No Longer Slaves to Fear--Get rid of that Shackle!

Good morning to all on this beautiful Sunday morning. I trust that everyone's Thanksgiving was blessed with family and friends; we had Hailie the Princess and the Kaimiester and their parents with us. Waine and I enjoyed them thoroughly and I am constantly reminded that babies are for young parents. Please pray for all the single mother's out there. I truly don't know how they do it or for that matter how I did it. Melanie, our second daughter, was in the Macy's Day parade. She was holding the one of the lines on Horton and the Who ballon. She was very excited and it was a thrilling experience for her and her family.  My friend Brenda Brown told me that she shared my blog entry on Forgiveness with her Saturday prayer group and a member of that group was able to share it at the funeral of her dear friend. You never know how the Word of God is going to be sewn. Our job is to get the Word out--God's job is to add the increase! Please continue to pray for ET's healing and pray for Waine's mother's healing. Please pray for me that I would be more like Mary and not like Martha. Continue to keep our President, Barack Obama in your prayers.

I am continuing my journey in Romans 8 verses 1 - 17, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in the flesh,  in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.  For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.  For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.  The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.  And by Him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.  Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory. Amen and may God add a blessing to the read and hearing of his Word.

As a scientist I have been taught that everything in life has properties - that is to say a CHARACTERISTIC OR FEATURE THAT DEFINES THAT PARTICULAR ENTITY. Paul indicates that we, when we have our minds set of Christ , have properties that distinguish us from the properties when we have our minds set on the things of the flesh. Christ, Himself, called these properties FRUITS--the fruits of the Spirit. The Spirit has set us free from the SLAVERY of fear, which was the characteristic of our life before Christ. As Christians we have been set FREE from slavery, death, destruction which are the properties of Sin that we inherited through Adam and his wife EVE. When we accepted Christ, we were TRANSFORMED which is another concept in science. One element can be transformed into another. Water can be transformed into ice or steam. When it is transformed it takes on NEW Properties. Ice can not act like water or steam because it is ice. We likewise cannot act like our old selves unless we let sin transform us through our thinking. Paul is telling us to keep our minds renewed on the the Freedom we received through our confession of sin and keep our MINDS ON CHRIST so that the Holy Spirit can assist our living a Fear Free life. We are HEIRS--so why do so many of us live in FEAR? Fear of failure; fear of financial ruin; fear of adultery; fear of anger. We need to keep our Minds on Jesus so that we can live a victorious life! That is the PROPERTY you now have as a child of God.

I awoke this morning on my mind on Jesus. I was motivated to read His Word and to be transformed. I am constantly in prayer for me so that I can live a Fear Free life. I am no longer willing to let Satan fool me out of my DIVINE inheritance on a daily basis. Christ has died and has risen; I don't have to wait on my inheritance I have it with me now and so do you. Stop acting like you have those old properties! You have been transformed so embrace your new life. If you have grieved someone ask for their forgiveness and then get rid of that shackle. If you are ill believe for your healing and get rid of the shackle. If you don't have enough money then believe and claim your inheritance and get rid of that shackle. If you don't have a job then ask God for the job you want and believe that it has already happened and get rid of that shackle. If you have a spouse who can't or won't remain faithful to you then pray them up and let Jesus take care of them and get rid of that shackle. If you have children that are not living up to their potential then pray them up and get rid of that shackle. You are Not, Not, Not a SLAVE to death and destruction. Satan wants to keep you bound up. Set your mind on Christ right this minute and claim your birth right as a child of God. Start living your new PROPERTIES today. The choice is truly yours.

Stephanie

Sin has no Dominion in the Lives of Christians!

Good morning to all on this Wednesday morning. Waine and I have delighted in Kai and Hailie and although exhausted we are the better for it. Thank you for your prayers for Violet, Waine's mother, she is doing great and is recovering in miraculous leaps and bound. Please continue to pray for ET and his family and pray for your continued success in 2010.

