My yoke is easy and My burden is light

Mark 8:34-36 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

My Yoke is easy and My burden is light

Recently I got the privilege to carry a cross down the streets of inner city Atlanta. This by far was the heaviest cross I have ever carried. As a matter of fact, I really couldn’t carry it very far at all. My back and shoulder’s started hurting immediately. I carried it a few blocks and had to give the cross back to my evangelist friend Joel Crumpton, who has a ministry in Atlanta.  Immediately the Lord reminded me of a vision He gave me. Around a year ago, I had the privilege of carrying a big red cross that was constructed by my friend Stacy Mitchell down the streets of the University of Alabama. This cross was heavy, as well. I came home to Pensacola and went to church. During the worship time, the Lord gave me a vision. I was kneeling at a cross and I heard the Lord tell me to pick it up. I immediately thought that the cross would be heavy like the cross that I had carried previously at the University of Alabama. I braced myself to pick it up and I was amazed. This cross wasn’t heavy at all. It was light as a feather and I couldn’t believe it. The Lord immediately spoke this scripture to me in Matt. 11:28-30  ^“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Fresh Revelation

Immediately I had received fresh revelation from the Lord concerning Mark 8:34-36. I had always thought that taking up my cross would be a hard grueling experience. The Lord showed me that it would be a hard grueling experience if I tried to walk and do everything in my own strength. The cross would be heavy and I wouldn’t be able to walk very far, but if I spent time in His presence and in His word the cross would be light as a feather. I now realize why Moses was praying for God’s glory and saying Lord unless you go before me and with me I can’t go. You see Moses had done things in his own strength before. He killed an Egyptian believing that it was God’s will and look how that turned out. Moses needed the Glory of God to fulfill his calling and purpose. He wasn’t taking no for an answer.

Are we living for ourselves or for Him?

I have two testimonies in my life. The Lord saved me and delivered me from drugs and alcohol in the mid 1990’s, but later in my Christian walk something changed. I had decided to leave the ministry because of the debts our family had accumulated. The enemy was using the cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things to choke out the word of God in my life.  I started seeking business, education and jobs in the place of the Lord. It became an idol in my life.  I thought that if I made enough money I could return to the ministry one day and it would be a lot easier. I was still in church, but I was dying inside because I wasn’t fulfilling God’s purpose for my life. I knew that I was doing everything in my own strength and God wasn’t in it. I was in ruin in the midst of the congregation. The cross that I was carrying was heavy and I had opened myself up for other sins, such as anger and lust. My wife knew how miserable I was and prayed me through. I praise the Lord for my wife because I don’t know where I would be without her. Her prayers were about to be answered because a major event was about to happen that would dramatically shift my life back to Jesus!

On March 9^th, 2014 the Lord would call Evangelist Steve Hill home to be with Him in Heaven. I had heard Steve preach probably over a hundred times at the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola Florida. The Lord really impacted me through the revival and through Steve’s sermons. They still resonate with me today. When I heard about Steve’s passing, I immediately was convicted by the Holy Spirit. I got on my knees, repented and made a commitment to the Lord for my life. I heard Him ask me if I would be satisfied with Him in prayer and for me to go after souls in the streets. I told Him that I would and I have never been the same. I was instantly changed and delivered. Rudy Waters got on the cross and died that day. It was a life changing moment.

You see my friend I got on the cross that day, died to myself and He resurrected me with His strength and might!  One of my favorite quotes is from Leonard Ravenhill who said “are the things you’re living for worth Christ dying for.” You see a lot of us want to go to heaven and still want to live for ourselves. I would always hear Steve Hill preach that “folks just want a get out of jail free card” or in other words a get out of hell free card. We want to live for ourselves and still go to heaven too, but it doesn’t work that way.  Jesus needs to be Lord and Savior of our lives. In the scripture above the word says that if anyone who desires to come after Jesus must first deny himself and take up his cross and follow Him. Every sin is rooted in selfishness. Our selfishness is at the root of the problem and it must be cut down and burned. If we pull off the bad fruit from a tree and let the new fruit grow, we will still continue to produce rotten fruit. The root system must be dealt with!

Repentance is the key! On March 9^th, 2014 I came to the end of myself and turned to Jesus. I was tired of living my life apart from his will and you can do it to my friend. Just get on your knees now and ask the Lord to forgive you for living a life of selfishness. Ask Him to forgive you of living a life of one foot in the world and one foot in Church! Ask Him to wash you in His blood and say not my will, but Yours be done Lord.  Come back to your first love my friend! Jesus is waiting with open arms for you to come and be with Him! Get on the cross and let Him resurrect you because His yoke is easy and His burden is light!

Written by Rudy Waters

Go and Declare's Newsletter for May

Go and Declare, Inc. Newsletter

Nuevo Laredo, Mexico Trip April 6^th-17^th

Deportees at the Mexico Border

When we first arrived on Friday, Pastor Ray and I were able to bring toiletry items and pizza to the deportees who have been sent back across the border into Mexico. These precious people were waiting for the bus to take them home or to a shelter. We were able to share the love of Jesus with many of them and pray with them. The Lord loves every one of them. I was able to share Jer. 29:11 with them and I told them that the Lord has a plan for every one of them. I was able to pray for most of them and give them a hug before they boarded the bus.

