Dazzlingly Brilliant

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

      I pray that you are letting your light shine brightly so those in darkness might see the way.

     Today I want to talk to you about “Dazzlingly Brilliant”.  When you hear those words, what comes to mind?  For most people it’s a diamond.  Any jeweler will tell you that the beauty and value of a diamond is determined by the four “C’s”: carat, color, clarity and cut.  That’s because a

diamond gets its brilliance by allowing the maximum amount of light to be reflected and dispersed back through its facets.  Did you know that there is one thing more dazzlingly brilliant than any diamond?  Of course, it would be the One the diamond was patterned after – its creator, our God, the Everlasting Light.

     I John 1:5 tells us that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.  Isaiah 24:23 tells us that the moon is ashamed and the sun disgraced by the light the Lord radiates.

  In fact, God is so dazzlingly brilliant that no one can look upon Him and live!  He hid Moses in the cleft of a rock so he’d be shielded from the full force of His brilliance, yet when Moses came away his face shone from just its reflection!

     I did a study on the word “facet”.  It means face, surface, characteristic or attribute.  Did you know there are over 100 Hebrew names for God each describing one of His characteristics or attributes?  I honestly believe God has more characteristics and attributes than our vocabularies have words to describe them.  And like a diamond, it is all these facets that make God dazzlingly brilliant.  I wouldn’t be surprised if He created the diamond just so we could carry small reminders of Him around with us!  Is it a coincidence that diamonds are given as a pledge of everlasting love and fidelity?

     The Bible talks about a time when “the sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the Lord will be your Everlasting Light and your God will be your glory.” (Isaiah 60:19)  We don’t have to wait for that day beloved ones.  Behold His glory now.  Let Him hide you in the cleft of the Rock and gaze upon His dazzling brilliance and let its reflection shine upon your face for all the world to see.

He is truly this girl’s best friend - Raelynn

Attitude of Gratitude

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

      I pray all life’s finest blessings upon you and the grace to truly appreciate them.

     Today I want to talk to you about “An Attitude of Gratitude”.

  How do you say “Thank you” for the really big things in life?  Like when a fireman rushes into a burning building to save your child, a

stranger gives one of his kidneys because yours are failing, or a father gives His only son to die so that every mistake you will ever make can be swept away like it never happened?  There are times when “Thanks” just won’t cut it.

     The reward for the fireman and kidney donor is in knowing they saved a life.  What if after receiving the kidney, the recipient goes on to live the life of the alcoholic and dies of alcohol poisoning a year later?  How would the donor feel about giving up a kidney then?  How many times has the Father seen the lives He sacrificed His son for end prematurely through reckless living and end up in Hell anyway?

     In his song, Good to Be Alive, Jason Grey sings, “All I want is to give you a life well lived to say thank you.”  I know I can never repay the big things that have been done for me in my life, but I can live my life in a way that shows my gratitude.

  Every decision I make, every path I choose should reflect an attitude of gratitude for the sacrifice that was made for me.

     How do you say “thank you” for the really big things in life, beloved ones?  Live your life well.

Making the sacrifice count - Raelynn

Incredible Credibility

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

      I pray that with every day you are more certain of what and in whom you believe and are certain that He believes in you.

     Today I want to talk to you about “Incredible Credibility”.  What gives someone or something credibility?  Credibility comes when that which is professed is able to be proven time and time again.  Today the credibility of the Bible is under attack.  Respected theologians are purporting that the Bible has undergone so many changes since it was written that if Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were to read their Gospels they wouldn’t recognize their own words.  Is this true?  Is the Bible still credible today?

    Did you know that there are over 103 predictions concerning the coming Messiah in the Old  Testament that were each fulfilled by Jesus at His first coming?  These include His lineage, where He’d be born, what His name was to be, and the fact that He would die to save the world from their sins.  Psalms 22 prophesies Jesus’ death by crucifixion – a method of capital punishment that would not even be invented until 800 years after the Psalms were written.  Each of these predictions were professions proven true time and time again by the birth, life, and death of Jesus Christ.  The Bible is incredibly credible.

     And here is the amazing thing: 

There are twice as many predictions in the Bible regarding the second coming of Christ as there were the first.  If all the predictions regarding Christ’s first coming to earth have been fulfilled and proven to be true, we can know that all the predictions for His second coming are just as valid and will also be fulfilled and proven to be true.

     In Revelation 22 (the last chapter of God’s great love letter to us), He says three times, “Behold, I come quickly.”  Are you living like you believe Jesus is coming quickly, beloved ones?   Despite the best efforts to discredit the Word of God, it has been proven time and time again to be true.  Jesus is coming again. He is coming quickly.  Let’s make sure we are ready when that day comes.

Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus – your servant, Raelynn

A Chip Off The Old Block

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

      I pray that you are not comparing yourself to other imperfect humans, but that your measuring stick is Christ.

    Today I want to talk to you about “A Chip off the Old Block”.  Michelangelo was once asked how he chose what to sculpt from each block of material he used.  He answered, “The image was always there.  I just had to free it from all the extra parts.”  Did you know that you are like a Michelangelo sculpture, beloved one?  

