Conversations with Ray Martinez

Encouragement is something we all need to keep us motivated, loved, and feeling confident in ourselves and what we do.  It’s something that is important for our mental and overall health and it truly can give us just the same amount of joy to give it to others as it is to receive it. Because God created us and knows this about our personalities, he has provided countless verses in the Bible to not only encourage us, but also to teach us the importance of lifting up those around us. This is the last letter of RARE that we are finishing up about 4 things that leaders often forget about:  Responsibility, Accountability, Relationships, Encouragement.  

Wisdom comes from interaction, often critical, with a good friend. This is a deep rooted comment and it’s about having that difficult conversation. The World’s way is: Man-up, tough love, confrontation. God’s way is: Through grace, love, truth, hope, and faith all woven together that emanates from the heart into a meaningful conversation.  In today's podcast, we will go over the 10 commandments for difficult conversations. Every conversation can work in your favor or it can work against you. I choose to be the optimistic.  It's important for us to weave together grace and truth when we are having those tough conversations; it helps develop harmony and strength. Enjoy your day!

Relationships are a gift from God, but they are also complicated to navigate. They can be uplifting and encouraging when they go right, yet confusing and hurtful when they go wrong. If you are struggling in a relationship, Bible verses about relationships offer guidance for how to proceed. We will look at several different verses that apply to various types of relationships. As we study and meditate on these verses, we will learn what Scripture has to say about relationships and/or friendships. 

Toxic relationships is first on the agenda of today's podcast, along with good characteristics of a quality relationship. We do find family relationships, friendships, partnerships and even romantic relationships in Scripture. What does God want from our relationships with Him and others?  Here are some examples:  Loving, sharpening one another, forgiving, avoiding arguments, serving one another, no pretenses, dying to ourselves, etc.

Everyone is ultimately accountable to God. He is the Creator of all things.  We will learn the difference between responsibility (last weeks study) and accountability today. As leaders, you are held accountable for those you lead. These people are looking to you for guidance, like little children. We have a responsibility to lead and to lead well. We can’t take our leadership lightly, Otherwise we will be held accountable. 

In the face of such temptation, many Christians seek out an “accountability partner” to pray with and help share the burdens that come with doing spiritual warfare. Knowing we are in a battle against the forces of darkness, we should want as much help as we can gather around us, and this may include making ourselves accountable to another believer who can encourage us in the fight. We have nine takeaways for us today.  Have a Merry Christmas.

The Bible teaches the concept of personal responsibility: “The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child."  I like verse 4 of our reading. In some respects it’s kind of like saying “mind your own business” or, “it’s none of your business about the faults of others, you have plenty of your own to work on.” In the Old Testament, the Law emphasized the responsibility of individuals to respond in morally appropriate ways to God’s revealed truth. God clearly defined right and wrong, and His people are expected to do what is right. 

At times, people try to avoid personal responsibility, usually through blame-shifting. The Bible expects us to take personal responsibility in all areas of life. In the book of Romans, Paul really holds us responsible for ourselves and for others. How can I be more responsible? In this podcast I share with you my 13 take-a-ways from the Scriptures in today’s lesson.

When we pause, we suddenly realize that we have a lot of meetings in our life.  It's the key way of getting things done and organized.  The Christian life is not meant to live isolated, but live in fellowship with other believers. For this reason, Hebrews 10:24–25 tells us to “consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together... Regular, real-life, day-to-day fellowship meetings with other Christians is an essential component of Christian growth and perseverance.

The early believers were devoted to meeting daily in their homes for teaching, fellowship, worship, eating meals, sharing in the Lord’s Supper, and praying together. The early believers came together for larger corporate meetings (Acts 2:44). Their commitment to one another was so profound that they pooled their resources and shared what they had with those in need. Meeting together won’t keep us from being attacked, but it sure will make us stronger, and prepared to withstand the attacks or prepared to meet our Maker. 

In today's podcast, we will learn how Jesus comforts his disciples because they are worried about the future. He knows what bothers us and he knows that our emotions tend to run interference with reality or sensibility. After all, he gave us our emotions, but he also gave us the ability to comfort one another. Jesus also promised to send us the Comforter (the Holy Spirit).

 When Jesus tells his disciples, “don’t let your hearts be troubled,” he was  pointing out that we allow ourselves to be uncomfortable..as we see that word, “let”, suggests that we are allowing or giving permission to troublesome or uncomfortable situations to take control of us.  Jesus tells us, “don’t do that”…you don’t have to allow it to overcome us, but we must overcome the the uncomfortableness in our life with our trust in God.

Mary Jane, my sister, had a heart of gold.  She left us to be with the Lord. Nevertheless, she didn't leave without a legacy to remember her by.  I've share some personal stories about her life of struggles and success and how she impressed others because of her love for the Lord and her family. When she entered heaven, I'm certain that God said, "well done my good and faithful servant."  Mary Jane will always live in our hearts forever.

Hallelujah means, Praise ye Jehovah, Praise God, praise the Lord... The difference between Hallelujah and Alleluia is that the Hallelujah is used for joyful praise of the Lord, whereas, Alleluia is used for traditional chants in the name of the Lord. The term Alleluia is a Latin word that has been derived from the Greek transliteration of hallelujah. Did you know that that word "Hallelujah" is the same in just about every language on earth? In this podcast, I will share some great ways to praise the Lord and what He says about them! I'll also share five key points in what praise (hallelujah) means to me. Praise is a game-changer. If you are looking for the keys to Heaven, keep praising and the gates will open!

Martin Luther King repeated the phrase ‘we shall overcome’ over and over again. He was echoing the words of folksinger Joan Baez. Life involves many struggles, trials, tests, temptations, difficulties and battles. Yet, in Christ you can be an overcomer. To overcome means to conquer, prevail…to carry off the victory, according to Strong’s and Thayer’s definition. When you come to the point of being overwhelmed, God overcomes when we are living on overtime, no matter what the situation is about. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? The bible says we can overcome by the words of our testimony. In today's podcast, we will learn how we can overcome anything in our life with some key scriptures and twelve great take-aways.