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Christina Cook Lee

Media Producer - Author - Blogger - Songwriter

Prayer

Our Father

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Topic: Prayer

Focus: Our Father

Matthew 6:9-13 (KJV) …Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

It’s interesting to look at the prayer Jesus taught His disciples to pray. It is so simple. You may have known it as long as you can remember—or maybe you never learned it. Either way, it might be a good time to give a little more thought to it.

Things we have known or heard all our life can sometimes be easily taken for granted. I’m not sure how much time you’ve ever spent thinking about what this prayer says, but I would like to look at just one part of it, for now. Actually, I’d like to just think about the first line that says: “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be (Holy is) Your name.”

Looking first at the word “our”, we can realize that right up front—Jesus wanted us to understand that His Father was our Father, too. He was encouraging us to come close to God—as we would a loving father.

If you had a father who loved you deeply, this concept is easy to embrace. If you had a father who you never met, wasn’t ever there for you, or abused you—or who made you want to back away—this might be not so easy. If your father, or lack of one, is one of the reasons you have struggled with depression or dependency—this is an area you really need to deal with, where God is concerned. Before you can really go any further with the prayer, you have to be able to completely accept the fact that God is not your earthly father, He is your heavenly Father. No matter what kind of earthly father you had, the difference is huge.

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New Strength Inspirational Statement of the Day

We don’t know anything about the fathers of the disciples Jesus chose to be His closest followers, but I will venture that not all of them came from perfect homes. I’m guessing that some or a lot of them might have come from homes that were messed up. Some of them may have never had a father who provided for them. Some may have been raised by a grandmother and a mother who had to live together because of poverty. Maybe there was no father in their memory. Some of them may have had to work at an early age to help support the rest of the family or just to get food for themselves. Some could have had a family that was ‘intact’, but Jesus chose common, ordinary men to be His closest followers—not the rich or affluent. So it is likely, there were some who had grown up with a decent family life, and some who had none to speak of.

As Jesus tells His followers to address Almighty God as, “Our Father”, He is putting Himself in close relationship with them. The disciples have done a lot of wondering about Jesus and His special abilities. They have observed Him healing all manner of diseases. They have heard Him telling interesting stories—and they haven’t always understood everything He has said. They know that Jesus spends a lot of time talking to His Father. But, now He is telling them they can call the Almighty God they have always known as ‘Jehovah’, ‘Father’…and they can speak to Him personally. This is a new concept to them. They had to be amazed.

Not only is Jesus telling them to call God their “Father”, He is revealing Himself to them as a “brother”. Think of the intimacy they must have felt. The acceptance they experienced when He called them as disciples was pretty great—but this! This is almost too much for them to conceive—that His Father is their Father, too—and that He is their brother!

When you understand that Almighty God is your loving, caring Father, it changes everything that may have made prayer difficult in the past. You can be at peace with whatever your earthly father was like—good, not good, or not around—because now you have the best Father of all. He is your real Dad. He is perfect and holy. His Name is holy—because He is holy. If knowing this makes you love Him and what He did to forgive your sins through the gift of Jesus’ blood sacrifice—then He is yours and you are His. You have a Father. You belong to a very big family of brothers and sisters. Your Father is holy—and now—you can be holy, too. He wants you to come to Him with your cares and He welcomes you to call Him “Father”–when you pray.

Declaration: I will find new strength knowing I am accepted by Almighty God, Jehovah and I am part of His family because of Jesus. I can talk to “our Father” in prayer because I belong to Him now and forever.

IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO NEW STRENGTH DEVOTIONAL BELOW, A NEW SEGMENT WILL COME TO YOUR EMAIL EACH DAY.
For music selections that will help bring hope and encouragement during your recovery from depression and addiction, https://www.youtube.com/user/NewStrengthMusic/playlists?sort=dd&view=1

All NEW STRENGTH posts are Copyright by Christina Cook Lee 2012. Please request permission to re-post or re-blog.

