Faith, how to, Inspiration, Uncategorized

Oh Happy Day

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As I turned on my radio on this beautiful Sunday morning, the Sister Act’s version of  “Oh Happy Day” was on.  It is so refreshing to hear this song and remember the simple basics of God’s gift to us.  Edward Hawkins lyrics wrote that “God taught me how to watch, fight, and  pray.”  How did God do this?

  1. His blood on Calvary saved us from hell and we are now able to repent of our sins.
  2. We have strength through his spirit to fight the devil and evil.
  3. He teachings us in the bible  to pray at all times to Jesus.
  4. We are to watch for his return. Exciting!!!

Rejoice today and everyday knowing that no matter what we’re going or working through our worries about sin has been washed away.  What more do we need to feel good about on any given morning!

Bible Study, Faith, Inspiration

The Spirits Intercession For Us

 

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“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”  ~Romans 8:26 KJV

Sometimes we have so many prayers and intentions that when we have a quiet moment with the lord we don’t know where to begin.  It becomes overwhelming and this leaves us feeling like we forgot to thank or ask him for this or that.

The scripture above in Romans is so powerful because it tells us that God already know our prayers before we approach the thrown.  He knows all our wants and needs.

 I have found that when I center myself in quite meditate, I not only get the answers to my prayers, but also to the things that I should ask and thank him for.  What a great gift meditation is which God himself instructed us to do.

 How blessed we are to have the powerful God we serve whose spirit itself intercedes for us!

~Dr. Stella

Bible Study, Faith, Inspiration, Uncategorized

Praise and Thanks

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I experienced the gift of an answered prayer this week and I am thankful.

Psalm 118:21 – I shall give thanks to You for You have answered me. And You have become my salvation.

As I thank the lord for this gift, I have also been in deep thought about the large amounts of asks I send to the thrown of Christ. They are plentiful.

What a blessing to know that we have someone to go to who answers our prayers!

But have we been as dutiful to thank him like we should?

Let us not forget to take the action to always follow these answered prayers with praise. The lord has been gracious to us and heard our voice, so we must remember to praise and thank him for giving us the desires of our hearts.

Winston Churchill once said: We make a living by what we got… but a life by what we give.

How true it this for our eternal life to come!

Dr. Stella

Bible Study, Inspiration, Uncategorized

Gods Love

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The one thing that we are constantly searching for is Love.  But who and what is the source of this emotion? And what does “love” look like?  The answers are throughout the bible, but I have shared five scriptures  that demonstrate the ultimate love of God.

  1. He sacrificed his only son to save us.
  2. He made us more than conquerors.
  3. He loves us when we are deep into our trespasses.
  4. He died for us even though we were sinners.
  5. He saves, rejoices, and quiets us.

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 8:37-39 – No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ephesians 2:4-5 – But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved …

Romans 5:8 – but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

5) Zephaniah 3:17 – The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

God’s love is our example and foundation.  Be happy in knowing this!!

~Dr. Stella

Christian, Faith, Inspiration, personal excellence

Healing Exists Beyond Time

God Steps Into the World

Before a healing took place Jesus would often inquire about the time and intensity of their condition. Perhaps to remind us all that healing is not restricted by the longevity or intensity of the condition…when God says, “It is finished”.

Nature resonates with this truth. Don’t forget you have the same God given ability to bloom no matter what conditions surround you!

As I paused for a moment under a magnificent tree this morning I asked, “So who told you when to bloom and when to remain dormant?” God’s divine intelligence woven throughout all of nature speak to this truth:

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Romans 1:20

There are no challenges in life only situations that invite us to remember our God given ability to come up with creative solutions…and move mountains.

Because of His Love,

Lauren <><

Faith, Inspiration, purpose, tips for purpose driven life

A Prayer to Jump Start Your Day

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A Prayer at the Break of Dawn:
Dear God,

Thank you for the gift of a new day of life to explore growing in the ways of loving and being loved…You, myself and those around me. Once again I release my grip on my need to know why things happen as they do along with my need to know how things will turn out. You are in control and that is enough for me. I give you full permission to have your way with me in spite of myself, for I have learned on this short journey of life that as I have surrendered all to you, I am never left empty handed.

Continue to release the shadows that distract me from living out the purpose for which I was created: to love and beloved. Protect me from the need to own, control, possess, analyze, interpret, conclude; from attachments, assumptions, expectations and all sense of entitlement along with the antics of comparison, jealousy and envy… for nothing thrives in a state of war.

The only thing I am entitled to know is that you love me completely just as I am and that you will never leave me nor forsake me, because of this all things are possible for me.

Grant me a spirit of joy and laughter that I may light up from the inside out and may all those who come into this light feel refreshed and inspired. Use my life and my death for the sake of salvation of souls. Use this gift of teaching you have blessed me with to guide people back to themselves as connected to you, so that they may experience their fullest potential of being on earth.

You have revealed to me through my own dark night of the soul experience that you do your greatest work in the eye of the storm, through this knowledge resurrect within me a courage that far outweighs the momentary distractions of fear, doubt and worry. For you have brought about a greater good in spite of the darkness than had my personal trials never occurred. A gifted glimpse into the mystical experience captured within one of your most masterful creations: the beautiful fragrant rose that emerges in the midst of the thorns.

