Just Because

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

     I pray you greet each day with excitement and that anxiety has no place in you.

     Today I want to talk to you about "Just Because".  We all have reasons for the things we do.  Matt Redman wrote a song called "Ten Thousand Reasons" about why he loves and serves Jesus.  One anniversary, I had made a little booklet for my husband called "100 reasons why I love you".

     Have you ever done something seemingly on impulse and when asked why you did it, responded, "Just because"?  Even though you couldn't think of a good response at the time or were embarrassed to say, rest assured you had a reason for what you did.

     There are thousands of references to God's love for us throughout the Bible.  You will not find the word "because" in any one of them.  There is not one reason why God would love us enough to give us life, sacrifice His Son for us, provide our every need.  He just does.

     Aren't you thankful God's ways are higher than our ways, beloved ones?  Aren't you glad we can't earn or deserve God's love?  God loves us.  He doesn't have 10,000 reasons, 100 reasons, or even one.  He just does.  No because.  Wow!

Just another reason I love Him, Raelynn

The Greatness of Our God

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

     I pray that your spirit is light, your hearts are carefree, and your faces radiate the joy of the Lord.

     Today I want to talk about the "Greatness of Our God".  There is not a word I can say on this subject better than the Word itself says it, so I'm just writing down scripture today that I hope will bless and encourage you.

     "Fear thou not for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God.  I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee.  I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.  Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded; they shall be as nothing.  And they that strive with thee shall perish.  Thou shalt seek them and shalt not find them, even they that contend with thee.  They that war against thee shall be as nothing and as a thing of nought.  For I, the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand saying unto thee, "Fear not , I will help thee."  To whom then will ye liken me, or to whom shall I be equal, sayeth the Holy One.  Lift up your eyes on high and behold who hath created these things; that bringeth out the stars by number:  He calleth them all by name by the greatness of His might.  For that He is strong in power, not one faileth.  Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard that the Everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, neither is weary?  There is no searching of His understanding.  He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increaseth strength.  Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall, but they who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."

    What a great and mighty God we serve!  Who would not want to trust their lives to one such as this who not only makes promises like these, but is unable to break them?  These were just a few verses from Isaiah chapters 40 and 41.  The entire Bible is full of promises like these; full of examples of the greatness of our God.

     I pray you were encouraged today and were reminded that God is bigger than any situation you face.  He holds you by the hand and says, "I will help thee".  When faced with gigantic problems and insurmountable circumstances, remember that our God is bigger still.  Rely on the greatness of our God.

In His service,  Raelynn

Majority Rules

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

     I pray that the Son is shining on you today and you are hidden in the shadow of the Almighty.

     Today I want to talk to you about "The Majority Rules".  When I was growing up, the kids in our neighborhood would decide if we were playing Red Rover or Hide N Seek by a vote.  We'd each raise our hands for the game we wanted and the one with the most votes won.  When a protest arose, the others would always shout "The majority rules!"  And it did.

     There is a saying in Christendom, "God + one is a majority".  I don't believe that.  I believe God is the majority.  He doesn't need a person to give Him the edge.  If the battle were God vs. the world, mark my words, God would win.  He is the majority and the majority rules.

     When my daughter was going into 7th grade and my son into 2nd, the Lord called me to begin homeschooling my children.  This was a daunting enough task as I'd need to do it while still working full time, but to make matters worse, my children's fathers from whom I'd been divorced, decided to take me to court in order to keep them in public school.  These two men who previously despised each other suddenly became buddies in their effort to keep me from homeschooling my children.  They each hired lawyers and I was subpoenaed to appear.

      Frantic, I ran to my Lord in prayer.  He very calmly spoke peace to my soul and told me that the battle was not mine, but His; that I was to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.  He further instructed me not to hire a lawyer, nor take anything into the courtroom with me but a song in my heart and confidence in my Lord.  He told me not to prepare ahead of time what I would say, but He'd give me in that hour the words I should speak.  I knew the ex's and their lawyers would be preparing.  I had to make a decision to trust God.

     I'll never forget watching both men enter the courtroom with their new wives, parents, siblings, witnesses, and lawyers with file folders and expanda-files full of papers.  I walked in with my purse.  I remember them snickering, hi-fiving each other and planning to go out for a celebratory drink afterward.  I remember feeling the peace of God flowing through me as I hummed, "The Battle Belongs to the Lord".

