Not "Oh, Lord" but "Yes, Lord!"

Good morning to all on this last day of 2010! Waine and I are in Hawkinsville, Georgia for the weekend and we are working so pray for us and that I will be anointed with healing for all that I have to care for. We will bring in the New Year together which is in and of itself a great blessing; to be with the one you love and one who loves you is the greatest New Year's resolution you can have. So bring in the New Year with Jesus the One who loves you BEST!

ET received the results of his CT scan yesterday and the disease has spread to his liver which means no surgery next week. This was obviously not the news he was expecting and to tell you the truth it was not the news I was expecting either. I had claimed the victory over his disease months ago and was already celebrating. I was one of the "Oh, Lord" persons yesterday and today until about 15 minutes ago when the Holy Spirit reminded me that my job was to say "Yes, Lord" and not "Oh, Lord". God reminded me that He was indeed still in control and that is all I had to focus on. So for all of us that have been praying for ET and his family, our prayer of thanksgiving is to be "Yes, Lord" and "I put ET and his health in Your hands and claim the victory over illness and the grave in Jesus name, amen and amen!"

I am continuing my journey in Romans, chapter 10 verses 1- 15, "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!” Amen and amen!

AND HOW CAN THEY BELIEVE IN THE ONE OF WHOM THEY HAVE NOT HEARD? HOW CAN THEY HEAR WITHOUT SOMEONE PREACHING TO THEM? Yes Lord! Kingdom building is our job; our reasonable service to the One who has saved us from ourselves and an eternity without Him. Kingdom building by spreading the GOOD NEWS that Christ died for both Jew and Gentile; that Christ came and fulfilled the law so that we could walk among the saints and with God. The Good News that you need to pray in the name of Jesus and your hearts desires will be fulfilled.

This is our job, day in and day out. Just look around you at the lost souls you encounter daily. Irrespective of financial or social status, look at the pain and suffering of those who still have not heard the Good News that Jesus was born, He lived, He died, and was resurrected so that we could accept His payment for our sins and then live in the Garden of Eden with God. Hallelujah! I just had an epiphany! What drove us out of the Garden was SIN; what kept us out was the Tree of Life--we were not permitted to  enter to the Garden and eat of the Tree of Life because we then would have lived for ever separated from God because of SIN. Christ made all that RIGHT and RIGHTEOUS. We can now walk in the Garden with God and experience all of the Garden's abundance because when we accept the GIFT of Eternal Life through Christ, we will live forever with God and actually it doesn't matter where you live as long as it is with God. We are to experience abundance in all of our environments so claim your abundance with your  mouth and as the scripture says "You will not be put to shame!" Speak your truth to power and claim what is your inheritance. Free yourself from the yolk of worry and doubt so that you can be about your Father's business and proclaim the Good News that Christ the Savior Lives! He Lives and you are the evidence that He still loves the world.

God bless you on this Last Day of 2010 and may the New Year bring you the joy and abundance that you deserve. May you lead other's to this realization and speak Truth to Power in Jesus Name, amen and amen!

Stephanie

We Are the Potter's Clay--Be Happy!

Good morning to all on this glorious Wednesday morning. Still cold here with snow on the ground. I got a virus from one of the rug rats I took care of on Monday and felt very much under the weather last night but thanks to the loving care of my husband I feel much better this morning. Please continue to pray for ET and his family and also pray for our son Freddie and his family. Freddie will be moving to Atlanta for his new job. Please pray that God will sell their Florida home in this down market and that he and his family will get out of the house what they put in. Also pray that his wife will get a job. She has a Master's degree in clinical counseling. She runs an assisted living facility now. This morning's BLOG has three (3) distinct parts. Don't miss any of it although long.

Now I want to share a truly inspirational story with you that was shared by one of my friends. I have copied her email below and you will be blessed. My prayer is that we can get an African American artist to also pick up the song and that it will get world wide coverage.  The title of her email was "Out of the Mouth of Babes".

"As we are beginning to celebrate the Christmas season, I think this video is a great way to start. Please read the story, then click on the website below, and watch the video. This powerful message will help guide your focus and heart for this Christmas season. Beautiful !!!

Here is the story behind the song:

While at the mall a couple of years ago, my then four year old nephew, Spencer, saw kids lined up to see Santa Claus. Having been taught as a toddler that Christmas is the holiday that Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, he asked his mom, "Where's the line to see Jesus?" My sister mentioned this to my dad, who immediately became inspired and jotted words down to a song in just a few minutes. After putting music to the words, and doing a quick recording at home, he received a great response from friends. He sent the song off to Nashville without much response, except for a Christian song writer who suggested adding a bridge at the end of the first chorus. My dad then asked if I wanted to record the song to see what we could do with it. I listened to the song, made a few changes to the words to make it flow better, and we headed to Shock City Studios. It was at the studio where Chris, owner and producer, rewrote the 2nd verse and part of the chorus. With goosebumps and emotions high, we were all hopeful and felt like we had something special. The demo was recorded in just under 2 hours and sent off again to Nashville .... still no response. Then 2 weeks before Christmas last year, my cousins, Greg and Robbie, decided to do a video to see what we could accomplish on YouTube. The first day we had 3000 hits and it soared from there. We received e-mails, phone calls, Facebook messages from people all over asking for the music, CDs, iTunes, anything .... we had nothing. After a couple of meetings with Chris following the amazing response, we got serious. We headed back into the studio this past spring, this time with guitars, drums, bass, pianos, choirs -- the real deal -- and here we are today. We set up iTunes, put a website together, and were loving that thousands upon thousands of Christians have come together remembering the true meaning of Christmas. Out of the mouths of babes comes profound truths that many adults cannot understand. Merry Christmas everyone. Click on this for the beautiful song.

http://www.youtube.com/user/beckykelleySTL

Wasn't that wonderful? God blesses us continuously! I am continuing my journey in Romans 9 verses 19-33 "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!

