Good morning to all on this 1st Sunday of October 2015. I was looking back over my blog entries and was shocked that the last entry was the 1st Sunday in September. It has been a busy September but I had not realized it had been a month since I sat down to blog on my Spiritual Sojourn. Waine and I are in Thomaston and it is a rainy day in Georgia which means we were not rushing here and there to get things done before my beloved would be off playing golf. It has been a nice relaxed morning. I have been able to putz and my beloved is listening to Bob Marley and reading. A great morning indeed.
I am continuing my journey with Paul and Timothy in Thessalonians. We are now in the 2nd book 1st chapter verses 1-12 " To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.
God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with His powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might on the day He comes to be glorified in His Holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you. With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling, and that by His power He may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. We pray this so that the Name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ." Amen and may the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.
As Christians our EVERY DESIRE should be prompted by Goodness and our EVERY DEED prompted by FAITH. I have been thinking about my faith lately as it relates to a project I took on boldly and with conviction. I am convinced that the Lord had Waine and I start this project and it was started without incidence. Good made the PROVISION for His VISION. Every obstacle was removed and we moved forward. Since the initiation of His Vision, it would seem that HIS VISION has been assailed by storms and challenges. At every turn my patience is challenged and like Elijah after his Triumph at Mt. Carmel against the priests of Baal, I just want to find a cave and hide.
I was not quiet about God's Vision for this project and therefore many knew the Power of God and His Promise to provide through our faith. So now my faith is again being tested and at a higher level. My faith is being proven through perseverance because God has brought me out of the cave to continue to plow the field that God has laid before Waine and I. What I have learned is that God's Vision is not static and my faith likewise cannot be static. As God's vision grows so is the requirement of my faith. Hallelujah! God's Vision is always expanding and likewise my faith has to expand with it and at every turn His provision is there.
As each step with God through Christ draws me nearer to His bosom, I am renewed through prayer. In this instance the prayer is constant--minute by minute--no blanket prayer --a moment by moment prayer to sustain me because the way is not clear. My comfort however is that the Cross of Calvary is clear and although I may not understand what tomorrow will hold I rebuke Satan this moment because God's vision will be fulfilled regardless of my limited vision.
To know Him is to Love Him. To love Him is to serve Him. To serve Him is to love you!
Stephanie