     Then it began.  When they accused me of not being qualified, the Lord gave me the Arizona state statute (which I had never read) to recite that says in AZ a biological parent may homeschool his child through the grade that he, himself, had completed.  When they brought up the issue of socialization, I reminded them of recent school shootings and drugs in school and asked them if this was the socialization they wanted for their children.  I assured them that Jerod's little league team, Jessica's ballet class, the youth groups they attended and the neighbor hood kids they played with would be socialization enough.  When they touted all the benefits of public school, I told them of my daughter who was allowed to slip through the cracks of the public school system, who going into junior high was reading at a 4th grade level and didn't know her times tables.  I told them of the public school teacher who told me that with 30 kids in her class, she didn't have time to hold my daughter's hand to keep her from falling behind.  I told them that as her mom, I'd make the time.  Each time a charge was leveled at me, the Lord gave me the response I was to give. The battle was not mine, but God's.  The majority rules and the judge allowed me to homeschool my kids.

     Oh my friends, don't allow circumstances or people who plot to make your life miserable put you in fear.  You have the Almighty on your side.  Give Him your battle to fight.  He is the majority and the majority rules!

Victorious through Christ - your sister, Raelynn   



    

Never Alone

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

     I pray that with every breath you are singing the Lord's praises and thanking Him for His wonderful salvation!

     Today I want to talk to you about "Never Alone".  I want to share a concept with you today that if you can grasp it and hold on to it should bring you much peace and comfort in any situation.
     We know from the time we are young that in order to be "saved" we ask Jesus "into our heart".  To most of us, that is just the Christian lingo used to say that we asked forgiveness of our sins and have pledged to serve Jesus with our lives.  But the truth is...Jesus does live in our hearts.  "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (I Corinthians 3:16)  And because He is always with us, we are never alone.  This is why God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us.  He lives there.  It's His home.  He won't leave unless He's evicted.

     In tough times we hear, "Well, the Lord is with you, it will be ok", and we picture God hovering over our shoulder or being "out there somewhere" watching us.  The truth is, once you've accepted Christ, He is much, much nearer.  He holds your hand when you are frightened.  He's wiping away every tear you shed.  He wraps His arms around you when you are grieving, and when you feel lonely, He whispers in your ear "I am here".

     Keeping this in mind, consider the passage in Psalm 23, "Yea, though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me."  I don't know about you, my friends, but knowing that I am never alone fills me with peace, joy and courage!

     Have you ever wondered why those who have lived a life serving the Lord seem so at peace when they die?  Most believe it's because they know where they are going.  That's part of it, I'm sure.  But I believe it's because God opens their spiritual eyes and they see Jesus sitting at their bedside holding their hand and they hear Him say, "Come with Me.  Today you shall be with Me in Paradise."  As they leave hand in hand with Jesus, they feel the joy that comes with knowing that He's been right there all along.

     Know that joy today, beloved ones!  Even if you are the only one in the room, you are never alone - Jesus is with you!

In Christ, and He in me - Raelynn

Peace in Turmoil

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

    I pray that love, peace, joy, and every fruit of the Spirit is at work and evident in your life today and every day.

     Today I want to talk to you about "Peace in Turmoil".  I can't think of a better word to describe the world we live in than turmoil.  Crime is rampant, right has become wrong and wrong has become right, the economy gets worse by the day and serious illnesses afflict many.  I don't have to expound the woes of the world to you - you live in them every day.  What I do want to expound to you is how to hav peace in the midst of turmoil.

     Fear, anxiety and worry (all the opposite of peace) come from anticipation of the unknown (what might happen; what if?).  But it's not given to us to know all things, so how do we keep fear, anxiety and worry from ruling our lives?  By having an unwavering knowledge of and trust in Jesus Christ.

     The same Jesus who stood in the storm and commanded the wind and waves to be still can stand in your storm and command the winds of fear and waves of anxiety that crash around your heart to be still.  I'm not talking about Him changing your circumstances.  I'm talking about Him giving you peace in the midst of them.

     Colossians 3:15 says that the peace of God is to rule in our hearts.  Fears and anxieties may live there too (we are only human), but it's the peace that is to rule.  Peace can rule in our hearts when we get to the place where we believe and cannot be convinced otherwise that God is in control of all things and has a greater purpose for everything He allows in our lives.

     Many years ago, the son of one of the pastors in Benson died at age 16 while attending a Christian youth camp.  It was a tragic loss that affected a whole community.  It didn't seem fair.  He was so young and part of a family dedicated to serving the Lord.  What kind of a God allows that?...

