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 

Righteousness is not a Behavior it is a Belief!

Good morning to all on this Sunday morning and Waine and I were praising God for this beautiful day in Hawkinsville, GA. Waine is off playing golf and I am having my devotion. Thank you for your prayers for ET and his family. His CT scan showed no progression of his disease and he is in the next phase of his treatment with radiation and chemotherapy for 5 weeks. Continue to pray that God will use ET and this journey to spread the Good News that Jesus the Christ is able to heal which is the message that his physicians are getting. Also, another friend of ours had a large colon poly removed and is doing fine. Waine's Mom, Violet, who is 87 is in failing health. Please pray for her healing and her quality of life. She knows Jesus so her future is secure so we are praising God for her life. Prayer changes things; prayer can change the course of time so that the outcome that everyone think would happen doesn't. Prayer engages our faith and then we are all in the miracle zone. Thank you for your prayers!

I am continuing my journey in Romans 3, verses 1-20, "What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very Words of God. What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness? Not at all!   As it is written: "So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge." But if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing His wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? Someone might argue, "If my falsehood enhances God's truthfulness and so increases His glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?" Why not say—as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say—"Let us do evil that good may result"? Their condemnation is deserved. What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." "Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin." Amen and amen! May God add a blessing to the reading of His Holy Word.

Paul had a very difficult job--he had to convince the Jewish Christians to let go of just "trying to live" under the law and instead embracing the law to learn about faith and their obligation to use faith through Christ to defeat sin. If you think about it, this was a radical concept for Jews who had been taught for millenia that if they kept the Mosaic law their future would be secured through eternity. Jews had to embrace the fact that Christ ushered in a new disspenation that required everyone to accept His diety and then accept the gift of eternal life through Christ. No one, Jew or gentile, were going to be able to "work" their way or "behave" their way into eternal life. Likewise, for those who did not want to live by faith, there was no safety in the not living a rigtheous life  as an excuse to exhort others to embrace a life of faith. Both the Jew and the Gentile were being urged to embrace the principles that Christ lived and died for. As Christians who have only lived under the New Testament, these struggles that the Roman Christians were facing seem very odd to me however I am sure they were very confusing for those new Christians. The botton line for Christians then and now is that lving a life through faith is the Righteous Life we have been exhorted to live. Living by faith also means that we live a life with out doubt and fear. Practically speaking, each hour of each day, fear and doubt, are always present to interrupt our faith walk which will hinder our ability to manifest the fruits of the Spirit. When fear and doubt affect you today, defaet the Devil through God's promises for our abundance.

Please blessed today through God's Word.

Stephanie

Your Gift of Faith

Good morning to all on this Tuesday morning. Freddie has been in Atlanta for the past two weeks. Last week from Monday to Friday and this week from Monday to Wednesday. He misses his family terribly! This week he got to stay with us so its been great having our oldest son home. ET got his CT scan yesterday and there was no signs of growth! Continue to pray for he and his family as he now starts his radiation. God is good everyday and He loves us so much, which is why we don't get it. His love is greater than all of our sins and since we usually don't love people who offend us we just don't get God's love! I am convinced that if we really "got" the love of God for us, all this foolishness we allow to affect out spirits daily would be non-existent! Let it go people! I awoke early today so that I could be with Him and get my armour, shield and helmet on before I encounter the world. God bless all of you in Jesus name!

Medical Note: Cardiovascular tone becomes increasingly important as you age although your body will want you to not engage. Push past that and get at least 12 minutes of cardiac tone three times a week.

I am continuing my journey in Romans 2, verses 17-29, "Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; if you know His will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. If those who are not circumcised keep the law's requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker. A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God."  Amen and may God add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word!

Paul was really getting quickly to the heart of the matter; it is faith and not works! Remember the Jews regarded everyone other than a Jew to be lost. Paul however was commissioned by Christ to spread the Good News to not only the Jews but also to the Gentiles and he needed the Jewish Christians in Rome to assist him. Since this is a letter to the Roman Christians, I am conjecturing that it had gotten back to Paul that the Roman Jewish Christians were holding themselves apart form the Roman Gentiles and "judging" them and thinking themselves better than them. Sound familiar? Pentecostals versus Baptists, etc, etc, etc! Paul cuts to the quick and separates out the rituals of religion from the commitment to serve not only the law of Moses but now the Word of God which was made flesh through Jesus the Christ. Paul knew all of the practices of the Jews and knew that the training they received in the Mosaic law and the rituals contained therein could act as a hindrance with this "new" commandment that had nothing to do with keeping laws and rituals. Paul had to teach the Jewish Christians to listen to the faith of their heart and not the words in their head. As Christians, these Jews accepted that Jesus was the Messiah of the Old Testament; as Christians they would have to learn that their faith in the Divinity of Christ was not a matter of learning laws and performing rituals; their lives as Christians would be a walk of faith and a walk that would require them to  allow the Holy Spirit to guide them into a relationship with God through Christ. There was no New Testament. It was being written; they "only" had the Holy Spirit who would lead them through their heart. What a change for these Jewish Christians and what courage they had to step out on faith so that we could inherit this wonderful life in Christianity. It is not what we profess with our mouths and the rituals we perform that make us Christians; it is the faith of our hearts that God grooms on a daily basis. It is not enough to profess Christ with your mouth; you have to step out on faith daily so that others can see His light and not your life. Hallelujah!

Keep your head in check today by letting your heart lead you through faith. God has great gifts for all of us today and I want you to experience all of yours. Don't let your head get in the way. Have a wonderful day finding all that God has in store for you in Christ Jesus.

Stephanie