May Newsletter

-

         


NAACUS WOMEN'S MINISTRY: NEWSLETTER MAY 2021


By-Dr. Princess Mokolo


Beloved, what a sweet assurance we have in our Lord’s promise- “And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you” (John 14:16).  

Our Lord ceaselessly encourages us to cultivate a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit, the third person of the blessed Trinity who comes from God the same way our Lord Jesus comes from God. He is the key to our fully understanding the Trinity: “When the advocate comes whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me (John 15:26). 

The Holy Spirit dwells in us, He is God’s presence in our lives- “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you”? (1 Cor. 3: 16). 

He is our paraclete - helper, counselor, comforter, advocate (John 14:16). The Holy Spirit is our source of encouragement. He grants us the grace of endurance (Jn 14:16) in the face of persecution especially from those whose values are different from ours. Whenever we face criticism, contempt, jealousy, and meanness because of our faith and our fruitfulness we must learn to invite the Holy Spirit to be our advocate and comforter. 

The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is the seal and mark of our adoption as God’s children, giving us assurance and confidence in our salvation and that we carry our Lord’s DNA so to speak. In His role as our counselor, He teaches us and reminds us of all our Lord said to us (John,14:26); He guides us to all truth and even reveals to us what is yet to come (John 16:13-15). Indeed, He is the source of revelation, wisdom, and power. We are told in 1 Cor. 2:10-11 that He searches all things, even the deep things of God and no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 

The Holy Spirit brings POWER into our lives. Romans 8: 11 assures us that “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in us. And Just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.” We need this power to fulfill our Lord’s charge to us: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do because I am going to the Father” (John 14: 12). 

This is the kind of power that emboldened Peter to stand before over 3000 people confessing Christ’s Lordship, barely months after denying him in fear when questioned by a slave girl. The power of the Holy Spirit helps us to speak up against those things that grieve our Father and right the wrongs within our sphere of influence. We must also welcome and activate the power in the gifts of the Holy Spirit to help us model exemplary Christian fruitful behaviors. Life in the Spirit also empowers us to take a bold stand against injustice, corruption, racism, human trafficking, policies that compromise the sanctity of life, and other ills that plague our world. We have a responsibility to become models of love, faith, compassion, chastity, kindness, goodness, peace, fortitude, forgiveness, humility, modesty, self-control, gentleness, and patience (Galatians 5: 22-23 & Isaiah 11:12).

 He is the primary agent of all evangelization efforts, and He bestows on us the spiritual gifts we need to accomplish this- “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Act 1:8). To advance the gospel effectively, we need the same gifts our Lord and the apostles manifested 2000 years ago, and indeed by the power of the Holy Spirit, these gifts are alive and activated in the same way in our lives and among us today. 

Let us pray to experience the power of the Holy Spirit and for the Holy Spirit to impact us with the spiritual gifts promised in 1 Cor 12: 8-11, which tells us He distributes “them to each one, just as he determines”: wisdom, knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, discernment, speaking in different kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues. These gifts bless the recipient, advance the work of evangelization, and bring glory to God and so we must be open to receiving them. 

Even though we are told the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin – “When he comes, he will prove the world to be wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment” (Jn 16:8); thankfully the same Spirit helps us in our weaknesses and aligns us with God’s will by interceding for us (Rom 8: 26-27). May we always remember to call on the Holy Spirit to help us in our moments of weakness. 

In our daily interactions, as a community of faith, in our homes, Christian and civil societies, parishes, ministries, school, workplaces, and the larger society we must all create time to reflect and use the above standards to assess our behavior, thoughts, actions, non-actions, motives, and utterances. We must daily measure our fruitfulness and response to the "life in the Spirit". Like a car with an empty gas tank, we can’t go far without the enablement of the Holy Spirit. Imagine if we all did as much due diligence in checking our fruitfulness as we do in ensuring we are virus-free (constant symptom checks, hand washing, sanitizing, other precautions) during this pandemic. We will do well to pay even greater attention to tuning up daily to maintain our spiritual wellness and optimum levels of fruitfulness and whenever we feel compromised, we must remember we have a helper and humbly turn to the Holy Spirit for a fresh anointing.

 In response and with great appreciation join me in praying these words from your heart –Thank you Lord for sending me the Holy Spirit of truth to fill me, renew me, sanctify me, make me holy, give me the gift of eternal life in Christ, live in me and guide me through my life’s journey. Lord help me to always be obedient and docile to the Holy Spirit! Lord impact my life with the gifts of the Holy Spirit and help me to bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit! Happy Pentecost everyone!


BIRTHDAY ANNOUNCEMENTS! 

