Share The Conviction!

“We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion” (Hebrews 3:14,15 NIV)

Who has come to share in Christ? The writer then was referencing those who were sharing the Good News as they traveled the land. What are we doing now to share the Good News? There are a number of people who may not be able to travel the land, but they are certainly leaving their footprints on the Internet—sharing the Good News—for all who wish to receive it. Even those who do not believe have access to the Good News—what they choose to do with it is up to them. What a marvelous use of technology!

What an awesome responsibility! We have this great expanse to use the Internet wisely and to the glory of God, not self! We, who know God, must exercise care when sharing the love of God and understanding of God’s Word. We must make sure we know The Word and can rightly divide The Word so we do not divide the Body with erroneous information. Having a relationship with God puts us in a good position to hear from Him and He can explain anything we do not understand and help us to explain it to others.

We must also hold fast the convictions we had when we first came to the Lord—knowing we are forgiven, receiving His unconditional love, and sharing our testimony with all who will listen. We must never lose our zeal for the things that brought us to a place where we know we walk in God’s favor so we can help others reach that same place. We must encourage those who do not know Jesus to come to the fountain of love and receive eternal life. We must admonish all to make a decision—today—while they have an opportunity to do so—to accept Him as Lord and Savior.

Today! If you do not know the Risen Savior—won’t you take the time to learn of Him while you have a chance and to make Him the Lord of your life? There are no magic formulas, no magic words, to ask Him into your heart. God knows your heart and He responds to sincerity. Isn’t it time—for you to receive God’s best for your life? Aren’t you tired of trying to figure things out for yourself?  The Gospel of John reveals Jesus in such a personal way that I have always found it difficult to understand how anyone reading it could turn away from Him. The love that covers a multitude of sins richly abides in this segment of The Word.

I do not know who might be reading this, but I will say this much. God loves you and wants only the very best for you. Will you repent of all wrong doing and make room in your heart for His love? He forgives all our sins when we ask for forgiveness. Once He forgives us, He remembers our sins no more—but that does not mean we should go back to practicing sin. We are saved by grace—God’s unearned favor and that same grace will keep us from dishonoring our love for Him.

God bless your decision to make room for Him in your heart so He can guide your life.  God bless those who are already living according to His Word and are sharing The Word with others.

Encouraged to Encourage!

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3:12,13 NIV)

When we are in the Body of Christ—we become accountable to each other for what we do or don’t do. The Word encourages us—if we see a brother or sister in a position that would cause them harm, we should pray for them, not condemn, being mindful of the fact that we could also fall into the same type of temptation.  So, to make sure that we all can stand before God with the assurance that we will not be found guilty of not looking out for each other—we pray for each other and we encourage one another on a daily basis.

When I started writing my blogs in response to scriptures read every day, I fully believed that it was part of my writing ministry—to encourage. Lately, because of my frustration about a number of things—notwithstanding the attitude of some people in our society regarding Christians—I lost my focus and needed to retreat to get it back. It is my desire to encourage and inspire all who read my blogs—as I’ve stated before—but I guess I needed to read as well as write.

While I’m not really good at name-dropping, I must admit that BJ—the author of blog posts on River Walk—is either extremely spiritual or he read something into my post that made me see my error. I stand humbled and corrected in the midst of God’s greatness at using people to get our attention. I also appreciate those who have indicated they have been encouraged by my posts. I pray daily that I write under the unction of the Holy Spirit so others may be blessed.  Thank you—everyone—for lifting me in prayer. The confirmation for everything that has transpired came quickly. I’m guessing God didn’t want me to lose sight of my role in bringing His people into unity with an encouraging word.

I am so grateful—to God for using me and to you for reading. God bless you and enrich your lives greatly so you will be a blessing to others.

Prayer and Fasting

"Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly" (Hebrews 13:18).

There comes a time into the life of each one of us when we must step back and re-evaluate what we're doing. That time has come for me. I will return to my morning posting when my mind is clear and I know that the words I type will encourage and inspire those who read them to remain steadfast in the faith of our Lord and Savior.

Until then, remember The Word that admonishes us to pray for one another. My spirit has grown a little weary of society's attitudes towards Christians. I will not walk learn how to walk on eggshells simply because those who do not know God do not want to accept what God says. Though I will refrain from posting for a while, I will never stop praying and I will always say what God says.

Do remember me in your prayers that I will be able to withstand the evil that arises and surrounds us until The Lord returns.  I am digging in--making ready for the spiritual battle that has already been launched.

God bless you and all of your endeavors that honor Him!

Any Faithful In The House?

"Know that the LORD has set apart his faithful servant for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him" (Psalm 4:3 NIV).

"When I call upon the name of the Lord, He hears me." Do we really believe this?

The question is asked because of observations made when listening to people pray. The first thing we must remember is when we pray--we are talking to God--not people around us, in front of us, over the telephone or even on the Web. Since we are talking to God to ask of Him--is there any need for us to have long, repetitious conversation with God? Do we need to moan, groan, or screech or pierce ear drums to get His attention? The answer very simply is--no!

God is not deaf and He does not have a memory problem, nor is He distracted by our noise or other superficial modes of conversing with Him. He knows who we are and whether we have been faithful to Him or not. Do we know if we have been faithful or not? Perhaps--we don't. Hence, this is why some go through all the machinations of presenting oneself to be holy or righteous in the sight of others. Perhaps, if we truly read the Bible with understanding we would know this and church services could be cut in half.

When Jesus is teaching, He uses the story of the Pharisee (religious one) and the tax collector who were praying in the temple (Luke 18:11-13). But now, this is the response that Jesus gave His disciples regarding the one who understood they were talking to God. “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 18:14 NIV). For those who may still be lost on the inference--Jesus explained that the tax collector was more justified with his simple request than the Pharisee who has a feeling of superiority and therefore thinks God should hear him.

