Good morning to all on this 1s Sunday in March. Waine and I are in Thomaston this weekend and it is still winter! When I looked back over my spiritual blog entries I noticed that I did not post for the month of February. I was stunned and amazed that the month had gone by so quickly. We did many things in February. We spent the 1st weekend in Colorado with Freddie, Tracy, Kai and Hailie. Being at 10,000 ft above sea level was not conducive for too much introspection or thinking. My brain worked at 75 % of capacity for the entire time. I am definitely a sea level person. The next weekend we were in Jamaica and last weekend I was picking up Waine from Jamaica--so here we are. I can say I have grown spiritually in the past month and have learned and internalized many lessons. Thank God!
I am continuing my journey in Romans 14 verses 1 - 23 " Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.
So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall. So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. Amen and may God add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.
When is the last time you experienced JOY? You didn't have a care in the world. You acted as though all was taken care of and there was nothing that could harm you? This is how children act. They are oblivious, really, to any problems because we shield them from it. They don't know whether we can pay the rent or mortgage. They don't know whether the car note will be paid. They don't know whether there is a health calamity--and its because the adults in their lives shield them from anything that can cause worry. Matthew 18:2-4 says "He called a little child to Him, and placed the child among them. And He said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." We are to be child like and trust that God has our best future in mind for us. OUR BEST FUTURE!
Whatever you can imagine is a great future for yourself--God has exceeded that already! Are you living your best future? Do you wake up each day without a care in the world? If not its because you are still sitting on the throne of your life and not Christ. If your life is filled with strife and worry then you have not given that portion of your life to God through Christ. If you hold any enmity toward another person, then you have not turned that person over to God. If you cannot be your best self today because you are mired in the trap called "self" then you are not living your best future.
God has nothing to do with confusion or strife. When you see those twin sisters. then run the other way because that confusion is not of God. One thing I can say with assurance--There is no confusion, condemnation or strife in God's presence. Christ said, "My peace I give unto you. Not as the world gives, do I give unto you." The world will give us calamity and Christ offers His peace. It is our choice to choose.
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
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