Y'all, I'm just going to go ahead and jump right in.... Satan is on the attack! He has been getting under my skin and under the skin of those around me for about a month now. But, this means something good to me! It means that God is getting ready to do something HUGE! I'm so glad that the war is won! I know that we still have to fight the individual battles but God is with us always!
I just wanted to get that out there so that y'all could pray! We will win every battle on our knees!
Love to all,
Stephanie
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Do I glow for Jesus?
I know y'all are looking at the title to this post thinking "has she finally jumped over that edge she teeters on everyday?" The answer is no, I haven't!
I've been in the book of Acts in my quiet time lately and I've been studying the death of Stephen. The Bible says that when the Sanhedrin looked at Stephen he "had the face of an angel." He was glowing! My thought when I read those verses was "do I glow for Jesus? Can folks look at me and know theres something different about me?" The answer wasn't something I was very proud of. I try my best to exude Christ every day but my best isn't good enough.
I had an epiphany right about the time I was beating myself up and that was that, just as we must take care of our bodies to help them "glow" every day, so must we take care of our spirit so that it glows every day. We all have certain things that we do each day, whether it be working out, washing our face with a certain product, using a certain type of hair care on our hair, that give us our physical "glow" and so must we bathe in scripture every day in order to maintain our "Jesus glow."
I know this is a simple thought and one that we've heard before (maybe in other terms) but I'd never had the thoughts on glowing before so I thought I'd share.
I pray each of you have a wonderful day! May the Lord bless you and may His countenance shine upon you.
Love in Christ,
Stephanie
I've been in the book of Acts in my quiet time lately and I've been studying the death of Stephen. The Bible says that when the Sanhedrin looked at Stephen he "had the face of an angel." He was glowing! My thought when I read those verses was "do I glow for Jesus? Can folks look at me and know theres something different about me?" The answer wasn't something I was very proud of. I try my best to exude Christ every day but my best isn't good enough.
I had an epiphany right about the time I was beating myself up and that was that, just as we must take care of our bodies to help them "glow" every day, so must we take care of our spirit so that it glows every day. We all have certain things that we do each day, whether it be working out, washing our face with a certain product, using a certain type of hair care on our hair, that give us our physical "glow" and so must we bathe in scripture every day in order to maintain our "Jesus glow."
I know this is a simple thought and one that we've heard before (maybe in other terms) but I'd never had the thoughts on glowing before so I thought I'd share.
I pray each of you have a wonderful day! May the Lord bless you and may His countenance shine upon you.
Love in Christ,
Stephanie
Monday, July 27, 2009
How are we to love?
Hey y'all!
I'm reading this FABULOUS book titled "Called to Love" by Kaye Miller. I'm about 1/3 of the way through the book and have highlighted all over it like crazy with little tid bits to blog about so be ready!
In the "Introduction" section was a statement so profund, I've been pondering on it for over a week and wanted to share it with y'all. Here 'tis:
"the love of Jesus calls us to much more than a smile. He calls us to take the love that puts a smile on our own faces and real joy in our hearts and to share that love with the world. Relentlessly, redemptively, faithfully, and patiently, we are to freely give waht we have freely received."
It takes me to a scripture reference that has always been profound to me but never more profound than at this juncture in my life. It is:
Luke 12:47-49 (New King James Version)
47 And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
The part that speaks to me is v. 48b: "For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more."
Folks, we've been given much and had much committed to us through the death of Christ! He has given us His love, His grace and His mercy AND committed the spread of the gospel to us. As such, it seems pretty evident to me that He requires much from us and asks more from us than we are giving now! Why in the world would we horde all that He has given to us and not share it with the world?!!!!
So, here's a challenge for all of us: be deliberate about the call that Jesus' love places on our lives! Get out there and share Him with everyone you (and I mean we!) meet. Your doctor, dental hygienist, grocery cashier, restaurant host/waiter, neighbor, friend, family member and anyone and everyone else you come in contact with. Let's live out the call of Jesus' love together!
