What Are You Thankful For?

Since today is Thanksgiving, I thought I would list some things that I am most thankful for.  I have so many things that I am thankful for, I hardly know where to start!  God has been so good to me!  But here are a few, and I hope you take the time to reflect on what you are thankful for, and give thanks to the One who makes it all possible:  God!!!

 

I am thankful that God loved me enough to send His Son, Jesus, to die for my sins.  He knew I couldn't reach Heaven on my own, so He sent a sacrifice to die in my place for all my sins.  Thank you, God.

 

I am thankful for my two beautiful children, Whitney and Dylan.  I don't know what I would do without them.  I couldn't ask for two better children and I love them more than life itself.

 

I am thankful for the rest of my family.  I have a wonderful mom and dad whom I love dearly.  I also have two brothers that mean the world to me, as well as a sister-in-law and nephew that I love so much.  God blessed me this year with a stepfather whom I love and who means so much to me.  I also have an adopted sister and niece that are as much family to me as if we were born into the same family.  My grandmother and step-grandfather on my dad's side are still living and I am thankful for them.  I love them very much too.  I also have aunts and uncles and cousins that I thank God for blessing me with.  Another blessing for me this year has been that my dad's stepsister and her family started coming to our church so I have gotten to know an aunt and uncle and cousins that I missed out on knowing as I was growing up.

 

I am thankful for my friends and my church.  I thought I should group these two together because for the most part, they are one in the same.  Most of my closest friends go to church with me and are such a blessing to me.  I am not even going to attempt to call them all by name, because I wouldn't want to leave anyone out.  I am thankful for my church and my pastor and his family.  I thank God that I attend a church where we are free to worship God and give thanks to Him.  I am also thankful for a church that makes me feel so loved and wanted.  My friends are so precious to me and I love them all.  Most of them are like family to me.  I also have friends that I have known from work or school or previous jobs, etc.  They are all as precious to me as jewels and I am so thankful for them.

 

I am thankful for my job, my home, my car.  The things I need to make my life better.

 

I am thankful for my health and for my family's health. 

 

I am thankful for the fact that although we may not always have what we want, we always have what we need.

 

I am thankful to live in a free country and a country where it's citizens are willing to fight to keep us free.

 

I am thankful for where I am in my life right now.  I am thankful that I am not what I used to be.  God has brought me a long, long way!

 

I am thankful for all the hard times, all the pain, all the tears that I have come through.  Without them I would not be where I am now.

 

I am thankful for the talents God has given to me.

 

I am thankful for everything in my life.  God has been so much better to me than I have ever been to Him.  Sometimes when I pray, I find myself praying for the needs of others, but then when I get to myself I hardly know what to ask for.  I have so much.  I am not rich by any means, as far as money and material things.  But what I have been blessed with is worth so much more!  God has given me such a wonderful life and wonderful people to share it with.  So, today and every day, I want to always remind myself of how blessed I am, so that I can remain thankful.  Thanks be to God, from whom all good things come. 

 

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!

 

Until next time, be blessed....

 

Love,

Stephanie

Just a little note...

Just a quick note to tell all of you who don't already know...

 

Lighthouse Baptist Church will be having a 3-day revival starting Monday, November 22, 2004.  Service starts at 7:00pm each night.  The lineup is as follows:

 

Preaching Monday and Tuesday nights will be by Rev. Don Collins from Friendly Chapel in Pilot Mountain, NC.

Preaching Wednesday Night will be by Bishop Clay from Morgantown First Baptist in Burlington, NC.

 

There will be lots of good singing from the church singers as well as visiting singers each night.

 

Please come visit with us......we are expecting a GREAT time!

 

If you need more information or directions, please email me or call the church at 570-3560.

 

Hope to see you all there!!!!!

 

Love,

Stephanie

He's Never Failed...

"And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof."  -Joshua 23:14 (KJV)

 

I wasn't planning on writing anything tonight, but I was sitting here thinking about how so many things fail us.  I woke up this morning and went out to go to work and found that I had a flat tire.  That one little incident threw me off the whole day.  I just naturally assumed that when I walked out my door this morning, I would be able to jump in my car and drive off.  But because of that flat tire, my car failed me this morning.  It didn't fulfill it's purpose in my life, because I couldn't get it to do what it was supposed to do.

