith to push back darkness, to shine the light of God’s Word, and to take territory for the Kingdom of God. Together — as partners — we can make a difference in the lives of throngs of people who are crying out to God for help. They are waiting for God to respond to their prayers, and God wants to use us — you and us together — to bring them the answers they desperately need.

But before I close, I want to say we are specifically asking God to do something special for you this month and before the end of the year. I don’t know what it is, but that is what we are praying. We are asking God to do something special that will bless your life! And please, please pray for us as we continue pushing ahead to build our studio in Moscow, to finalize the purchase of our new headquarters in Tulsa, and to continue to minister effectually to every precious soul Jesus brings to us!

Merry Christmas!

We love you and thank God for you!

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
along with Paul, Philip, and Joel and their families|Dear Friend,

It is such a privilege to be able to share with you what’s on my heart this month. God is doing amazing things! Our world has changed a lot in the last three years, but that has not stopped His mighty hand or His ability to change lives. He is a rescuing God, a saving God, and a supplier-of-our-needs God — and He will always be!

But first I want to tell you how thankful I am for the many responses and prayer requests I’m receiving. I read every one, and I pray over every prayer request and rejoice over every praise report. I’m so aware that God is reaching out to us. It doesn’t matter if we can see each other or not — His Spirit is working mightily among us!

Today I want to talk to you about the faithfulness of our God, His compassion, and His peace. In John 14:18, we see these amazing and wonderful words from Jesus: “I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you.” Through these powerful words, we catch a glimpse of the heart of Jesus and the heart of the Father for the disciples. Jesus knew He would soon be leaving His chosen followers. He knew they would see and witness His arrest, He knew they would see Him crucified, and He was speaking these words to bring comfort to them before these things happened.

Jesus knew these cascading events would shake His disciples — they would devastate them. Out of His compassion for them, He was preparing them beforehand. He cared perfectly for them. And the Word says He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (see Hebrews 13:8), so His heart toward us is the same as it was toward His disciples. He can see what is ahead of us. We may not see it, but He does, and He says to us, “I will never leave you. Never!”

Before Jesus reassured the disciples by saying, “I will come to you” (John 14:18), He told them how He would come to them. In John 14:16, He said, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.” When Jesus said He was going to send them (and us) another Comforter, He was basically saying, “I am going to send you Someone exactly like Me.” And that Someone is the Holy Spirit — the perfect representation of Jesus in every way. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter, our refuge, our strength, and our very present help in times of trouble (see Psalm 46:1).

The New King James Version of John 14:18 says, “I will not leave you as orphans….” Maybe you were an orphan, or maybe you have adopted a child who was orphaned. If so, you have intimate knowledge about what it means to be an orphan. I have been in several orphanages in the former USSR. In fact, more than two decades ago, we sold one of our first homes to a ministry, and they transformed it into an orphanage. When I went back to visit the children at the orphanage, I could see clearly that they had once been rejected, abandoned, ignored, devalued, and absent of love and parental affection. But Jesus said, “I will not leave you orphans.” In other words, He was saying, “I will not leave you rejected. I will not leave you abandoned. I will not leave you ignored, without value, or absent of love or affection.” Then He said, “I am giving you the Holy Spirit, and He will never, never, never leave you!”

Jesus continued His words of encouragement to His disciples by saying, “These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy [Spirit], whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:25,26).

In verse 27, Jesus then shares something that’s even more revealing of His tender care for us. He says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

When Jesus said this to His disciples, He was immediately giving them peace — and that same peace is available to us. Peace can mean several things: It can mean cessation of war, the putting away of weapons, putting away conflict, or a time of rebuilding and reconstruction after war has ceased. It can also mean distractions being removed and order in the place of chaos. Ultimately, peace is a calm inner stability that results in peacefulness even in the midst of circumstances that would normally be traumatic and upsetting.

First Peter 3:4 also gives us wisdom concerning peace. It says, “But let it [peace] be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” This can be the picture of a godly wife with controlled strength — a wife who has opinions and preferences about how she would like to see things happen in her marriage, or a wife who has desires about how her husband should treat her. But instead of arguing and complaining, she takes hold of peace and lets it manifest in her as controlled strength.

God says this kind of peace is “very precious” in His sight (see 1 Peter 3:4 NKJV). But this kind of peace does not just happen automatically. It is something that we must pursue. Hebrews 12:14 says, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” This word “pursue” means to hunt for and to follow after. So my friend, if we desire to attain this peace and keep it, we must continually pursue it.

Peace can be ours today — it is ours to freely receive. But we must choose to pursue peace and say to our heart, “Don’t be troubled. Don’t be afraid.” Speak peace over yourself, your family, your children, and your house. God said to Joshua, “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses” (Joshua 1:3). Take your authority over your place and declare peace! Peace is a weapon, and it silences the enemy. It conquers anger and defeats anxiety.

This peace that you have on the inside is so powerful, and it has a powerful voice. Peace says, “Don’t fear.” Peace says, “Yes! I can do this.” Peace says, “Don’t worry.” Peace says, “Devil, shut up!” And peace says, “Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and I will not fear.” Speak it by faith today — embrace peace, and don’t let it go.

Dear friend, when we take hold of that peace, joy comes, strength comes, and patience and kindness come. I know, in this day especially, we need to embrace the peace of God. His peace shows up very powerfully in the midst of difficulties. What an amazing and wonderful Savior we have! He is the Prince of Peace and the One who gave us His peace.

I speak the peace of God to you right now — over your mind, over your body, over your emotions, over your relationship with your family, over your finances, and over your home.

Thank you so much for spending this time with me. If you would like more encouragement from the Word, I invite you to join me for my program, TIME With Denise Renner, on Wednesdays at 11:00 a.m. CT on YouTube and Facebook. You can also find me Saturdays at 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. CT on GospelTruth.TV and Saturdays at 3:30 p.m. CT on PTL. And you can access my audio podcast on Spotify, Apple, and Google with new episodes every Monday at 5:00 a.m.

Please let us know how we can pray for you. If you have a special prayer request, one of our prayer partners is just a phone call or email away. Call 1.800.742.5593 or send us an email at prayer@deniserenner.org.We look forward to joining our faith with yours for the answer you need!

We are moving forward together,

Denise Renner

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