He is Risen!

Good morning to all on this wonderful Easter Sunday morning. Freddie, Tracy, Aleron, Kai and Hailie are with us in Thomaston, Georgia so the house and our hearts are full. Waine and I hosted a Spring Festival for the kids in our practice. The turn out was great and the weather was wonderful. We had the picnic at a lake near Thomaston so come of the kids brought fishing poles to fish. Thee was a pick up basketball game, zumba dancing, slides and a bouncy house. A good time was had by all. God is truly good and His endless blessings never cease to amaze me.

 

I am continuing my journey in James 3 1-18 " Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?  My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.  Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.  But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. Amen!! May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.

 

My devotion for this entire week centered on controlling the words that come out of my mouth. Obviously I think one of my annoitings is to proclaim the gospel of Christ which is why I write this blog and for the entire week God has been impressing upon me that I need to step up my witness with respect to how I edify my husband and others with words of praise to lift them up. I have a problem with being too critical. I am more apt to "give you the truth about yourself" than to just lift you up so I stand convicted today. When I read the passage above that states that the wisdom of heaven is ALWAYS pure, peace-loving, considerate, SUBMISSIVE, full of mercy and good fruit I was convicted to the core of my heart. I am for the most part a generous person. I give alot of myself to others in everything I do, which is not a reason then to take license with being critical or demanding. I had no way of knowing that I would be reading this passage to culminate my week's devotion, but there you have it!  God, who has no sin, is always kind and merciful when providing us with instructions. He is always there to rescue us when the winds and waves of life assault us. He will not always shelter us from adversity however He will never let adversity over come us. His love and forgiveness is always impartial. Likewise, we should reflect the Master and Commander of our lives by being slow to anger and slow to speak; when speaking let us lift each other up in forgiveness and love because the One who knew no sin sacrificed His life so that we can enjoy the abundance of all that life has to offer.

 

Enjoy this awesome day because God has given it to us! 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

Your Actions are Your Words!!

Good morning to all! Waine and I are back from our South American Adventure. We cruised from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Santiago Chile. The cruise took 13 days and we sailed to the Cape of Hope which is the southern most tip of the world before you head to Antarctica. The trip was a once in a life time experience for us and was part of the world we wanted to see. We are now official Patagonians and also can say we sailed among the icebergs. One of the treats of the trip were the spectacular sunrises and sunsets for that part o the world which I will share with you as soon as I figure out how to download the pictures. Waine and I had some real quality time together which for me was the highlight o the trip. It was hard to communicate on the boat because the internet connection was done by satellite at $0.50 per minute. I am anxious to continue my spiritual journey!!

 

We are continuing in James 2, verses 1 - 26 "My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of Him to whom you belong? If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,”also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.  Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.  

 

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.  But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.  You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.  In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?  As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." Hallelujah and Amen!!

 

I am on call this weekend and last night was called to come to the hospital for a sick baby. The baby was fine on the outside but kept dropping its oxygen level. Her parents are from a small community in Georgia that does not believe in modern medicine. They are almost like the Amish but do come to hospitals to deliver their babies. The mother was on a medication for her psychiatric problems and as it turns out the medication was making the baby very sleepy and the baby would take shallow breaths to the point of dropping her oxygen. The mother wanted to breast feed but because she was still on the medication I wrote an order to only formula feed the baby. This made the parents upset and they asked for another Pediatrician. Unfortunately for them there was only me. When I went in to talk with them and explain my actions, I found out that the baby's name was ZOe and that they were quite reasonable. We ended our meeting by praying together; the father prayed for her healing and for God to bless me her caregiver. We all stepped on on faith together with the act of praying.