I am continuing my journey in Romans 7 verses 7-23, "What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.  So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin." May God add a blessing to you through the reading and hearing of His Word, amen and amen!

Boy Paul keeps it real does'nt he?! As Christians when we sin, we have died to that part of us that has been sanctified by Christ and we allow our selves to be taken over by our flesh. THE FLESH WHICH IS DIEING DAILY. GO FIGURE!

Paul apparently understood this concept well as he stated in this passage, AND it is true today! I can count the number of times that Christians have told me that they knew what they were doing was SIN, but at a point just couldn't stop themselves and when it was over (whatever IT is) they often reflected "why did I do that?" The "why" is that they DIED to their real selves and let SIN take over. SIN only wants to feed itself. It will sacrifice you; throw you under the bus so that it's own desire can be fulfilled. SIN is not inanimate, just like the Holy Spirit is not inanimate. SIN has an agenda and that is to fulfill the lusts of the flesh, however the only flesh it has is you! Here's the remarkable revelation I had this morning--SIN has no dominion other than YOU. If you give it form and substance, then it is unleashed. If you throw the WATER of the Holy Spirit on it then it has no power. For instance, the 1st commandment says, "Thou shall have no other gods BEFORE me". We are to worship God FIRST and foremost. If we worship power, money, anger, or lusts and put those desires before God than we have broken the 1st commandment. The 6th commandment says, "Thou shall not kill.", so if you kill someones body or spirit you have broken the 6th commandment. The 7th commandment says, "Thou shall not commit adultery." so if you have sex with someone when you are married both parties have broken this commandment. This is the SIN that Paul is talking about. Now remember this, Christ BROKE the bonds of the 10 Commandments power over us through his DEATH and RESURRECTION. He had to die to pay the debt that the 10 Commandments create by their very nature. Christ also then released us from the power of SIN--it has no dominion over us. We have to literally, willfully die to our Spiritual nature to partake in SIN. So why do Christians partake.BECAUSE WE DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO! It like paying a bill that has already been PAID IN FULL!

Instead of focusing on your ISSUES (things that affect the flesh) today why not focus on the liberation which has occurred in your life through Christ and CELEBRATE, CELEBRATE, CELEBRATE. Don't DRINK THE KOOLAID! You are free from the bondage of the flesh and sin so act like the child of the King you are. Its an exercise; you have to work it to use it. Repeat often, "I am the child of the King. Only good things will happen for me!"  This is true if you know Christ! If not repent of your sins and accept the death and resurrection of Christ and be restored to the Kingdom of God right now. Praise Jesus and hallelujah! For ONLY HE is worthy to be praised.

Stephanie

Released from the Law!

Good morning to all on this crisp November morning. Waine and I are just finishing up a weekend in Hawkinsville and as usual these bonding weekends are just so special. Freddie, Kai and Hailie will be in Atlanta until Wednesday so I will get to play Obachan with my "gran' pickney them" for a couple of days. Although still jet lagging a bit, Waine and I are getting back to a sleep cycle that is somewhat normal. Continue to keep ET and his family in your prayers as he finishes his course of radiation therapy and continue to keep Waine's Mom in your prayers. Waine just said, the other day he was out looking at the stars and ran out of stars to thank god for all his blessings. We are blessed as you are and when we start our days thanking God for His infinite blessings, our day can only be an adventure that is worth living.

I am continuing my journey in Romans 7 verses 1-6, "Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man. So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code." Amen and amen!

We have been released, released, released, RELEASED! We are not captives to either the law of Moses or the sin that is the consequence of man's transgression of the law. I had to think about that for a minute. My concept of sinning was that I was born with a sinful nature because of Adam and Eve's transgression against the law/commandment of God. What Paul is saying is that the minute Christ died for our sins, we were released--not about to be released--not may be released--WE WERE RELEASED from the authority of the Law and the authority of the flesh. So why do we sin? We don't accept the freedom that comes with Christ and His sacrifice for us! We go back to that old way of thinking where the flesh rules.

