What Treasures have You Stored in Yor Heart?

Good morning to all from Portland, Oregon! We are spending some quality time with Melanie, Don, Audrey and Vincent in the great Northwest! Waine's niece is getting married on Sunday in Seattle so we used this occasion to visit our daughter Melanie and her family. We had a delightful day yesterday with Vincent at the Oregon zoo. He is an amazing 4 year old and the things that he comes up with, crack us up. We bought fresh vegetables yesterday and the quality of the fresh fruits and veggies out here is noticeable. We are also on the count down for Hailie Christine Kong joining us, so the next two weeks is going to be exciting! Pray for our traveling mercies; my brother Koichi said that I am wearing his knees out with requests for traveling mercies and I can't help it because your prayers work for me!

I am continuing my journey through Matthew 19, verses 13-30, Then little children were brought to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." When He had placed His hands on them, He went on from there. Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" Why do you ask Me about what is good? Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments. Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied, " Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself. All these I have kept, the young man said. "What do I still lack?" Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me." When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Then Jesus said to His disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us? Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. Amen!

Children are very central to the heart of God and as His stewards it is our job to ensure that children are protected and cared for! Not just your own offspring but the children of the world. There is so much exploitation of children; there are obvious evil doers who exploit children for sex and drugs--they will see hell and will deserve it. There are also not so obvious exploiters of children--those of us who allow children to fill their minds and hearts with violence, sex and drug use on TV or see us partaking of behavior that does not honor God. I know I made great mistakes with all of my children; I could have loved them more and been more kind to them and for these mistakes I ask God's forgiveness. God, however saw my heart and knew that I loved and wanted the best for my children and my children heard me. If you could see the kind attention and love they show their children I am humbled and awed because I know that it is only the love of God that allows my mistakes for not affecting my grandchildren. If you ever needed a reason to be diligent about your affect on children these verses will hold you in good stead!

Christ is also teaching us about our hearts and what we store in them. Christ certainly does not withhold riches and wealth to those that love Him. Having money and wealth is not a sin; there are certainly wealthy Christians however money and wealth can have a tendency to become demi-gods to alot of people. The pursuit of wealth and the propagation of wealth is a full time job; it can consume you and your thoughts. Christ wants to ensure that what consumes us is our faith in the Love of God and our mission to assist Him in Kingdom building for the eternal life that all will share. His desire is that people of the world hear and accept the Good News that will allow them to spend eternity with Him as opposed to without Him. If our  minds and hearts are on the accumulation of wealth then there is little room to pursue the Love and Commitment we must have as Christians for the work of the Kingdom. I think what Christ was telling the rich, young ruler is that it was not enough to display the acts of righteousness, we had to be righteous! What the rich young ruler would have found out is that the act of obedience of selling his riches was what Christ wanted. The rich young ruler would have been restored in his life time, ten fold just as Job was. Its the OBEDIENCE that matters!

As you go through your day, keep your mind and heart on Christ. There are so many distractions that can rob you of your happiness. One thing is assured, your obedience will make you rich. Christ loves you and is in love with you this day! Be about Kingdom building and be blessed.

Stephanie

Your Heart is the Key!

Good morning to all from Orlando Florida! Waine and I drove on Saturday to see the Kai-meister and his family. We have had a wonderful frenetic weekend with this little tike who changes right before your eyes. He seemed to grow each day and learn new skills and words. We are blessed to have him in our lives and I pray daily for his security in the Kingdom. I will be driving back to Atlanta today without my beloved so pray for traveling mercies for me. Waine is doing some business in Miami. God is good today and each day and I am amazed how He blesses each and everyone of us on a daily basis.

I am continuing my journey in Matthew 12 today verses 38-49, "Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to Him, "Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you." He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here. When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation. While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you."He replied to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." Amen and amen!

Christ was at this point disappointed that despite all His miracles and teachings, there were those that continued to close their hearts to the message of the Kingdom of Heaven. He certainly was sowing seeds of faith daily and some of the seeds fell on the hearts of men and women who responded by exercising their faith. These men and women understood and excepted Jesus as the Son of God and went on to become part of the band of early Christians, many of who were sacrificed on earth and live now at the right hand of God the Father. Many seeds fell on closed hearts or hearts filled with the evil spirit of Satan and remained closed. These folk will be judged harshly on that last day of judgement. Christ also began to fore tell of his death and resurrection and I am sure  most folk didn't understand however this is the key, Christ never let the lack of understanding of His audience influence Him or His message. Christ understood His mission and understood that His  mission was Kingdom building, everyday all day. Even when His mother and brothers wanted to speak to Him, Christ rebuked their request because they should have been inside with the rest of the crowd listening to His message, not outside trying to get His attention. They too had to understand His  mission and that He was indeed the Son of God and not man. Any vestige of His human lineage was long gone--He was now about His Father's work and everyone had to understand that. I am sure this rebuke hurt the heart of the mother of Jesus; I can feel her pain however I also know that Mary was astute enough spiritually to understand that her role as mother was over and she had to accept the Spiritual nature of this "son" she birthed and her spiritual role in this blessed event. Yet she was human as we all are and when we let our human-ness get in the eay ofour spiritual walk, we just need to get back in line.

Christ is always on our side! Isn't that a wonderful thought? We need no one else other than the Christ who died for our sins so that we could live and live abundantly! It is your choice today to live the aundant life and it is my prayer that you do.

Stephanie