You have me, and I have you…I tremble with eager expectation as to the beauty we will create together as I step into another gift of life today.

Enjoy Your Gift of Life.

Because of His Love,

Lauren <><

Bible Study, Christian, Faith, how to, Inspiration, personal excellence, Stress relief

True Freedom in Christ

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“It is for FREEDOM that Christ has set you free, stand firm then and do not allow yourself to be burdened by the yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1

Dear God,

Thank you that my greatest source and fuel for happiness in this life occurs behind closed doors, when no one is watching…the prayers, dances, songs and free expressions of who I am before you alone.

I am willing to consider the freedom that Jesus Christ of Nazareth had when he walked the earth.  Known as the Prince of Peace, he was not concerned about status or the opinions of other people.

This week I will explore letting go of my need to be seen, acknowledged and recognized in order to feel successful, loved and enough.

Fill me with an expansive Spirit of joy and laughter so that a levity around all things begins to emerge in all that I do and say.

I am grateful for another day to practice letting go of the non-essentials and nurture what I value most in this life.

Have your way with me in spite of myself…your way has never left me empty handed in this life.

“Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion. You do not regard a person’s status but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.” 
Mark 12:14

“A man is enslaved to whatever has mastered him.” 2 Peter 1:19

As you reflect on your own relationship with the world, what has mastered you in your life? Is it your environment? Opinions and reactions of other people? The need to be seen, acknowledged, and recognized?

Is it your behavior? My clients, who are seeking freedom from compulsive behavior, will often say, “I just can’t help myself.” This reveals a type of personal enslavement due to allowing some food, substance, situation, or person to master them over time, which in some cases results in a biological addiction.

The stress hormone is linked directly to your emotional state of mind and heart. Extended emotional stress often leads to personal enslavement, which usually walks hand in hand with unhealthy outlets. The key to freedom in situations like this lies in your ability to accept where you are at, accompanied with a desire for positive personal transformation and a choice to take a step in that direction.

Dear God, I choose this week to align my thoughts, words and deeds with my highest good and the good of all concerned. Through the power of the Holy Spirit I ignite my ability to choose my responses to life remembering that I hold the key to victimization and empowerment AND what I chose to think about sets in motion my reality. 

All things are possible for me, shrinking back and allowing myself to be burdened by the yoke of slavery to unhealthy masters is not how you created me to show up in this life. I choose you and all things good, right, true, beautiful and praise worthy. #faithwalk #freedominChrist #biblestudy 

Because of His Love,

Lauren <><

Christian, Faith, Inspiration

God’s Love in Constant

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Remembering this will help you to bend in life rather than break. God’s love is a constant in your life. You just forget because of past pain and false beliefs. It is important to understand that God’s love is not defined by the way humans love. So, refrain from projecting your limitations and the limitations of others onto God. In spite of your feelings of scarcity at times on this journey, the abundance of God’s love remains constant.

Too often as human beings using only about five percent of our brain capacity, we will limit our perceptions of God based on our experiences with other humans.

Have you ever had a negative encounter with someone who claimed to know God, and you then misplaced your disappointment and frustra­tions from their actions onto God? Perhaps you even disengaged from your own pursuit of knowing and loving God as a result of another’s negative witness. God’s love is very different from how you love as a human being. This is why it is so essential to connect to God in our experience of loving in this world. Our love is limited. God’s love is limitless. Our love will often contain criteria and is conditional, God’s love simply is and exists beyond reason, condi­tions and requirements… it is unconditional and constant.

A verse from Isaiah 50:15-16 sums this chapter up beautifully: “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.” It is grounding and peaceful to remember that you are remembered constantly by love it­self.

For God so loved us that He gave His only son to set us free into the glorious freedom that comes from knowing the One who held nothing back to win our love. As Mother T. reminds us, we are like a fish in water, no matter where we swim we are engulfed by the love of God. God’s love is constant.

Because of His Love,

Lauren

Faith, Inspiration, personal excellence

PRAYING DOCTORS

Praying Doctors

May and June are the traditional months for graduations and  celebrations of great accomplishments.  We know that the definition of commencement means ” a beginning or new start”,  but many times we look at graduation like it’s the end.

I was blessed to be in this photo with a group of doctoral students and we took the time right in the middle of the reception ceremony to praise God for the beginnings and responsibility he had given to each of us.

Although my physical and mental body worked hard for this doctorate degree the honor comes with great responsibly.   My vehicle is education but each of us has a unique God give path to begin.  We are to develop and prepare ourselves for the work and greatness that God has in store for each of us going forward.

I write this to say, that God gives each of us great responsibility no matter what your job or path is in life.  We just have to take that purpose or path we are on now and work to achieve great things in life using it to spread the message of Jesus Christ. No matter what you are celebrating are commencing, remember that it is through him that all things are possible.

Lets us not  forget the accomplishments that we achieve and be so for every humble of these gifts, so that in turn we are able to give back to others through our achievements!

~Dr. Stella