Saving Me..

I’m starting a consecration today.  In the midst of a pandemic, I feel overwhelmed. How ironic to be positioned at home, yet still feel so full of anxiety.

I’m taking the month to regroup and refocus. I’m focusing on my spiritual, mental and physical health.

Setting up some new normals. I hope to blog daily and do a video or two. But mostly I pray to improve my clarity. I cant see clearly right now.

The new normal I hope for needs me to be at peak ability. So I’m sacrificing for myself. I think I deserve it.

What are you doing to prepare for the newness that’s coming?

I hope you stay with me on this journey. I could use the company.

 

Stephanie

Let’s Go Back..

This Fall, I’m privileged to lead an online study group. We are trekking through the book of Acts. The history of the first church, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the walk of the disciples ❤

I’m excited to go deeper into this book. If you are interested in getting connected to an online community with women over 30 years of age, join us!

Each study can be done via the Zoom App from the comfort of your home. We will be meeting at 7pm on Thursdays eastern standard time

Go to elevationchurch.cc to sign up for this a awesome study!

Hope to see you online Aug 29th

Stay blessed

Stephanie

Yesterday, I sat in silence

A total self day of reflection at a beach watching my granddaughter play in sand.

I thought about how the word detox is rarely used but so needed in our lives. We need days of casting our cares and saying yes to self preservation  and honor.

We know we can’t pour from empty vessels but how many of us still attempt to squeeze the very last drop of our soul out for our family, our jobs, our relationships.

We think being tired is normal. We think the aches of our flesh and soul are part of the grown process. When in essence it’s our body screaming for us to recognize it is struggling!

In need of repair, desiring to be replenished. It is tired. Tired of being stretched beyond its yes. …and we know this feeling so well.

How are you filling up your souls lack?

Stephanie

The uneasiness of life

There are days when one  totally reevaluates their existence.  When life seems to be excluding you from joy and satisfaction. When people, rather close or distance, seem to have forgotten that you exist.

Days of waiting for some thing, even some one. Some times we have no clue what we are waiting on. We just know it isn’t here!

We feel like God has forgotten us. Like our work is in vain and every decision we must make is pondered over a thousand times.

We’re unsure.

Its uncomfortable in a space of uneasiness, of distrust, of frustration, of sadness, of depression. No one wants to stay in pain. It doesnt feel good. It shouldn’t.  It’s not meant to be a permanent residence.

How do you relocate? You really dont have to put down stakes any where else. You just have to leave where you are.

It’s a journey. One that doesnt require us to be perfectly prepared. It just requires us to keep moving

Moving through the uneasiness of what tomorrow  has in store, the feelings we must sort through to find our way.

Either way you’re still making progress

I pray you stay the path even through the thorns

Stay encouraged

Virtuous

Virtuous Vibes

I’m relaunching this awesome blog with lots of inspirational goodness.

I’m planning on going global, I pray you join me

It’s going to be one heck of a journey.

Love and refer “I Speak Female” to someone who needs it in their life

They wont be disappointed!

Virtuous

Genesis 37-38

Genesis 37-38
Jealousy strikes again!
Jacob was living in the land of Canaan. Presumably all us well, but jealousy is brewing among his sons. Joseph although only 17 or so, seems to be the favored child. The one in charge, the silent leader so to speak among his brethren.
Jacob makes Joseph a multicolor tunic and hence the jealousy of his brothers is flamed. Joseph has a dream …and the flames of jealousy rise higher
“Oh you gone rule over us? His brothers inquire. Even after his second dream, Jacob inquires, but keeps the thought in his mind.
Afterwards comes the plot to kill Joseph by his brothers. And we know the rest, if not read the story….the move of God is all over the life of Joseph
From the pit to the palace! You see everything that happens in our lives, God has his hand all over it!!
No demon, scheme, plot or plan can stop what God has in store for your life!
Even during Josephs time in prison, he was still favored! Even in our dark times..