 

All of ZOe's tests came back normal and as of this morning is stable. Now if you are wondering what this has to do with the passage in James, I'll give you my perspective. When I put my faith into action by praying with my patients the ACT of asking patients to pray with me PUTS my desired outcome into Fruition. God gives us the Provision for the Vision for which you stepped out in Faith. When you pray you must act as if what you have prayed for already exists. If you are praying to start a business, then ACT as if the business has already occurred. For example, when Waine and I started ZOe Pediatrics we went about and started talking to people about a building, we started interviewing staff, we secured all the proper licenses and then signed for the building and hired staff. We did all of this without a loan from a bank, backing from the hospital that originally pledged their financial support, and having not seen the first patient. The first day we opened we saw 8 patients. We had to make payroll in 2 weeks and we began to liquidate all our assets to make it happen. We kept the businee going on our own assets for 3 payroll cycles. Waine and I worked without pay and when we had to make payroll and had no more assets to liquidate, God had a Ram in the Bush. The Bank approved our line of credit. When that ran out, the payments for all the patients I had seen started to hit the bank. Hallelujah! God was watching our hearts and our attitudes through this process and when we had done all we could do He , Jehovah Jirah, stepped in! We have not missed a payroll, all of our bills are paid, the loan has been repaid and He has expanded us to a second site. Just as it says in Luke 6:38 "......give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

 

When you ACT upon God's vision for you life with Faith, God's provision will be abundant. If you are fretting about anythingthis morning, these scriptures are for you. 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. Amen and amen!

 

Stephanie

 

When you ask, ask believing!

Good morning to all on this 1st Sunday in March. Waine and I are in Atlanta packing; God has blessed us with a vacation. We will be sailing from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Santiago, Chile. We fly to Buenos Aires tonight and board the ship (Holland America) on the 5th. We have never been to Argentina and it is one of the countries we always wanted to visit. We will be able to stay 1.5 days before boarding the boat so are excited. Pray for us and pray for our practice ZOe. I am already having withdraws symptoms about leaving the practice for such a long period of time and I keep reminding myself that this is God's practice and not ours and since He has entrusted it in our care, He will sustain it. A cold spell has hit the southeast. Atlanta saw snow flurries yesterday. Waine and I are snuggled in our warm house, so no worries. Hallelujah!

 

We have finished Jeremiah and I am praying for God's guidance on where to go to next and I am going to explore James chapter 1 verses 1- 27, "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.  But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business. Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.  Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, Who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the Word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all He created.  My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the Word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." Amen and may the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.

 

What an exhortation to the early Christian-Jewish church. James was writing to the Christian Jews of his time and was writing to teach them the same principles that are operative today. When you pray, do you pray out of habit, pleading with God to take a bitter cup from you or do you pray boldly and ask God to put His power behind your vision and dreams.?When Waine and I started our practice the hospital in the community had agreed in writing to underwrite the practice for an entire year. We secured space, hired staff and projected a start date.The hospital lawyer then began to suggest that the hospital was not in a legal position to help us and their financial support was withdrawn. What were we going to do? Well I have learned when I have done all that I can do, then its time for God to take over! Its like those wrestling matches that allows one wrestle to "tag" another wrestler when the 1st wrestler has exhausted all of his strength and might. Waine and I had liquidated every asset we could to start the practice and began in faith because we believed that ZOe was God's vision for us and the community He lead us to and we went in every day and waited for God's increase. Never wavering despite the waves of doubt that came. I went in every day to see patients and Waine went out every day to advertise the practice. Every family he saw with a child was approached and talked to. He must have shopped every isle of WalMart in those first few months. I am a witnessed to the flood gate of patients who started coming to the practice. Every day our numbers doubled to the  point that I am now at my capacity. We have opened a second site and I am hiring my 3rd doctor. Hallelujah! You see when you put your plan in God's hands and step back He will control the process and bless you 100 fold. There are people in this tiny community that are scratching their heads daily; what they meant for our destruction God turned into a blessing. He wants to bless you too; He also wants you to learn to trust Him with your life and your plans. Then at some point your plans become His Plan for your life!

 

Stopped being scared; hustling for pennies. Step back and give your life and yourself to God and feast on His table. He is never out of room or provision. Remember if God has given you a vision, He will also give you the Provision. Amen and be blessed.

 

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