May the Lord bless you all and may His countenance shine upon you all!
Love in Christ,
Stephanie
I'm reading this FABULOUS book titled "Called to Love" by Kaye Miller. I'm about 1/3 of the way through the book and have highlighted all over it like crazy with little tid bits to blog about so be ready!
In the "Introduction" section was a statement so profund, I've been pondering on it for over a week and wanted to share it with y'all. Here 'tis:
"the love of Jesus calls us to much more than a smile. He calls us to take the love that puts a smile on our own faces and real joy in our hearts and to share that love with the world. Relentlessly, redemptively, faithfully, and patiently, we are to freely give waht we have freely received."
It takes me to a scripture reference that has always been profound to me but never more profound than at this juncture in my life. It is:
Luke 12:47-49 (New King James Version)
47 And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
The part that speaks to me is v. 48b: "For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more."
Folks, we've been given much and had much committed to us through the death of Christ! He has given us His love, His grace and His mercy AND committed the spread of the gospel to us. As such, it seems pretty evident to me that He requires much from us and asks more from us than we are giving now! Why in the world would we horde all that He has given to us and not share it with the world?!!!!
So, here's a challenge for all of us: be deliberate about the call that Jesus' love places on our lives! Get out there and share Him with everyone you (and I mean we!) meet. Your doctor, dental hygienist, grocery cashier, restaurant host/waiter, neighbor, friend, family member and anyone and everyone else you come in contact with. Let's live out the call of Jesus' love together!
May the Lord bless you all and may His countenance shine upon you all!
Love in Christ,
Stephanie
Friday, July 24, 2009
What will our answer be?
I know that I've read Matthew 16:15-16 a hundred times before, if not more, but it really, really spoke to me this week so I thought I'd share my thoughts with you. Here are the verses from the NKJV translation of the Bible:
Matthew 16:15-16
"He said to them, "But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
As I was reading these words and pondering this portion of scripture the Holy Spirit whispered to me, "Who do YOU say that I am? Do you confess Me before the people you encounter every day?"
Whoa!!!!! I was stopped dead in my tracks! On the first part of the question, my answer was emphatically "You are the great I AM; my Savior; the Son of God; the One that I love above all others." The second part of the question gave me pause because I had to be brutally honest and confess that I don't do a great job of confessing Him in front of all the folks I come in contact with on a daily basis. Now, I don't mean that I try and hide the fact that I'm a christian because nothing could be further from the truth. However, oftentimes, I don't go out of my way to share Christ with the cashier at the gas station or grocery store, the lady that owns and runs the used book store that I go in all the time, the lady at the little taco stand where I go and get fish tacos when the craving hits me. These are the folks that He was asking about and I had to confess that I hadn't shared Christ with them and was failing at my job as a christian. Since then, I've been under deep conviction and trying to make a more concerted effort to share Christ with the "everyday" folks I come in contact with.
I've also been wondering what your response would be if the Holy Spirit asked you these questions? Would you answer the first one as emphatically as I did or would there be hesitation? Would you find yourself in a place, as I did on the second question, to confess that you don't share Christ with the "everyday" folks you come in contact with?
I love people that love Jesus BUT Jesus calls me to love those that don't love Him and would answer the first question in such a way that told me they had no idea who He is. They can only hear and have the opportunity to answer the first question positively if I confess Him before them every hour or every day for the rest of my life.
So, my challenge to us all is to make an intentional contact and share Christ this coming up week. That may sound simple but, I assure you, it is not. I'd like anyone who does this to share their experience by commenting on this post. I'll be doing this same thing and we'll just see what happens!
I love you all and and praying for you all!
Have a safe and wonderful weekend!
Love to all in Christ,
Stephanie
Matthew 16:15-16
"He said to them, "But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
As I was reading these words and pondering this portion of scripture the Holy Spirit whispered to me, "Who do YOU say that I am? Do you confess Me before the people you encounter every day?"
