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About Tamar

Tamar Knochel at your service! From sewing and crafting to words of encouragement when you need them most. I'm here for you. ❤️

Beginning

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Tamar

Today’s Reading: Genesis 1:1-3:24

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) What a way to start a book right?!? In any story the most logical place to start is in the beginning. This is where God chooses to introduce all the characters in this play we refer to as life and He starts with none other than Himself. He kinda has to considering He’s the only one that even exists in the beginning!

I want you to think about the importance of firsts for a moment. Your first kiss, your first date, the first time you met your spouse, they’re all really special right? Well, here in Genesis we have all the first firsts! Right here, in the beginning, is where we first meet God and what is He doing? Creating. He is creating something out of nothing. He is simply speaking and something that was mere thought, imagination, and idea; becomes.

“The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2) Did you know that the water we have today is the exact same water that is spoken of here in this verse. Though water changes forms, liquid, solid and gas, there is no more or less of it than when the world began. Talk about recycling! God is good! I believe that He still hovers over the waters. Think about how often you’ve gotten an epiphany when near water, especially running water, like in the shower or washing dishes. I believe this is because He is still hovering over those waters, waiting to wash our spiritual eyes clean so that we can see Him more clearly.

This is my prayer each morning, to see Him clearly through the din and chaos of the storm that is my life. To see Him is pure bliss and blessing, it is clarity and understanding without knowing. He is peace and love and joy and to focus on Him brings peace and love and joy. He is what He was and He will be what He is, the great I Am, creator of something, from nothing.

Another part of my morning routine is reading a short devotional on my smart phone. One of the verses in that devotional today really struck me because it completely contradicted what I had just read in Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” 2 Corinthians 3:18 (from the devotional) reads: “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” How is it that we were originally made “in His image” only to end up “being transformed into His image”? God’s word is 100% truth, so how can both statements be true and co-exist? God’s answer to this question has led me down quite the blessed rabbit trail this morning!

He said: “From dust to dust”.

So I looked at Genesis 3:19 again “for you are dust, and to dust you shall return”.

Dust! It dawned on me how the key to the question is in the many separations! God spends the first two full days of time creating and taking what He has created and separating it. He creates Light and separates it from the darkness. He took the water and separated it, placing an expanse or canopy between them and called it sky. He then took the water below the heavens and once again separated it exposing the dry earth… dust. Adam from the dust and finally Eve, from Adam’s rib

Oh this precious dust from wence we came! Dry powdery earth, so seemingly humble… and yet… from this very stuff came all of creation! Every scrap of food Adam and Eve ate grew out of this very dust. In fact, the very essence of life itself must exist within it. Plants get much of their nutrients and water from dust, it is critical for life! Yet it is the very thing that we tread upon day after day. We toil upon it in order to gain more gold, more stuff, more more more. Yet in heaven, gold is the pavement in the streets and the dust, us, treads upon it! How backwards things are here. The waters below acting like a mirror, reflecting the waters above from wence we came; everything is reversed.

When we attempt to comb our hair in a mirror we must comb it in the opposite direction that it looks like we should… perhaps life on this side of the canopy is the same. In order to comb through the tangles of life we must go counter to what looks right in the mirror. In order to go the right direction we must heed the second Adam’s rib we were made from and go; not in the direction our own deceiving eyes point, but rather the direction Christ’s rib, the Living water, points us toward moving always in His fluid direction.

In Acts, another beginning of sorts, we read that the Living waters from heaven come accompanied by a sound “like a mighty rushing wind and it filled the house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (2:2-4) In Genesis 1:9-10 we see the waters that the Spirit (or in Hebrew, Ruach) of God hovered over, being separated this second time exposing the dry land. The fact that it is dry is a critical point that we cannot miss here because it exposes a pivotal truth. When dust is dry it is empty, perfectly prepared to receive water from heaven. And until that happens, no seed is able to grow in that dust. It is only in the presence of water that seeds shed their protective outer coating and sprout the life that was lying dormant within. In the same way, we too are empty, dry, and unable to foster life within us; or grow the seed of God’s word without the Living Water of His Ruach flowing through us and watering that seed, giving it the nutrient lifeblood it desperately needs. Without Ruach we are simply dry empty vessels waiting to be filled, just like the clay jars at the wedding in Cana waiting to be filled with water, which Jesus then turned into the choicest of wines, saved for the very end of the party. This is the first of Jesus’ countless miracles and is a symbol of our being filled with His Ruach.

