Category Archives: Ephesians

2025, A Quick Hello, Ephesians

Good Afternoon

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It seems impossible!
January 6, 2025!   But here we are.  We may get some greens and pork chops today.  Nearly a week late but since we are not superstitious it will not matter — just something tasty to eat.

It’s cold here today for Lower Alabama- 40 degrees- and mostly cloudy.  A stay-at-home day, unless I really need something at the store.😊

May we encourage you today to pray for your family and friends; pray for people around the world who are sick and hurting, who are lost and have yet to see their way to the Savior. 

A verse comes to mind: 32 Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.   Ephesians 4

To all our Readers, new and long-standing, thank you and please hang with us as we navigate 2025. I am continuing my reading through the Bible from 2024. Twenty-twenty-four was the best time in Scripture of my life I think. I am expecting 2025 to be even better! Learning my Father, serving my LORD, and waiting for Our KING! 

I hope you will often stop by The White Stone Blog this year. I hope in this new year, I will give you reasons to come by for regular visits.

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Until next time, holy hugs, Kathie

2024, Ephesians, Psalms, Questions

Parts . . .

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Good Morning, Family and Friends.
I have been reading from The Psalms this morning. As I have said previously, I am continuing to read the Bible through. I hope to begin 2025 with The Proverbs.

But today I am here with something to consider from Psalm 143.

GOD’s part – our part.

7 Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails.  Do not hide Your face from me, or I will be like those who descend to the Pit.
8 Let me hear Your loving devotion in the morning, for I have put my trust in You. Teach me the way I should walk, for to You I lift up my soul.
9 Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD; I flee to You for refuge.
10 Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. May Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.  source Psalm 143

I see verse 7 as an urgent cry for help; a desperate situation we think we won’t live through, so we call on The LORD. And naturally, we want Him to answer quickly.
Now let’s get to the HIS part, our part.  We want His loving devotion in the morning and all day long and we can have it — here’s our part: I have put my trust in You. To know the loving devotion of The Father, we have to trust Him. If we lack trust, we will doubt His loving devotion toward us.
If we want Him to teach us the way we should walk, we garaden+path+curve-2293325470 have a part in that and our part is to lift our soul to Him — that is all our emotions we check with Him. When feelings come, when desires come, we take them to Him, and we see what His Word says — are these worthy and holy or not. And if not, in His power and grace, we reject them.  And day by day we learn from Him how we should walk.  It’s a perfect system.
Next. Deliver me from my enemies. Who are my enemies? My flesh, the world’s systems, and the principalities and rulers of darkness. (See Ephesians 6: 10-12)
GOD’s part: Deliverance. He delivers!
My part, your part: Flee. Run to The Father for His Strength to say NO to the temptation, whatever it is. No, I’m not doing that!
Oh, the taste of Victory!!
Teach me to do Your Will and why would He do that? Because HE is our GOD. Why would He lead us? Because HE is good. There is no darkness in Him at all. HE is worthy of our trust. HE is worthy of our sole allegiance.

HIS part. Our part.
Something to ponder, don’t you think?

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Until next time, holy hugs, Kathie

2024, Ephesians, Genesis, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Matthew, Proverbs

Silly Me!

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I expected my relief to last longer than 30 minutes! But here I am, cautious and concerned and warned: don’t celebrate too long, don’t celebrate with arrogance. Be kind. Be generous. And get to work LIVING THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.

Proverbs 14:34 King James Version  34 Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.

We have a reprieve. Reprieves are for advancing, not retreating, and not squandering. What do we have a reprieve from?  That’s a good question. How do you see it? HOW DOES GOD SEE IT? ASK HIM AND RESPOND ACCORDINGLY. 

Are you wondering how to ask?

My suggestion is to start with your Bible.  Read it. Read it like it is the BEST book you have ever picked up.  Because it is! Read until it becomes alive to you, then do what it says, praying every page of the way. 

I trust that we have a reprieve from the advancement of certain evils. But there are plenty of demons to fight  – armor up! Ephesians 6:11-24 Don’t spend this reprieve playing!  That’s the message. Perhaps we can hear The LORD saying to us: he who has an ear, let him hear. (That he is he or she, you understand.)

Genesis (KJV) 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Mark 12: 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”  Link

This is how we use this reprieve. Study JESUS. The JESUS revealed in Scripture. Read Him. Watch Him. Follow Him. Know Him and be known by Him. (Matthew 7:21-23) In this way, we will not waste this reprieve. Biblically obedient brothers and sisters, I need your prayers! By no stretch of the imagination have I arrived at full obedience but by His Grace, I am moving forward!

 img_3894 Until next time, holy hugs, Kathie

2023, Ephesians, Giving Thanks, Questions, Revelation

Sunday Afternoon Stroll

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Titus 3

Titus 3:2 . . . behave gently towards everyone.

If you begin reading verse 1, you will see he had just told them to submit to the government and its officials – to obey them; to do any honorable work.
I wonder if the Cretan Government was any less hostile to People of The Way than today’s governments toward Christians? Would GOD have Paul tell us any differently? No. I am sure Father’s Word is the same for us as Titus and his fellow brethren.

Back to verse 2.
He goes on — slander no one. Avoid quarreling. Be friendly.

Wow!

Gentle.
I found a definition of gentle that I think fits here: Considerate or kindly in disposition.

Are Christians gentle toward the government and its officials?
Do Christians speak with godly consideration about the government? Please don’t misread me here.  I am not blind to the corruption, and the depravity of the powers that be here but I would like for us to recognize who our enemies are.  Ephesians 6

Considerately, what good have we done for our Father’s Kingdom if we are critical of people for the pleasure of criticizing? May I add, people that we have had no personal interaction with? Public people are people too. Again, I am not suggesting by any stretch of the imagination that we close our eyes to the sin that is paraded as good, but that we make sure it does not harden us – that we remain gentle, pliable in the HANDS of HOLY SPIRIT to the spiritual needs of government officials and all People.  Perhaps we can begin by praying for them more than we criticize them. And let’s put away words like idiot, stupid, imbecile, ding-bats, etc. Father uses words like poor, wretched, blind, miserable, and naked. See Revelation 3:16-18.

I don’t know that I can adequately write about this but it is firm and clear in my being. People are not our enemies. Our enemies live in the spiritual realm. As Christians, we are amid spiritual warfare. We must know our enemy and we must battle effectively.

Consider a good soldier, a Navy Seal. When they are on a mission they neither conduct themselves haphazardly nor nonchalantly. They are quiet, watchful, strategic, and ready at a moment’s notice to engage their opponent.

Spiritually speaking, should not we be the same? Should not we embrace that we too are on a mission? Should we be ever watchful, strategic, and ready at any moment to humble ourselves before GOD and resist the evil one and his army?

In summary, for too long I, and I think I am not alone, have lived years of this earthly journey like it is a Sunday afternoon stroll instead of a white-hot battle for the eternal souls of mankind.

I didn’t know this post was going to be so heavy – I’m not apologizing just acknowledging messages here are often tough.

What am I thankful for today?
That I am right here, right now.armor-of-god-cdd53f0d-6b0f-4ca0-9f21-ea844a06ea1-resize-750