 

When I got to work, I took a service call that required me using the 2-way radio to contact one of our drivers.  The 2-way radio would not work properly.  When I pressed the button on the 2-way radio, it should have alerted the driver's radio.  That didn't happen.  Again, something that I needed had failed me. 

 

I went to the rest home this evening for Brother Ricky's bi-weekly ministry and he asked me to sing "Four Days Late".  I had failed to bring my soundtracks, so I didn't have the tape I needed to provide the background music.  Fortunately, GW was there to play the piano for me.  But I had failed to be prepared like I should have been.

 

Sometimes, we all have things to fail us.  Sometimes we fail others.  But isn't it good to know that God NEVER FAILS??  He's always there - He always comes through - He never leaves you hanging. 

 

A lot of times, when we pray, we think God has failed us because He doesn't answer our prayers the way WE think they should be answered.  But God always knows best.  He always answers our prayers, even if He has to answer it with a "no".  We foolishly think that we know what's best for us, but God knows our past, present, and future.  He sees things we cannot see.  So He alone knows how to best meet our needs and grant our requests.  Sometimes we want so many things.  But what we want isn't always what we need.  Often times, what we want is not the best thing for us.  Country singer Garth Brooks had a song a few years ago that said "some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers".  The wording on that is a little off.  It would have been better to have said "some of God's greatest gifts are when he says no to your prayers".  But the words to the song still have a good meaning.  Here's an exerpt:

 

Just the other night at a hometown football game
My wife and I ran into my old high school flame
And as I introduced them the past came back to me
And I couldn't help but think of the way things used to be

She was the one that I'd wanted for all times
And each night I'd spend prayin' that God would make her mine
And if he'd only grant me this wish I wished back then
I'd never ask for anything again

 

She wasn't quite the angel that I remembered in my dreams
And I could tell that time had changed me
In her eyes too it seemed
We tried to talk about the old days
There wasn't much we could recall
I guess the Lord knows what he's doin' after all

And as she walked away and I looked at my wife
And then and there I thanked the good Lord
For the gifts in my life

 

Even though that's just a song, I want you to think about it for a moment as if it were real life.  God didn't really "not answer" the man's prayers.  Instead, God had answered his prayers with a "no".  He wouldn't grant the man's request to make the high school girlfriend stay with him for all time, because God knew that later on there was someone better that the man should be with. 

 

Stop and think for a moment about all the things you have prayed for in your life.  I guarantee you there are at least a few that you can look back on and say "God, I'm glad you didn't do that for me!"  If God granted all of our requests the way WE ask Him to, our lives would be a mess.  Because we just don't know what we really need. 

 

But speaking of things we really need.....God always comes through with just that!!  He meets our needs and gives us so much above and beyond what we even ask for.  From little things, to mighty big things.  God is always right on time with whatever we are needing in our lives.  He has never failed! 

 

So whatever you stand in need of in your life tonight, just trust in God to do what's best.  He said He would never leave you, never forsake you.  In Psalm 37:25 (NIV) the Bible says:  "I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread."

 

Our God is a God of victories, not failures.  He can do whatever you stand in need of, if you will just trust in Him.  Have faith and take comfort in the fact that "...of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof."  -Joshua 23:14 (KJV) (paraphrase)

 

Until next time, be blessed....

 

Love,

Stephanie

Prayer Warriors Needed

Please pray for Malcom ("Johnny") Strauss's 3 year old daughter.  She is in CCU at Alamance Regional after having a heart attack.  (Yes, she is three years old and had a heart attack.)  And her brother, Scott Strouth, age 23, was visiting her in the hospital and collapsed with a heart attack himself and is now a patient in CCU also.  Please pray for this family. 

 

When the prayer request was given to me there was some question as to the spelling of the last names for these people, but I have posted it the way it was written and given to me.  The good news is, GOD knows them!!  So all we need to do is ask Him to touch them!  Thank you in advance for your prayers!

 

Love,

Stephanie

Please continue to pray....

Please continue to pray for Rev. James McKinney.  The doctors have diagnosed him with leukemia (the fast-spreading kind) and have given him 3 months to live.  Pray that God would heal his body and give comfort and strength to him and his family.  Thank you.

