Conversations with Ray Martinez

God is giving his people a choice to follow his direction in life or end up being defeated.  Here, Isaiah speaks the words of God and says, "come now, let us reason together."  If we will listen to the voice of reason (common sense), we will make the obvious choice.  God gives us good reason to follow him, to be obedient and listen to his directions in life.  No matter where you go, there you are.  And no matter where you go, there He is too.  You cannot avoid God. Let's be blessed instead of being stressed.

What does God want from our wholeness of being holy?  David is our illustration in how he made worshiping God as his most important priority to keep himself safe from his enemies.  If God is for us, who can be against us? God wants us to be without the stress of this world.  He wants us to live without fear and be confidant in His abilities..

God told his people to fear not and not be discouraged.  The world around us today is discouraging, but God asked us to look up to Him, and he will encourage us.  Likewise we should lift each other up with encouragement.  Today, I share 8 ways of encouragement, not just for yourself but for others as well.

We are living in some crazy times now days, and many of us feel uncomfortable with the turning of events whether that is at a national level or local level.  God says he will comfort us. This "comfort" means in the biblical translation to "breath strong".  In other words, take a deep breath.  God promises us easy breathing to relax ourselves through his blessings.  This is a super natural comfort.  No one can render comfort like God himself.

Today we are talking about the real peace that comes from God; the peace of mind and the peace of heart.  We can't confuse this with the world's peace that is temporal and non-binding.  God's peace is unconditional love while the world's peace constantly accuses if we don't align with it's conditional rules. God's peace passes all understanding.  We'll talk about the difference in today's podcast.

When asked what was my greatest surprise in life, I would say it was my greatest amazement in life.  Watching my Dad pass away was difficult, but  three days before he passed, something amazing happened.  Nothing short of a miraculous event that put me at ease, and I know my mom was more than excited.  A true event that I cannot ever forget.

What was my sport in high school?  I have to say it was Judo, taught by Dick Okimoto from Colorado State University.  He taught me the art of judo while teaching me life skills that has lasted me a lifetime.  I'll share some examples.  If you know Mr. Okimoto, I want to contact him to thank him for the life lessons that have saved me many times during life struggles.

Isaiah is talking to his people, delivering a message from God.  In this message, God is basically telling his people to "open their eyes" and see what He is doing.  There is ongoing creation today, not just in the beginning of Genesis chapter 1. I'll share much about this creation today, which may help us to open our eyes for 2021.  Happy New Years!

This was Joseph's first Christmas!  We explore why the Angel told Joseph to name Mary's son, Jesus.  There is much meaning behind the name and many other names that Jesus had such as Emanuel, Christ, Jehovah, and Jesus Christ that we will explore.  We discover that Joseph was a "good man", and had 4 foundational reasons to believe that the Angel of the Lord visited him in a dream.  Listen in for more...

Watching other families and their siblings is intriguing to me. Some get along like best friends and others never talk to each other again after leaving home?  While growing up, I only had one sibling, my adopted sister, Mary Jane.  She came from the same orphanage that I did.  So we had things in common, but we got along great.  Like anyone else, we had our differences, but I sure do love her and we stay in touch.  I remember one time when she protected me from a bully in school... you will like the story.