Stephanie

Pavlantos

Stephanie Pavlantos is passionate about getting people into God’s Word. She has taught Bible studies for 15 years and has spoken at ladies’ retreats. Her first book was a Bible study on the book of Ephesians and spiritual warfare called, The Few, the Humble, the Church. She is working on a Bible study called Yeshua, God’s Son, Our Treasure: A Quest through the Book of Hebrews, which won an award at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. She also writes devotionals for Refresh Bible Study Magazine at Lighthousebiblestudies.com.

She wants to get people into the Word where they can discover God’s love for them, their identity in Christ, and find healing for the wounds of this life, while forgiving those who caused their pain.

You can visit her blog at www.stephaniepavlantos.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/stephaniepavlantos.

She and her husband, Mike, have been married for over 26 years and have three grown children — Matthew, Alexandria, and Michael. Stephanie loves animals and raises dogs, ducks, goats, and chickens.

More from Stephanie Pavlantos

Joy Comes in the Mourning

Breathe

As I was driving home this weekend from my sister's house, I saw a sign on the overpass with the words, "Are you breathing?"

Obviously this sign referred to the senseless death of George Floyd.

But, as I thought about it, I also realized that Covid-19 took away the breath of many people. As we all know, this virus attacks the lungs, leaving its victims unable to perform the most basic of needs—breathing.

The verse that immediately came to me was:

"Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature." (Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man's nostrils, and the man became a living person. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ESV)

What sets us apart from every other created animal? God Himself breathed into us.

EVERY human being gets their life from God.

But what do we do with that breath? Scripture tells us...

"Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence." (Psalms 27:12 Do not let me fall into their hands. For they accuse me of things I've never done; with every breath they threaten me with violence. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ESV)

Our country has seen so much violence over the last few weeks. Unfortunately, there are those who "breathe out violence." Anger and bitterness can breed this kind of aggression.

Forgiveness can put an end to it ... even undeserved forgiveness.

Satan wishes to divide us. That is not God's will. Yet, here we are living in a divided world in many ways, a divided country with divided families.

In John 20, Jesus met with his disciples after He rose from the grave.

"After He showed them His hands and his side, He said, 'Peace be with you...' (John 20:20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ESV) '...He breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.'” (John 20:22-23 Then he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ESV)

As Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit on them, He spoke of forgiveness. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit in order to live the life God wants us to and be able to give forgiveness as well.

What are we to do with this breath the LORD gave to us?

"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!" (Psalms 150:6 Let everything that breathes sing praises to the LORD!Praise the LORD! OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ESV)

I saw many videos of people praising God instead of the hateful, hurtful speech and actions of some. Where there is praise, the Spirit of God resides. God is the answer for this world.

We are broken. Only Jesus can fix what is broken...

He gave us His Word so we may know Him and His ways. It says in 2 Timothy:

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." (2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ESV)

God breathed out His Word as Jesus breathed out His Spirit on those He breathed life into. His Word with the power of the Holy Spirit can change the hardest or most wounded heart. His Word will teach us His ways and His will, it shows us our faults and sin, it corrects us and judges our intentions, and it trains us to be righteous and mature.

Without God's Word, we will not grow and mature.

How can we understand His Word?

But it is the spirit in a man and the breath of the All-powerful that gives him understanding. (Job 32:8 But there is a spirit* within people, the breath of the Almighty within them, that makes them intelligent. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) NLV)

Take a deep breath...because you can.

Let the Spirit of God heal our wounds as we forgive. Let us love our neighbors as ourselves.

God Is Not Ashamed to Be Our God

I was the fifth child of seven born to my parents. I was the fourth of six girls. Here's where most people say, "Your poor father!"

My parents had a significant age gap between them; my dad was 50 years old when I was born.

Before my fifth birthday, my family moved from the suburbs to a large farm in southwest Ohio. My parents loved the country and the spacious property gave our large family room to grow and play. By my sixth birthday, my dad suffered a massive stroke which left him paralyzed on his right side. All his dreams for that property died.

