The Forerunner Anointing

June 2012

Dear Friend of Mary Craig Ministries,

How did you hear about Jesus Christ? Did someone witness to you? Did you hear a message on T.V. or in a church or at some ministry meeting? Or are you one of those rare folks that had a direct encounter with Jesus, like Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus?

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
Shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom
They have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of
Whom they have not hear? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? Romans 10:13-15a

Most of us "heard" because of someone sharing a testimony and the gospel of Jesus Christ with us. That person prepared the way for another to receive Christ. That person was a messenger pointing to another, to someone greater, saying, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." (John 1:29)

This was the purpose and call of John the Baptist. Set apart from conception, filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb, he would go before the Messiah in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke 1:15-17) John would be called the prophet of the Highest for he would go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide people into the way of peace. (Luke 1:76-79)

John the Baptist demonstrated the nature of the Lamb. He knew that Jesus must increase and that he must decrease. (John 3:30) He preached a message of repentance; his was a baptism of repentance. He taught people to receive the Word. He taught them how to receive the message of a messenger, one who was "sent." He would be as a lamp, shedding light on the truth for a season. He prepared people for one greater than himself, for Jesus, who was sent by the Father with the message of salvation. By calling people to Behold the Lamb, John prepared people to receive the Lamb and then to follow the Lamb.

Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receives whomsoever I send receives Me; and he that receives Me receives Him that sent Me." (John 13:20) We must receive the ones God sends to speak to us that we might receive the One who sent the messenger.

So how do we receive from the messengers God sends? They are calling us to believe: to hear, to believe, and to receive. If they are genuine, they will not be pointing to themselves, glorifying themselves. They will be humble. They will stick with their mission to reveal Christ, to be the forerunner, to prepare the way for the Lord. John the Baptist was not raising himself up. He was a 'lamp' who was simply testifying about the Messiah. John 5:35. He had been sent to reveal Christ. He did not even fully know who Christ was until the Holy Spirit came upon Him like a dove. John 1:33. Then John the Baptist cried out, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" John 1:29. At that very moment, his eyes were opened by the Spirit so that he could see the light. This became his ministry to others. He was opening their ears and eyes.

Jesus came as the Messenger of the Covenant. He was sent by the Father to reveal the Father, just as the Father would reveal the Son. "And the Father Himself, which has sent Me, has borne witness of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His shape. And you have not His word abiding in you: for whom He has sent, Him you believe not." (John 5:37, 38) Jesus is likewise a messenger who must be received before we can receive eternal life, before we can receive all that the Father has for those who believe. We must receive those who are sent, the forerunners, the messengers, in order that we might hear and believe. In order to receive from God, we must believe the testimony that we receive from a messenger. This was true of John the Baptist pointing the way to Jesus the Lamb. This is true of Jesus pointing the way of salvation and how someone "gets back to the Father."

If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater:
For this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son.
He that believes on the Son of God has the witness in Himself:
he that believes not God has made Him a liar; because he believes not the record
That God gave of His Son. And this is the record,
That God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
1 John 5:9-11

For the one who believes, the source and reason of things is never in himself. A believer must be able to receive what is from God, receive His testimony, and then the truth is sealed to him as being certain. The Father Himself is revealed by the Son. The Lamb of God to be revealed is the revelation of the love of the Father and Son.

Fathers turned to children, children turned to fathers! This is God's order for the proceeding of life. God the Father, as a result of the Eternal Covenant, is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and of every family in heaven and earth. Eph 3:14,15. God's desire is that hearts to turn to one another once again and receive the testimony of God. Will you?

He came unto His own, and His own received Him not,
But as many as received Him, to them gave he power to
Become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name:
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,
Nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:11-13)

In the spirit of the forerunner anointing, MCM implores the broken, wounded, and lost of a fallen world to receive restoration and healing in the atonement of Jesus Christ, that His own might terminate their hostility toward God and become what God has declared them to be through the transforming power of God's Word and the Holy Spirit with love, compassion, and grace.

This is our mission, and fulfilling that mission has taken us to 75 nations on all seven continents since 1993. Fulfilling that mission led us to begin the Barnabas Project, demonstrating God's free grace and giving hope to hundreds of families through free distributions of goods since 2003. Fulfilling that mission led us to establish Craighouse® Christian Fellowship where God's Word is taught and lives are transformed. Fulfilling that mission sent us into radio ministry for four years and launched a web site with free Bible teaching and resources since 2000, www.marycraig.org. Fulfilling that mission means home and hospital visitation ministry, evangelism, "refrigerator ministry," Kinetic Koinonia, mercy missions, reaching people around the world and across the street.

As we approach our 19th year this July, we thank you who have prayed for us, gone with us, given of your time, talents, and money, encouraged us, and stayed the course with us.

We thank you for giving. We welcome and need your generous gifts as guided by the Holy Spirit. You are touching lives through your gifts to Mary Craig Ministries. God is blessing MCM tremendously, and we are happy for those of you who partake of this blessing.

Serving the Lord of Glory,

Mary Craig

P.S. Go to www.marycraig.org for the latest articles and words received. Order books from our catalog section using PayPal. Worship with us 4:30 p.m. Sundays. Grow and flourish in small group ministry at Craighouse®, located in the Pompano Plaza at 114 E. Mc Nab Road, Pompano Beach, FL 33060. Log on to www.craighouse.org for a map and more events and Bible studies. Reach MCM at 954-491-7270. Send in your prayer requests. Mary Craig Ministries, Inc. is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit corporation founded in 1993. Federal ID 65-0429517.

And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
John 1:34

Mary Craig Ministries is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization