Barbara Rainey's Top 10 Interviews

Click Here to Listen to the other parts in the series
God is Enough (Part 1) - The Son is Enough For Your Past
God is Enough (Part 2) - The Father is Enough For Your Present
God is Enough (Part 3) - The Holy Spirit is Enough for Your Future

FamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript  

References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete.

The Son is Enough for Your Past

Guest:                         Barbara Rainey                    

From the series:       God is Enough (Day 1 of 3)

Air date:                     August 1, 2018

Bob: When an earthquake shook the ancient city of Philippi, there was one man whose life was immediately in crisis. He was the keeper of the jail in Philippi, and the earthquake had opened all the jail cells and let the prisoners free. He thought he would be executed because of his malfeasance—but the apostle Paul told him in that moment not to worry—but to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believing on Jesus is central to what it means to be a Christian. Here’s Barbara Rainey.

Barbara: There are 84 uses of the word “believe” in the book of John—that’s a lot of repetitions of one word. Jesus uses the word “believe” over and over again as a line in the sand, asking everyone in various ways, “Who do you believe that I am?” There’s no middle ground with Jesus on belief. Either we believe—or we don’t believe.

Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Wednesday, August 1st. 

1:00

Our host is Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine. 

Someone has famously said, “When you finally get to the point where Jesus is all you have—you realize that Jesus is all you need.” We’ll hear more about that today from Barbara Rainey. Stay with us.

And welcome to FamilyLife Today. Thanks for joining us. Our listeners are going to get a chance to hear from your wife this week.

Dennis: I just was thinking about that in fact, Bob. We’ve had a lot of really cool people on the broadcast, but I was thinking who my favorite guest is we’ve ever had here on FamilyLife Today.

Bob: We know who the answer better be. [Laughter] Anything other than Barbara Rainey—you’re in big trouble.

Dennis: I am in trouble. But I really like her, and she really enjoyed speaking to a group of I think close to 300 women at The Cove in Asheville, North Carolina. Of course, that’s a beautiful spot over there.

Bob: Yes.

2:00

Dennis: It was springtime when she gave this message, and she not only loved the time, she was energized by the people she met—the radio listeners, people who had been to the Weekend to Remember®, those who’ve been through The Art of Marriage™ and looking forward to going through The Art of Parenting™—which we launched with the movie, Like Arrows—and we have a book coming out by the same name, The Art of Parenting.

Bob: This is a message that God had put on her heart—which is all about the fact that God is enough for us. I remember she was looking forward to delivering this message because it’s a part of her story; isn’t it?

Dennis: It is, and you’ll hear her talk about it—all of us have disabilities. Some are seen—some aren’t. Some folks walk with a limp. We have a son who that’s a reality for him—as a man, husband, and father—but it’s part of his story. Barbara shares a part of her story and where her disabilities were.

Bob: Well, let’s get right to it. 

3:00

Here is Barbara Rainey and part one of a message on God being enough.

[Recorded message]

Barbara: How many of you have read The Chronicles of Narnia to your children or you’ve read it yourself? Most of you, but not everybody. Okay, this is going to be fun, because some of you are going to hear one of my favorite authors and something that he’s written that I think is just as good for adults as it is for kids. I brought my The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe book, and I’m going to read us a little story this morning.

This is the story of four children who found their way into another land through the back of a wardrobe. They were there, and here’s what happened in chapter seven.

[Barbara reads from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe]

“Sh! Look!” said Susan. 

“‘What?’ said Peter.

“‘There’s something moving among the trees—over there to the left.’ 

They all stared as hard as they could, and no one felt very comfortable.

“There is goes again,” Susan said presently.

4:00

“I saw it that time too,” said Peter. “It’s still there. Just behind that big tree.”

“What is it?” asked Lucy, trying very hard not to sound nervous. [Barbara adds:] She was the youngest.

[Continuing to read] …They all saw it this time, a whiskered furry face which had looked out at them from behind the tree. But this time it didn’t draw back immediately. Instead, the animal put its paw against his mouth, just as humans put their finger on their lips when they’re signalling you to be quiet. Then it disappeared again. The children all stood holding their breath.

A moment later the stranger came out from behind the tree, glanced around as if it were afraid someone was watching… “Hush,” he said…

“I know what it is,” said Peter, “it’s a beaver. I saw the tail.”

“It wants us to go to it,” said Susan, “and it is warning us not to make a noise.”

“I know,” said Peter…

So the children all got close together and walked up to the tree…and there, sure enough, they found the Beaver...”

5:00

The beaver said to them, “Are you the Sons of Adam and the Daughters of Eve?” it said.

“We’re some of them”’ said Peter.

“S-s-s-sh!” said the Beaver, “not so loud. We’re not safe even here.”

“‘Why, what are you afraid of?” said Peter. ‘There’s no one here but ourselves.”

“There are the trees,” said the Beaver. “They’re always listening…”

“[Then it signa...

Click Here to Listen to the other parts in the series
God is Enough (Part 1) - The Son is Enough For Your Past
God is Enough (Part 2) - The Father is Enough For Your Present
God is Enough (Part 3) - The Holy Spirit is Enough for Your Future

FamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript  

References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete.

The Father is Enough for Your Present

Guest:                         Barbara Rainey                    

From the series:       God is Enough (Day 2 of 3)

Air date:                     August 2, 2018

Bob: Do you find yourself thinking that God is responsible for the blessings in your life and someone or something else is responsible for the trials and the challenges? Barbara Rainey says a careful reading of Scripture will lead you to a different conclusion.

Barbara: “I am the Lord who creates darkness, who causes well-being and creates calamity.” I didn’t like that so much. That felt really disconcerting to me. It was stunning—it was shocking. It’s like, “God creates calamity?” For years I thought that the only person who created calamity was Satan, and I thought it only happened to bad people— not good people. I certainly didn’t think God created calamity.

Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Thursday, August 2nd. Our host is Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine. 

Whether it’s a sunny day where you are or there are storm clouds on your horizon, Barbara Rainey wants to remind you that God is in control.

1:00

Stay with us.

And welcome to FamilyLife Today. Thanks for joining us. We’re spending some time hearing from your wife this week about the sufficiency of God. You know, I think about what the Bible has to say about God having given us in His Word everything pertaining to life and godliness. It takes time—but over time, hopefully—we learn that once you realize God is all you have, then you realize God is all you need.

Dennis: And He’s patient with us as we come to that conclusion.  The cool thing is you’re going to hear from a very wise woman whom I love dearly—Barbara Rainey. I was thinking, Bob, some of our listeners can remember this—most of them don’t have any idea what I’m talking about—but there used to be an advertisement that started like this, “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen.”

Bob: I remember that, yes.

2:00

Dennis: Yes. Some of our listeners are going, “What’s E.F. Hutton? Does it even exist today?”

Bob: “Who was he talking about?”

Dennis: He’s a stockbroker.

When Barbara talks, I listen, because she’s very thoughtful—very precise—and I can promise you what you’re about to hear in this message—and the first part of the message we’ve already heard—but she talks about how you can view the present and the future—as a woman or a man, as far as that goes—and trust God with what you’re facing today. She’s a real student of the Bible, so she has some really gritty stuff to say from the Scriptures.

Bob: This was a message that she gave to a group of women at a retreat at The Cove—in Asheville, North Carolina recently—and it’s all about God being enough. As you said, we’ve already heard about how God is enough for our past, and now we’re going to hear about how He is enough for the present. Here’s Barbara.

3:00

[Recorded message]

Barbara: Number two—our second story—is going to show us God the Father is enough for our present tense—for our todays—every day. 

When Dennis and I were raising our kids, one of the things that we did pretty regularly was we went out for a weekly date night. It was life for me. One night we went out for our weekly date night—we always did Sunday night because our church didn’t have Sunday night services—and that was the easiest night for us to get away that was usually open on the calendar. 

We—at that time—only had two teenagers left at home, they were 14 and 15. As we walked out the door for our weekly date night, we said to the girls—the two girls, “Now, you have homework to do, we want you to do your homework—we want you to get your work done, and then you can read a book—but no TV. Got it?”

“Oh yes, sure, we got it.”

Dennis and I walked out the door, and as we walked out the door—

4:00

—I called over my shoulder, before the door slammed, I said, “Don’t forget, what did I say? No TV, right?”

“Got it, no TV.”

Dennis and I went to dinner, we were gone about three hours—maybe four—I don’t know. We came home, and as we were coming in Dennis said to me—he looked at me and he said, “I’m going to turn the lights off on the car, and let’s just kind of slide in quietly, stealthily, and see—let’s just check on the girls.” [Laughter]

So he turned off the lights and we rolled down the hill really quietly, turned the car in, and parked—of course, they didn’t know we were there because they didn’t see anybody coming. We got out of the car and we walked around to the front of the house. Our sidewalk went across the front, and we stopped in front of the dining room windows, and we looked in the dining room windows, and there, through the dining room windows, and beyond the dining room was our kitchen. In the dining room windows we could see this bright blue glow. [Laughter]

It was a dead giveaway, and as we looked we could see they were propped up in the kitchen, glued to the television.  

5:00

So Dennis said to me—he said, “You stay here and keep watching them through the window. I’m going to go around back and come in the back door, and you see what happens.” I said, “Great.” [Laughter]

This is one of those times when parents get the upper edge, and it felt so good. I have to tell you, it felt so good, because I can’t tell you how many times we had no idea who did what, who was right, who the guilty party was—and this time we knew. There was no dispute.