 

My husband, Waine, and I have this running dialogue of why God chooses to do some things and not others; or why God allows things to happen. I am of the ilk that He can do whatever He wants because He is the Creator and I am His clay. I don't need to know why--I need to trust and obey.  TRUST that He has only GOOD planned for my life and OBEY His commandment to LOVE HIM with all of my heart and being and then to LOVE you as I love myself. If I focus on these two commandments daily then I am free to experience all the GOODNESS that He has in store for me this day. God has already smiled on me this day with the Utube video I just shared with you and I am in firm belief that this video is going to touch the world because its genisis was PURE--as it says in Matthews 18:4 "Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." This is what Paul is getting at! The Promise was given to Abraham not because of his ethnicity, culture or gender. The Promise was given to Abraham because of his faith. It is our individual faith that makes us one with God through Christ. We don't have to over think it. We just have to trust and obey. I personally know what that means. When others would write the "end of your story" you must boldly assert that only God has the Power to write the end of your story! Believe me when I tell you, when God writes the end of a story it is one for the ages and you will be fulfilled for ever more. Just give your heart to Jesus and be saved from the confusion of this world.

 

Where is the line for Jesus today? Hallelujah and amen!

 

Stephanie

God's Strength Made Whole in Our Weakness

Good  morning to all on this blessed Tuesday morning. Waine and I are in Atlanta and guess what, we had a white Christmas! It snowed on Christmas morning and the snow is still on the ground. We have had record lows through out the east coast of America and the storm front that extended from Florida to Maine also affected Atlanta. Our daughter Melanie lives in Portland with her family and even she didn't have a white Christmas. Waine and I took great delight in calling each of our married children and reminding them that we had something they didn't--a white Christmas. Waine and I spent the 3 days before Christmas with Freddie and his family and got to watch Kai open up one of his Christmas presents. His first response was "whoa" and the delight on his face when he saw his gift (a Toy Story fort) is what makes Christmas magic for Waine and I. Violet, Waine's mother, spent the Christmas weekend with us and even went swimming with us on Sunday--not bad for an 88 year woman! Continue to pray for ET and his family and for his healing. January 4th is the day he goes in for his CT scan and possible surgery. You have been with him on this journey for the past 4 months; the goal is in sight so continue to push with him to the finish line. Please also pray for JKS who has a rash that will not go away. Pray for her healing and the wisdom of the doctor's who care for her. Christ's strength is made whole in our weakness which is something that Satan would have us forget.

I am continuing my journey in Romans chapter 9 verses 6-18, "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." May God add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word, amen and amen.

It takes some spiritual maturity to understand what Paul is getting at here and it took me about a week to wrap my mind and heart around these verses because Paul is describing a God I do not know. The God I know is all about Mercy and Grace, those Twin Towers of  my faith. The God being described here is a God with a Plan for Mankind before Grace and Mercy. God had to save man from the Sin that occurred in the Garden and He, God, worked through man to do so. God had to set up the lineage from which Christ would come and it started with Abraham and Sarah, which in and of itself seems simple until "man" again steps in and thinks he/her has a better plan. Abraham and Sarah wondered how a child could come from a man in his 100's and a woman in her 90's and instead of trusting they decided they needed to help God. Their plan was put into place and thus begot Ismael who was not God's promised child but because he was a child of Abraham, Ismael's offspring would prosper and thrive and to this day the Arab nation is thriving and warring with the offspring of Issac, the fruit of Abraham and Sarah's union. Why men think that God needs help is beyond me. There is something specific about our sin nature that thinks it has to "help" God with His plans. Do not be fooled, this is the arrogance of sin.  When we think like that just know that the first being who thought like that was Lucifer-Satan himself--when you are in a space and time in your life and are waiting on the fulfillment of God's promise for your life you will be tempted to help God. That is the time to get quiet and WAIT ON THE LORD! In fact, don't just wait rejoice in your waiting because when you do God's plans will be fulfilled in your life.

I wrote about the swimmer who was only 50 yards from his goal of crossing the English Channel when the "fog" set in. I am that swimmer and I feel, most recently, that I am operating in a fog. It has been a challenge for me to keep my inner strength and perspective as I wait upon the Lord. In my waiting I have had to pray for patience; most recently I prayed for supernatural kindness for those who I ordinarily would not want to be kind to and although I did not "feel" kind I knew that my prayers and desires were the offerings that God wanted me to give. The fog has not cleared but this morning I awoke and decided it didn't matter that I couldn't see the other shore; it only mattered that I knew it was there and I knew that the God who loves me will have me at the other shore in His Own Timing and not on mine. Now I can lament that I am still in this "channel"; I can lament the fairness or unfairness of it. I can lament why I find myself where I am at this point in my life or I can celebrate that I have a life and it is full because I have a man that loves me; I have children who are healthy and happy; I have grandchildren who will remember and speak my name; and when I leave this life I have a life in eternity with the One that conceived me in Love. When my mother and father conceived me, God called my name and set into motion my life and the richness that would be mine. I have been Abraham, Sarah, Rebbecca and Issac in my life--trying to help God when no help was needed or asked for; and still God love me and I have a rich and fulfilling life. Therein lies the lesson, we don't have to Help God help us. We have to love God, really love God by reading His word, speaking His name in Reverence and believing in His Promises which have been fulfilled through Christ. This is Kingdom building and that is our JOB.

Do you love God today? Then stop believing in your power to correct and let God have His way. It is not too late for you or me because each minute we breathe is a minute in which we can set into  motion the course correction needed for our lives and we will cross the "channel". To Know Him is to Love Him; To Love Him is to Serve Him. To Know Him is to Love Him; to Love Him is to Serve You. When I embrace this concept I will have arrived on my other shore, how about you?

Have a blessed day and speak His name and claim your victory.