 

Love,

Stephanie

Beauty For Ashes....

Isaiah 61 (NIV)

 

¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners, ^[1]
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion-
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

⁴ They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
⁵ Aliens will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
⁶ And you will be called priests of the LORD ,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.

⁷ Instead of their shame
my people will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
they will rejoice in their inheritance;
and so they will inherit a double portion in their land,
and everlasting joy will be theirs.

⁸ "For I, the LORD , love justice;
I hate robbery and iniquity.
In my faithfulness I will reward them
and make an everlasting covenant with them.
⁹ Their descendants will be known among the nations
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
that they are a people the LORD has blessed."

¹⁰ I delight greatly in the LORD ;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
¹¹ For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise
spring up before all nations.

 

I was reading an email from a dear friend tonight who is going through a very emotionally painful time in her life.  She said "if this is the right thing to do, then why does it hurt so bad?"  The devil tricks us into thinking that because we may feel pain or sorrow, then we are not in God's will.  But that is a lie!  God is there to help us through our times of grief, as the above scripture plainly says.  Don't let the devil deceive you!  Follow God's plan for your life and he will give you beauty for your ashes, and the oil of joy for your mourning.  Be content with your life the way it is.  Don't worry about the things that you don't have or the things you have to let go of.  "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."  -Hebrews 13:5 (KJV)

 

Remember, if God brings you to it, He'll bring you through it!!  And when it seems like you have lost everything, remember that God is always there with us, and if we have Him then we have everything.  And if you are having a hard time right now, look up!!  This too shall pass!  "For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."  -Psalm 30:5 (KJV)   (That is one of my very favorite scriptures!!!)

 

Whatever you are going through, keep praying.  With God on your side, you can't go wrong.  If He leads you to do something you can rest assured it is the RIGHT thing to do!  And take comfort in the fact that JOY COMETH IN THE MORNING!!

 

Until next time, be blessed......

 

Love,

Stephanie

Gonna Reach Heaven

I wanted to share with you all the words to one of my favorite songs.  The words have such a deep meaning to them.  Stand strong for Jesus, and no matter what satan throws at you, you just keep saying that you're GONNA REACH HEAVEN!  Until next time, be blessed....

 

Love,

Stephanie

 

GONNA REACH HEAVEN

 

I've read in the Bible

About saints in the past

Who held on to God's promise

Put their faith to the test

But I know they had a hold of

His powerful hand

For in the midst of the storm

They should have gone down

They found strength to stand

 

So let the flood waters roll

Let the storm winds blow

Let everything hell has tear at my soul

It may hinder me

Bring me down on my knees

But that's as far as I'll go

Not a battle's been lost on that old rugged cross

I'm going to reach Heaven no matter the cost

Next mountain I climb

I just might find

Sweet Heaven in view

 

These dark stormy days

That we're living in

They're bound to shake us

Time and time again

But the very same power

He has given to me

And the same mighty hand

That caused them to stand

Still brings victory

 

So let the flood waters roll

Let the storm winds blow

Let everything hell has tear at my soul

It may hinder me

Bring me down on my knees

But that's as far as I'll go

Not a battle's been lost on that old rugged cross

I'm going to reach Heaven no matter the cost

Next mountain I climb

I just might find

Sweet Heaven in view

The Easy Way Or The Hard Way...

We had 2 wonderful services at church today! We had 3 people saved and 1 that rededicated her life to God. Please pray for these people that they would stay in God's Will. Thinking of that, I had just a couple of thoughts I wanted to share before going to bed....

My friend, Debbie, and I were talking tonight about how we go through so many things "the hard way". Have you ever heard someone say, "OK, we can do this the easy way or the hard way....it's up to you."? Well, a lot of times that is exactly what God is telling us. If we serve Him, we can reap His blessings and go about life "the easy way". Granted, "the easy way" isn't always so easy, but it sure beats the alternative!! And so many of us choose the alternative: "the hard way".

We sometimes have situations in our lives where we know God is wanting us to do one thing, but we stubbornly choose to do another. Thus, taking the hard way. God is going to get you where He wants you in the end, regardless. So why do we make things so rough on ourselves?

