Are you plugged in?

Good morning to all on this wonderful Thursday morning. My friend and brother Eric Byron Taylor experienced his second sunrise yesterday at 5:24 AM. He was 65 years old and is now walking with Jesus and is praying for us. I amhoping that God assigns him to be one of my guardian angels. Please continue to keep his family in your prayers. Please continue to keep JKS in your prayers and pray for her sustenance and healing.  God has a plan for all of us and I can tell you that in the last 2 weeks I have seen first hand how God will intervene just in time!

I am continuing my journey in Jeremiah 3: 1-5 "If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers— would you now return to Me? declares the LORD. Look up to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been ravished? By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers, sat like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness. Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame. Have you not just called to me: ‘My Father, my friend from my youth, will you always be angry? Will your wrath continue forever?’ This is how you talk, but you do all the evil you can.” May the Lord add a blessing and understanding to His Words, amen!

The Word of God emphasizes the sanctity of marriage and the fidelity that should exist between husband and wife. This must be an important principle because it comes up over and over again in the Word of God. The very act of 2 people completely devoting themselves to each other is a founding principle of the relationship between God and man--we are to completely give of ourselves to God and have such an intimate relationship with Him there is no room for a relationship with any other god. As a married woman, I share my deepest thoughts, fears, and aspirations with my spouse; in fact my beloved can look at my expression or body language and tell what I am thinking. He measures my moods and responds according. We at times can hear the same thing and start talking about the same conclusions. Waine and I are in SYNC!

When you are intimate with someone you are like a flight of birds, moving in the same direction. Likewise with our relationship with the Father--He wants us to be in sync with Him and not to be distracted with other spiritual relationships. He knows us best because He created us; He has numbered the hairs on our head (oops there goes hair #2,067); He knows what will make us fulfilled and as He said in Jeremiah, this fulfillment will only happen when we stop prostituting ourselves to other gods (power, money, vanity, prejudice, narcissism). When we discover God in His purest form, we will be fulfilled. We are like electronic products that need to be plugged into our source of energy and in this case God is the ultimate renewable energy source. Eric is no longer wondering what an eternal life with God is like. He faced God yesterday at 5:24 AM. Eric's angels carried him Home and he was able to hear his God say, "Sit down and rest for awhile My good and faithful servant! You have done your job well and I am proud of you." Our kingdom mission is to spread the good news that God provided a way for our sins to be forgiven and our lives to be realigned with its original purpose. His name is Jesus and He can save the world from the wasteland of sin.

Now may the LORD bless you and keep you; may the LORD make His face to shine on you and be gracious to you; may the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace.  Rest well my brother Eric and keep me in your prayer!

Stephanie

Have You Sold Yourself for Pennies?

Good morning to all on this wonderful Tuesday morning. Waine and I are in Atlanta having spent a wonderful weekend with Kai and Hailee and their parents. Hailee will be 1 years old on 5/31/11 and to look at these two tykes and see how fast they grow is just amazing. Our oldest grandchild, Mackenzie will be starting high school in the fall and I was reminiscing the trips we used to take with her when she was Kai and Hailee's age. Time does march on and I for one need to stop and smell the roses to appreciate the abundance of health, wealth and happiness that God has bestowed on me and my family! ET is still on this side of Jordan and fighting. Please continue to keep him and his family in your prayers. Continue to pray for JKS and her healing. Pray for all those that are in need of jobs that God would bless them richly. I heard a sermon by Creflo Dollar. He indicated that there was life in abundance in the Garden until SIN was allowed in. SIN creates CHAOS and there is no abundance in CHAOS so look very carefully in your life for the SIN and CHAOS;there will be noabundance in the presense of SIN and CHAOS. Things that make you go "Hmmm".