Agreement with God

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Topic: Prayer

Focus: Agreement with God

Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJV) Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Jesus was the one who instituted the use of “Amen” at the end of a prayer. There is no record of the word ever being used at the closing of a prayer before the time when He taught His disciples the best way to pray. Isn’t it interesting that people who aren’t willing to use the Name of Jesus in a prayer are still praying the way Jesus taught people to pray, when they say, “Amen”?

For centuries, people have used the word “amen”, to indicate a strong verbal agreement. To fully appreciate what is happening when we say “amen”, we have to consider what is taking place when we pray.

As we review the Lord’s Prayer, we see the immediate confirmation of God as our Father and the reverence due His Holy Name.

The prayer goes on to agree with the will of God being done on earth and in heaven, concerning His kingdom.

The next portion of the prayer is a request for daily food.

The willingness to be forgiven according to the same measure that we are willing to forgive is stated next, followed by a request for deliverance from temptation and the evil one.

(Read more below)

Now, you can listen and/or read!

Link to the New Strength Audio Version
New Strength Inspirational Statement of the Day

The kingdom, power, and glory are affirmed as belonging to God forever.

At the end of the prayer, we see the word, “Amen”.

The literal meaning of the word amen is, “so be it”, or “truly”, but when the word, “amen” is spoken in response to what another person says, it is the same as making a verbal covenant with that person forever. When we pray, we are speaking to God and coming into agreement with Him. We make a covenant with God when we put the word, “amen” at the end of what we say to Him.

A “covenant” is an agreement between two or more parties. It is a powerful pact. The power of agreement is seen in Matthew 18:18-19, when Jesus said, “Verily I say unto you, whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.”

“Amen” is a very small word that carries an overwhelmingly huge impact. When we say “amen”, we’d better be sure we truly agree with what is being spoken, whether the words being said belong to us, or someone else. In the sight of God, saying, “amen” is the same thing as signing a lasting contract.

The fact that the word, “amen” is so powerful is actually pretty exciting, in regard to the positive aspects. Think about how powerful prayer really is, as we pray according to the will of God. When we appropriate our faith to come into agreement with the Word and will of God, we can expect miracles. In Mark 11:24, Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

In John chapter 16, Jesus was telling His followers that the time was approaching when they wouldn’t be seeing Him on earth. He said, “And in that day (after His ascension back to heaven) you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My Name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My Name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

Jesus came to earth and fulfilled the plan for our salvation. He gave His life’s blood as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world, but besides doing that, He left us armed with His Words and directions for praying in the best possible way. We are not defenseless or helpless. All we need to do is put our hearts in agreement with the will of God and pray in the Name of Jesus, and we will experience the eternal blessing of God in our lives.

Declaration: I will find new strength as I come into agreement with God’s Word and will. As I pray in the Name of Jesus, I will use my faith to release the power of God. As I speak the word “amen”, powerful covenants will be made.

IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO NEW STRENGTH DEVOTIONAL BELOW, A NEW SEGMENT WILL COME TO YOUR EMAIL EACH DAY.

For music selections that will help bring hope and encouragement during your recovery from depression and addiction, https://www.youtube.com/user/NewStrengthMusic/playlists?sort=dd&view=1

All NEW STRENGTH posts are Copyright by Christina Cook Lee 2012. Please request permission to re-post or re-blog.

Yours is the glory

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Topic: Prayer

Focus: Yours is the glory

Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJV) Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

It’s humbling and fearsome to write about the glory of God. Who can really put into terms something so awesome? I feel completely unequipped to speak with any authority about something so Holy. Yet, this is an important part of the prayer Jesus taught us to pray.

The way the word glory is used in the prayer is interesting. It’s almost like the cap stone, or the crown, or the frosting on the cake, when Jesus says: “For yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory.”

When we research the meaning of the word glory, we find that it has a variety of interpretations, depending on the context. Some of the words used to describe the glory of God are: abundance, wealth, treasure, honor, dignity, splendor, brightness, majesty, and infinite perfection.

