Are You A Remnant Chosen by Grace??

Good morning to all on this Sunday after Christmas. The lives of all human beings were changed some 2000+ years ago with the ADVENT of His birth, Hallelujah! Waine and I spent Christmas with Aleron. Our youngest wanted his Mommy to fix him some gumbo, so I did and it was a good batch! Waine and I had a nice time with him before he had to start another 12 hour shift. We heard from a lot of our friends and all of our family. As the years get on we so appreciate the love and care of our family and friends. As we go into the New Year we pray for God's blessings for your health and happiness.

I am continuing my journey in Romans 11 verses 1-36 "I ask then: Did God reject His people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”. And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”  So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.  What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened, as it is written:

“God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear, to this very day.” And David says: “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them.  May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.”

Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring! I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches. 

If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in His kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree! 

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: “The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable. Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that He may have mercy on them all. 

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?”“Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them? For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen. May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.

Paul is bring it back full circle. He was probably being bombarded by the Roman Jews challenging his "Jewship"--he was probably seen as traitor by the Roman Jews because of his ministry to the Gentiles. Likewise Paul probably encountered many Gentiles who now thought they were the "chosen" people of God. Paul is laying both sides to rest. He is categorically telling the Jews that their chance to be the "only" chosen people of God is now gone. They lost their chance by not accepting the Gift of Life through Christ. In fact even today, the Jews as a nation do not recognize Christ as Lord. There is a whole movement, "Jews for Jesus" that allows Jews to worship their Christian faith without restriction. As Gentiles, we take for granted that we are free to have a personal relationship with Christ without restriction. Not so when you are brought up in the Jewish tradition and then decide that your relationship with God will not be through tradition but through Faith.

Likewise, Paul was telling the Gentiles not to think themselves more highly than they should. That they are now eligible for the Kingdom because of their faith and not because of any tradition. They has become "chosen" because they have through faith received the Grace of God through Christ. That this Gift was made through the lineage of Faith that came through Abraham, to whom the Promise was Given. Paul is also reminding us that a branch cannot question the process of being nourished. That mystery is hidden and really isn't important. How can a branch question how and why it receives nourishment form a root? Paul admonishes Gentiles and Jews to just focus on the Grace that comes through Faith and not focus on who might be a more rewarding recipient of God's love. We have ALL sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. The ONLY person who has remained Faithful is Christ and it is through His sacrifice that we have salvation.

The Great Deceiver, satan, would have all of us forget that Christ willingly went to the Cross so that His obedience could erase the Disobedience of Adam and Eve. It is through this Sacrifice that we have the opportunity through our faith to become one with God again. Have I mentioned that we must exercise our FAITH?! Our faith and His GRACE is what we should focus on. It is this GRACE that we receive the gift of redemption.

The REASON for any season is Christ and the GIFT of LIFE that is offered because He died that we might live. Hallelujah! If we focus on that then we can have a life that will bring others to the realization that Life without Jesus is meaningless. Will others see Christ in you 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 he Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

Merry Christmas!

Stephanie

 

Faith Comes By Hearing the Word of God!

Good morning to all on this 1st Sunday in December. Its in the 50's in Thomaston and sunny. Yesterday Waine had some of his golfing buddies over. I made gumbo and a good time was had by all even after playing in the rain and fog.  The year is winding down quickly; before long we will have to remember to write 2015. It seems like I just learned to remember to write 2014. Anyway, I trust that this blog finds you well.

I am continuing my journey in Romans, Chapter 10 verses 1-21, " Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.”  But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down)  “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).  But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.  As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  How, then, can they call on the One they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”  But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word about Christ. But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says, “I will make you envious by those who are not a nation;  I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.” And Isaiah boldly says, "I was found by those who did not seek me;  I revealed myself to those who did not ask for Me.” But concerning Israel he says, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.”  Amen and may God add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.

Paul is now getting to the heart of the matter. Up to this point the Jews thought they had the "lock" on a relationship with Jehovah but Paul is letting all that will hear know  that a relationship with God will only come through Christ and not by works. The Christ that was rejected by the Jews and crucified. Paul is preaching that a relationship with God is a spiritual one and not one based on the flesh, rituals or works. He is telling the Roman Jews know that it is our faith that makes us whole and in alignment with God. Not only our faith but our obligation to profess our faith to all who will hear. The message to the Roman Jews is that they will have to leave their baggage about works and rituals aside and begin to live by faith which is only made possible through a relationship with God through Christ Jesus.

