The GENERATIONS of the LORD

**************

**************

**************

**************
Psalm 78
A maskil of Asaph.

1 O my people, hear my teaching;

listen to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in parables,

I will utter hidden things, things from of old-
3 what we have heard and known,

what our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children;

we will tell the next generation

the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD,

His power, and the wonders He has done.

************

Psalm 71:17-19

17 Since my youth, O God, You have taught me,

and to this day I declare Your marvelous deeds.
18 Even when I am old and gray,

do not forsake me, O God,

till I declare Your power to the next generation,

Your might to all who are to come.

[emphasis added]

THE EVERGREEN TREE!

THE TREE!

Cut down...

sacrificed!

Lifeless...

yet full of beauty!

Adorned in fullness for God's splendor!

Evergreen...

Resurrected in its stand...

bringing new life...

Eternal Life !

THE TREE

tells a story...

not just any story...

but God's Story...

the one written before the foundations of the world... not an afterthought... but a well-thought-out plan... a plan of redemption.

We do not worship THE TREE - but the One Who hung on it... exchanging His life for ours!

******************

*************

*********

The same tree in a different flash of light !

*************

The same tree ... adorned at the top by God's Glory!
Do you see it??!!??

ONLY GOD COULD

and ONLY GOD WOULD!

Praise His Holy Name!

********************

********

Hallelujah!

Luke 2:9-11 (KJV)
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them,

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,

which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour,

which is Christ the Lord. [emphasis added]
**********************

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with His Favor...

Choosing Great JOY,

Stephanie

JUST A LITTLE LIGHTER PLEASE

Matthew 11: 28-30
The Message
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

************************

Psalm 68:19

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. ................Selah

Are you 'bogged down' this Christmas? Are there burdens you are carrying that are too heavy for your own strength?

What burdens are you carrying today?

Guilt?
Busyness?
Family Matters?
Financial Troubles?
Work Issues?
Health Problems?
School Issues?
A Sick Relative?
Death of a loved one?

You were never meant to lift them or carry them yourself. We have a Savior and a Lord who takes them for us!

There is freedom when we "LET GO and LET GOD!"

Choosing JOY, Stephanie

A TRIBUTE to Bella~Mella's ANDREW

Please be in prayer for this family of this precious boy Andrew, who went home to be with Jesus on December 15th - after his season with cancer.

Cancer did no win - God did!

***********************************

Isaiah 53:4a

Surely He [Jesus] hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows:

Thank You, Lord, that Andrew is whole once more - no more headaches - no more sickness - no more pain - no more tears.

Please visit his mother's [Melanie's] site to leave condolences and prayers of encouragement!
Bella ~ Mella: Andrew smiles in heaven now

Choosing JOY through the tears,
Stephanie

YUNI IS A .........

I was laughing up a storm tonight as the clock struck midnight and I am so tired after an absolutely wonderful day here at Shepherd's Walk where we invited strangers to a banquet meal to just cultivate relationships where there were none! Oh - the wonder of what God has done tonight....... check The Prayer Walk blog in the next day or so for an update and pictures - it will just take me a few days to recover!

BUT on to the information of the hour!!!
Elaine has not been sleeping well since she is waiting with baited breath to find out what YUNI does for a living. You all had good guesses and many of your thought she was a hairdresser because of her own beautiful hair.

Elaine the answer is for you most of all...... Here it is .........are you ready?


She is a ............>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>




>>>>>>>>>>>>





>>>>>>>



>>>>



LAWYER!!!

Now let me her some comments on that one!!!
I almost fell off my chair when she told me that!
But she is a most blessed sister in Christ of pure Mexican decent!

I hope you had fun with this guessing game - I know I did!
Thanks for participating!

Choosing JOY, Stephanie

The GIFT of the DAY is...

Hebrews 3:12-14

12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.

***********************************

Acts 17:24-28 [Paul speaking]

24 "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. 28 'For in Him we live and move and have our being.' [emphasis added]

As I awoke this morning the LORD spoke these words to me, "Get up, this is the most important day of your life." I jumped out of bed thinking that something great was going to happen and that God would reveal it very soon! I went about my day and its normal routines. About mid-day I had cut out a tiny blue gift box 'symbol' from an envelope that came in the mail – much like the large blue gift box in this photo... one that means lot to me. As I went throughout my day I realized, in time, that what the LORD wanted to show me and teach me in that statement He made was that...

TODAY
was the GIFT in the box!

Today - each day – is always a gift from the LORD. So often we look for great things to happen – and sometimes we ponder the awful things that "might happen"... dangerous "what ifs" ... ideas that creep into our minds and seek to paralyze us for the day.

But to live and breathe and have our being is a true gift from the Lord that we must not take for granted on any given day! So in good times - and difficult times let us learn to be thankful for the gift of TODAY - no matter what it brings! May we search to know what He desires to teach us throughout that day.

*********************************

Over my mantel is a large sign that reads:

***********************************************

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass

- it's about learning to find joy in the rain!

***********************************************

As my "journal title" says: STANDING on the THRESHOLD = Dancing in the Rain [God chose it earlier this month]... He continues to teach me about all that it means! TODAY was just another gift!

********************************

Choosing JOY, Stephanie

Beauty From WITHIN

1 Peter 3:3-5 (NLT)
3 Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. 4 You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. 5 This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They trusted God and accepted the authority of their husbands. [Emphasis added]

*********************************************************

Meet Yuni! Her name is spelled another way in Spanish but this is how she writes it to me now. She is a beautiful young women who is married to a wonderful young man [one year now in December] named, Efrain. This young couple is another example of the work and love of our God!

Each of them had prayed earnestly for a mate - asking God to bring that person TO THEM. They had asked God to be specific - [similar to the fleece that Gideon put out] - and they began "courting" last April after God had brought them together and confirmed to each one [without the other knowing it] that this was the mate HE had chosen! This is truly another love story. Yuni and Efrain are expecting their first child right around my birthday this spring.
Yuni and I were stuck together like a pair of magnets during the entire conference. She and her husband are on the worship team in the Main Mexican church where we had our conference. She did some training where she was able to learn some English so she was able to communicate well with us [without another translator]. What a blessing she is - beautiful INSIDE and OUT! Yuni and Efrain have a desire to start a young couples Bible study in their church there in Tamazunchale, MX, with Julio and Lidia and several other young couples. This would be a 'first' in that church. Would you pray for them that God would open that door?

Yuni's husband teaches High School there in Mexico.... but...
Can you guess what Yuni does for a living?
I will give away something special to one of you who can come up with the correct answer.
Think about what her job is in life. I think you will be very surprised. I'll leave this open for comments for a few days and see what kinds of things you can guess that she does! Let's have fun with this.... and no cheating... if you already know because I've shared it elsewhere!

Choosing JOY, Stephanie