Coming and Going

April 28, 2014

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

    I pray that you are ever aware of God’s call on your life and are walking in it.

    Today I want to talk to you about “Coming and Going”.  In Mark 16:15, we are commanded, “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature”.  It does not say, “If you’re not too busy with your job and family, go into all the world and preach”.  It doesn’t say, “If you’re called to Missions, go and preach”.  It doesn’t say, “If you feel so led, go and preach”.  It’s a command to every believer.  It is our Great Commission.  But the Great Commission involves coming as well as going.

    You cannot go into all the world unless you have first come out of it and have separated yourself to follow Christ.  A person cannot “go into the world” if they are already living in it.  This was the problem Lot had.  Lot was living in sinful Sodom and the men of Sodom asked him, “Who are you to judge us, when you choose to live here too?” (Genesis 19:9).

    To witness Christ as we are called to do, we must come out from them and be Holy as He is Holy.  We must practice what we preach.  Our lives must reflect Christ in our coming and our going.  Only then can we fulfill the Great Commission Christ has called us to.

    Lord, help us come to you so we can go to the lost, that they may also come to you.

May you be blessed in all your coming and going - Raelynn

Priorities

April 21, 2014

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

    I pray that the things that cause Jesus’ heart to break, breaks yours as well.

    Today I want to talk to you about “Priorities”.  One of the things that come with free will is the ability to choose what we will and will not do and to decide which things are more worthy of our time and attention than others.  These are our priorities.  My priorities got shaken recently.

    Until recently, I believed my priorities were in pretty good shape.  I love the Lord with all my heart, try to put Him first in all things, try to love others, share His love when and where I can.  I try to focus on Kingdom things and trust Him for my physical needs.  I go to church, read my Bible and pray.  I’ve seen God use me a time or two and I’ve thought, “my priorities are in the right place”.

    Then I went to church and heard a speaker for Gospel for

Asia.  He told us that 80% of Asia is closed to Westerners and that ½ million villages in India have never heard of Jesus, but they’ve heard of Coca-Cola, Frito-Lay, and one mud-covered wall of a hut had a Lady Gaga poster attached to it.  He told us that every time our heart beats someone dies and begins an eternity of suffering in Hell.   The region of Uttar Pradesh (where the Taj Majal is) is 81% Hindu, 19% Muslim and less than 1% Christian.  There are several active anti-Christian extremist groups in the area and persecution is common. 

Worlds Apart

April 14, 2014

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

    I pray you are seeing clearly all things through the light of God’s truth.

    Today I want to talk to you about “Worlds Apart”.  There are two separate realities or “worlds” in which we humans on this earth can live.  One is the “World without God”.  In this world, people go through life not believing in God, not acknowledging Him and

without Him being a part of their lives.  It is a selfish world, where it’s all about “Me”: what I want, what I need, what I deserve, and if people get hurt in that pursuit, oh, well.  The other world is a world in which people acknowledge God as their creator, have accepted His sacrifice for their selfishness, choose to serve Him and try to live to please Him.  One is a world of lust, the other is a world of love, and they are worlds apart.

    When we think of lust, we often think of sexual immorality, don’t we?  But lust is nothing more than strong desire – a craving, a longing for.  God is love, I John 4:16 tells us.  A world without God is a world without love.  It is a world completely ruled by lust.  People in this world are ruled by their longings and their desires.  They long to be successful, have money and nice things, have friends.  They long to be noticed, appreciated, loved, accepted and admired.  They use jobs, people, money, sex, drugs, alcohol, religion and all manner of things to fulfill these desires.  They are hopelessly trapped in a world where they are always wanting, needing, desiring, deserving something and when they’ve obtained it, it doesn’t satisfy.  It can’t, because they are looking for love and He’s not a part of their world.

Keeping Christ in Christianity

April 7, 2014

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

    I pray that in work, in play, here or away, you represent the One who gives you life and that more abundantly.

    Today I want to talk to you about “Keeping Christ in Christianity”.  There is a danger for those of us who have been a Christian for many years.  The danger is in allowing Christianity to become a lifestyle- something we do instead of who we are.  It is so easy to say and do Christian things and live the Christian life and be a good Christian, that it quickly becomes about us and has very little to do with the Christ for whom Christianity is named.

    Do you ever open your Bible to read your chapter a day, but get very little from what you’ve read?  Or find that your mind was drifting to things you need to do and you lost which verse you were on?  Do you find yourself repeating the same prayers, nearly word-for-word without much expectation of seeing them answered?  Do you faithfully attend church every time the doors are open, but couldn’t tell someone afterward what text the message was from?  If any of these scenarios describe your Christian walk, there is help.  We simply need to put Christ back into our Christianity.

    Christ gave this advice to the Church at Ephesus in Revelation Chapter 2, “Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love.  Remember therefore, from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works”.  If Christ is not foremost in your Christian walk, beloved ones, it’s time for a stroll down memory lane.

    Do you remember the day Jesus took your sin away and that burden was lifted and you felt free for the first time? Do you remember the gratitude you felt?  Have you ever laid hands on someone and prayed for their need and saw God move miraculously on their behalf?  How awesome did it feel to be used like that?  Have you ever experienced the joy of leading another person to salvation through Christ?  Remember from whence you’ve fallen and do the first works, beloved ones.

    There is no Christianity without Christ.  If we’ve left our first love, we   are simply going through the motions.  Let’s keep falling in love with Him over and over and over again.  Let’s take a stroll with our Savior down memory lane and keep Christ front and center in our Christianity.

In His love,  Raelynn

Levitical Cities

March 31, 2014

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

    I pray that all the cares of your life grow strangely dim in the light of God’s glory and grace toward you.

    Today I want to talk to you about “Levitical Cities”.  I was reading in Numbers 34 and 35 where the Children of Israel after 40 long years were about to enter the Promised Land.  God was dividing the land among the tribes as an inheritance (basically creating counties where each tribe would dwell and which would bear their name) – each tribe, that is, except the Levites.  The Levites would not be given a section of land for an inheritance.

    The Levites were a tribe set apart for the priesthood.  Their job was to represent God’s will to the people and the people’s needs to God.   God provided for the Levites, but instead of keeping them all together in one county, he had each of the tribes give them cities in their counties, 48 cities in all, spread throughout the whole land.  If there was a spiritual need among Israel, God didn’t want the people who lived farthest away from the Levite’s county to have to travel, days, weeks or months to get help.  He wanted His ambassadors right there, in cities in each tribe’s land.

Strong for so Long

March 24, 2014

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

    I pray you are soaking up the sunshine, drinking in the fresh air and reveling in every blessing God has brought your way.

    Today I want to talk to you about “Strong for so Long”.  In a phone conversation the other night, I heard it said of me, “She’s a widow.  We need to help her.”  And I thought, that’s not entirely true.  I was a widow, but I remarried and that husband left me – not exactly the same thing.  But as I was walking today, the Lord told me, “But you are a widow. Your marriage ended suddenly and the husband you loved is no longer in your life and he even told you, ‘The man you married is dead. Move on.’  You are both fatherless and a widow”.  

    But my father died in 1994, I argued with the Lord.  “Is he able to be a part of your life?”  No, I answered.  “I am Father to the fatherless and Husband to the widow”, He answered.  “You are both”.  In that moment I broke down and wept.  I grieved for all I’d lost.  I had been strong for so long.  I carried the load my father would have borne for me; I carried the portion my husband was to bear.  And I realized that I’ll not have to carry it all any longer – I have a Father and a Husband and He is ever with me.