Whoa!!!!! I was stopped dead in my tracks! On the first part of the question, my answer was emphatically "You are the great I AM; my Savior; the Son of God; the One that I love above all others." The second part of the question gave me pause because I had to be brutally honest and confess that I don't do a great job of confessing Him in front of all the folks I come in contact with on a daily basis. Now, I don't mean that I try and hide the fact that I'm a christian because nothing could be further from the truth. However, oftentimes, I don't go out of my way to share Christ with the cashier at the gas station or grocery store, the lady that owns and runs the used book store that I go in all the time, the lady at the little taco stand where I go and get fish tacos when the craving hits me. These are the folks that He was asking about and I had to confess that I hadn't shared Christ with them and was failing at my job as a christian. Since then, I've been under deep conviction and trying to make a more concerted effort to share Christ with the "everyday" folks I come in contact with.
I've also been wondering what your response would be if the Holy Spirit asked you these questions? Would you answer the first one as emphatically as I did or would there be hesitation? Would you find yourself in a place, as I did on the second question, to confess that you don't share Christ with the "everyday" folks you come in contact with?
I love people that love Jesus BUT Jesus calls me to love those that don't love Him and would answer the first question in such a way that told me they had no idea who He is. They can only hear and have the opportunity to answer the first question positively if I confess Him before them every hour or every day for the rest of my life.
So, my challenge to us all is to make an intentional contact and share Christ this coming up week. That may sound simple but, I assure you, it is not. I'd like anyone who does this to share their experience by commenting on this post. I'll be doing this same thing and we'll just see what happens!
I love you all and and praying for you all!
Have a safe and wonderful weekend!
Love to all in Christ,
Stephanie
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Praise the Lord!!!!!
I just want to give praise where praise is due! God is blessing and providing beyond my wildest dreams on the Prayer Walk for Our Schools! All Douglas county schools now have leaders and walkers and most of the Cobb county schools that needed leaders and walkers now have them. Paulding county is still a little behind but I've had a few more filled up!
So, warriors, keep praying that God will continue to provide and that all the schools located within the West Metro Baptist Association will have leaders and/or walkers on their appointed dates!
Love to all in Christ,
Stephanie
So, warriors, keep praying that God will continue to provide and that all the schools located within the West Metro Baptist Association will have leaders and/or walkers on their appointed dates!
Love to all in Christ,
Stephanie
Monday, July 20, 2009
School Prayer Walk Update & Request
Hello God-fans!
I just wanted to pop in and do a quick update on the WMBA 11th Annual Prayer Walk for our Schools. As the new prayer coordinator, I am in charge of organizing this event this year but, I have to tell you, that I've done very little and God has done a WHOLE LOT! Most of the schools (we have a total of 85 that fall within our association in a tri-county area!) were gobbled up at the planning meeting back on July 12! Praise God, praise God, praise God!!! And the ones that were not gobbled up then are being quickly gobbled up now and its looking like every school will have at least one person bathing it in prayer on the appointed day! God is sooooooo good!
Here is a list of the schools that are left to walk:
Douglas County:
Annette Winn Elementary
Lithia Springs Elementary
Lithia Springs High
Sweetwater Elementary
Turner Middle
Cobb County:
Austell Intermediate
Austell Primary
Compton Elementary
McEachern High
Powder Springs Elementary
Riverside Intermediate
Riverside Primary
Tapp Middle
Varner Elementary
Paulding County:
Abney Elementary
Burnt Hickory Elementary
Dallas Elementary
Hiram Elementary
McGarity Elementary
Nebo Elementary
New Georgia Elementary
Northside Elementary
Panter Elementary
P.B. rich Elementary
Poole Elementary
Roberts Elementary
Russom Elementary
Shelton Elementary
East Paulding Middle
McClure Middle
Moses Middle
South Paulding Middle
East Paulding High
North Paulding High
As you can see, Paulding County has the greatest number of schools that still need walkers! Please help me get the word out!
Love in Christ to you all!