In John 5, verses 1-9 a story is told about a man who has an infirmity for 38 years. "After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked." The point being, the man was made whole because he believed and obeyed. He exercised his faith "by getting up"! When Jesus spoke he could have continued to lay there but he didn't he obey and exercised his faith.

How many of us choose to stay in our condition because of a lack of faith. As in the story above, the man did not have evidence that getting up would result in his healing. The process of getting up however ensured it. When we exercise our faith, we don't have evidence that our healing is secured. That's what faith means--Hebrews 11:1 says "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. " When Waine and I were lead to start ZOe, we had faith. That first step of faith was not hard. Prevailing in faith continues to be a daily walk with God. Faith is not a one step process, it is a continuous walk which blesses you on a daily basis.

If you find your self stuck in a situation, Christ has given you the remedy. TAKE UP YOUR BED AND WALK!

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace!

Stephanie

We Are Children of the Living God!

Good morning to all on this last day of November. Waine and I are in Orlando, enjoying the pitter patter of little feet. Aleron joined us for Thanksgiving at Freddie and Tracy's and I can't thank them enough for their generosity and hospitality. I got to catch up on some rest and Waine caught up on golf. Kai and Hailie had an abundance of unconditional love for their Poppop and GanMa as usual and I am already  missing them as we prepare to head back to Thomaston, GA. Continue to keep us in your prayers as God's blessings continue to be poured out to our families.

I am continuing my journey in Romans, chapter 9 verses 1- 33, "I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. 

It is not as though God’s Word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”

Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,   and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My Power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden. One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist His will?” But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the One who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the Potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? What if God, although choosing to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the objects of His wrath—prepared for destruction?  What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the objects of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory— even us, whom He also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?  As He says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘My people’ who are not My people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not My loved one,” and, In the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ 

Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: 'Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. For the Lord will carry out His sentence on earth with speed and finality. ”It is just as Isaiah said previously: 'Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.” What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall,  and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame." Amen and may the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word!

It should  now be Crystal Clear that the Jews do not have a Special dispensation just because they are Jews. Paul makes it plain that God's Promise of a Special Nation was based on the Spiritual Nature of Abraham and not his genealogy. The Spiritual Genealogy of Abraham was what God's promise pertained to and when we align ourselves with the God of all ages through His Son, Jesus the Christ, we become heirs of all God's promises. We become His children!

I was observing my son Freddie and how he interacts with his children. His daughter can literally melt his heart--the transformation is something to behold. When his son get happy and excited, my son's face just lights up. How much more LOVE does God display on our behalf through His UNCONDITIONAL LOVE for us. God just delights in loving us--He makes sure that we are taken care of. We don't have to make sure our heart beats, or our brain functions. He made us to be able to enjoy life and in ABUNDANCE. It saddens Him that so many of His created creatures live lives of desperation. He made us to have a song of thanksgiving in our hearts. He wants us to come to Him daily and start each day with a fresh and renewed heart so that we can enjoy the life He created for us.

If your life is not abundant I would suggest you turn it over to Him. Get connected on a daily, hourly, minute by minute basis with Him. Give every care to Him. As I write this Blog entry, I am giving Him my tired and painful feet. He doesn't want me to suffer so I a claiming victory over my feet. He wants me to be whole and I am claiming the victory that comes with my birth right. Hallelujah and amen!

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

Share in the Heirship with Christ! Nothing Separates Us From God.

Good Sunday to all. Waine and I had a quiet weekend in Thomaston. My friend of 30+ years, Kathy Kiedrowski, a bridesmaid in my wedding to Waine, died on Friday. I will be traveling to DC for her funeral. Please keep her 3 children in your prayers. hey are all adults, but now have lost their Mom. Please pray God's traveling mercies for me. He is a mighty and powerful God who while we were yet sinners had His Son die for us. There is no greater love!

I am continuing my journey in Romans 8, verses 1- 39, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.  But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.  And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of^] His Spirit who lives in you. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.  For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.  Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory. 

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.  For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope  that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.  And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[i] have been called according to his purpose.  For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.  

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.  Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen and may God ass a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.