Even at six, I knew my life would be different.

I was a daddy's girl. He held me on his lap when the doctor gave my vaccines with a gun-like device that left a scar the size of a dime on your upper arm. My father taught me to ride my bike on the sidewalks of our suburban home and brought us donuts he made before leaving work as an executive chef.

Everything seemed to have changed. His personality and his body were different—broken.

The farmer, my parents bought our home from bought it back and let us live in the house for $100 a month until my parents got back on their feet. We lived there until I was 21. I hated leaving our home when the next landlord gave it to his newly married son.

My mom and the six of us girls did everything. We did the housework and yard work. My dad sat on the porch watching us cut the grass with a push mower fearing we would get hurt. When we complained about cutting the grass or working in the garden, he would just say, "I know, I wish I could do it." I now understand as an adult how much it hurt him to have to watch his daughters do "his" work.

He struggled with depression and feelings of uselessness.

He prayed constantly; not for himself, but for his family. My dad prayed for strength and comfort for my mom, who had to work long and hard hours to support the family. He prayed for each of us girls to know God as he did. Our salvation was the most important thing to him. Dad read the Bible to us every day at dinner and prayed over us before bed as we kneeled by his chair so he could put his hand on our heads.

In Hebrews 11, the author shares the faith of many Old Testament saints. These men were righteous in God's sight because of their faith and obedience in times of trials and persecution.

Hebrews 11:13 All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) (ESV) says, "These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth."

Hebrews 11:38 They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) (ESV) says of these men,"... of whom the world was not worthy."

They lived and died for their God.

The verse that overwhelmed me was Hebrews 11:16 But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) b:

"Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God..." (ESV)

This verse is not in past-tense. It is in the present tense. Why? Because God was not ashamed then, and He is unashamed to be their God now.

No matter how we see ourselves, or how useless we may feel in our jobs or as a stay-at-home mom or how many times we have messed up and felt as though we have let God and others down; if you belong to Him, He is not ashamed to be called your God. He has a better place prepared for you.

My dad felt useless in his body, but in his spirit, he was full of the life that comes from the Son of God. We may never know on this side of Heaven the impact we have on others.

But God does.

My dad did not realize the influence he had on his six girls. Even from his wheelchair, he spoke life over us and planted seeds for an eternal purpose.

If you do not have someone like this in your family, then be that person to someone else. Your eternal reward is priceless.

My dad died one month after I married 27 years ago. I am thankful God allowed him to "walk" me down the aisle. He was a good man and a great father. I thank God he is whole again.

God’s Favorite Christmas

Who doesn’t love Christmas and the memories it brings? As you think of your favorite Christmas, what makes it memorable for you? Was it where you spent it, who you spent it with, or the gift you received? Maybe it was unforgettable because of the gift you gave to someone special.

My favorite Christmas was the time I put my name on every gift under the tree. I have a large family with five sisters plus my mom and dad. My aunt and uncle came over Christmas Eve to stay the night with us. While everyone was busy preparing for Christmas Day, I sat on the floor by the Christmas tree with wrapping paper, scissors and a pen, making new gift tags with my name on each one. I added those to every gift under the tree. The next morning, while my uncle handed out the gifts, the pile in front of me grew larger and larger as I got most of them. The expressions on everyone’s faces were priceless. My mom knew something was not right and as she looked around the room, her eyes stopped on me. I confessed my deed, and she gave the packages, unopened, to their rightful owners. We all laughed and my family still reminds me of that Christmas. It is a fun memory for us all.

Have you ever thought about God’s favorite Christmas? Which parts do you think He most fondly remembers?

God created us to have fellowship with Him. But, sin penetrated His perfect world and separated us from Him. We could no longer experience life with God, only death without Him. Alone. Heaven must have been lonely with only the Godhead and a mere myriad of angels, and not one human being in sight. He wanted us to live with Him in His home.