We are able to bear the Fruits of the Spirit not because of anything we do with respect to the Law of Moses; we bear the Fruits of the Spirit because Christ died and we are Christians, period! Its like breathing air. There is no struggle when you realize that you have been set free from the bondage of sin. You are RICH, RICH, RICH so be generous with your lives and the Fruits of the Spirit that is a result of this freedom. For example, instead of feeling frustrated because of the people you have to interact with, be joyous and generous in your joy. People can't affect you, you have been released. If you are feeling frustrated because you perceive you have more debt than money, then be generous and give more money to Christ. Your bank account will stay full because this is a promise of God through Christ. If you are ill and everyone has given up on your healing on this side of Jordan, then rejoice because for you to live is Christ and to die is gain.  Live your life and be generous as if you knew you had another 100 years to live. If you are living in adultry, admit that your fleshis dead and that you have a new life in Christ. The emotional satisfaction that comes through a relationship with Christ will far and exceed any fleeting satisfaction from an adulterous relationship.

I am just getting this concept of RELEASE and feel liberated today because I do not have to be a slave to anger, fear or any other negative emotion. I am a child of the King and my ransom has been PAID IN FULL. I need only to turn my face and heart to it.

Test your freedom today and live like the Child of the King that you are!

Stephanie

The Benefit of Your Faith

Good morning to all on this glorious Friday morning. Waine and I are back from Southeast Asia and had a wonderful, incredible time in that culture for the better part of 10 days. We learned so much about that culture and the people; this picture is of us and our friends in front of the oldest post office in Ho Chi Minh City. I have on a scraf to protect my necklace from pick pockets. Waine and I were also lucky enough to spend some time with local contacts and on our last day in Thailand had a chance to see Tiger Woods play in a tournament honoring King Bhumibol, the ruling monarch of Thailand, Tiger's  mother's birth home. What struck me about Tiger was how relaxed he seemed. He smiled alot which is not something you characteristically see him do when on tour in America. You could take as many pictures as you wanted which was the other treat we encountered. Waine and I are a little jet lagged but are grateful that God took care of Violet and our home. Continue to keep ET in your prayers and I thank God for each of you.

I am continuing my journey in Romans 6, verses 15-23, "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?  But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Amen and amen!

Paul seems to be saying that in this life we are either slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness--there is no in between. We are either going to give into the slavery to satisfy our flesh or become slaves to God's order through our faith. I had to think about that for a minute. The truth is we usually go about our day with learned behavior. We get up, brush our teeth, get dressed, have our nourishment and then start to fill our minds with the things that have to be done. We are slaves to the flesh --the definition of a slave is a person who is owned by another. We are slaves to the flesh and we have to take of this flesh from the moment we awake until the moment we close our eyes. We don't have a choice in the matter! Paul is saying that we DO! Christ through His death has conquered death and the slavery of this flesh. We have been set free from having to respond to the natural desires that the slavery of the flesh imposes upon us--we have been set free! We need only to claim our freedom minute by minute, day by day as we focus our minds on the righteousness of God through Christ. For instance. We can be slaves to negative thinking which always leads to negative behavior; just as the body follows the direction in which you send your head, your behavior will follow your thinking. If you have negative thinking it will result in negative outcomes. If you spend your entire day  fretting over what might happen instead of thanking God for the outcome you desire, then the negative outcome will materialize. It happens 100% of the time. Paul said we should spend that same energy thanking God for the freedom made available through His Gift, Jesus, so that we can be about more important matters--Kingdom building. do not dwell in what is already dead, you are dead to sin. Praise God for the life you have through Christ and let that line shine so that other may see it and be saved! Do not be a slave to negative thinking regardless of your circumstances. Circumstances always change; if you are mired in sin and negative thinking you will miss your blessing.

I love you in Christ.

Stephanie

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