WE ARE STILL favored!! If you look back over the trials and tribulations you have endured…you can see God still working in your life. His behind the scene game is always on point!
Remember the story of Joseph during your waiting season. Dont allow the enemy to make you feel like your pit is permanent! Remain diligent and steadfast

Genesis 32

Genesis 32
A Lesson in Humility!
Jacob goes on his way.
• Gen 32:1-2 1 So Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2 When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s camp.” And he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
Jacob was now returning home to Canaan and was met by the angels of God. This may have been in celebration of Jacob’s return home, but also for comfort and protection as Jacob will now be confronting his brother Esau.
Jacob cried out to the Lord and God’s angels ministered to him and encamped around Jacob and his family.. It’s possible that the angels instructed Jacob on what to do next in regards to his brother Esau. Jacob sent messengers yo Esau
. Jacob was not boasting in what he was telling Esau, but rather he was seeking Esau’s permission to return home.

• Gen 32:6-8 6 Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” 7 So Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies. 8 And he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape.”
The messengers never made it to Esau at this time. They came running back telling Jacob that Esau was coming with 400 men. At this point Jacob was afraid and in this fear he makes a plan to divide his family into two groups. Just in case Esau attacked one half then the other would possibly escape and live. After Jacob makes his plans, he finally does the right thing; he seeks God.
• Gen 32:9-12 9 Then Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’: 10 “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies. 11 “Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children. 12 “For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ”
God this was your idea. You said you would be with my family and me. I need Your protection and guidance. Please deliver me from my brother who sought to kill me 20 years ago. You promised to make my descendants and the sand of the sea.
Jacob knew that the only way he could make it through all of this was by the mighty hand of God.

We often get into situations where there is nowhere to turn but to God. We know that there is no way out except for God’s hand to be upon the situation.
God does deliver His children in His way. It may not always seem like the right way, but God knows what He’s doing!
Was Jacob trying to buy Esau’s forgiveness? I don’t think so.
Jacob was humbling himself before Esau by calling him lord and Jacob referred to himself as Esau’s servant.
After 20 years of separation between the twin brothers, this was a good will offering to Esau. This was an offering to reconcile himself with his brother Esau, Jacob was hoping that Esau would forgive him and accept him into the family again and as his brother.
Too often we must humble ourselves before others and God to receive all that God has for us!

Genesis 33

Genesis 33
Jacob sought the Lord in his times of trouble and the Lord didnt let him down!
God also renamed Jacob Israel, which we now know as the nation of Israel and his sons are the twelve tribes of Israel mentioned throughout the bible from Genesis to Revelations.
Jacob looks up to see Esau coming with 400 men…WOW can you imagine how he felt?.
So he prioritizes the ones of least importance to himself first. This would be the maidservants of Rachel and Leah with their children. Then the next group was Leah and her children. Then finally Rachel and Joseph (their only son at this time).
Why would he do something like this?
Well, verse 3 says that Jacob went before them, meaning he would meet Esau first, and just in case Esau decided to kill Jacob and his family, the ones that were first in line would be killed first as the others could possible escape. So Jacob put his favorites in the back, which were Rachel and Joseph.
• Gen 33:4 But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.
Everything Jacob had feared was all for nothing. God told Jacob that He would be with him and protect him and his family. But somehow he didn’t trust God 100%, that’s why he put his families in ranks, just in case God wasn’t right.

Now we can say, “Jacob, you should have trusted God, after all he spoke to you, you wrestled with him, God renamed you, and you had His word on it.”
It’s so easy to read about these guys in the bible and want to encourage them on, because we know what God does in their lives.
But they didn’t have the bible to read; they didn’t know the future even though they had God’s word spoken to them.
We go through the same thing; only after God has done something do we truly believe He can do it. That kind of mindset is truly a lack of faith.
• Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
The key words here for us today are, “things not seen”.
Jacob had God’s promise but he couldn’t see it like we can in the bible. It’s like seeing the end of a movie, then going back and watching it from the beginning.
Since you saw the end, you know what’s going to happen.
But you know what? We have seen the end of the movie, we know what’s going to happen to us, whether you’re a believer or not.
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, and you have read through the whole bible, then you have seen the end of the movie! We know we end up in heaven and will be with the Lord. We know we are victorious….even in death.
• Psalms 56:11 In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
• Psalms 118:6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?
• Heb 13:6 So we may boldly say: “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear.

What can man do to me?”
So Jacob and Esau finally get together after 20 years, and it was nothing like Jacob expected. He was ready for the worst, but God gave him the best.
And God was not through with him yet! Just like many individuals in Genesis, Jacobs faithfulness caused him to receive the blessings God already had in store for him.
Don’t be anxious in well doing, stay committed and diligent to God. Blessings will soon follow your faithfulness!