     ...A loving and compassionate One who knows all and has our greater good in mind.  What not everyone knew was that Jason had a serious addiction to drugs and had overdosed on both of the weekends just prior to attending the youth camp.  God got a hold of his heart there and he re-dedicated his life to the Lord.  It was during an unselfish act of trying to save a friend caught in the undertow in the lake that Jason drowned.  The friend made it to safety.  I believe, my friends, that God knew Jason didn't have the strength outside the church camp setting to resist the pull of friends and drugs and in His mercy took Jason while his heart was right, sparing him a life of hell on earth and in eternity.

     We only see and know in part.  We have to trust that the all-seeing, all-knowing God has everything under control and wants the best for us.  My favorite scripture in the Bible is "Be still and know that I am God".  If we can still our hearts and minds, He will show Himself mighty.

     Oh my friends, let the peace of God rule in your hearts today.  I think a bumper sticker I once saw sums it up best:  Know Jesus, know peace.  No Jesus, no peace.

Peace be with you - Raelynn
 
 

When the Truth Hurts

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

     I pray that when you look in the mirror today, you see the love of Christ looking back at you.

     Today I want to talk to you about "When the Truth Hurts".  There is a line from a movie that says, "Truth?  You can't handle the truth."  We've also been taught that the truth hurts.  I'm here to tell you that when the truth hurts, it's being handled wrong.  Truth is not kind, nor harsh; good nor bad.  It just is.  Truth is truth.  What that truth  accomplishes depends upon how it is being dispensed.

     I saw a marquis on a church a while back that said, "God saw what you did".  How I longed to go write underneath it "and He loves you anyway".  The marquis stated a truth.  God does see everything we do.  But the message came off accusatory and judgmental.  The fact that the marquis was on a church building would lead some to believe that churches are accusatory and judgmental.  One might even take it a step further and believe that God is accusatory and judgmental.  Did that "truth" do more harm or good?
     In Ephesians 4:15 Paul encourages us to speak the truth in love.  What message would've been sent if my postscript were added to the marquis?  "God saw what you did and He loves you anyway".  Instead of accusation, the reader might feel love.  Instead of judgment, he might feel grace and forgiveness.  Because the marquis was on a church building, he might believe that churches love and forgive.  Taking it one step further, he might believe that God loves and forgives.  Same truth - different message; all because of the method in which the truth was delivered.

     Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, our Bible tells us.  The truth is not meant to hurt.  You can handle the truth when it is spoken in love.  When the truth hurts, beloved ones, look for the postscript and remember when you are the dispenser of truth to speak it in love.

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.  Love, Raelynn

Daily Bread

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

     I pray you make the most of this day for it is God's gift to you.

    
     Today, I want to talk to you about "Daily Bread".  When the Children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness, God supernaturally provided food for them.  In the morning, the ground would be dusted with a layer of fine wafers that looked like coriander seed and tasted like honey.  It was nutritious, tasty and filling.  It could be baked, boiled, and prepared in variation.  It was everything they needed.  The people would gather what they needed for the day, then the sun would melt it all away and there would be a fresh layer the next morning.

     Some people tried to eat the food the next day that they'd gathered previously only to find it moldy and full of worms.  They were not meant to live on yesterday's meal - they were to gather it fresh each day.  God did instruct them to gather double for the Sabbath, though, because none would be provided on that day.  When the Sabbath came, the food they'd stored up was as fresh as if they'd just gathered it.

     In Matthew 4:4, Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God".  The Word of God has become our daily bread today.  God has provided it supernaturally to us.  It is nutritious to our souls, satisfying and sweet to the taste.  It is available to us fresh every day.

       If we are not gathering the Word daily and ingesting it, but are merely trying to live off what we learned in Sunday School as a child, the Word becomes moldy to us - full of worms.  We no longer have a desire for it.  We don't see its benefit to us or view it as the miraculous provision it is.  It becomes distasteful and something we avoid.  Also, God has told us there is a time coming when the Word won't be readily available as it is today.  We are to gather now against that day.

     Fill yourselves with the precious bread God provides for us daily, beloved ones.  It will sustain you when the famine comes.  If we are trying to live off yesterday's meal, we are missing out on His perfect provision for today.

     "Give us this day, our daily bread..." It was what Jesus taught us to pray; it is our instruction for today.

Be filled, my friends, and hunger no more.  Raelynn  
 

Dimestore Pearls

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

     I pray you are basking in the Sonshine and are soaking up the love of God today.