I am continuing my journey in Jeremiah 2: 20 - 37, "Long ago you broke off your yoke and tore off your bonds; you said, ‘I will not serve You!’ Indeed, on every high hill and under every spreading tree you lay down as a prostitute. I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock. How then did you turn against Me into a corrupt, wild vine? Although you wash yourself with soap and use an abundance of cleansing powder, the stain of your guilt is still before Me,” declares the Sovereign LORD. “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? See how you behaved in the valley; consider what you have done. You are a swift she-camel running here and there, a wild donkey accustomed to the desert, sniffing the wind in her craving— in her heat who can restrain her? Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves; at mating time they will find her. Do not run until your feet are bare and your throat is dry. But you said, ‘It’s no use! I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’ “As a thief is disgraced when he is caught, so the people of Israel are disgraced— they, their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets. They say to wood, ‘You are my father,’ and to stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ They have turned their backs to me and not their faces; yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’ Where then are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them come if they can save you when you are in trouble! For you, Judah, have as many gods as you have towns. “Why do you bring charges against Me? You have all rebelled against Me,” declares the LORD. “In vain I punished your people; they did not respond to correction. Your sword has devoured your prophets like a ravenous lion. “You of this generation, consider the Word of the LORD: “Have I been a desert to Israel or a land of great darkness? Why do my people say, ‘We are free to roam; we will come to you no more’? Does a young woman forget her jewelry, a bride her wedding ornaments? Yet my people have forgotten Me, days without number. How skilled you are at pursuing love! Even the worst of women can learn from your ways. On your clothes is found the lifeblood of the innocent poor, though you did not catch them breaking in. Yet in spite of all this you say, ‘I am innocent; He is not angry with me.’ But I will pass judgment on you because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’ Why do you go about so much, changing your ways?  You will be disappointed by Egypt as you were by Assyria. You will also leave that place with your hands on your head, for the LORD has rejected those you trust; you will not be helped by them." Amen and amen!

Although the rebuke is for the children on Israel, the rebuke is germane to all of us. We all have an opportunity to serve God who loves us. Indeed He created us and bestows His abundance on us but we would rather worship any thing but the One God who created us. Indeed we would rather "worship" anything other than the true God, from Whom all things flow. Some value and worship power. They are consumed with it and wield it to their own satisfaction regardless of how many people they hurt. Some people worship money even though there is ample evidence that all things material fade and go by the wayside. Some people worship physical beauty. They by it; they lop off portions of themselves and yet age still advances. Some people worship stupidity and wear it like a badge of honor. They walk around and solicit the assent of others to their plight. Some people walk around and WORSHIP the idea that THERE IS NO GOD. Think about it--if there is no God then you don't have to declare it. You just want YOU on the throne of your life. So be it.

Having experienced the love of God on a daily basis, I am confused why others cannot see this Great Being for what He is--He is love and His standard is to love Him first and then of ourselves. His goal is to remove SIN and CHAOS from our lives so that we can experience the Life Abundant that was created, created, created for us. Put simply, if you find yourself in CHAOS then rebuke it and claim the order that comes through the love of God. Many things are a manifestation of CHAOS  - illness, poverty, drug addiction, stupidity, obesity, negativity, self aggrandisement, narcissism, adultery--just evaluate if you find yourself in CHAOS and if so, look for the SIN in your life. When find that SIN then PRAY in JESUS NAME and the SIN will flee because SIN cannot be in the same place in which the NAME of Jesus is uttered. I want to live the life of abudance that is talked about in the Bible so I claim it in Jesus name.

Now may the LORD bless you and keep you; may the LORD make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace.

Stephanie

Are You a Borken Cistern?

Good morning to all on this Thursday morning. God is truly in His Heaven and all is right with the world! Waine and I were in Phoenix for a 4 day weekend with Mackenzie and Brooks and their family. We were able to frolic with these two wonderful in the pool at the hotel; watch Brooks in his baseball game; go to Mackenzie's orchestra concert (she plays the violin) and was able to help Jillian hang pictures in her office. We will be headed to Kai and Hailee's house this weekend and I can't wait for my hugs and kisses! ET is still on this side of Jordan; continue to lift him and his family up in prayer. He no longer can tolerate his chemotherapy because he has liver failure, however, however the last time I looked God was still in the healing business and I firmly believe this is ET's "Friday" but Sunday is just down the road. Please continue to lift JKS up in your prayers and pray for her healing.

I am continuing my journey in Jeremiah 2 verses 13-19, "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken Me, the Spring of Living Water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. Is Israel a servant, a slave by birth? Why then has he become plunder? Lions have roared; they have growled at him. They have laid waste his land; his towns are burned and deserted. Also, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have cracked your skull. Have you not brought this on yourselves by forsaking the LORD your God when he led you in the way? Now why go to Egypt to drink water from the Nile? And why go to Assyria to drink water from the Euphrates? Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of Me,” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty. Amen and amen!

