Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.  Phillipians 4: 4

At first we were in shock about it…but we woke up! 

First of all, we give a hearty THANK YOU to those faithful and talented administrators who Blog over at the Pure

Glory Blog!

They nominated us…wowee!  I mean this!   Hazel Straub and Apostle Gabriel Cross work in the vineyards for the lost and for those in God’s army.  There job is too keep us all supplied; a daunting task!      Their writings are so powerful.  In the early morning hours God in His great Wisdom and Majesty has led me to read their prophetic and on time messages!   I know that the ministry of Apostle Cross is in Alaska.  I got a chuckle out of it because all of my Blogger friends have been in faraway places like:   Sharon in Australia, Yeap Chee Seng in

Singapore, Bisi in London, Gladwell was in Poland at one point and there were more; but they all stopped (with the exception of Bisi who still continues on and actually does a lot of kingdom work; incuding another Blog and an Onlune Radio station with the most beautiful Christian music ever!)   and moved on. 

It is so nice to get recognition; though truth be told none of us do this work for that reward for great is our reward in heaven, and yet it is nice to get earthly awards.  Few understand that Blogger’s generally work long and hard.  We’ve got to study, set up, organize, write, pray and often start over again!   So it is nice to be recognized!   THANKS!!!!

THE RULES TO FOLLOW FOR THE VERSATILE BLOGGER AWARD:

1. Add a picture of the award to your blog post.

2. Thank the blogger who nominated you and include a link to their blog.

3. Share 7 random facts about yourself.

4. Nominate 15 other Bloggers and inform those 15 they have been nominated.

HERE ARE SEVEN SERIOUS  RANDOM FACTS ABOUT CAFE SOZO; FAITH CENTER:

1.  Cafe Sozo has 8 different Blogs; but Faith Center is the largest one!  Cafe Sozo was born out of two prior Blogs that were not receiving traffic.  When we moved to WordPress our traffic quadrupled times two.   (smiles)    During this jouney, we’ve been strengthened and we’ve been rekindled!   We are open to moving closer and to God at all times and to receive the manna that He has for us to sustain us and strengthen us as we joyfully carry out His work with willing hearts! 

2.  Cafe Sozo is about to celebrate 5 years of writing and ministry on the Internet.  Those first few years were mostly 12 to 14 hours of Blogging and tech support stuff.   The Holy Spirit is truly the best teacher.  I can’t say that I was as on fire as I am now; I was more compelled; I thought I was more radical…but I am now!

3.  Cafe Sozo has over 700,000 hits just to the Faith Center Blog alone; all eight Blogs have received over 2 million hits! 

4.  Only one person runs Cafe Sozo, Faith Center…that is God.  I am His humble trustworthy assistant.  It’s the best work I’ve ever had.    I was a little girl in a family that did not attend church.  At the Lutheran Church; I heard from God at the age of 10.  I now am non denominational.  

  ” For in like manner, because the body is one and there are many members in it, while all of them are many members, they are one body; thus also is The Messiah.” 

     1 Corinthians 12: 12

God has sent a host of people to write for Cafe Sozo; but there are only two writers who contribute to Faith Center regularly and they are Elaine Davenport, a prayer Intercessor who lives in  the Midwest  and Gene McGuire,  a man of God who has a huge international network who lives in the D.C. area.  .  They met when Elaine sought to be put on Gene’s mailing list a list he has maintained over Twenty-Five years!  (Gene’s niece  is a neighbor of Elaine and her husband. )  Please note that Gene writes at  WISDOM OF GOD

5.  Cafe Sozo prays for every reader, person who visits, persons who comments and all of their Internet Divine Connections on a daily basis.   What we pray for ourselves…we also pray for you!  We also pray for every current, past and future  Bloggers because we have seen many come and go.   We pray for people everywhere most especially those on the Internet given the challenges that they face!   We take authority over strongholds that would prevent any of them from experiencing victory in their lives.

6.  We have always reached out to others…this online ministry was born from a personal ministry to 3 young women with cancer.  We expanded to sending letters to people’s houses and to distributing letters to those that wanted them.   We did this on a monthly basis for three years until we were led to come Online and minister to the world.   We have adopted a ministry in India; and our Prayer Team holds and annual fundraiser where we sponsor needy ministries.     We hope to expand our efforts.

7.  We are on fire for God!   We admit that we have been unable to answer all of our prayer requests on an individual basis!  We view all of our readers with bowels of mercy and hearts of compassion.  You have strengthened us dear readers and we thank God for you!  We have veyr big dreams and plans for the future and we want you to be a part of it!

I admit; that I did not even know 15 Bloggers who have stuck around. (smiles)    The fact is that most Faith Bloggers do not do so!   I had to pray and trust God to show me who  purely have a heart for Him.  These people are presented with the Highest Recommendation!   Bisi  Oladipupo who lives in the UK and I have Blogged together for a few years and I count her as an honorable friend as well as  Gene McGuire who has so often supplied an overflow of God’s FRESH ammunition at a time of need …and there are many that I do not know personally only by the spirit but their faithfulness, sincerity, anointing and purity of heart as well as obedience deserve recognition!   THANK YOU ALL!!! 