Sharing with the precious women of the Colonia

On Sunday morning I was able to share with the precious women of the Colonia. I shared with them a message that God gave me about how He looks at a person’s heart and not the outer appearance. It was an amazing time! I will never forget about the precious women in the pink shirt in the picture to the right who was having heart trouble. We prayed for her and the Lord completely healed her. She was full of joy when I saw her later in the week. God is faithful! The women were excited to receive the shoes that Janice Sugar donated. God Bless You Janice! You are amazing!

Sharing at Elim and Lilly of the Valley Assembly of God

I had the amazing opportunity to share in both of these churches. On Sunday night & Tuesday night I shared at Elim and on Thursday night I shared at Lilley of the Valley.  I had to preach on different holiday topics. The topics were on Palm Sunday, the controversy and the last supper. To be honest, I complained to the Lord about it. I was used to praying and sharing messages that were on my heart, especially revival and salvation. The Lord was stretching me.  The Lord told me to honor the leaders and that He would give me a message for each topic. It was amazing! I spent time with the Lord every night before the meeting and he gave me what to share. The people were blessed by the Holy Spirit every night. The altars will filled with folks recommitting their lives to Jesus and receiving a fresh touch from Him. I was truly amazed! God is faithful!

Deportees in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico

On Saturday, we did an outreach to the deportees in Nuevo Laredo. Most of these precious people were from Central American countries. The New Mexico team led Worship and the Lord touched many people that day. We had many people come forward to recommit their lives to Jesus.  I had the opportunity to pray for folks that were dealing with suicide, fear and trouble sleeping. I prayed for peace and for perfect love to cast out all fear. God is faithful!

Outreach in the Colonia

Last but not Least, we were able to do an outreach to the precious people of the Colonia. The New Mexico team led worship and Pastor Ray shared the gospel. We had many people come to the altar that day to receive a touch from the Lord. I could feel the compassion and presence of the Lord for these precious people. We were able to give out food bags and diapers. We also fed everyone a nice meal. My favorite part was being able to give out the rest of the shoes that my friend Bro. Craig Anderson donated. These shoes grow with the children’s feet. It was a huge blessing to see their faces light up with joy when they put on their shoes. Thank You Bro. Craig! You are awesome my friend!

Upcoming Ministry

I’m excited to be back in Pensacola for a little bit to rest and do some writing. The Panera Bread Ministry is booming and Bro. Warren told me that were going to be picking up our fourth church. Praise the Lord! Also, there are some teams coming in from Evangelist Levi Lutz’s ministry in Texas to minister at Wal-Marts and throughout Pensacola. This is exciting and I can’t wait to share some testimonies from this in future newsletters. I have an awesome opportunity to help with evangelism in cities throughout Texas with Evangelist Levi Lutz’s team. My missionary friend Richard Davis is moving to San Antonio to be closer to Mexico and I have an amazing opportunity to travel in and out of San Antonio going into Mexico more often. I have already been looking at plane prices. Praise the Lord! The Lord is up to something and we believe the Lord is going to raise up missionaries and send them all over the world from San Antonio. Also, I plan on continuing to stay connected to my friend Evangelist Joel Crumpton in Atlanta. My heart is to take teams a couple times a year up to Atlanta to do evangelism and help Bro. Joel with his homeless outreach on Tuesday nights. These are just a few things that we will be doing. There is so many opportunities coming up that I can’t even put everything in writing. I will be updating everyone in future newsletters. I have testimonies to share with you about what happened in Picayune, Miss, as well.  Exciting times and the Lord has been faithful with every step Go and Declare takes!

Thank You

…everyone for praying for me and for your generous financial support. I am absolutely living a dream!  I know if it wasn’t for your prayers and support for Go and Declare we wouldn’t have the impact that were having for Jesus!  My wife would always ask me years ago what made me happy and I would always tell her when I’m traveling. It’s now becoming a reality. When I was a kid, I entered an essay contest to win a globe. The globe was for 2^nd prize. I wrote such a good essay that I won first prize the dictionary. I was disappointed because I was infatuated with looking at the world on the globe. Little did I know that the Lord was going to send me to the nations to proclaim His name one day? God Bless everyone for your faithfulness and love! We will all share in the rewards together! May the Lord richly bless you!

P.S. Check out our Facebook page and our blog page. I have a new blogpost ready to go up soon. If you haven’t read our recent blog called Don’t be like a Pharisee, Be like the Tax Collector I encourage you to check it out. There’s an awesome testimony in there from our trip to New Orleans.

Checks can be written to Go and Declare INC and mailed to 1117 Colbert Avenue Pensacola FL 32507. You can also click on the donate button and give at the websites below.

Blessings,

Rudy R Waters II

(850) 281-7555

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www.goanddeclare.blogspot.com