Stephanie

Your Set Time

Good morning to all on this glorious Sunday morning. Waine and I had a wonderful week in Jamaica and had a time to catch up with old friends. We left 6 degree weather in Atlanta and landed into a paradise of 75 degrees! Our friends were complaining that winter had come to Jamaica and Waine and I were praising God for the beautiful balmy weather. Perspective is such a hard task master--when mastered though we are free to be the people that God intended. Continue to pray for ET and his family. He will be getting a CT scan on the 31st of December and then on to surgery when the margins are found to be clean. Also pray concerning your own Set Time--that time when God will reveal the answers to your prayers. Each of us have our own set times--we just have to be open to them. I heard a story this morning during devotion about a young man who wanted to swim the English channel. He believed he could do it and therefore set out to do what no other person had done up to that point. Although the channel was filled with sharks and jelly fish, he believed he could do it. So he started off and swam 1 hour, then 3 hours, then 5 hours and although his arms were tired and he was cold he still kept swimming. At the 8th hour a dense fog set in but he kept on swimming. He could no longer see the other shore, but he kept swimming. At the 12th hour he was exhausted physically and mentally and was no longer able to hold on to the vision of the other shore. He gave up and got into the row boat that was following him. They began to roll toward what they thought was the direction of the shore and to his and everyone elses amazement, he was only 50 feet from the shore when he gave up. He gave up just as his victory was in hand. Ignore your "fog" today and focus on the inner vision that God has given you about your Set Time. Believe it and receive it. Your victory is at hand! Amen and amen.

I am continuing my journey in Romans, chapter 9 verses 1 - 5, Paul is writing to the Jewish Christians in Rome, "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.

Paul continued to have an anguish because the Jews he was preaching to about Christ, the Messiah, would not accept the fact that God came in the form of Man, the Christ, so that all mankind could be saved. The Roman Jews were continuing their search for the "Messiah" even though Christ fulfilled the lineage as foretold in the old testament. They continued to be in their "fog" and this hurt Paul to his very soul. Jewish children are taught the lineage of Christ from the time they are able to comprehend and yet when Jesus came, He was not accept by His own people although His birth fulfilled the lineage as foretold in the old Testament. That's how Sin works. Sin will blind you into thinking that your own reasoning is better than that of the Great Divine God. That was Satan's folly; he thought himself better than his Maker, God, and was cut off from the source of his power and inspiration. Satan prowls this earth seeking others to join his misery. Do not be fooled. Be like Paul and listen to your conscience which is confirmed by the Holy Spirit. Remain victorious in your hope which is in Christ. Speak the name of Jesus and receive His Power. Do not be fooled by the evil one that you will remain in the "fog"; instead continue to press on to your Set Time which is the plan of God for your life. Hallelujah and amen!

Stephanie

We Are More Than Conquerors!

Good morning to all on this glorious Monday morning! The last five days have been very eventful for us. On Thursday, Princess Hailie had to be hospitalized to rule out seizures. Waine and I drove to Orlando Thursday night so that we could be with her and her family. She is well and it looks like she was aspirating her milk which gave her a pneumonia, sinusitis and ear infection. The shaking was secondary to her airway being blocked by the milk because she was being fed lying flat. Waine and I drove back to Atlanta on Saturday for Aleron's Surprise Birthday party which was planned by Alexandra, his beloved, and as God would have it all is well and we are truly blessed. Thursday is the day that I encouraged everyone to speak the name of Jesus for power and affirmation. I had lots of practice on Thursday and every day since! Continue to pray for ET and his family and if you have prayer requests add them to this blog and any other blog you visit. Be not ashamed to send your prayer requests up to God and share your needs with the body of believers.

I am continuing my journey in Romans 8 verses 31-39, "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 amen!

What an affirmation Paul gives us --NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD THAT IS IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD!!!! When God sees us He sees His Son, Jesus. Jesus our Intercessor; Jesus who vouches for our validity as children of God; Jesus who ensures that our "todays" and "tomorrows" are filled with abundance. We can't even separate ourselves from the love of God because when we submitted our lives to God through Christ our salvation and our abundance was secured. Paul says that God graciously gives us all things--so why are Chrisitians struggling? I believe we struggle because we want to. You see "struggling" is tangible -- faith is not. Struggling does not require patience for outcome; faith requires patience and maturity. We would rather struggle and exhaust ourselves than to just be quite and trust. When I had to finish seeing my patients on Thursday and then drive 7 hours to get to Hailie I had no choice but to be in prayer and faith. No struggle would get us there any faster. I knew that God was with this precious little angel and knew that He had a plan that would bless us all. I had to give my struggles to God because I had no choice. God wants us to freely give our "every day" to Him--He wants us to TRUST HIM for all our abundance SO THAT WE CAN BE FREE TO BE ABOUT HIS BUSINESS OF KINGDOM BUILDING. When is the last time you shared your faith with someone?

God's love is constant and His love is available minute by minute. Do not look to your future--it may never come. Trust God for that. Look to you "immediate"; your "right" now and trust Him for it. Evaluate what you think is missing that blocks your happiness--put it on His alter and walk away from it. Speak the name of Jesus now and be blessed.

Beloved, my desire is that you have a Life in Abundance according to the script that has been written for your life when the world was created. God loves you best and so do I.

Stephanie

We are Justified. We are Glorified!

Good morning to all on this December morning. Waine and I have already received two (2) Christmas cards which is a reminder to me to get into gear and get our annual message out to our family and friends; we are blessed to have both. The weather is officially winter for Atlanta. The day time highs only get to the low 50's and the nights are getting into the high 20's. For those of you in snow country, this must sound like summer but for us southerns this means we have to start dealing with coats. I had a chance to visit with ET yesterday and he looks great! Your prayers are working and just speaking the name of Jesus for your friends and family has power! Did you know God had certain names that characterize His specific qualities. I was listening to Joyce Myers yesterday and she was teaching on this subject. When you are calling on His healing powers we can call on Jehovah-Rapha - "The Lord That Healeth Thee". In Exodus 25:15-16 Moses writes about the Healing Power of Jehovah Rapha. So you can call upon Jehovah Rapha for a specific healing or as Joyce Myers taught me yesterday you can call upon Jehovah Rapha for a healed life and sustained health. So I pray to Jehovah Rapha for you sustained health in Jesus Name, the name above all others amen and amen!

I am continuing my journey in Romans 8, verses 19- 30, "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 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. Amen and amen!

