You Have Overcome the World

Good  morning  on this 25th day of August. Happy Birthday Koichi!! Waine and I are in Hawkinsville enjoying a very mild and temperate late summer day in Georgia. We have had record rain fall in Georgia and it is GREAT to see the sun. Waine and I enjoyed a GREAT walk this morning just talking and sharing. Today is also the anniversary of Dr. King's "I have a Dream" speech. African Americans have accomplished a lot and we still have lots of work to do.

 

I am continuing my journey in 1 John 5, verse 1 - 21, "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves His child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep His commands. And His commands are not burdensome,  for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.  This is the One who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.  For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.  We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which He has given about His Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 

 

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him.  If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.  All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death. We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true. And we are in Him who is true by being in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.  Dear children, keep yourselves from idols." Amen and may the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.

 

This message is 2,000 years old but Still So Relevant! John was admonishing the believers of his day to claim the promise and power of God. Christian teachers are still admonishing us to be bold in our faith and claim the promises of God through obedience to the commandments of God. Chief among them is to love God through acceptance of His Son as the pathway to Him and then to love one another as God has loved us. With this commitment to His commandments we can live without fear and when we live without fear we begin to realize the abundance that has been paid for us by the Blood shed  on the Cross.  We can also boldly proclaim the TRUTH! So why do so many Christians NOT live the abundant life that is ours. why are so many Christians silence about this Faith.

 

The evil one is the chief liar--his whole life is dedicated to keeping us in fear but this fear is only relevant when we let it. Jesus said we can rebuke Satan with the power of the Holy Spirit and we should be ashamed when we do not live boldly. Shake off the shackles of fear and guilt and grasp the abundance that is yours today. Don't deny the sacrifice of Christ by not living boldly through Christ today.

 

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

 

Stephanie

The Love Story

Good morning to all of this rainy Sunday in Georgia. It has been raining for 3 days and although the temperature hovers around the mid-70's because it is so rainy it seems colder. Waine and I are in Thomaston this weekend and he spent the greater part of yesterday moving more things from Atlanta to Thomaston. When we first moved to Thomaston, I resisted putting the Atlanta house on the market, because of "what ifs"--what if Thomaston does not work out, what if we have to move back to Atlanta?--One day I was convicted because God says you cannot take hold of the plow of the future looking backwards so I agreed to put our Atlanta house on the market. The transition is a little painful for me because we spent so much of our 26 years together in that house. All of our grandchildren were born while we lived at 3151 Rilman Road; Aleron came of age at 3151 Rilman Road. So many beautiful memories and another chapter begins.

 

I am continuing my journey in 1 John chapter 4 verses 1 - 21, "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.  This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,  but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.  You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.  

 

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.  This is how we know that we live in Him and He in us: He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.  There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.  We love because He first loved us.  Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And He has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister." Amen and may the Lord add a  blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.

 

What a POWERFUL MESSAGE about the love of God for us. Most of the time I focus on why I love God--I really can't help myself. Knowing Him completes me. I could not imagine life without God through Christ. It HIT me today reading this passage that God also NEEDS to love me! He is programmed to love me. He is not complete until He can love me--that's why we were created--we are the vessels to accept His love. Its like a light bulb is not complete -- it cannot do its job-- until it emits light. An electric socket is not complete until it can give you electricity. A jar is not complete until it can hold something. God made us so that we could accept His love. Love is not complete until there is an object that can accept it. Love is made complete in the action of acceptance!!! Wow!  My concept of God is that He needs nothing and yet then why did He create us?? God is self sufficient--He needs nothing to complete Him--I believe this concept with unquestioning faith so why then were we created? I am beginning to understand the nature of Love.  Just like a jar cannot help the need to be filled, Love cannot "help" the need to be given and accepted. Love is an action and as in all actions it has to do something. In the case of Love it has to be given--it cannot be contained. Love seeks to be given and accepted. That is the nature of love. Hallelujah!!  When you are dwelling in the spirit of love you will know it. There are no thoughts of "what-if" or "does not"-- that is to say "what if the person to whom I am sending this love will accept it--what of they reject it? Love doesn't care what the receiver does or does not do--Love just wants to be given.  It is our job as children of God just to give LOVE to Him and then to each other. Love never judges if someone is worthy of the Love--Love just wants to be given. That is the story of Love and of God. He just wants to be given to the creation that was created out of love to accept His love. We complete God--I get it. I am the Love story. You are the love story. He loves us BECAUSE HE CANNOT HELP HIMSELF.