Are you like me, are you beginning to feel as if perhaps this whole spirit-filled thing might be a bigger deal than what it has been made out to be lately? Like maybe God’s trying to tell us more about this tremendous gift that He’s given us. That it goes farther than the cross and the grave. Maybe it transcends all time and space and is the biggest of all the gifts ever given! I don’t know about you, but I don’t know very much about Ruach yet… but I’m really looking forward to learning more about who He is and why He is mentioned in these three key firsts in the story of all time.

Categories: Genesis | Leave a comment

Friends

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Tamar

Today’s Reading: Ezra 10:1-44 & Galatians 1:1-2:21

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. John 10:14-15

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

Have you ever thought about that word friend, and what it means to be Jesus’ friend? Many of us have sang the hymn, “What a friend we have in Jesus“, or heard the new song by Casting Crowns “Jesus friend of Sinners“, but what does this word friend mean? It’s easy to think of ourselves as God’s servants, and even to think of ourselves as His children isn’t too difficult because there is still a superiority involved in those relationships, but friend… a friendship with someone is more equality than anything else isn’t it? When I think of all my best friends I don’t think of myself as any greater or less than them, we’re just friends. There aren’t really any lines drawn between us that separate us in that manner. When my friends need my help, they ask for it. When I need a great listening ear, I know exactly who to call. When I’m sad and need an encouraging word, depending on the situation I will call a specific person full well knowing that they will know exactly what I need to hear in that moment. Friendship is about mutual gratification, encouragement, love and assistance. In John 15:13 the word friend in Greek is philos (fee-los):

* a friend; someone dearly loved (prized) in a personal, intimate way; a trusted confidant, held dear in a close bond of personal affection.

* Note: The root (phil-) conveys experiential, personal affection indicating philos expresses experience-based love.

Friends with God? With Jesus? The Holy Spirit? He considers ME a trusted confidant? He holds me dear in a close bond of personal affection? Me? Dirty little stubborn girl that I am? I am someone that Jesus dearly loves? I am prized in a personal and intimate way by the Creator of the Universe and the Savior of my life? Well, in John 15:15 Jesus says to us “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” Jesus, the Word of God, tells us His secrets, making us His trusted confidant!* The secrets of the universe, held by its creator Himself are shared with us through the Bible and the Holy Spirit who whispers kingdom truths into our hearts straight from the throne room of God. He trusts us with His secrets.

Wow.

But above and beyond that, Jesus points out that He no longer calls us servants, He calls us FRIEND.

We are no longer slaves to the law, to money, or to dreams of fame or fortune. We are no longer slaves to our own expectations or those of others. Because of Jesus we no longer need to be slaves to the idea that our worth, here or in His kingdom, comes from what we do or where we come from. Nor are we slaves to the idea that success is even measurable in human terms, let alone something God looks for in us.

What if God doesn’t care if we’re “successful”? What if His number one concern is that we spend our lives experiencing His abundant love through grace? What if worldly success is the farthest thing from His heart? And if that is true then wouldn’t chasing that kind of success take you farther from His heart than what He’s willing to let you go?

Maybe, by running from the world’s view of success we end up running smack straight into the heart of what Jesus came for… dependence on God.

