Faith is the Confident Assurance of things Hoped for and the Evidence of those Things Not Yet Seen.

I am fortunate to say that I have never experienced pain or suffering like so many I have seen on the news and around the world or heard about through friends and family. My life was good, but I didn’t realize just how good it truly was. I was Blessed to have such wonderful memories as a reality when so many others did not. Raised as a Christian and the only son to my parents I was loved by an awesome mother and father and sister that supported me in everything I did or could ever want for. Things in life seem to come easy for me….and to me that was normal and expected.

The first prayer I can ever remember praying ( in my teens) was asking God to please let my girlfriend Judith Eve Landsman marry me…..I just knew that she was the one God had created for me and I was taught that the Lord has created someone special for each of us; someone to spend the rest of our lives with. I remember reading in the bible: that a son will leave his mother and his father and cling to the wife of his youth. That scripture resonated within me and would ultimately begin my walk with an awesome God. It was by clinging to my wife and my marriage, 34 years ago, that I would truly surrender my life to living for Christ.

You see I knew of God my entire life and I believed in God whole heartedly, because I was taught to believe. But in reality, my view of God was merely just words on a page; an image limited to my own understanding of a God that I read about and heard about. But, I did not have a relationship with God. Honestly, at that time in my life, I thought that was normal as a Christian. As I grew older and life became much harder that thought would quickly fade as I found myself needing a miracle and needing one fast. My marriage was falling apart and I was always taught that God hates divorce; that you are married for life and it is a covenant that you make between you, your wife and God . Both of our parents had marriages that were amazing examples of what a good marriage was supposed to look like; even so, we could not live up to the examples that we had known and found ourselves wanting out.

In 1981 I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ at a “Jesus conference” at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. On August 7^th, 1982 we were married and things seemed to be a great for a while but quickly changed to my lack of commitment of knowing His Word and walking out His Word in faith. The bible says in Mathew 11; that it is impossible to please God without Faith, that Faith is the CONFIDENT ASSURANCE of things HOPED for and the EVIDENCE of those things NOT….YET….SEEN. the more I read that scripture, the more it sounded like a Promise, and knowing that GOD was not a man who could lie, I held on to that promise as if it was a gold nugget. It was a spiritual Truth from my God, who I wanted to know more about.

Eight Years of my marriage would go by unchanged….it was horrible and on the rocks at all times. Yes, there were good days, sometimes good months, but there were as many bad days as good days. Though we both remained faithful to each other, we wanted out of our marriage. I had bought into a lie from the enemy of my soul because I knew this was not God’s plan He had for me and my Family. When times were bad the words from my mouth were not of God… but lies from the enemy and my heart knew better. The Bible says that the thief comes to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10). The Thief is Satan and you better believe he is alive and well. He is the counterfeit to everything good God has created and he wants you dead. He was after my marriage and everything else he could destroy. Judi and I wanted a great Marriage, we had two Children Jayde my youngest and Jarid my oldest and if he could destroy our marriage he would then have his foot in the doorway to destroy the lives of my children’s as well.

Needing God’s intervention and healing hands more than ever, it was in the middle of my living room that I would find myself down on my knees, screaming from the top of my lungs  “I do not want a divorce! Lord please, please, please, save our marriage!”……and God Showed up! Right there in the middle of that room with my children and my wife…..God showed up! From that point on my life would never be the same. Scripture says that if you will seek me with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul….their shall you Find Me.(Jeremiah 29:13)

Faith is Believing and Trusting God at His Word. God says, “ For I know the Plans I have for you says the Lord…..They are Plans of Good and not of evil….plans of a Hope and a Future….(Jeremiah 29:11) That’s another Promise….and the Bible is filled with His Promises. My Walk with God became more and more intense and more real as I started to learn and know His Word. My marriage became rock solid and we are more in love than I could ever have dreamt imaginable. God did not leave me or forsake me…He perfected everything that concerned me and my family. God, was taking us on new adventures and showing my Family, signs and wonders….

God wants all of us to come to the knowledge of Knowing His Word; to know His Word is to know Him. I know that sounds corny or maybe doesn’t even make sense at all. But God is an intimate God and wants intimacy with each of us. The Word of God, (THE BIBLE), has been around for as long as (each of you reading this) can remember. The bible is called the living Word; it is a love story of your and my God that was written for our benefit. And the more we read it the more we learn about our amazing God. He has sent His only Son to redeem the price for all of man kinds sin, by dying on the cross and proving to the World that there is eternal life for those who would call upon the Name of The Lord and repent from their sins and make Him The Lord of their Lives.

As our walk as a family has grown daily throughout all of these years we are constantly reminded of His Love and the love He has for all of mankind. We are so honored to pray for those in need and to share our testimonies with all that would listen. Most importantly to give Praise to God for all things. And to Give Him all The Glory. The Bible says that The Lord will share His Glory with no man and no means no! We give all Glory to God….win! Loose! Or Draw! Even in good times and bad times our Hope and Trust will remain in the Lord always. God gets the victory and The Praise. We as a people who Love Him, have to constantly remind ourselves that everything we have is God’s and belongs to God…we are merely stewards of His Love, His Blessings and His Kindness.

My Family has experienced many trials and tribulations throughout the years and He has always shown Himself Faithful, Faithful, Faithful! My failing marriage led me to the feet of my creator which is exactly where I should have been all along. We have learned to trust and walk with God where ever he would have us and wherever He will lead us one day at a time.

I was once told by a great man of God “That God is not concerned about today, but He is concerned about your destiny. His destiny for you is to spend eternity in Heaven with Him and walk in fellowship with Him”.

We have learned from God that the strength of our love is determined by the source of our love. With God all things are possible and that Love covers a multitude of sin. There is no greater Love than the Love of the Father.

I Pray you will have the Faith To Trust in the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and Give your life to the living God that Loves you, Jesus Christ, my Yeshua.

Capt.Ray Malone