Two Sins; two behaviors that can alienate us from the Love of God because God cannot exist anywhere there is sin! The first sin is to make our 'own selves' to be God. When we deny the Deity of God and then place our own thinking and planning in the place that God should dwell we are trying to drink from broken cisterns. Instead of taking in the Fresh Living Water that is available through God, we start believing our own press and begin to think like Eve "that we will not surely die if we disobey God". The first and greatest commandment, according to Jesus the Christ, is that we love the Lord our God with all of our hearts and minds. The second is like unto it, that we love one another like we love our selves. When we look up from which all of our sustenance is received, we will not be distracted by the waves of this life that can rock us to and fro.  The Deity of God, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit is essential to my faith. I was dismayed to learn that Thomas Jefferson re-wrote the entire Bible taking out all annotations that point to the Deity of the Trinity. What would motivate a man to specifically get into Satan's camp--Satan's mission is to have us believe that God is not the Supreme Diet so that he, satan, can be worshipped. I think this is what is meant when God told Jeremiah that the Israelites would rather draw water from broken cisterns rather than drink from the Spring of Living Water.

There have been many Great Men--Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius, Gandhi, Martin Luther and Martin Luther King. They were born of women, lived their lives and then they died.  Jesus was born of a woman, walked among us, died on a Cross for our sins and then, and then, and then He arose!! Satan would have you forget that there is a comma behind the statement that Christ died. Those that believe that are truly drinking from broken cistern. We are to provide the Light of Kingdom building for this depressed generation!

Have a blessed day. Now may the LORD bless you and keep you; may the LORD make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace.

Stephanie

Hold On, I Am Coming

Basil Waine Kong

One of the little known facts that came out of the killing of Osama Ben Laden is that they found a Sam and Dave CD in Osama's elaborate music system. It was apparently delivered by his Corrier the day before the invasion by the Navy Seals, sent by President Obama. What was Osama listening to?

"Hold on I'm coming
Hold on cause I'm coming
Hold on cause I'm coming
Hold on I'm coming"

What is Your Purpose! To Be Fishers of Men!

Good morning to all on this Sunday  morning and I woke up with Him on my mind! I needed to get up and start praising God for He alone is worthy, worthy to be praised. Happy Mother's Day to all and I thank God for all mothers for they bear their children and raise them the best way they know how. There is no magic recipe for being a good Mom; I have made my share of mistakes but I thank God for my 2 sons and my 2 bonus daughters. ET is doing better and continue to keep him in your prayers. Please continue to keep JKS in your prayers.

I am continuing my journey in Jeremiah 2, verses 1-19, "The Word of the LORD came to me: “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: “This is what the LORD says: I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved Me and followed Me through the wilderness, through a land not sown. Israel was holy to the LORD, the first fruits of His harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them, declares the LORD. Hear the Word of the LORD, you descendants of Jacob, all you clans of Israel. This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your ancestors find in Me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves. They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD, who brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and ravines, a land of drought and utter darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?’ I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled My land and made my inheritance detestable. The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD?’ Those who deal with the law did not know Me; the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols. Therefore I bring charges against you again, declares the LORD. And I will bring charges against your children’s children. Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar and observe closely; see if there has ever been anything like this: Has a nation ever changed its gods? Yet they are not gods at all. But my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols. Be appalled at this, you heavens, and shudder with great horror, declares the LORD. “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the Spring of Living Water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. Is Israel a servant, a slave by birth? Why then has he become plunder? Lions have roared; they have growled at him. They have laid waste his land; his towns are burned and deserted. Also, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have cracked your skull. Have you not brought this on yourselves by forsaking the LORD your God when he led you in the way? Now why go to Egypt to drink water from the Nile? And why go to Assyria to drink water from the Euphrates? Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me,” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty." Amen and amen!

Thank you Lord for the GIFT of Grace and Mercy that came through the sacrificial death of your Son Jesus! I have to start by praising God for His gift of Life, because under the Old Dispensation, I would have been lost, lost, lost. As I was reading this passage in Jeremiah, what came to mind was the real purpose of the creation of man. Man just did not happen--we were created by God, our Father, for a purpose. He created us so that He could have something to LOVE! We are the object of His Vast and Great Love! He created us so that He could communicate this love for us, one on one. That was what He did with Adam and then Eve in the Garden. He would come down and walk in the Garden with them just to talk and extend this vast LOVE. Think about things you create. When I make a sweater or a piece of art, I put myself into the creation. I toil, I start over when things are not just right, and then I sit back and I admire my creation. I take pleasure in this labor of love. How much more did God sit back and admire His most magnificant creation - Man. Our only job in the Garden was to freely love God back -- that was our only JOB!