So, he walked around to the back door, opened the door, jingled his keys for a while, and said, “Girls, we’re home!” I mean, they jumped as quick as they could. The TV went off, the books were open, they were sitting there, studious, just little angels—little angels. [Laughter]

Click Here to Listen to the other parts in the series
God is Enough (Part 1) - The Son is Enough For Your Past
God is Enough (Part 2) - The Father is Enough For Your Present
God is Enough (Part 3) - The Holy Spirit is Enough for Your Future

FamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript  

References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete.

The Holy Spirit is Enough for Your Future

Guest:                         Barbara Rainey                    

From the series:       God is Enough (Day 3 of 3)

Air date:                     August 3, 2018

Bob: Whatever you’re facing today—whatever the challenges are—Barbara Rainey wants you to remember that you are not alone. God’s Holy Spirit is with you everywhere you go.

Barbara: In Romans He is our intercessor. The Holy Spirit is constantly praying for us, and I am so, so grateful, because there are many, many times in my life when I don’t know what to pray—I don’t know what to say—and He is praying for me—He is interceding for me before the Father.

Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Friday, August 3rd. Our host is Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine. 

God’s Spirit is described in Scripture as our Comforter—and there are days when we need to know He is there providing comfort. We’ll hear more about that today from Barbara Rainey. Stay with us.

And welcome to FamilyLife Today. Thanks for joining us. 

1:00

We’ve been hearing from your wife this week, and I’ve been thinking—this is really about those times in life when we find ourselves in the low places—in the valleys of life, when we’re not on the mountaintop, when we’re in the slog. The psalmist talks about the valley of the shadow of death. Sometimes it’s not the shadow of death we’re feeling, it’s other shadows—but it’s about times when life is dark and we’re uncertain about where God is leading us or if He even is still with us.

Dennis: We’re in need of being reminded of the truth about God and who He is—and also that He has a plan for our lives and He can be trusted. I think sometimes, Bob, it’s just as simple as that. We just need somebody reaching into our lives. I think in those times we need to avoid being isolated.

Let me tell you—your enemy, in the midst of the low places—is the enemy of isolating yourself from other people who can remind you of the truth about God—

2:00

—the truth about yourself—and the truth about your future. You need friends. Every one of us has times—and I mean, some of them are game times. I mean, they’re really, really tough—it feels like it’s all on the line. Those are times when you can’t isolate from other people and try to handle it yourself by gritting your teeth and say, “We’re just going to persevere.”

No, let some other people into your space, and share your sorrow, your worry—actually, what’s going on in your heart.

Bob: We’re going to hear part three of a message from your wife, Barbara Rainey. She spoke to a group of women—not long ago—on the sufficiency of Christ to deal with issues from the past, issues we’re facing in our present, and for the issues that are ahead for us—for the darkness that we may be walking into. One of the things she says in this message is that we need to recognize that Jesus—who has promised to be always with us and to never forsake us—

3:00

—is with us—by His Holy Spirit—as we head into the future. Here’s Barbara.

[Recorded message]

Barbara: Number three: God the Holy Spirit is enough for my future. God the Holy Spirit is enough for my future.

I’ve noticed through the years that the Bible talks a good bit about dwelling-places—about homes. In the Old Testament, God’s residence on earth was the tabernacle. You remember they built that tent and they carried it around the wilderness and they rolled it up and they carried it and reset it up all over the place. 

Then, during Solomon’s reign, they built an actual, physical temple that never moved—it sat in one place. In that temple, God’s presence lived in a particular room called the Holy of Holies. So God’s presence was in one place—physically—on earth.

But in John 1:1 it says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”

4:00

Then in John 1:14 it says, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.”

So, when Jesus came and walked around the earth, He actually occupied a physical place on the planet, and His presence was way beyond that little square room inside the temple. God’s presence was all over the land of Israel. God wasn’t confined anymore to one room. In fact, Jesus’s name—Immanuel—means “God with us.”

But there was more change coming. Turn to John 14, and we’re going to read some verses from the Last Supper. The context for these verses is Jesus’s last words to His disciples. The end of His life was near—in fact—it was only 24 hours away. This was His last meal—and these were His last words to His dearest friends on earth. In those last words He introduced us to a new dwelling-place that He was going to give.

John 14:16 and 17—

5:00

“And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;” Forever! Jesus knew He was leaving, but He wanted to give them Someone who would be with them forever.

Verse 17—“that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him, because He abides with you and will be in you.”

If you have a Bible that you can underline in—and maybe you can do it on your phone—I don’t know how to do that yet—but in my real Bible I have underlined “with you” and “in you,”—both “with you” and “in you.” 

Jesus knew that the next day He was going to be on the cross and He was going to be gone—and He knew His disciples were going to feel abandoned and forsaken. In fact, in the next verse—verse 18—He said, “I will not leave you as orphans.” He knew they were going to feel like orphans the next day—on Good Friday—so He promised them that He was going to send Someone who would be with them forever.

6:00

I love the concept of those two phrases in verse 17: He will be “with you” and “in you.” So, Jesus is here with me. He...