Paul is starting to step it up in these verses. As Christians we will suffer for our faith because Satan sees to it. We don't have to dwell on our sufferings in fact we are not to be frustrated but victorious because we have an intercessor who helps us through our weaknesses - i.e. our lack of demonstration of our faith and trust in God through Jesus. Paul is reminding us that the Intercessor is working on our behalf 100% of the time because we have been JUSTIFIED and GLORIFIED when we repented of our sins and accept the Gift of Life through Jesus Christ, whose name is above every name. Philippians 2: 9-11 says "Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Hallelujah! When you call upon the name of Jesus even Satan has to bow--there is no higher authority and this authority, Jesus, lives in us! What can stop you today other than your own lack of faith for something that has already happened--your deliverance into abundance. I don't care where this blog message finds you today, if you can't do anything other than call the name of Jesus, do so now. Just start calling the name of Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus for  my healing. Thank you Jesus for  my family. Thank you Jesus for my health. Thank you Jesus for my prosperity. Thank you Jesus for waking me up in my right mind. Thank you Jesus for my ministry. Thank you Jesus that you have touched someone through this blog message. Thank you Jesus that YOU LOVE ME right now and in this time. Thank you Jesus because that's all I can say.

Stephanie

No Longer Slaves to Fear--Get rid of that Shackle!

Good morning to all on this beautiful Sunday morning. I trust that everyone's Thanksgiving was blessed with family and friends; we had Hailie the Princess and the Kaimiester and their parents with us. Waine and I enjoyed them thoroughly and I am constantly reminded that babies are for young parents. Please pray for all the single mother's out there. I truly don't know how they do it or for that matter how I did it. Melanie, our second daughter, was in the Macy's Day parade. She was holding the one of the lines on Horton and the Who ballon. She was very excited and it was a thrilling experience for her and her family.  My friend Brenda Brown told me that she shared my blog entry on Forgiveness with her Saturday prayer group and a member of that group was able to share it at the funeral of her dear friend. You never know how the Word of God is going to be sewn. Our job is to get the Word out--God's job is to add the increase! Please continue to pray for ET's healing and pray for Waine's mother's healing. Please pray for me that I would be more like Mary and not like Martha. Continue to keep our President, Barack Obama in your prayers.

I am continuing my journey in Romans 8 verses 1 - 17, "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. Amen and may God add a blessing to the read and hearing of his Word.

As a scientist I have been taught that everything in life has properties - that is to say a CHARACTERISTIC OR FEATURE THAT DEFINES THAT PARTICULAR ENTITY. Paul indicates that we, when we have our minds set of Christ , have properties that distinguish us from the properties when we have our minds set on the things of the flesh. Christ, Himself, called these properties FRUITS--the fruits of the Spirit. The Spirit has set us free from the SLAVERY of fear, which was the characteristic of our life before Christ. As Christians we have been set FREE from slavery, death, destruction which are the properties of Sin that we inherited through Adam and his wife EVE. When we accepted Christ, we were TRANSFORMED which is another concept in science. One element can be transformed into another. Water can be transformed into ice or steam. When it is transformed it takes on NEW Properties. Ice can not act like water or steam because it is ice. We likewise cannot act like our old selves unless we let sin transform us through our thinking. Paul is telling us to keep our minds renewed on the the Freedom we received through our confession of sin and keep our MINDS ON CHRIST so that the Holy Spirit can assist our living a Fear Free life. We are HEIRS--so why do so many of us live in FEAR? Fear of failure; fear of financial ruin; fear of adultery; fear of anger. We need to keep our Minds on Jesus so that we can live a victorious life! That is the PROPERTY you now have as a child of God.

I awoke this morning on my mind on Jesus. I was motivated to read His Word and to be transformed. I am constantly in prayer for me so that I can live a Fear Free life. I am no longer willing to let Satan fool me out of my DIVINE inheritance on a daily basis. Christ has died and has risen; I don't have to wait on my inheritance I have it with me now and so do you. Stop acting like you have those old properties! You have been transformed so embrace your new life. If you have grieved someone ask for their forgiveness and then get rid of that shackle. If you are ill believe for your healing and get rid of the shackle. If you don't have enough money then believe and claim your inheritance and get rid of that shackle. If you don't have a job then ask God for the job you want and believe that it has already happened and get rid of that shackle. If you have a spouse who can't or won't remain faithful to you then pray them up and let Jesus take care of them and get rid of that shackle. If you have children that are not living up to their potential then pray them up and get rid of that shackle. You are Not, Not, Not a SLAVE to death and destruction. Satan wants to keep you bound up. Set your mind on Christ right this minute and claim your birth right as a child of God. Start living your new PROPERTIES today. The choice is truly yours.

Stephanie

Sin has no Dominion in the Lives of Christians!

Good morning to all on this Wednesday morning. Waine and I have delighted in Kai and Hailie and although exhausted we are the better for it. Thank you for your prayers for Violet, Waine's mother, she is doing great and is recovering in miraculous leaps and bound. Please continue to pray for ET and his family and pray for your continued success in 2010.

I am continuing my journey in Romans 7 verses 7-23, "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 unspiritual, 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." May God add a blessing to you through the reading and hearing of His Word, amen and amen!

Boy Paul keeps it real does'nt he?! As Christians when we sin, we have died to that part of us that has been sanctified by Christ and we allow our selves to be taken over by our flesh. THE FLESH WHICH IS DIEING DAILY. GO FIGURE!