Some of the writers of the Bible speak about the glory of the Lord being like fire, or a cloud. Another person describing it said that the glory of the Lord was like smoke. Other scriptures refer to it as a weight or covering.

If I had to sum up my impression of the glory of God, I would say in very humble and general terms, that it could be the outward manifestation and demonstration of the purity, power, presence, resources, righteousness, love, compassion, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, wisdom, creativity, intelligence, and beauty of the Lord.

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New Strength Inspirational Statement of the Day

The intensity level of the purity, power, and presence of these qualities is infinitely beyond what any human can fathom or conceive…to the point that we would die if we looked at Him or we would melt at sound of His voice, if He didn’t protect us from that happening.

It’s very difficult to even attempt describing the glory of God in words. The magnitude of qualities so far beyond human comprehension can’t be adequately assessed.

We see only a tiny margin of His glory in the most beautiful sunrise or sunset. Another subtle suggestion would be a tsunami or a raging, consuming fire. But even those comparisons are small.

With our eyes, we can only see a portion of the atmosphere above our tiny planet located in the solar system where we live. Beyond our atmosphere, there are numerous solar systems in the universe, and God holds all of it in his hands…

As we try to grasp what the glory of the Lord is, an important thing for us to contemplate is that the true glory of God can only be attributed or ascribed to Him alone. There is no human or other being who could possess the qualities or energy that come from Him. Nothing else comes close to the grandeur of His greatness.

Just as the Lord possesses His own right to rule His kingdom, and holy power to rule, He also has His own right to demonstrate His attributes—resulting in the revelation of His glory.

When we say, “Yours is the glory”, we are confirming the ownership of His glory. All things are His—including His glory.

Searching for ways to recognize and describe the glory of the Lord brings praise and honor to Him. We should challenge ourselves to actively seek and notice new things about His glory that are continually being revealed.

Our God is not a thing that is measurable or definable. He has all surpassing greatness, which means that He continues to re-invent Himself as He becomes greater and greater and greater. Nothing changes as far as His standards, His moral perfection, and His culminated power—it’s just that everything He is continues to intensify.

How can we properly praise one who is so great as our God? The ever-growing revelation of His glorious and all surpassing greatness should fill us with ongoing peace and the ability to trust Him completely day after day throughout our lives.

Declaration: I will find new strength by resting in the glory of the Lord and giving Him all of my praise.

IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO NEW STRENGTH DEVOTIONAL BELOW, A NEW SEGMENT WILL COME TO YOUR EMAIL EACH DAY.

For music selections that will help bring hope and encouragement during your recovery from depression and addiction, https://www.youtube.com/user/NewStrengthMusic/playlists?sort=dd&view=1

All NEW STRENGTH posts are Copyright by Christina Cook Lee 2012. Please request permission to re-post or re-blog.

Yours is the power

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Topic: Prayer

Focus: Yours is the power

Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJV) Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Not only does God Our Father have the right to rule His kingdom, but He also possesses the holy power to rule His kingdom. The act of recognizing Our Father through faith, as the One who possesses holy power, is in essence, praise.

Picture a door in your mind. Imagine God, the source of all holy power, is on the other side of the door. Now imagine Jesus Christ as the door. He is the only Mediator through Whom we are allowed access to the kingdom and power of God. Possession of the key, comes through the Holy Spirit when we receive salvation, through faith in Jesus Christ. When we ‘recognize and acknowledge’ (which is ‘knowing and saying’) that we believe God is the source of all holy power, we turn the key in the lock, and unleash the power of God. It’s actually faith and praise that turn the key in the lock.

The power of God, belongs to God. It originates with Him. Psalm 62:11 says, “Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God.”

A person who is unwilling to recognize God as the source of all holy power and as the One who possesses the power to perform all things good, deserves nothing from God. The power of God is able to work in us and through us…but it belongs to God. God can give us power, but even when we receive power from God through the Holy Spirit, it still belongs to God. His power comes to us and we are ‘carriers’ of that holy power.