Stephanie

Genesis 31

Genesis 31
Even though Jacob had worked 20 years for his two wives, his children and his flock, Laban still says that they are his. Then Laban remembers his dream, so he decides to make a covenant with Jacob.
They set up a pillar of stones as a monument or a reminder every time they came to this place of the vow that was made. Not only was this a reminder to Jacob and Laban, but to their children and their children’s children. Jacob and Laban could tell their children of the covenant of peace made between them and tell of the pillar of stones that represented this covenant.
Today, we have a promise God made at the beginning of time that a Savior would come and die for us so that we could be in heaven with the Lord forever!
Our reminder is the cross that Jesus died on for our sins, and another reminder is the empty tomb proving that Jesus was God …come in the flesh and rose from the dead.
Another pillar we have today from God is the promise to never flood the earth with water again, and we are reminded of this every time we see a rainbow.
But even though God has given us these reminders, the world has perverted them.
We as Christians wear crosses because it’s a reminder that Jesus died for us.
But the world has taken this and perverted it also. You see rock and pop stars wearing crosses in their ears, around their neck, pierced on body parts and even tattooed in unspeakable places on their body. Some people do this because of their religious up bringing. They never had a personal relationship with Jesus. They have no idea what the cross represents. They just know they were taught to wear a cross because it’s a good thing to do, and it shows that you are a religious person.
The only problem with religion is that it’s man made and not of God!
Both Laban and Jacob had a name for the place they set up the pillar of stones. Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. The interesting thing is they both mean the same thing, which is: “witness heap” . But Laban’s name for the place is Aramaic, whereas Jacob’s is Hebrew.
Even though Jacob had been gone from his home for over 20 years, he still spoke the language of his father, and still served the God of his father Isaac!
Just because we work at jobs of the world and the world is all around us. ..doesnt mean you should take on the form or appearance of the world to fit in.
We are to be separated from the things of the world, which means we are not to allow these things to influence us or control us.
Jacob was around greedy Laban and his son’s for 20 years, but he didn’t allow Laban’s lifestyle to interfere with his relationship with God or the things his father taught him.
This life journey can be hard, especially when we are tempted to become of this world. But if nothing else we should be that light on the hill. The difference , so that individuals are drawn to us. So they are able to say “There is something different about her”

Be the difference that radiates the relationship between you and God , not the religion that the world assumes it to be!

Stephanie

Genesis 29

 

Genesis 29
Jacob has returned to Heram. Heram was where we first met Abraham (or Abram as he was called then). God had just told Abram to leave Haran and go to a new place, which we now know as Israel.
It’s interesting that Jacob was about the same age as his great-grandfather Abraham when he left Haran.
God told Abraham to leave, but his descendants found a way back even though it was around 400 miles away.
Sometimes as kids we say, “I’ll never be like my parents” . But as we grow up we find out what they where teaching us was for our own good,
There was a purpose for Jacob returning to Haran and even his uncle Laban.Jacob was there for quite a while. Not just a few days or even months. No he will be there for over 14 years!
Do you feel like you’re stuck in your job, or even where you live?
Maybe you desire to leave but every time you try an obstacle gets in the way and you just can’t.
Maybe God has a purpose for where you are, whether at your job or where you live. You see there is a purpose for where you are right now!
Jacob meets his future wife in Heram
Gen 29:9-12 9 Now while he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. 10 And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. 12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s relative and that he was Rebekah’s son. So she ran and told her father.

Here we see that Jacob is just like his mother, by watering the flock of his future wife and father-in-law Laban.
Remember Rebecca did the same thing when Abraham’s servant went to find a wife for Isaac.
• Gen 24:19 And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.”
We saw that Rebecca taught Jacob to be a servant, but she also taught him how to deceive others, even his own brother.
So what are you teaching your children?
Do you tell them not to go to so certain things or behave a certain way….but you do?
In Genesis 29 the deception comes once again. Laban convinces Jacob to work for the marriage of Rachel
Gen 29:15-20 15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?” 16 Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah’s eyes were delicate, but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance. 18 Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.” 19 And Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.

Jacob deceived his father and in return he himself was deceived by Laban. Laban never told him about the custom they had of the first-born woman being married before any others. Jacob thought he was working for Rachel. In fact that was the agreement.
Jacob could not really argue with Laban, because he knew deception all to well himself.
Wow karma!