Paul apparently understood this concept well as he stated in this passage, AND it is true today! I can count the number of times that Christians have told me that they knew what they were doing was SIN, but at a point just couldn't stop themselves and when it was over (whatever IT is) they often reflected "why did I do that?" The "why" is that they DIED to their real selves and let SIN take over. SIN only wants to feed itself. It will sacrifice you; throw you under the bus so that it's own desire can be fulfilled. SIN is not inanimate, just like the Holy Spirit is not inanimate. SIN has an agenda and that is to fulfill the lusts of the flesh, however the only flesh it has is you! Here's the remarkable revelation I had this morning--SIN has no dominion other than YOU. If you give it form and substance, then it is unleashed. If you throw the WATER of the Holy Spirit on it then it has no power. For instance, the 1st commandment says, "Thou shall have no other gods BEFORE me". We are to worship God FIRST and foremost. If we worship power, money, anger, or lusts and put those desires before God than we have broken the 1st commandment. The 6th commandment says, "Thou shall not kill.", so if you kill someones body or spirit you have broken the 6th commandment. The 7th commandment says, "Thou shall not commit adultery." so if you have sex with someone when you are married both parties have broken this commandment. This is the SIN that Paul is talking about. Now remember this, Christ BROKE the bonds of the 10 Commandments power over us through his DEATH and RESURRECTION. He had to die to pay the debt that the 10 Commandments create by their very nature. Christ also then released us from the power of SIN--it has no dominion over us. We have to literally, willfully die to our Spiritual nature to partake in SIN. So why do Christians partake.BECAUSE WE DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO! It like paying a bill that has already been PAID IN FULL!

Instead of focusing on your ISSUES (things that affect the flesh) today why not focus on the liberation which has occurred in your life through Christ and CELEBRATE, CELEBRATE, CELEBRATE. Don't DRINK THE KOOLAID! You are free from the bondage of the flesh and sin so act like the child of the King you are. Its an exercise; you have to work it to use it. Repeat often, "I am the child of the King. Only good things will happen for me!"  This is true if you know Christ! If not repent of your sins and accept the death and resurrection of Christ and be restored to the Kingdom of God right now. Praise Jesus and hallelujah! For ONLY HE is worthy to be praised.

Stephanie

Released from the Law!

Good morning to all on this crisp November morning. Waine and I are just finishing up a weekend in Hawkinsville and as usual these bonding weekends are just so special. Freddie, Kai and Hailie will be in Atlanta until Wednesday so I will get to play Obachan with my "gran' pickney them" for a couple of days. Although still jet lagging a bit, Waine and I are getting back to a sleep cycle that is somewhat normal. Continue to keep ET and his family in your prayers as he finishes his course of radiation therapy and continue to keep Waine's Mom in your prayers. Waine just said, the other day he was out looking at the stars and ran out of stars to thank god for all his blessings. We are blessed as you are and when we start our days thanking God for His infinite blessings, our day can only be an adventure that is worth living.

I am continuing my journey in Romans 7 verses 1-6, "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." Amen and amen!

We have been released, released, released, RELEASED! We are not captives to either the law of Moses or the sin that is the consequence of man's transgression of the law. I had to think about that for a minute. My concept of sinning was that I was born with a sinful nature because of Adam and Eve's transgression against the law/commandment of God. What Paul is saying is that the minute Christ died for our sins, we were released--not about to be released--not may be released--WE WERE RELEASED from the authority of the Law and the authority of the flesh. So why do we sin? We don't accept the freedom that comes with Christ and His sacrifice for us! We go back to that old way of thinking where the flesh rules.

We are able to bear the Fruits of the Spirit not because of anything we do with respect to the Law of Moses; we bear the Fruits of the Spirit because Christ died and we are Christians, period! Its like breathing air. There is no struggle when you realize that you have been set free from the bondage of sin. You are RICH, RICH, RICH so be generous with your lives and the Fruits of the Spirit that is a result of this freedom. For example, instead of feeling frustrated because of the people you have to interact with, be joyous and generous in your joy. People can't affect you, you have been released. If you are feeling frustrated because you perceive you have more debt than money, then be generous and give more money to Christ. Your bank account will stay full because this is a promise of God through Christ. If you are ill and everyone has given up on your healing on this side of Jordan, then rejoice because for you to live is Christ and to die is gain.  Live your life and be generous as if you knew you had another 100 years to live. If you are living in adultry, admit that your fleshis dead and that you have a new life in Christ. The emotional satisfaction that comes through a relationship with Christ will far and exceed any fleeting satisfaction from an adulterous relationship.

I am just getting this concept of RELEASE and feel liberated today because I do not have to be a slave to anger, fear or any other negative emotion. I am a child of the King and my ransom has been PAID IN FULL. I need only to turn my face and heart to it.

Test your freedom today and live like the Child of the King that you are!

Stephanie

The Benefit of Your Faith

Good morning to all on this glorious Friday morning. Waine and I are back from Southeast Asia and had a wonderful, incredible time in that culture for the better part of 10 days. We learned so much about that culture and the people; this picture is of us and our friends in front of the oldest post office in Ho Chi Minh City. I have on a scraf to protect my necklace from pick pockets. Waine and I were also lucky enough to spend some time with local contacts and on our last day in Thailand had a chance to see Tiger Woods play in a tournament honoring King Bhumibol, the ruling monarch of Thailand, Tiger's  mother's birth home. What struck me about Tiger was how relaxed he seemed. He smiled alot which is not something you characteristically see him do when on tour in America. You could take as many pictures as you wanted which was the other treat we encountered. Waine and I are a little jet lagged but are grateful that God took care of Violet and our home. Continue to keep ET in your prayers and I thank God for each of you.

I am continuing my journey in Romans 6, verses 15-23, "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?  But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Amen and amen!

Paul seems to be saying that in this life we are either slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness--there is no in between. We are either going to give into the slavery to satisfy our flesh or become slaves to God's order through our faith. I had to think about that for a minute. The truth is we usually go about our day with learned behavior. We get up, brush our teeth, get dressed, have our nourishment and then start to fill our minds with the things that have to be done. We are slaves to the flesh --the definition of a slave is a person who is owned by another. We are slaves to the flesh and we have to take of this flesh from the moment we awake until the moment we close our eyes. We don't have a choice in the matter! Paul is saying that we DO! Christ through His death has conquered death and the slavery of this flesh. We have been set free from having to respond to the natural desires that the slavery of the flesh imposes upon us--we have been set free! We need only to claim our freedom minute by minute, day by day as we focus our minds on the righteousness of God through Christ. For instance. We can be slaves to negative thinking which always leads to negative behavior; just as the body follows the direction in which you send your head, your behavior will follow your thinking. If you have negative thinking it will result in negative outcomes. If you spend your entire day  fretting over what might happen instead of thanking God for the outcome you desire, then the negative outcome will materialize. It happens 100% of the time. Paul said we should spend that same energy thanking God for the freedom made available through His Gift, Jesus, so that we can be about more important matters--Kingdom building. do not dwell in what is already dead, you are dead to sin. Praise God for the life you have through Christ and let that line shine so that other may see it and be saved! Do not be a slave to negative thinking regardless of your circumstances. Circumstances always change; if you are mired in sin and negative thinking you will miss your blessing.