Public prayers should be simple and get right to the point. We should not pray in an attempt to impress others with our wordiness or emotional state.  When we know we are faithful to God (not so concerned with man), we can pray effective prayers that God will hear and answer. An offering prayer (before or after) should be about the offering--not the sick or government or anything else. A prayer to ask God's blessings over food should be just that--not everything and everyone else. A prayer for the pastor should be about the pastor--not everyone else. A prayer for leadership (all types) should be about that. A prayer for the sick should be for those who are incapable of praying for themselves and when possible--accompanied with the laying on of hands and/or anointing with oil. A prayer to receive Holy Spirit does not take all night (just moments), nor does a person have to be in a specific position or mode of prayer to receive--the gift--just a willingness to receive. A prayer of repentance should be just that--an acknowledgment of turning away from sin. People have repented of sin when they were alone and God responded. I know--I did! We need to understand the purpose of specificity in our prayer lives rather than trying to impress others.

We make too much of a public spectacle of ourselves during times of prayer because of our lack of knowledge. God does not respond to emotionalism--He responds to faith. The faithful, He has set apart for Himself. The next time you pray, be faithful and know that He hears the first time--even if you whisper.

Father, in the name of Jesus, thank You for hearing and answering prayer. Holy Spirit guide us in everything we do that glorifies God, and keep us focused on being faithful to Him.

No Division In The Body!

"I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought" (I Corinthians 1:10 NIV).

While reading the beginning of this letter that Paul sent to the church at Corinth, I was inspired to address "the division" in the Body of Christ that is revealed through all the "disagreement" about what God says and means.

Brothers and Sisters-in-Christ,

If we all serve the same God--who loved us enough to come down from Glory to hang on a cross for our benefit so that we might one day reign with Him, why is it that we are all not saying what He says?

Have we allowed religiosity and denominational banners to interfere with or dominate our thoughts over what God has said? Are we not able to "rightly divide the Word of Truth" so we are all preaching the same Word of Truth? Do we not all have access to Truth by the same Holy Spirit who imparts all spiritual gifts to all who are willing to receive? Is our belief divided by specific segments of the Bible so that some actually think "that is all" they should believe or that the entire Bible is not meant for all of us to understand? Do we not know how to pray to the Father and receive an answer from Him? Are we so hung-up on glorifying men and women in ministry that we have missed God completely?

No where in the Bible will anyone find that heaven is reserved for those of a specific denomination; especially since the denominations or divisions of the Body were formed by mortal man. No where in the Bible will anyone find that only those who "belong to a mega-church" are going to enter into heaven. No where in the Bible will anyone find that only those who are in places where they are few in number will be the only ones entering into heaven.

No where in the Bible will anyone find that God changes His mind about what He says--from the beginning to the end--about sin or what is sinful.

If we all serve the same God--The God of Heaven, the One who created all things and without Him nothing was created--we would all have the same understanding about who He is and how He wants us live.

My prayer, brothers and sisters-in-Christ is that we will all become one as they are One in unity and in the preaching of the Gospel so all will be saved--not to our glory, but to His. Until we who know The Truth are able to promote The Truth as one Truth, we will be bombarded by the half-truths that are perpetuated by the enemy's influence and many will believe the whole lie (a half-truth is a whole lie).  We who have a relationship with God, must function in the earth realm as God directs, not men (mankind)--who have demonstrated they do not know God.

Promote and assist those who are promoting the Truth of God's Word, knowing this--God knows those who are His and He also knows those who are counterfeits--seeking only what they can get. Let us get on one accord, teaching only those things that we have been taught--through study of the Word and relationship with God.

God give you strength and courage to stand firm in the face of adversity and continue to fill you with His joy and wisdom.

With all the joy and love that abides within me, I declare unity will abide in the Body of Christ-worldwide! I also declare that the Truth will destroy the works of the enemy and we shall be at peace--one with the other.

Love to love you!

God's Humble Servant,
Evangelist Mary M. Hall-Rayford

Reflections of the Year!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxBF5EC2NW2eRlpWTThQYk5NdGc/edit?usp=sharing

Choices and Consequences!

"This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live..."(Deuteronomy 30:19 NIV).

To be blessed or be cursed--is a choice we make--based upon our decisions.
We either choose life--being obedient in all that God says, or we choose death, being cursed--when we disobey.

In the life of a true believer--the choice is simple. We understand the blessings of obedience and the consequences of disobedience. When we know God through our relationship with Him--nothing that happens in life is a surprise. We know we are either blessed or cursed and we know we are the ones who choose whether we are blessed or cursed.

Today, a decision has to be made that will affect the rest of our lives and the lives of our children. We must exercise wisdom in all things and know that God has established a credible witness (Holy Spirit) who will testify to what He sees and hears. We cannot fool God--we can only fool people and that for only a short period of time. The truth will always be revealed--when we least expect it--the lies shall be uncovered for all the world to see. Shed the cloak of deception and drape the garment of righteousness around you and those you love--choose life and be blessed!

Leave no room--in your heart or mind--for the enemy to continue to influence your thoughts and what you do. Time is not manipulated by us, but controlled by God. We have been given another chance to get it right--let's do it, today!

Father, in the name of Jesus, help us to understand that we must obey Your Word, even when it goes against the grain of popular opinion or political correctness. It is Your Word that gives us life and puts us into position to be blessed by You. Give us the strength to stand against the winds of adversity--fully focused on doing Your Will and not our own. We declare all works of the enemy void and powerless in our lives and it is done! Amen!