I have two younger brothers that I love dearly. And back when I was out of church and had turned my back on God, if either of them had come to me and said they wanted to live like I was living I would have done everything in my power to try to get them to live better than that. So, in essence, the life that I was living wasn't good enough, in my opinion, for either of my brothers, but it was perfectly acceptable for me! I realize now how insane that sounds. But it just goes to show that deep down I knew that the life I was living wasn't right. I wasn't pleasing to God, and I wasn't even pleasing to myself.

I was 23 years old and I had just left my husband, whom I had been married to for 6 years. I wanted to live the life I had never known. So I started going to bars and drinking. I totally turned my back on the 9 years I had lived for God. I know I brought my family much embarrassment and pain. My mother even told me later that she came to my house one day while I was gone and annointed everything in my house and prayed over it that I would return to God. Deep down I wasn't happy. I was always searching for something to make me feel good. If it wasn't alcohol, it was a man; if it wasn't a man, it was my good-time partying friends. I always felt alone, even when I was in a room full of people. I constantly wondered who I really was. And I often thought, there has got to be more to life than this. There were several times when, if it hadn't been for my 2 children, I would have taken my own life. There are other times when I put myself in such stupid and dangerous situations that it is a wonder that someone else didn't take my life. I had chosen to go about things "the hard way".

But God knew where I would end up. And it took me losing almost everything I had to make me turn back to Him and say "OK, God.....I give up....I'll give it all to you if you will just let me come back to you." And you know what? He did. Just like that. And little by little I learned how to go about things "the easy way".

The "easy way" is to let God have complete and total control of your life. He really has all the control over your life anyway, so it's just a matter of you giving in to it. It's kind of like if you had a rope tied to your car and someone pushed it over a cliff. If you pulled and pulled you might could slow it down, but eventually the car is going to go over anyway. Because the pull of the car is stronger than we are. It's the same way with God: When we go against the plan He has for our lives, it slows down the eventual outcome, but the result is always what God wanted in the beginning. And just like with the car, if you pulled and pulled, the car is still going to go over the cliff, but you will have strained your muscles, calloused your hands, maybe seriously hurt yourself in the process. Again, it's like that with God: When we pull away, we hurt ourselves. Many times the scars that we receive while running from the Lord, are present for the rest of our lives.

Now that I am in God's Will, I can honestly say that it IS easier. I don't worry like I used to. I trust God. I know He will take care of me. He always meets my needs. There hasn't been a time when God didn't come through for me. Even though there are many times I haven't come through for Him.

Many of us choose the hard way because we want to be in control of our lives. We want to make our own decisions, and we foolishly think that we know what's best for us. But wouldn't it be so much better (and yes....EASIER!) to be able to hand all that over to someone who really DOES know what's best for us. God knows what you stand in need of even before you ask! "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." -Matthew 6:7-8 (NASB) And not only does He know what we need, He said He would give it to us! "Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." -Psalm 37:4 (KJV)

God has a perfect will and plan for each and every one of us. All we have to do is trust in Him, instead of pulling away from Him.

So....WE CAN DO THIS THE EASY WAY OR THE HARD WAY, IT'S UP TO YOU!

I want to leave you with the chorus of a song that my friend, Angela, sings at church. It's called "He'll Do It Again". No matter what you are going through, God has brought you through situations that seemed hopeless before, and He'll do it again!! It just makes it so much easier when you decide to go about it "the easy way". Until next time, be blessed....

Love,
Stephanie

He'll do it again

He'll do it again

If you'll just take a look

At where you are now

And where you've been

Well hasn't He always come through (for you)

He's the same now as then

You may not know how

You may not know when

But He'll do it again!

Debbie's Website

I don't think I mentioned that my friend, Debbie, now has her website up and running. She has a wonderful, touching testimony that you definitely need to read. Just go to http://www.geocities.com/debbiesstory

I hope you are all blessed by it as I was. And don't forget to sign her guestbook!!!

Much love to you all. Until next time, be blessed.....

Love,
Stephanie

Update (and more...)

Thank you all for your prayers for Donna, Jordan and Logan Lee. They are at home recovering and doing well. Please continue to keep them in your prayers.