I love you in Christ.

Stephanie

Your Spirit House

Good day to all on this glorious Friday! Well if you read the blog  yesterday you know I was jet lagging badly and was up and awake for most of the night on Wednesday and in fact worked all night and got a lot of work done! Waine finally awoke at about 7 AM on Thursday and we went down to have breakfast at the hotel dining room. You could get your traditional omelet, bacon, fruit and toast or you could get the Thai breakfast of baked beans, chicken in tradition Tai sauce, rice, chicken sausage and coconut soup. Waine tried everything! We then went walking. You can find Spirit Houses, like the one on the left, all over Thailand. One of the teachings of the Buddhist religion is that if you build houses for the spirits of your ancestors, then they will occupy the Spirit House and leave your alone. There are little miniature houses every where in Bangkok, including the premises of businesses. Here is one near the hotel in which we are staying. The Spirit Houses can be very elaborate or very plain depending on the person circumstances of the person building it.

Waine and I visited temples today and the Grand Palace where the King lives. He is the 9th King of Thailand. The King depicted in the "King and I" was the 4th King of Siam or Thailand as it is now called. This King is actually a US citizen, born in Boston while his father was in Medical School. The Thai people are a mixture of Chinese, East Indian and Cambodian. The temples have a lot of Chinese influence as seen in this picture of Waine and a traditional "lion" guard of the gate. As you can see, I have learned to use this camera so can upload pictures so stayed tuned. We also saw the largest reclining Buddha image at the second temple or Temple of Wat Pho and then I was "templed" out; we drove by the 3rd temple and told the guide to keep rolling. 

Remember to keep ET in your prayers and also Violet in your prayers. My prayer for each of you is that God will expand your territory today. 

 I am also going to continue my travels in Romans 6 today verses 1-14, "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.  If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him. The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." Hallelujah!

What struck me most about yesterday and visiting these temples to Buddha was that this was obviously a great man. Millions of people follow his teaching to this day. They build beautiful monuments to him and spend a tremendous amount of money on the upkeep of these shrines. Evey temple we went to had images of this man, hundreds, painted in gold leaf. The reclining Buddha, at the Temple of Wat Pho, was covered entirely in gold and measure 46 meters long and 15 meters high. This statue had mother of pearl inlays on the soles of the Buddha sandles. Every temple roof is painted in gold leaf at tremendous costs. Yet this man was born, he lived, and then he died. No one has seen him a gain. Everyone acknowledges that he is dead. Christians on the other hand can freely partake of life after death because of the sacrifice of Christ, who unlike Buddha was born, lived, died and then, and then, and then rose again! He does not require temples covered in gold leaf, or statutes of Himself in gold leaf-- He asks that we accept His sacrifice and His conquering of death so that we won't let sin reign over us. We can instead live the life of abundance that His sacrifice  allows us to live. Paul says that once we die sin cannot affect us. I thought about that for the first time. Our flesh will be dead so sin, which requires flesh, will not have an affect on us. We will be living spirits; we will be living either with God or without Him (Hell). We won't require Spirit Houses because we will not be of this earth.

God wants us to enjoy this earth while we can. It was created for us and yes we should take care of it and always remember that it is ours to enjoy not in sin but through the abudnance of Grace and Mercy made possible through Christ. Christ has defeated death and all the decay of sin that affects our lives today. Live your life abundantly; don't worry how to do it just BE HAPPY! Let go and be happy today and enjoy all that God has to offer you at this Feast  called salvation.

God love you and so do I.

Stephanie

The Power of One

Good morning/evening to all on this glorious Thursday from Bangkok, Thailand! Waine and I arrived here this morning at 1:00 AM and as you can see I am jet lagging but Waine is not having any problems sleeping. We left Atlanta on Tuesday morning at 10 AM and flew to Seattle to catch the flight over the Pacific to Tokyo and then Bangkok. It is a little disorientating when you fly west because you are always chasing the sun. I think we also crossed the International Dateline and lost a day but who knows. I thank God for the traveling mercies He gave us and the strength to even enjoy this adventure. We have our first full day in Thailand in about 8 hours and I pray I will be up for the challenge. Its about 80 degrees here and is considered their High Season, although the person meeting us at the airport couldn't tell us why. Continue to pray for ET and his family and continue to pray for Violet. She is home now and is able to get around in her walker and her spirits have brightened considerably.

I also want to continue to feed my spirit as God has richly blessed Waine and I and will therefore continue my journey in Romans 5 verses 12-21, "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Amen!

Can't you just feel the love that Paul has for Christ and His Father! The love just jumps off the pages at you and this is a man that never walked with Jesus. What struck me as I was reading the this passage is that there is always Power in One. In this case sin entered our world through Adam and with sin came death and destruction. Christ then gave us the power of Grace and Mercy through His sacrifice. It doesn't stop with them. We are all powerful in our own right --we have the Power to rain blessings on the world or the Power to remain silent and let sin and death continue to rob the world and the people in it of the JOY and Peace that comes through a relationship with God through Christ. Each of us has the Power to change the world daily-it starts with ourselves and then runs as a wave in the ocean to affect all that we come in contact with. We have the Power to either negatively or positively affect our circumstances daily. Look at Martin Luther King, Mahatma Ghandi, Rosa Parks jsut to name a few ONES that decided to make a difference in the world. For example, I was confronted with a situation on Monday as I was hurrying in my usual manner with a million things to get done before heading off on this trip. By noon I still had packing to do, paperwork to finish for a client and proposals to finish writing. As I was out and about, my beloved called to tell me that we were having dinner guests. At that very  moment, I had to make a decision about my attitude and the receptiveness that I provided my husband. I actually didn't know how I was going to cook and get everything else done, but I knew that my God did so I prayed and left the work in His capable hands. i had the Power to turn our evening into Joy or criticize my husband for his jesture. I think this was the lesson Christ was trying to teach Mary when she went about working and her sister sat at the feet of Jesus. When you do the right thing for the right reason, the outcome will always turn for the GOOD especially in the hands of Jesus.