As a bonus here are 7 Brief  things I should have included above; but I’m a Blogger and we throw in extra words   (that have meaning…)  :

1. I’ve had over 100 jobs; this is my fave!

2. I’m in leadership over 40 Prayer Warriors…who taught me how to pray.

3.  Gave up meat, cake, pie, cookies etc for Lent last year…but continued on…I’m still alive!

4.  God healed my feet last yeat…nothing hurts worse than when your feet hurt; if so…I don’t want to know.

5.  Our kids won’t leave…

6.  Prayer changes everything…

7. Jesus wants to meet with you.

   I heartily to encourage you to visit  all of the sites…it will Bless you!  Here are the nominations for the Versatile Blog in no particular order:

1.   Gene McGuireWisdom Of God

2.  Bisi Oladipupo, Inspired Word’s Weblog

3.  Daniel Lyons  Soul Blind Ministries

4.  Admin., Bound 4 Grace

5.  Vernon Weiss, 5  G’s And A Cup Of Joe

6.   Prayson Daniel, With All I Am 

7.  Administrators, Mcrtbcrew

8.  Dillon Burroughs, Activist Faith

9.   John Acuff, Stuff Christians Like

10.  David Qaoud, Stuff That’s Relevant

11.  Kelly, A Disciple’s Steps

12.  Dawn, The Gentle Art Of Learning

13.  Admin., A Day In The Life Of A Woman After God’s Heart

14.  Karen Twombly, Peaceful Gatherings

15. Demetria Matthews, Being A Better U

Related articles

• The Devil Says: “Give Up!” by Gene McGuire January 28, 2012 (faithcenter.wordpress.com)
• Resolutions For 2012! by E. Davenport December 10, 2011 (faithcenter.wordpress.com)
• Prayer Forces Helps Cage Sozo Celebrate Two Million Hits! September, 2011 (prayerwarriors.wordpress.com)
• Versatile Blogger Award 2 (allaboutlemon.com)
• The versatile blogger award (whatweatetodayuk.com)

Naomi’s husband Elimilech died and she was left with only her two sons who soon married two women of the country of Moab.   After ten years, Naomi’s two sons both died.  Now, that must have been so painful for Naomi.   She had heard that God was Blessing the people in Bethlehen, so she decided to move back because Moab had a famine…and she had no huband nor sons.

Naomi headed back to Bethlehem with her 2 daughter’s in law and then something made her stop.  Her thoughts.  She decided to tell them both to go back to their land and to their people.  She felt they still had an opportunity to get a husband, but she felt that all was basically lost for herself.  Orpah one of her daughters in law decided to turn back after a good cry.     Ruth however, would not leave her.  She loved her too much and would not abandon Naomi.

When Naomi  returned, it says that the people were gathering to meet her.  But her response was :

²⁰And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.

 ²¹I went out full and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?   Ruth 1

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But Naomi, if you read the story was a very wise woman and she guided her daughter in law and it became well for both of them.  Ruth and Naomi gleaned from the fields of a Rich relative of Naomi’s husband and ultimately he bought the land of Elimilech and according to custom, married Ruth the Moabites woman and made her his wife.

As you read the story, things are steadily happening for Ruth and Naomi in their favor.  I saw a continuing increase in Naomi’s faith.  In the end, she heard this from  her neighbors:

¹⁴And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.

¹⁵And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.

¹⁶And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.

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And it was all true.  Naomi realized that God was not her problem.  Her problem was faith and trust.  God does not take away husband’s or sons….He is in the Blessing business and in the business of restoration.  It gave me great joy and inspiration to hear this story og unconditional love!

GOD IS NOR HAS EVER BEEN YOUR PROBLEM!   HE IS HOWEVER, YOUR SOLUTION AND IF YOU WILL LET HIM HE WILL GUIDE YOU OUT OF THAT PLACE OR SITUATION THAT YOU WANT TO BE GONE FROM!!!

Related articles

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• Naomi and Ruth (brakeman1.wordpress.com)
• RUTH: A Love Story (Part 2) (fellowshiproom.org)
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• Everyday Miracles! Pleading The Blood Of Jesus! by E. Davenport January 29, 2012 (thebloodofjesus.wordpress.com)
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Father God, I repent…for today in the most stressful circumstances…I failed You.  No, I didn’t blow up, I didn’t act badly, I thought badly in my heart.  No, it was not about hurting anyone; yet when I thought less of people who had a chip on their shoulder’s or people who were under stress or people who do no0t understand You…ir judged them…I failed.  Give me another opportunity to make it right.  I put my whole trust in You in the Authority and Love and image of Jesus Christ my Savior.  Amen

I am admitting it.  Here it is:

1 Corinthians 13

¹ If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

 ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 ⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

 ¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

We cannot ever afford to miss an opportunity to love…or show compassion…lest we hinder people and leave them blind.  Next time, I will not miss it! 

You see…the world expects the Christians to miss it.  They see us as hypocrites!   We talk the talk but too often we don’t walk the walk!  One of the thing that hurts us as a group is that there are a lot of “nice and good people who DO NOT go to church and there are a lot of not so nice and “sometimes” bad people who DO GO to church.  So this challenge has t be included in our prayers!  Please…

My dear friend Valerie Hutchinson has a ministry focused on Love and she teaches it to the Body of Believers!   That’s an on time message!

The one message that we do not want to give is that our love IS NOT unconditional!

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• 1 Corinthians 13:1. The Most Wonderful Prose (oyiabrown.wordpress.com)
• Why I Gave My Heart To Jesus! by Elaine Davenport May, 2011 (healmenow.wordpress.com)
• Rekindling! by Elaine Davenport April, 2011 (healmenow.wordpress.com)
• Faith And Prayer For Others! by Elaine Davenport January 7, 2011 (faithcenter.wordpress.com)
• FIND YOUR PURPOSE AND BE THANKFUL! by E. Davenport December 10, 2011 (greatthanks.wordpress.com)

 

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