What a wonderful legacy we share. We are ONE with God through Christ. Our future was secured when Christ took our sins, past, present and future, and paid for them at the Cross. We , as Christians, have been paid for by the Blood of the Lamb. So why don't we live victoriously? Why do we become frightened and threatened? Its because like Peter, we take our eyes off Jesus and look at all the waves. There are always WAVES, but we need not be affected by them, When trouble comes your way, just lay the trouble at the feet of Jesus. I am struggling with a business problem as we speak. It just seems that the decision we made just keeps being assaulted by Satan. Every day there is something new and I know Waine and I made this decision in faith and by the Grace of God. So why aren't things moving smoothly? I don't have the answers to any of those questions, however I do know the One that does and I know my job is to remain in Christ as God navigates us to a solution. I am putting these problems at the feet of Christ, because as an obedient child I believe that He will take care of it. I am to live JUST AS IF THE PROBLEM DOES NOT EXIST. Hallelujah!  If you truly believe was Paul wrote in this chapter then who can prevail against the child of God. No one.

Don't let Satan fool you into thinking that you fight battles by yourself. All my battles, all your battles have already been decided in your favor. You just need to believe for your deliverance. Nothing can or will separate you or me from the love and grace of God our Father! To know Him is to Love Him. To love Him is to Serve Him. To Serve Him is to love 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

Have you been rescued?

Good morning to all on this cold first Sunday in November. Middle GA was down in the 40's yesterday with wind gusts up to 40 mph. Tomorrow its supposed to be in the 70's again. Nice not to have to worry about weather.

I am continuing my journey in Romans 7 verses 1-25, "Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives?  For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man. So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. 

What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”  But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. We know that the law is spiritual; but I am nonspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.  I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 

So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;  but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin." Amen and may God add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.

The classic struggle between the Flesh and the Spirit! It all starts with our thinking. Whatever you allow yourself mind to dwell on will be acted out in the flesh! If you are overweight and want to lose weight, what do you dwell on. Most people dwell on what they can't eat and find themselves so overwhelmingly hungry that they over eat.  If you are out of money and can't pay your bills, you tend to keep your mind on how to get money. For most of us that means finding another job to make ends meet and since we are thinking about money then we spend more to bring us out of our depression. If your are unhappy in your marriage, you dwell on all the things about your spouse that make you unhappy and then when someone comes around that doesn't have those traits you begin to fantasize about how they could more enrich your life. In each situation you are dwelling on what YOU DON'T HAVE!!!

What I think Paul is suggesting is that we turn off our minds and dwell on the abundance of Grace and Mercy supplied to us through the death and resurrection of Christ. For example, a life with Christ is supposed to be liberating and if you don't feel liberated you might want to focus on what bondages are keeping you mired in sinful thinking and living. I can say from experience its because you have an emotional hole in your bucket that you are trying to fill. Joyce Meyers talks about this a lot. She was sexually abused by her father and even when she gave her life to Christ, she held on to the anger that resulted from the abuse. In short, she held on to the emotional devastation inflicted on her. She one day recognized that SIN had caused the devastation. Yes it was acted out by her father but at the root was SIN. Now she also knew that Christ had conquered SIN at the Cross, so why was she still holding onto it. She was finally able to free herself from this bondage by forgiving her father. She later led her father to Christ and he was able to confess his sin to Christ and to her. LIBERATION! She was liberated when she obeyed Christ and forgave--her father was liberated when he confessed his sin and sought restitution by asking for forgiveness. A wonderful loop.

I'll end with this story. This couple had saved money for 2 years so that they could go on this fabulous cruise. They were finally able to pay for it but had no extra money for meals and side trips. They had booked an all inclusive cruise. Their mini bar was filled to the brim with wines, liquors, cheeses and other snacks but they left it untouched because they couldn't afford it. They envied the other guests who dined in splendor every night as they looked through the porthole while walking the deck and eating their sardines, crackers and fruit they brought along. Three days into the cruise, one of the cruise directors stopped them and inquired why they were eating outside. Was the menu too restricted, was there something else he could have prepared for them? Was there a religious reason for their restricted diet? The husband said with some shame, that they were of modest means and had saved for the cruise for two years. They were thrilled to be able to cruise and see this part of the world but didn't have enough money to dine every day. They were saving the occasion for the 2 times they budgeted to eat with other guests. The cruise director looked very sad. They told him not to pity them because they were having the time of their lives. He interrupted them and said he was sad because they obviously didn't know they had prepaid for all their meals. They could have been dining and feasting all  along.

Many Christians do not understand that our life of abundance has been PREPAID by the death and resurrection of Christ. I lived many years as a Christian eating the sardines of life because I didn't understand fully what it meant to live a life of abundance. I do now and partake of my abundant life fully. It started with a change in my thinking and my willingness to boldly live my life for Christ. Hence my Sojourn Spiritual walk.

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