As it turns out the evening was wonderful; all the packing got done; all the paperwork got filled out and I learned that God loves me enough to take care of each detail I turn over to Him. And therein lies the lesson-Jesus never forces His will on us. We must freely take on the Yoke of Righteousness and turn every detail of or lives to Him. I don't know what you are facing but I know what I am facing--the future is not known to us which is why God tells us not to even think about it. Today has enough challenges to keep all of our angels busy. He wants you to have spiritual rest so let the Power of the One rest rule and abide in you today and forever. I am blessed just writing about it.

Stephanie



The Peace and Love of God

Good morning to all on this wonderful Monday morning! Waine and I were in Orlando since Thursday of last week helping Tracy, Freddie's wife, prepare for his surprise birthday party and we pulled it off! Freddie's 40th birthday was on October 21, 2010 and we started the celebration then and ended it yesterday when we got on the plane to come back to Atlanta. Waine and Freddy played golf on Saturday while Tracy and company decorated the venue. Freddie's family came from Miami and New York. We had a DJ playing 70's music; his friends all came dressed in 70's attire inclusive of Afro wigs and Bee Gees wigs. Kai got into the act as did Hailie and a good time was had by all. Tracy wanted to make sure that Freddie had a memorable 40th and I think Freddie would agree. Waine and I are truly blessed to have children who have spouses that truly love them and with who they are best friends. Please continue to pray for ET and his family and also the recovery of Waine's mother Violet.

I am continuing my journey in Romans today 5 verses 1-11, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Amen and amen!

Paul truly understood the power of the LOVE of God--"while we were YET SINNERS, CHRIST died for US!"  Unlike the world, or your friends and even at time your family, who may sacrifice for you when they think you deserve it or perhaps not at all, CHRIST DIED for all of us while we were sinners; while we were separated from the FATHER and SON through sin He laid down His life so that we could LIVE. The question I thought of this morning is "how are we choosing to use this gift of life"? Are we living abundantly and generously with others; are we living by holding grudges; are we living by blaming others for our circumstance; HOW ARE WE LIVING? HOW AM I LIVING?

My husband's grandmother raised he and his brother in the country side of Jamaica. They had very humble circumstances as there is no welfare system or social security system in Jamaica. Ms. Rosie was left a widow with 15 children to raise and no visible source of income. Waine's mother would send money that not only supported her two children but also the aunt and uncles still living in the household. They didn't have much but what they had they also shared with others in the community. If a mother couldn't feed her children, she would bring them to Ms. Rosie's house where she knew they would have a roof over their head and food in their belly. When you ask Waine to describe his grandmother, he immediately tells you that she started her day singing hymns and praising God and ended her day the same way. Ms. Rosie held the LOVE of God in front of her face daily and always; therefore regardless of her circumstances, she KNEW that her LIFE's ABUNDANCE was held in HIS unlimited blessings not only for her but for her children and her children's children. In fact, all of Ms. Rosie's children did quite well. Her grandchildren became doctors, lawyers, successful business people with Ivy League diplomas to show for it. I often wonder if all of Ms. Rosie's pickney them, understood the power of the GRACE bestowed on Ms. Rosie and her offspring because of her faithfulness.

How will you be remembered? Will you be remembered for your Peace and Faithfulness or will you be remembered for your strife and worried nature. What's in your faith wallet? Do you trust God for your abundance? He gave His life willingly, do you think He would withhold anything else? Just think about it and let go of anything you are holding onto that prevents you from CLEARLY SEEING THE LOVE OF GOD FOR YOU. When you start loving yourself as God loves you then you will be better to your self and to others. Oh ,if  we could truly see the love of God for each of us. If I would love others as God freely loves me, this world would truly be a wonderful place.

Give your self a break today!

Stephanie

Delivered to Death for Our Sins-Raised to Life for Our Justification

Good morning to all on this beautiful Monday morning. Waine and I are in Atlanta and had a wonderful dinner with Aleron and Alex last night. We talked soup to nuts with these two young people and marveled at the amount of skill and acumen that each possessed in their chosen field of interest. Waine and I praise God each day for each of our children and the blessings each receives from God daily. Violet is convalescing and we thank you for your prayers. ET begins his next phase of radiation and chemotherapy, so keep he and his family in your prayers. Pray God's traveling mercies for me as I head out to Louisiana today. I praise God for each of you and your faithfulness to Him and His Kingdom building agenda.

I am continuing my journey in Romans 4 today verse 13 - 25, "It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waiver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. Amen and amen!

What a beautiful sentiment and PROMISE--Christ WAS DELIVERED over to death--this is not a passive process. God was actively involved in the death of Christ which also means that He assented to this event as a necessary sacrifice to atone for the sins of mankind. The sacrifice that was made by Christ was a necessary payment for our sins. The point most of us miss is that THE PAYMENT HAS BEEN MADE AND PAID IN FULL!!!!!. Christians do not have to continue to pay--we don't have the power to pay for our sins which is what Paul meant earlier in this passage--the PROMISE of forgiveness and realignment with God through Christ comes as a function of our faith in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. We can neither "obey" our way into this relationship or "mis-behave" our way out of it. Our relationship with Christ has been signed, sealed and delivered through the death and resurrection of Christ! Hallelujah! Oh that we could really embrace this message. There is no "death" that is too great for God to overcome. He HAS conquered the death of all your disappointments, failures, and SINS. When your faith understands this divine statement, your abundance will be revealed to you. Your abundance is already there--your disbelief in the power of your Faith prevents you from seeing it. Take your blinders of disbelief off and understand and BEHOLD the POWER OF GOD that is available today.

I thank God for you.

