Good morning to all on this 1st Sunday in November. Its almost been a month since I last posted however God has been working with me and on me for the last 30 days to ensure I learn to live abundantly and live to reflect His love for me and for others through me. Nothing replaces the attention we pay to the details of our lives. It is so self intuitive however, we cannot leave the growth we need to do to others. We must address the areas of our lives that require attention on a daily basis. Thank God that He doesn't take His eye off the sparrow or on those that love Him and are called according to Hid purpose. Thank God that He keeps His eye on me. Please pray for traveling mercies for Waine as he travels to Jamaica next week. Join me in praying that God's protective hedge continues to be around him during his travels.
I am continuing my journey in the 2nd book of Thessalonians verses 1-17, "Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of His mouth and destroy by the splendor of His coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as first fruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. " Amen and may God add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.
In Proverbs 23:7 Solomon writes ...As a man (or woman) thinks, so is he or she....". What is in our minds will be translated into words and deeds. If we have evil thoughts it will be translated into destructive behavior and ultimately the destruction of our lives. The Bible teaches that Satan roams this earth seeking to devour every soul that is not protected. Christ, through Christians, seeks to protect every soul and it all starts with our thinking, then our word and ultimately our deeds.
One lesson that became very cogent this week is that my thinking not only affects me it also affects those around me --no so much through my actions but more through the spirit of enmity or grace that that emanates through my thinking. Our thinking affects the atmosphere around us. It will affect it without the utterance of a single word. If you are thinking positively then everything around you becomes positive. If you are thinking negatively then chaos will rein supreme. I never saw this as clearly as I saw this week!
As Christians we are to be "uplifters". We are to be "encouragers". Yes we are to admonish folk to surrender their lives to Christ but it is not so much with words but more so through our thinking, our gifts of love and the strength of our unwavering faith. This allows the Holy Spirit to do His work and bring others to God through Christ. To know Him is to love Him. To love Him is to serve Him. To serve Him is to love others. I never saw this as clearly as I do 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