     Romans 8:29 says that it is our destiny to be conformed to the image of Christ and that God foreknew that’s what we should be.  Just as Michelangelo looked at a block of marble and saw David or The Thinker while it was just a rock, God looked at you and I and saw Jesus.

     It would take much sculpting and chipping away of all the extra pieces for the marble to start to resemble the statue that Michelangelo saw in his mind’s eye.  But in time, under his patient hand, the image would begin to emerge and ultimately his vision would become reality.  In the same way, God chips away at our selfishness, pride and flesh until everything that is not Christ-like is removed.  He uses circumstances, His Word, other people, whatever chisel works best to remove those pieces that do not belong.  This work will continue while we live on this earth, but I John 3:2 assures us that while it does not yet appear what we shall be, when Jesus appears, we shall be like Him.

     When someone closely resembles his father, he is said to be a “chip off the old block”.  Jesus said, “When you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.”  As you are being

conformed into the image of Christ, you are becoming more than a masterpiece, beloved ones.  You’re becoming a chip off the old block.

     Sculpt me and make me, Oh Lord, into the image you foreknew.  Let the chips fall as You will.

A work in progress,  Raelynn

Mirror, Mirror

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

      I pray that you are showing forth the glory of God in all you say and all you do.

     Today I want to talk to you about, “Mirror, Mirror”.  We are all familiar with the story of Snow White.  The wicked queen would stand before her magic mirror each day and ask, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?”  The mirror would have to answer truthfully, because we all know that mirrors don’t lie. 

    We are told in Exodus Chapter 34 that Moses went up on Mount Sinai to receive the 10 commandments and as he spoke with God the skin of his face shown with the glory of God.  This also happened when Moses would go into the tabernacle of meeting to inquire of the Lord.  Moses’ face was a mirror reflecting God’s glory and radiance.  When he came down from the mountain or out of the tabernacle, the people shielded their eyes and asked Moses to wear a veil over his face so they wouldn’t have to look at it.

     We don’t always like what we see in the mirror, do we?  The children of Israel not only beheld the glory of God on Moses’ face, they also saw what was lacking in them.  The knowledge was so painful they had to shield their eyes and ask that the mirror be covered.

     There are those among us today (hopefully some who are reading this letter) who, like Moses, spend time in the presence of the Lord and reflect His glory.  2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

     “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?”  “Lord Jesus is fairest in this place.  I see Him reflected in your face.”  Be that mirror, beloved ones.  Show Jesus to the world.  Some may need to shield their eyes, but don’t cover your mirror.  In Christ, the veil has been taken away.

Trying to reflect the fairest of them all, your sister, Raelynn

    

An Everyday Hiro

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

 I pray that the miracle of life, the miracle of birth, and the miracle of nature cause you to stand in awe of our God.

     Today I want to talk to you about “An Everyday Hiro”.  There was a TV series a few years ago that I really enjoyed watching called Heroes.  It was about everyday people with extraordinary abilities.  One, a Japanese

young man named Hiro, was able to teleport by bending time and space.  As I watched the show, the thought was always in the back of my mind, “Wouldn’t it be great if someone could really do this?”  And then I learned about someone who could. We have an everyday Hiro in our midst.

     In Joshua 10:12-14 we see that God caused the earth to stop rotating for a whole day. In 2 Kings 6:6 a metal axe head floated on water.  In Numbers 22:23-30 a donkey spoke.  In Daniel 3:23-27 a fish coughed up tax money and in Acts 8:39-40 a man was instantly teleported 20 miles.  These were real events that happened in the lives of real people. Who was the everyday Hiro who did all these things?  The Hebrews called Him El Oseh Phela (the God who works wonders) and El Shaddai (God Almighty).

     Today I want to help you see that God’s power over creation is absolute.  The God who created the laws of nature can use, bend or change those laws at will in order to accomplish His purposes.  He did all those miracles in Biblical times and He continues to do wonders today.

     In January 1995 my son was badly hurt on Mount Lemmon in a sledding accident.  He had a broken nose, broken jaw, broken collar bone and a broken rib that had punctured a lung.  He was airlifted to Tucson Medical Center where they cut off his clothes and rushed him in to x-ray.  Twenty minutes later the doctor came out and told me there was nothing wrong with my son but the scratches on his face.  The x-rays, he told me, showed evidence of old injuries to his nose, jaw, collarbone and ribs that had been long healed.  Two different paramedics had checked my son on that mountain and had determined that his injuries warranted the helicopter.  Yet my son walked out of that ER without even a bump on his nose!  That’s the power of God Almighty – The One Who Works Wonders!  Not in the 1^st century, but in the 20^th!

   Since then, I’ve seen cancers disappear, jobs materialize out of nowhere, people set free from the terrible bondage of drugs and alcohol – and I realize what a poor example of the miraculous Heroes was compared to the real thing.

     Put your trust in El Oseh Phela, El Shaddai, beloved ones.  He’s an everyday Hiro that will move Heaven and Earth for you.  Literally.

In the service of the Almighty, Raelynn