Stephanie
I just wanted to pop in and do a quick update on the WMBA 11th Annual Prayer Walk for our Schools. As the new prayer coordinator, I am in charge of organizing this event this year but, I have to tell you, that I've done very little and God has done a WHOLE LOT! Most of the schools (we have a total of 85 that fall within our association in a tri-county area!) were gobbled up at the planning meeting back on July 12! Praise God, praise God, praise God!!! And the ones that were not gobbled up then are being quickly gobbled up now and its looking like every school will have at least one person bathing it in prayer on the appointed day! God is sooooooo good!
Here is a list of the schools that are left to walk:
Douglas County:
Annette Winn Elementary
Lithia Springs Elementary
Lithia Springs High
Sweetwater Elementary
Turner Middle
Cobb County:
Austell Intermediate
Austell Primary
Compton Elementary
McEachern High
Powder Springs Elementary
Riverside Intermediate
Riverside Primary
Tapp Middle
Varner Elementary
Paulding County:
Abney Elementary
Burnt Hickory Elementary
Dallas Elementary
Hiram Elementary
McGarity Elementary
Nebo Elementary
New Georgia Elementary
Northside Elementary
Panter Elementary
P.B. rich Elementary
Poole Elementary
Roberts Elementary
Russom Elementary
Shelton Elementary
East Paulding Middle
McClure Middle
Moses Middle
South Paulding Middle
East Paulding High
North Paulding High
As you can see, Paulding County has the greatest number of schools that still need walkers! Please help me get the word out!
Love in Christ to you all!
Stephanie
Friday, July 17, 2009
Even in the valley....
"Even in the valley, God is good; even in the valley, He is faithful and true; He carries His children through like He said He would; even in the valley, God is good."
I'm in the valley today but truer words have never been penned. God is so good! Even when we walk through the "valley of the shadow" we need to remember that in order for there to be shadows there MUST be light and God is that light. This thought has been the one thing that has gotten me through today.
On a slightly lighter note (b/c who wants to hear about me being depressed, right?!) I got my application to Gwinnett Hall Baptist College completed today. I have to slap a picture on it when I get home and send it and the $40 application fee off tomorrow and then wait and see what happens. If I get accepted, I'll start classes on August 31 at their Powder Springs campus. I'm very excited but scared at the same time at the thought of undertaking a college degree and THEN life on the mission field at the age of 32 but its what God has told me to do so there's nothing else I can do except obey. Its a little daunting, though, to think about my age when I get done with school and am able to apply to a mission board but, if I start thinking about it too much I get really nervous so I'm just trusting God to work it out since He's been very clear on the course He has set for my life and the school He wants me to go to.
I pray that all of you have a great weekend. I'm going to get in some crafting with my Mother this weekend and make some homemade salsa because my tomatoes and jalapeno peppers are coming in like crazy and I've got to do something with them.
Love to all of you in Christ,
Stephanie
I'm in the valley today but truer words have never been penned. God is so good! Even when we walk through the "valley of the shadow" we need to remember that in order for there to be shadows there MUST be light and God is that light. This thought has been the one thing that has gotten me through today.
On a slightly lighter note (b/c who wants to hear about me being depressed, right?!) I got my application to Gwinnett Hall Baptist College completed today. I have to slap a picture on it when I get home and send it and the $40 application fee off tomorrow and then wait and see what happens. If I get accepted, I'll start classes on August 31 at their Powder Springs campus. I'm very excited but scared at the same time at the thought of undertaking a college degree and THEN life on the mission field at the age of 32 but its what God has told me to do so there's nothing else I can do except obey. Its a little daunting, though, to think about my age when I get done with school and am able to apply to a mission board but, if I start thinking about it too much I get really nervous so I'm just trusting God to work it out since He's been very clear on the course He has set for my life and the school He wants me to go to.
I pray that all of you have a great weekend. I'm going to get in some crafting with my Mother this weekend and make some homemade salsa because my tomatoes and jalapeno peppers are coming in like crazy and I've got to do something with them.
Love to all of you in Christ,
Stephanie
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