Stephanie

ABUNDANCE POWERED BY FAITH

Good morning to all on this Friday morning. The cool weather has come to Georgia and feels great! You can sleep with your windows open and be lulled to sleep by the crickets or awakened by the chirping of the birds. Waine is returning from Jamaica today so please pray for God's traveling mercies for him. Please continue to pray for ET and his family and a speedy recovery for Violet. She was discharged to a Skilled Nursing Facility yesterday and looks good.

I am continuing my journey in Romans today, verses 1-12, "What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised." Amen.

Paul in now really getting to the heart of the matter. Abraham was the FIRST "Jew" and was chosen by God because of his FAITH and not because he kept the  Mosaic law! As flawed as Abraham was, he still had the kind of faith in God that God could use to demonstrate His grace and mercy. At the time Abraham was chosen, he was known as Abram. He was uncircumcised and his wife Sari was barren. They were approaching their 100th year as a BARREN couple. This is the man that God approached and gave the PROMISE that he (Abram) would become the father of many nations. When Abram shared this news with Sari, she laughed and called him a fool. Let's think about this. God a approaches a 100 year old man whose wife is 90 and has been barren all their married life and tells this man that he would father many nations. If you were Abram what would you do? What if you had 1 penny in the bank and God told you that you would have billions of dollars so that you could further His Kingdom? What would you do if you had a life limiting illness and God told you that you would build a ministry that would touch  millions of people? What would you do if your only child was in jail and God told you that your child would be President of the United States? What would you do if your business was failing and payroll was 3 days away and you didn't have enough  money to make payroll? Would you believe God for His PROMISE or would you laugh like Sari? This is where the Faith of a mustard seed takes over. When you BELIEVE in God's PROMISE, you are in the FAITH ZONE and should stay there. Most of us are not content to "do" nothing and JUST TRUST. We think we have to help God with His Promise. A friend of mine stays in the FAITH ZONE by constantly reminding herself that "GOD SAID", which is her way of reminding herself that although she is flawed God is perfect and has PROMISED HIS ABUNDANCE to us not because we deserve it but because the God we serve is generous and is the place where grace and mercy abound!

I don't know what challenge I will face today or what challenge you are facing. I do know the God that has conquered all challenges and desires that we through Faith trust Him for the outcome. This exercise is not for Him but for us to learn the skill sets necessary to commune with God through Faith. Faith is the language of God; Faith is what provides the portal for our salvation. Not our works. Don't be like Sari and Abram and decide what God must have meant is that Abram sleep with someone other than Sari to have a baby. To this day this one act has caused thousands of years of strife between the descendants of Ismael and Issac. You see Abraham seed did flourish through both Ismael and Issac however the PROMISE was only given to the product of the union of Sari and Abram. The conflict bewteen the Arabs (Ismael descendants) and the Jews (Issacs descendants) is not the outcome of the PROMISE God gave to Abram; this is the outcome of Abram's meddling. Confusion is the work of the Devil. Remember that today. If you are in a situation in which strife and confusion exists, walk away from it because this is not of God. God's promise is never confusing or filled with strife; God's PROMISE is only filled with abundance. Whatever you are believing God for take heart HELP IS ON THE WAY!

Stephanie

Faith Established Your Righteousness

Good morning to all on this wonderful and glorious Thursday. We are all blessed because we awoke to see another of God's day; we are in our right mind; and we have an opportunity to fellowship with the saints of God. Waine is in Jamaica until tomorrow and is safe. The flooding in Kingston didn't affect us and of course since God was watering this little island, the golf courses are nice and green! Thank you for your prayers for Violet, Waine's Mom. She is being discharged from the hospital today and will get some much need rehabilitation for the next 7-10 days. I was able to break bread with ET and his wife on Tuesday and he looks great! We were able to pray and touch and agree for his continued healing. Please continue to pray for ET and his family.

I am continuing my journey in Romans 3 verses 21-31, "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the One who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law. Amen.

Paul is brilliant! He is having to teach the Christian Jews in Rome to abandon their long held belief that their salvation and atonement is based on "works" and instead understand the concept of FAITH. These Jewish Christian had been taught for generations that righteousness was based on works such as getting circumcised or keeping the 10 laws of Moses. Paul had the same teaching; remember although Paul was a Roman he was also a trained Pharisee or religious ruler and because of his conversion now had a great understanding of the fact that righteous comes through faith versus his previous instructions that righteousness was a result of works. Paul is now trying to impart the same wisdom to these Roman Christians. Can you imagine what a task this was. Jews had always set themselves apart from the Gentiles and now had to embrace the Gentiles as their spiritual equals. The concept of the "chosen race" was being abolished right in front of their noses. Under Christ we are all chosen and JUSTIFIED THROUGH OUR FAITH! Under Christ we are all sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God. Christ is the great equalizer! The GOOD NEWS is that when we are restored to God through our FAITH in Christ we are also restored to GLORY. We become glorious creatures; we are to walk in  this faith each day and be assured of our glorious nature by claiming abundance.  Think about that for a minute. Am I living in abundance or am I living in fear? Am I truly living with the cloak of righteousness or living by circumstance? My perspective is that if Christians truly understood our conversion, the strife that we subject ourselves to daily would be a distant memory. For example, I am reflecting on my day yesterday and reflecting on the issues which caused me distress. The fact that I had any distress or any moments in which I forgot that I was the child of the King means I was not ordering my steps in Faith but was ordering my steps in "works". Before we gave our lives to Christ through faith, we justified our lives through works--people like you because you are attractive; you get promotions because you work hard; you have material wealth because you have a good job--WORKS, WORKS, WORKS! Christ, His death and Resurrection shattered all that! We are JUSTIFIED THROUGH FAITH. You can live in abundance not because you deserve it; not of us deserve the abundance and richness of God. We live in abundance because Christ justified us and we then can commune with God the way He intended when man was in the Garden with God. No fear, no disease, no worries--just peace, happiness and abundance. The blessed thing about Faith is that you don't have to "work" at it--you just have to let go of SELF and accept the abundance that awaits you on a second to second basis. Hallelujah and amen.

Stephanie