Satan cannot stand anything or anyone to have this status with God. Remember satan was the highest angel until he forgot his purpose and wanted to be God and ever since, he roams the earth seeking to destroy the object of God's love and affection -- us. Ever since our fall from grace, God has been sending intermediaries to communicate with us. First it was just He and us; after sin He sent prophets, then priests, then kings to communicate His instructions on how to repair this relationship that was destroyed when we disobeyed Him and sinned. None of these intermediaries worked. The Israelites always asked for deliverance and once delivered, always began to worship false Gods to the point that they nullified the Promise that they would be the chosen people. God decided to start over and come again in the form of man to pay the ultimate price for the sins of man--He sacrificed His Son Jesus as a final payment for the sin that occurred in Garden. In so doing, He also made a  decision that ALL who believed on this Sacrifice by His Son would spend eternity with Him! Our passage into the Garden has been re-established. We will again walk with Him in the cool of the day. We will know no illness, no anxiety, no pain. We will feel His sweet breath on our face and bask in the glow and warmth of His love. Hallelujah and amen. I love the Lord, for He heard my cry and delivered me from all my fears. Let's do our job and share this GREAT message with others.

Praise God for His love for you today. All you mothers who love their children--you are loved as much and more by the Creator who wants you to have a life of abundance. Claim it today in Jesus name. Amen and amen.

Now may the LORD bless you and keep you; may the LORD make His face to shine on you and be gracious to you; may the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace. Amen.

Stephanie

I have your back, declares the Lord!

Good morning to all on this glorious Monday morning. Waine and I have had a rare two (2) weekend stretch in Atlanta and it has been good to be in our own bed, working in our yard, and just enjoying all of our blessings. The temperature and weather has been wonderful in Atlanta and God has been showing our family His grace and mercy on a continuous basis. Please keep ET in your prayers as well as JKS. The devil is busy and seeking to destroy all that love God, so be diligent in your own lives.

I am going to continue my journey in Jeremiah 1, verses 13 -19 "The word of the LORD came to me again: “What do you see?” “I see a pot that is boiling,” I answered. “It is tilting toward us from the north.” The LORD said to me, “From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land. I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms,” declares the LORD. Their kings will come and set up their thrones in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem; they will come against all her surrounding walls and against all the towns of Judah. I will pronounce my judgments on my people because of their wickedness in forsaking me, in burning incense to other gods and in worshiping what their hands have made. “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD." Amen and amen! When God has your back what elese do you need?!

This is a GREAT lesson. Jeremiah was just ambling along life, minding his business, worshiping God according to the customs of his tribe and then one day, one day God touches his life and calls him to service. It never entered into Jeremiah's mind, that God was getting ready to make him a major force in the lives of God's chosen people. He was young, was not out of he tribe of Levites who were considered to be the priests of Israel, he was merely a man who had a heart for God AND LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THAT IS ALL THAT GOD NEEDS  - your heart.  When we give our hearts to God, He can then use us to move whole nations into obedience to His Perfect Plan! His Perfect Plan is that no one should be lost to sin in eternity. He desires that all repent, accept Christ, and then turn their attention to Kingdom building. When your heart is in the Hand of God, then you do become a fortified city. You can speak boldly; you can speak truth to life; YOU WILL NEVER BE OVERCOME no matter the overwhelming facts or circumstances to the contrary.

I have found in my own life that when I live my life "carefully"; adhering to the rules of business that are in conflict with my beliefs, I am neither hot or cold. I am as a person with her feet in two lands. I made a decision along time ago that my life would have to reflect the love of God which also means that kingdom building has to take place in the work place, among my family and friends, and in the general community. I may not be popular but someone will be saved! I had a revelation about ET last week. God revealed to me that ET would have life but would have to live with his disease. I boldly stated this to ET last week and despite his physical appearance and the dire prognosis, this is what I was lead to say and I will stand behind this revelation and God's Word. Well what if I am wrong? What if it wasn't a revelation from God but my own wishful thinking. Well God has that check covered to. You see when you are stepping out on your faith, the outcome isn't important because God will bring His truth to light. Your job is to step out on faith and declare that Jesus is Lord!

Oh how I love Jesus and celebrate that God never, ever ends the "story" on what happened on "Friday"; the eternal message is that God always gives us "Sunday" morning! If you are not experiencing your "Sunday" morning daily, then you are truly looking "back" to Friday. Let go of Friday and celebrate the risen Christ today. You are called! If you chose to follow this call then you will be as a Fortified City; nothing will be able to stand against you.

Now may the LORD bless you and keep you; may the LORD make His face to shine on you and be gracious to you; may the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace.

Stephanie