God knew the Way to make that happen.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16 "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ESV)

The Father entrusted a young girl with His only Son—a human carrying deity. She wasn’t the richest or the most experienced or even married. But, Mary loved God, and she was the perfect mother for His Son. Even knowing His Son’s life would be threatened before He was two; God sent Jesus to be born in a dirty cave and laid in a manger of straw in the company of sheep and shepherds. Imagine how proud He must have been on that day and how bittersweet it was when Heaven became even lonelier.

God watched as the angels rejoiced at His perfect plan. Their instructions were to proclaim the good news to the lonesome shepherds in a field guarding their sheep that night. God didn’t tell the wealthy or the well-known. Instead, He sent His angels to the shepherds, the ones who protected their sheep and looked for the lost lamb. They would understand His King. How the Father must have loved the expression on their faces when His angels ignited the dark sky! I imagine His eagerness for them to behold His Gift.

God looked forward to the day His Son returned Home ushering men, women and children to live with Him forever. Yet, how grievous the sting God felt knowing what Jesus must endure so we could be welcomed into Heaven.

God put His name on His present, too—Immanuel, God with us. All He wants is for us to accept His gift. Don’t leave this precious One unopened. God’s favorite Christmas is the most unforgettable because of Who He gave us.

Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift! (2 Corinthians 9:15 Thank God for this gift* too wonderful for words! OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ESV)

Betrayed, But Not Alone

They were the darkest days of His life, and He was alone. The men He had spent the last three years of His life with, abandoned Him when trouble arrived.

Heavily armed guards, sent by the chief priest and scribes, arrested Jesus after He prayed all night, preparing for the upcoming universal battle between life and death. His disciples saw Him walk on water; feed thousands of men, women, and children; heal the sick; and give sight to the blind. They even saw Him raise the dead. Yet, they deserted Him.

Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’” Mark 14:27 On the way, Jesus told them, "All of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say,`God will strike* the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.' OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) (ESV)

Have you ever been in a difficult or dark time when you felt all alone? Did it feel as though everyone you knew had forsaken you? Maybe it was a crisis in your family or marriage and your friends didn’t know how to handle it. A difference of beliefs or conviction can drive a wedge between people and leave us feeling heartbroken and isolated.

Years ago, my husband and I shared a friendship with four other couples. We attended the same church, dined at one another’s homes, shared life, and worshipped and studied God’s Word together. I loved these people as though they were my flesh and blood.

I was preparing to teach a Bible study I had written for our class. One day during prayer, the Lord warned my husband the Bible study would come under attack. We prayed and asked our gang to pray for the study, and us as well. Halfway into the study, a division within our ensemble of friends developed. The split was not because of the Bible study, but resulted from one couple walking away from God. No one knew what to do, so they ignored it. As a result, it divided us. Because I wanted to fix it, I reached out to my pastor for advice — my friends viewed me as a betrayer.

These once close friends now treated my husband and me as if we no longer existed. It was horrible. Not only had a great friend walked away from the church and God, but our other brothers and sisters ostracized us for seeking help outside our group.

I was miserable while I continued teaching my Bible study without them. My family sat alone during Sunday services while the remaining three couples of our once tight-knit group filled a separate row.

God did not leave me; He moved in closer. I experienced a more intimate relationship with Him than I had ever known. God healed my hurt and my wounds as I forgave those friends. We no longer see each other, but I hold nothing against them and have told them as much.

Jesus forgave His disciples, too. He restored them and used them mightily in the days that followed. He never left them nor forsook them.

Matthew 6:14 If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) reminds us we all have debts to pay. If we forgive those who have wronged us, the Father will forgive us. If we do not forgive others, the Father will not forgive us of our sin.

Will you forgive those who have left or betrayed you? God knows your pain and can heal it. He will free you from it. Jesus came to mend the brokenhearted.