 

It pains God when He cannot give us His love because of SIN. SIN and God cannot exist in the same place so its like Light and Dark--when darkness exits its because Light is not there. Sin closes the path through which God's love travels to us; the bridge that is needed is Christ. If you love your spouse and they are in sin, its your job to share the Good News through words and deeds. If you love your children and they are in sin, then its your job to share the Good News through words and deeds. If you love your friends and they are in sin, then its your job to share the Good News through words and deeds. God loves the world that is in sin and its our job through words and deeds to SHARE this LOVE STORY. Amen and hallelujah!

 

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

 

Stephanie



"...and we are known by the Spirit He gave us!"

Good morning to all on this Sunday in August. Waine and I are in Hawkinsville. It is over 90 degrees and my beloved is on the golf course. We spent last weekend in Orlando with Kai and Hailie and their parents. We celebrated Kai's 5th  birthday. He is getting to be such  a Big Boy. Time passes so quickly. It was only yesterday when I was at his birth and mine was the 1st heart beat he heard! The private practice is going well. we had a banner week and I thank God for all of  his blessings!!

 

I am continuing my journey in 1 John 3: 1-24 "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.  Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.  All who have this hope in Him purify themselves, just as He is pure. Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that He appeared so that He might take away our sins. And in Him is no sin. No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him.  Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.  This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. 

For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.  Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.  If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.  This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence:  If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we keep His commands and do what pleases Him.  And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands lives in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us." Amen and may the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.

Wow what a powerful message! When we give our life to God through Christ we HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT that Christ left for us and to be with us. That is the PRESENT tense! We don't have to ask for the Holy Spirit we already have Him and His FRUITS!! They go hand and hand. We don't have to strive to display these FRUITS we just have to get out of the way and let the Holy Spirit REST, RULE AND ABIDE. When we take over and sin enters the picture, God and sin cannot occupy the same space at the same time so therefore we are unprotected--however we need only repent and we are back with the Holy Spirit again. We cannot earn God's love and Mercy. We became God's love and mercy when we accepted Christ as Savior and His blood sacrifice wiped us clean. We are clean forever -- we need nothing else except to CELEBRATE this new life daily.  When we pray, we are to pray as if our prayers have already been answered. The price has been paid. When we live we are to live a victorious life.

If you are struggling then get out of the way of your true life. If you have anger then get out of the way and let God's love shine through you. If you have insecurities then get out of the way and let God's victorious life be your life. Our life with  God through  Christ is right here and right now and forever. We don't have to  wait. We don't have to plea--just get out of your own  way. Christ has already paid the price for your victorious life.  Waine told me this story about this couple who saved up for 2 years to take a cruise. They were finally able to pay the fare but didn't have  any money left so they brought crackers, cheese, fruit and peanut butter so that they would have food to eat. On the second day of the cruise, a cruise worker asked why they were eating cheese and crackers on the deck of the boat. The husband replied that they had enough money to book passage but not to pay for the food. The cruise worker informed them that the food was included in their fare and they could eat all they wanted. The PRICE HAD BEEN PAID IN FULL!

If you are  on the deck eating cheese and crackers when a banquet awaits you then get to know the God you serve better. Satan is the father of lies. You are already seated at the bountiful table of the saved because of the sacrifice of Christ. Enjoy your life so that others may come to know and serve the God of Abraham , Issac, Jacob and you!

Now may the Lord bless you  and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

Stephanie