Jesus was quite the rebel in His day. He picked grain on the Sabbath, ate with unwashed hands, touched lepers and ate with the most sinful people among them. He bucked the status quo like none other! He went straight against everything the system was there to do… which achieved His true purpose beautifully. The Law was created to be a guardian, a substitute shepherd until the true owner of the herd came home to claim them and save them from that abusive hired shepherd. (John 10:1-20)

The Mosaic Law was not created to save, it was created to kill. It was created to show humanity our weaknesses. On the day the Law was given 3,000 people died. Yet, on the day of Pentecost ( the celebration of the Law being given), fifty days after Christ’s death and subsequent resurrection, the Holy Spirit came down and 3,000 people were raised from that death in one day. All because our FRIEND Jesus laid down His life for us; in one day 3,000 people were freed from their chains of slavery to the Law of Death and walking into the Light of the Law of Grace they were saved.

What love is this that we should no longer be called slaves or even servants, but friends? Slaves are not embraced and greeted with a smile. And friends are not expected to toil day and night in order to earn each other’s affections or favors either. No. We simply love our friends because they enjoy being a part of our lives, and we enjoy their presence.

My husband Sean is my best friend in this world; his friendship and opinion mean everything to me. He knows me better than anyone else on this planet, including my Mom, which is saying something. While others may know a lot about me, he knows me. While others see bits and pieces of who I am, he gets all of me, I hide nothing from him… at least not anymore anyway. Jesus wants to be that kind of husband to you. He wants to be the One who gets all of you. Not just the left over bits and pieces that you let the world see, He wants you to know HIM. He wants you to know His love for you in such an intimate, husband-like way that you open to him like a morning glory opening to the morning sun. This is precisely what happens when we begin to focus on koinonia.

God introduced me to koinonia this morning in 1 John 1:3 “Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.” Which then through the marginal commentary in my Bible pointed me to 1 Corinthians 1:9 “God, who called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.” And it made me ask, what is this word fellowship? Christians throw it around all the time but what does it really mean? So I went to Dictionary.com.

Fellowship:

    * The condition of relation of being a fellow (OK, that was no help! Ugh!)

    * Friendly relationship; companionship (ah, OK, that’s better)

    * community of interest, feeling, etc. (OK!)

So, according to our English definition of fellowship God (who is faithful) has called us into a friendly relationship, companionship or friendship with Jesus, His Son. Mmmmmm… but you know me, curious as a cat when it comes to words. I love to dig deeper in hopes of finding the treasure buried in His word. When a guy like God speaks, the words He chooses to use are very important. So I went from our surface level English version of this word “fellowship” and dug a little deeper to find the original Greek definition of this word “fellowship”.

The Greek word is koinonia and literally means:

* partnership, (A-HA!!! I’ve struck Biblical gold!).

* Contributory help,

* participation,

* sharing in,

* communion,

* spiritual fellowship,

* a fellowship in the Spirit.

In the Bible God’s relationship to His people is very often referred to in terms of a marital relationship. Jesus even referred to Himself as the bridegroom in Mattew 9:15, and in Revelation 19:7 we are referred to as His bride. God, who is faithful, has called us into a friendship-based partnership, or marriage with Jesus, His son. And in order for us to foster this friendship based marriage He left us with His Spirit; like a supernatural cell phone in order to communicate with Him as often as we would like to call or text, day or night, rain or shine in order for us to experience His love in supernatural ways which fosters philios – experience based love.

Koinonia is a partnership with the One who loves us the most. Philios is the friendship that is made possible through the Holy Spirit who brings us into all truth through our life experiences, which helps us then understand and see God’s love for us through those experiences.

Categories: Ezra | 3 Comments

His Heart?