Anne-May 15

Amaka Onochie- May 21

Marian- May 25th

Princess-May 25th

Elizabeth May-31


Read more on our blog by clicking on https://nwmnewsletter.blogspot.com

Pls join us for our monthly Prayer meetings

Naacus Women Ministry

Monthly Teleconference Prayer Meeting

Join us on-

Friday, May 28th 2021 Time: 9pm Eastern Time 

Email your prayer request & testimonies to: naacuswm@gmail.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for participating on our NWM blog. All comments are moderated as we welcome only courteous, respectful and edifying comments that are helpful for the spiritual, personal & professional growth of NWM members and readers.

MOST VIEWED NEWSLETTERS

AUGUST NEWSLETTER

-
Image
The Joy of the Lord   NAACUS Women's Ministry Virtual Retreat Reflection  By Nma Rose Nwoga The Joy of the Lord   The joy of the Lord refers to Christ’s love for His Father and the Father’s love towards Him. Christ’s joy  can be seen in the awareness of the father’s love and in the keeping of His Commandments.  All his actions, thoughts, emotions and purpose were in perfect harmony with the will of God. This unbroken communion with the Father is the the source of Christ’s joy. This is the joy He desires that we inherit as Christians.  As the Father loved Jesus, so also he has loved us His followers. He challenges us to remain in his love by keeping his commandments just as He kept His Father’s commandments and remained in his love. To be truly joyful then, one must pursue a life of personal holiness and relationship with Christ through prayers and sacrifices. The Importance of Joy in Witnessing As Christians, we are called to be witnesses and joy is an important
Read more

August Newsletter

-
Image
NAACUS WOMEN'S  MINISTRY: NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2020 Are You joyful in the Lord? The NAACUS Women's Ministry has not been relenting in its effort to remain connected with the people of God in this Pandemic Era .Our Virtual Retreat in June titled  That my joy may be in you and you may be complete with Rev Father Patrick Etuk as our guest speaker was well attended and fulfilling . Reflections : NAACUS WOMEN'S MINISTRY VIRTUAL RETREAT REFLECTIONS                                     BY: Nma Rose Nwoga    The Joy of the Lord: The joy of the Lord refers to Christ’s love of His Father and the Father’s love towards Him. Christ’s joy  can be seen in the awareness of the father’s love and in the keeping of His Commandments.  All his actions, thoughts, emotions and purpose were in perfect harmony with the will of God. This unbroken communion with the Father is the source of Christ’s joy. This is the joy He desires that we inherit as Christians.  As the Father loved Jesus, so also he has
Read more

SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER

-
Image
3   Introduction NAACUS Women Ministry Presents Ruth, one of  the leading Ladies in the Bible.   When we hear about Leading Ladies, we often think about glamour, fame, success and beauty, but probably not sacrifice, spirituality, and asceticism. But these leading ladies from the biblical point of view are all about leading us closer to God and deeper in our faith. In this article you will learn about  a remarkable leading Lady called Ruth,  who even though she bore no child for her late  Jewish husband,  chose to stay  with  Naomi  her poor  mother in-law .  She speaks to the line to which she is most remembered “wherever you go, l shall go, wherever you lodge, l shall lodge. . .”.  We shall learn how   God rewarded her piety, steadfastness, long suffering devotion and love  and made  her  the  ancestor of extraordinary descendants including our Lord Jesus Christ.  Like our Mother Mary who we encountered with Elizabeth and others, and Esther who we encountered with others  as well , we
Read more
-
Image
  NAACUS WOMEN'S MINISTRY: NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2020 Reflecting on the Heart as a Symbol of Faith By  Sister Uju Praise  Brethren as we celebrate the season of Advent ,It will be nice to examine our hearts.The season of Avent is the Season to take stock ,and examine our lifestyle. ​*THE HEART*  The heart is in a restricted place. It should be regarded as a sacred, secret or holy place (holy of holies). And also an inner sanctuary. The heart is to be  guarded with  all diligence inorder to make our lives worthy.  Proverbs 4:23 says: "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life".  Because the heart is a 'secret place' we have to always consecrate it, set it apart, being conscious and selective of what we allow to go in there. So many people go through no peace, no joy, always feeling offended. It's not because they have more problems than others but because they are not guarding or protecting their hearts which is a secret place.   Mos
Read more
-
Image
  NAACUS WOMEN'S MINISTRY: NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2020 Reflecting on the Cross as a Symbol of Faith By Dr. Mrs. Bibiana A. Acholonu ​Faith is bailing out a friend. “But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” – Proverbs 18:24. For our Lord Jesus Christ, “bailing out a friend” means nothing but dying for you and me on the cross.  Christ died upon the cross of Calvary to save us from all our sins and guilts. What a great faith that is? It is beyond our imagination. In fact, he ran the risk of giving everything he had, including his life to save his friends, who might not appreciate it. What lesson can we his creatures learn from this unimaginable sacrifice? Can we bailout our friends in time of difficulties without grumbling or expecting reward or pay back? Being human, sometimes we lack the skill of making such expensive sacrifice to our fellow human beings like Christ did for us. We can be our brother’s keeper with God’s grace which we can receive with ultimate faith in t
Read more