     Today I want to share one of my favorite stories with you.  Today I want to talk to you about "Dimestore Pearls".

      Once upon a time there was a little girl who saw a set of pearls in the window of a dime store.  She instantly fell in love with them and asked her daddy to buy them for her.  He couldn't refuse her.  She got the pearls, put them on, and never took them off again.  She slept in her pearls, bathed in them, wore them to school, to church and to play.  They were her prized possession. One day her daddy approached the little girl and asked her to give him the pearls. 
     "Why do you want my pearls, daddy?" she asked, clutching them in dismay. 
     "I just want you to give them to me", he answered.
     "Do I have to?" she asked.
     "No, you don't have to", he answered.
     "Good!"  She sighed in relief and skipped happily away, pearls still around her neck.
     A week passed and again her daddy asked for the pearls.  Stricken, the little girl asked, "Do I have to?" and when he said "No", she walked away from the encounter still clutching her pearls.
     Several weeks later, the daddy once again asked the little girl to give him her pearls.  "Do you really want them?" she asked with tears in her eyes.
     "I really want you to give them to me", he answered.
     "I really love these pearls, daddy", the little girl replied.  "They are my special treasure".  She slowly undid the clasp, removed the pearls from her neck and extended them to her father.  "But I love you more, so you may have them."
     The father smiled, put her pearls in his right pants pocket and from his left pants pocket withdrew a set of priceless genuine pearls.  As he clasped them around her neck, he told her, "I bought these for you the day I saw how in love you were with your dimestore pearls.  But I knew you would not be ready for them until you were ready to give up the fake ones.  Because you loved me more than your greatest treasure, I am giving you something even better."

     We are the little girl, beloved ones.  The daddy is our Father in Heaven.  Oh, the treasures He has for us if we would but love and trust Him enough to let go of the things we prize most:  our homes, our jobs, our cars, pride, even our family.  If we would entrust the Father with these out of our love for Him, we'd be amazed at what He gives us in return.

     The devil's job on this earth is to get us so caught up with our "dimestore pearls" that we won't turn loose of them and are never ready to receive the priceless things the Father has had all along and is waiting to give us.  Has the Father been asking you to give something up?  They are only dimestore pearls, my friends.  Hand them over and see what He gives you in their place.
     "Fear not little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom" - Jesus Christ (Luke 12:32)

In His love, Raelynn
 
 

To Be or Not to Be

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

     I pray that you consider the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit your close personal friends and you visit with them daily.

 

 

          Today I want to talk to you about "To be, or not to be" - that is the question.  Once upon a time (though this is no fairy tale - it is an accurate telling of a truth) God created something beautiful.  He took people from every race, gender, culture and geographical location and gave them a common love for and desire to serve the One who died for them, who took their sin and shame upon Himself, who set them free from bondage and gave their lives meaning and purpose and set them apart.  To these He gave power over the evil one to resist his ways; He gave gifts and talents and called them to each be what the other lacks, to be a cohesive unit with the one purpose of promoting the Kingdom of God on this earth until He takes them to their real home in Heaven.  He called this people the church.  And it was good.

 

     Then man did what he always does in this fallen world.  He decided to take God's perfect plan and fix it.  Some of the church decided just to focus on the virgin birth and virgin mother.  Some decided just to focus on water baptism or the Day of Pentecost or some other aspect of God's Word and separated themselves, saying, "We are the true church".  These made their own rules and guidelines for their "members" to follow and put those set free by Jesus back under bondage to their "church".  Others decided to make up whole new things to believe in - false gods and idols, and called themselves "churches" too.  Today's church has become unrecognizable to God and something most non-believers try to avoid.  Who can blame them?

 

     God intended the church not to be a place to go to engage in scripted behavior and call it worship and give your money to man to promote his creation.  God intended the church as something to be - people who gather in one accord to worship in spirit and truth and to use their gifts, callings and finances to bear one another's burdens and advance the Kingdom of God.

 

     Are you the church, do you just go to church, or do you avoid it altogether?  Many of those who "go to church" have no more relationship with the Savior than those who avoid it.  To be or not to be, that is indeed the question.  Let's be what God designed us to be, beloved ones.  Let's be the church of the Living God and show forth His love on this earth.  Let's do our part to show those who avoid church and those who "go to church" what the church was meant to be.  If you love and serve Jesus, you are part of His church.  You belong.  In the beginning, God created...and it was good.

 

 

Love in Christ, Raelynn