(Read more below)

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New Strength Inspirational Statement of the Day

There is a beautiful prayer in Ephesians chapter three, verses 14 through 19.

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

Acts 1:8 says, “…You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The power we have as Christians is ‘licensed’. Divine power doesn’t originate in us, it is placed in us by God. We have no holy power of our own, it is only by God working in us and through us that we become empowered.

Philippians 2:13 says, “…It is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose.”

James 1:16-17 tells us, “Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

Jesus said in John 15:5-8, “I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in Me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

When we stay connected to the Lord, we are partakers of many things. Apart from God, we are nothing—but with Him, we can do all things because of His strength, power, and love.

Remembering that God is all-powerful and that we are nothing is one of the hallmarks of our faith. God’s power will keep us from failure as we choose to put all of our confidence in Him and not in ourselves

Declaration: I will find new strength by recognizing and acknowledging that God is the source of all holy power. By staying connected to Him, He will always lovingly provide for me and keep me in His care.

IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO NEW STRENGTH DEVOTIONAL BELOW, A NEW SEGMENT WILL COME TO YOUR EMAIL EACH DAY.

For music selections that will help bring hope and encouragement during your recovery from depression and addiction, https://www.youtube.com/user/NewStrengthMusic/playlists?sort=dd&view=1

All NEW STRENGTH posts are Copyright by Christina Cook Lee 2012. Please request permission to re-post or re-blog.

Yours is the kingdom

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Topic: Prayer

Focus: Yours is the kingdom

Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJV) Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

In the closing words of the prayer Jesus taught His disciples to pray, the statement, “For Yours is the kingdom,” seems to give an answer to everything that has been said up to this point.

It is because ‘our Father’ has the right to rule His kingdom, that we have the reason to say, “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

If the kingdom and the right to rule didn’t belong to ‘our Father’, we wouldn’t be able to acknowledge and ask the prime things we are acknowledging and asking in this prayer.

It might seem obvious that the kingdom and the right to rule belong to our Father. It might also seem obvious that we, as believers, should be a part of His kingdom—but, here is where we really need to take another look at who He is and who we are—and exactly how who we are should be affected by who He is.

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New Strength Inspirational Statement of the Day

If Jesus is saying that the kingdom belongs to our Father, then it is our Father’s right to rule over what is His. If we belong to Him, then He should be the ruler over everything we are and all we think we own.

Isn’t it strange that we find it so hard to surrender to God what is already His—things we think belong to us.

Jesus modeled the kind of life we should delight to live. In John 12:26, Jesus says, “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me (do what I do); and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.”

If anyone truly serves Jesus, then the kingdom of God has come to reign and rule in their heart. If the kingdom of God has come to reign and rule in a person’s heart, then they become enlightened with the knowledge that all they are and all they have belongs to our Father.

We can be quick to agree with that statement, yet how willing are we to lay down all we are and all we have?

A person with righteous arrogance likes to brag about being an heir of the kingdom. Truthfully, being an heir to the kingdom of God is something that should bring us to our knees and keep us there…humble before the One who owns it all. Hebrews 12:28-29 says, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.”

If everything we are and all that we have belongs to our Father, shouldn’t we be a lot more accountable to Him than we are? Shouldn’t we ask His permission before we engage in any activity? Shouldn’t we consult with Him about the way we spend any of His money? Shouldn’t we be much more grateful than we are about what He places in our hands?

God help us, we are so far from where we should be in terms of spiritual consciousness and maturity. It’s so easy for us to model our Christian walk after the example of other Christians who we respect and look up to. In God’s sight, that would be idolatry. No one should be so bold as to say to another person, ‘Live by my example.’ There is only one example we should live by.

The only way we can begin to grasp the meaning of “Yours is the kingdom,” is by following the directions given in Hebrews 12:1-2. “…Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The kingdom, including every created thing in it—belong to God.

Declaration: I will find new strength by realizing I am nothing apart from God and that all I have belongs to Him.

IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO NEW STRENGTH DEVOTIONAL BELOW, A NEW SEGMENT WILL COME TO YOUR EMAIL EACH DAY.

For music selections that will help bring hope and encouragement during your recovery from depression and addiction, https://www.youtube.com/user/NewStrengthMusic/playlists?sort=dd&view=1

All NEW STRENGTH posts are Copyright by Christina Cook Lee 2012. Please request permission to re-post or re-blog.

Being delivered from evil

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Topic: Prayer

Focus: Being delivered from evil

Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJV) Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

Nobody chooses hardship consciously. Everyone would prefer to have an absence of trials and trouble. If you were given a choice of having good times or bad times—of course you’d say, “Give me the good stuff.”

We know God uses trials and temptation to test our character. But there is a difference between trials and temptation—and evil. Times of difficulty come into all of our lives for the purpose of us becoming able to use the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding God has given us. Trials and temptations allow us to utilize our ability to call on God for His help in humanly impossible circumstances.

There are other times when we may be faced with evil that could be potentially devastating to our family, friends, homes, possessions, finances, and position. One way evil can come into our lives is through choices we make that are wrong.

When we make good choices—‘good’ leads to more good. When we make bad choices that lead to evil—‘bad’ leads to more bad, and ‘evil’ leads to more evil. Evil doesn’t always look like evil at first, but when evil gets a foot in the door—it will continue to make advances until it has more and more control over you.

(Read more below)

NOW, YOU CAN LISTEN AND/OR READ!

Link to New Strength Audio Version
New Strength Inspirational Statement of the Day

The reason so many people become evil, is not because they ‘set out’ to become evil. The reason people become evil is because they make just one small compromise, and then just another. Little by little, they continue to make choices that are more and more in disagreement with God’s ways. By the time they are consumed by evil, they may not even realize how and when they actually changed. The changes have been so subtle and gradual that they might not be willing to admit they have changed at all. That’s the way the devil works.

The average person is quite gullible when it comes to being capable of recognizing evil in some of its everyday forms. Worrying, fretting, being anxious and fearful, are just a few of the negative attitudes we sometimes choose that have evil roots. They are all the opposite of ‘faith’. When we knowingly choose any of these attitudes, we are favoring disbelief over faith in God. Other kinds of evil are much more obvious. Gossiping, backbiting, slandering, being envious or jealous are behaviors that open the door to more evil.

Making choices regarding what we watch with our eyes or listen to with our ears can be another way evil finds its way into our heart, soul and mind. Exposing ourselves to sinful thoughts and concepts tends to dull our sensitivity to evil.

When we have opened our minds to evil things—the evil one goes to work with the goal of gaining more ground. The Bible tells us to be sober and vigilant, because our adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8 NKJV).

Notice the phrase, ‘he walks about’. The devil isn’t in a hurry. He accomplishes his work incrementally and imperceptibly. He has defeated many a spiritual man or woman by his willingness to wait. He doesn’t always ‘rush’ at his victim—he just takes his time and wins most of his victories through appealing to a person’s weakest area when they are in a place of vulnerability.

The only way to win against the devil and his evil tactics is to stay on your knees and in the Word of God. Another great weapon against him is Christian music. The devil can’t stand to hear the Name of Jesus. Surrounding yourself with songs that exalt Jesus as the King of Kings puts up a shield all around you that the devil just can’t penetrate.

Spending generous time in prayer and having fellowship with other believers will also keep you in a place of spiritual safety.

Declaration: I will find new strength by making a conscious effort to avoid all appearances of evil. I will cultivate a clean atmosphere in my life that will welcome the presence of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO NEW STRENGTH DEVOTIONAL BELOW, A NEW SEGMENT WILL COME TO YOUR EMAIL EACH DAY.

For music selections that will help bring hope and encouragement during your recovery from depression and addiction, https://www.youtube.com/user/NewStrengthMusic/playlists?sort=dd&view=1

All NEW STRENGTH posts are Copyright by Christina Cook Lee 2012. Please request permission to re-post or re-blog.