Also, please pray for my former pastor, Rev. James McKinney. James has been diagnosed with leukemia and is in need of all of our prayers.

With so much sickness around us, it is plain to see that satan is fighting us all big time! We need to pray him out of our homes, jobs, schools, relationships.....anywhere where he can get a foothold. God's Word tells us we have the power to rebuke the devil: "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." -James 4:7 (NIV)

We also have the power to claim healing for ourselves and for others: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." -Isaiah 53:5 (KJV)

Sometimes we forget the power which God has instilled in us. It is time to call upon that power and take back the things that satan has taken from us!! We must refuse to let satan have dominion over our lives, robbing us of our health, our peace and our joy. I ask that each of you just take a few moments and pray with me:

Heavenly Father, thank you for the opportunity to call upon you once again. Lord, I ask that you forgive me of all my sins and shortcomings that I might have a clear prayer line to you. God, I ask that you turn loose your power in my life and in the lives of those around me. There are so many that are sick and afflicted. I know many who are lost and hurting. God, I ask that you just make yourself real in their lives and do what needs to be done, according to your will. Lord, heal those that are sick. Touch their bodies and make them whole. Father, we know and believe that with you, all things are possible. Lord, please just work miracles all around us and continue to amaze us with your wonderous works. Lord, I call upon you to rule my life and lead me in the ways in which you want me to go. Strengthen and encourage me that I might be a shining light for you, God. Lord, drive the devil out of our homes and our surroundings and bless us with your mercy and grace. Take those that are lost or backslidden and touch their hearts and minds that they might come to you and give their hearts and lives to you. Lord, help me and the others reading this and praying along with me to proudly proclaim the gospel and be your servents. Help us to pray until our world is shaken up and many come to know you and confess you as Lord. God, I just want to thank you for all that you have already done and all that you are about to do. Thank you for hearing and answering our prayers. We will give you all the glory and the honor, for it is in Jesus' precious name that we pray. Amen.

Now, please continue to pray. Let's all P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Something Happens). Our generation is in need of a major wake up call. And we have within us the power to defeat satan and really do a work for the Lord. I challenge each of you to continually pray and take note of the things happening around you. Jesus said in Matthew 18:19 (NASB): "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven."

So, if we will come together in prayer we will see miracles happen!!

Until next time, be blessed.....

PLEASE PRAY

Please pray for Donna Lee and her two daughters, Jordan and Logan. They were in a very bad automobile accident this morning in Moore County. Please pray for their health and recovery.

Things that make you go "hmmmmmm..."

"Don't let your worries get the best of you. Remember, Moses started out as a basket case"

Some people are kind, polite, and sweet-spirited - until you try to sit in their pews.

Many folks want to serve God, but only as advisers

It is easier to preach ten sermons than it is to live one.

The good Lord didn't create anything without a purpose, but mosquitoes and sand gnats come close.

When you get to your wit's end, you'll find God lives there.

People are funny, they want the front of the bus, the middle of the road, and the back of the church.

Opportunity may knock once, but temptation bangs on your front door forever.

If the church wants a better pastor, it only needs to pray for the one it has.

God Himself does not propose to judge a man until he is dead. So why should you?

Some minds are like concrete, thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.

Peace starts with a smile.

I don't know why some people change churches; what difference does it make which one you stay home from?

A lot of church members who are singing "Standing on the Promises" are just sitting on the premises.

We were called to be witnesses, not lawyers or judges

Be ye fishers of men. You catch them - He'll clean them.

Coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous.

Don't put a question mark where God put a period.

Don't wait for 6 strong men to take you to church.

Forbidden fruits create many jams.

God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

God grades on the cross, not the curve.

God loves everyone, but probably prefers "fruits of the spirit" over "religious nuts!"

God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage.

He who angers you, controls you!

If God is your Copilot - swap seats!

Prayer: Don't give God instructions -- just report for duty!

The task ahead of us is never as great as the Power behind us.

The Will of God will never take you to where the Grace of God will not protect you.

We don't change the message, the message changes us.

You can tell how big a person is by what it takes to discourage him.

The best mathematical equation I have ever seen:
1 cross + 3 nails = 4 given.

And my personal favorite:

Quit griping about your church; if it was perfect, you couldn't belong!