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Tamar

Today’s Reading: Ezra 3:1-6:22

Last night I had quite the night. I sat down on the couch shortly before bed and flipped through a Christian book publishing catalog that had come in the mail. The more pages I turned the stronger I felt the Holy Spirit nudging me to contact that publisher about printing one of my books. I finished browsing through the catalog and picked up my smart phone to look up their website. When I clicked on the “About” page to find out more on what kind of publisher they were I found myself transported into the founders visionary experience. In his road-side experience, Don was visited by none other than God Himself. He took Don to a Christian publishing trade show where everyone was bustling around trying to do something for God’s kingdom, when in reality they were only working on building their own kingdoms. None of them were caring about the heart of God, what HE wanted. This in itself struck me and made me ask “Do I care about the heart of God? Am I seeking His desires for me and His kingdom? Am I being like one of these Christian tradeshow people, too busy to even ask God what HE wants?” In the least it was shocking to me. And the saddest part was, I couldn’t really answer any of those questions myself because I didn’t know the answers. They were questions that I had to take to God Himself because only He could and would answer them truthfully. So I ended up laying my head down on my pillow with that very prayer in my heart “Jesus, am I seeking Your heart? What is Your heart, Your desire for me and my place in Your kingdom? (Most importantly) What is Your desire for our relationship?” And I resolved that whatever time He woke me up, no matter how early, I would get up and spend some quiet time with Him to discuss this very question because I knew that it was that important to Him.

I have no idea what time it was when I did wake up again because I refused to look at the clock and tempt myself to moan and groan about the amount of sleep I was losing, but I do know that it was most certainly the middle of the night when the storm came booming in. So as the thunder began rolling I rolled myself quietly out of bed doing my best not to disturb my husband’s rest and softly padded my way back out to our couch. I had intended to read my Bible when I got up, but I could feel in my Spirit that that wasn’t what Jesus wanted me to do at this particular juncture. I pulled back the curtains from our picture window and snuggled down into the soft cushions to watch the light show, while one line from a show the kids had watched earlier in the day played over and over in my head; “whatcha’ doin’? Whatcha’ doin’, I really wanna know” Now I’ve learned that when one line of a song plays through my head repeatedly like this that it’s the Holy Spirit singing to me, communicating to me through the lyrics. This time asking me, “what ARE you doing?” Now, He’s the one who was leading me to DO what I was doing so asking me what I was doing seems kind of redundant until I realized that He was asking me because He wanted me to ask myself “What is God having me do right now? Why?” Here I was getting up in the middle of the night to watch a thunderstorm? Why???

As I sat there I kept asking “Why” and wondering when God would start to speak to me and tell me His heart. But He never spoke to me the way I expected Him to, this one was a special question that deserved a special and more memorable answer. He needed to show me. Now if you’ve been reading for long you’ve learned how much I love nature and how I photograph it in order to capture little pieces of God-art to take home with me and to share with you. You also may remember that I’ve been reading “One Thousand Gifts” by Ann Voskamp where she encourages us all to write down the little gifts God gives us throughout our days. In this book she, being a very gifted writer, doesn’t just write down her list in plain simple terms, she describes the gift, rolling waves of white (snow drift), colorful orbs filled with sun (bubbles in sunlight)… And reading all these descriptions has certainly pushed me as a writer myself to go beyond simple descriptions of events and really name the gifts, like Adam in Eden naming the animals, there’s something very intimate and special when you do it that way. And this is precisely what I found myself doing last night sitting before the picture window gazing out into the midst of a mid-night storm, I started naming gifts:

The sparkle of water reflecting the lightning as it trickled down from my rooftop,

Shadows dancing on the once bone dry lawn,

Rooftop music played by thousands of raindrops,

The way I can feel the thunder resonate within my soul like a clap of heavenly hands,

The flash of lightning and the way it ALWAYS makes the shadows flee, even if only for that instant, but then He does it again, and again, and again, keeping them running for their lives.

It was the lightning that I was particularly interested in too because it was part of my puzzle yesterday! I had started with the verse in Genesis about the flaming sword which brought me to another key flame in the scriptures, the cloven tongues as if of fire in Acts 2:3 when the Holy Spirit came down to dwell within humanity for the first time in all of history. That word fire, in the Greek means just that, fire. But it can also be translated as lighting which really had my brain hopping yesterday. Because all I could think about was Jesus talking about seeing Satan fall “like lightning”. How is it that the Holy Spirit could fall in the same way that Satan fell? It just didn’t seem to fit. Then here I was, sitting and watching the lighting chase the shadows away and turning the dead of night into mid-day. Suddenly the puzzle was clear, yes, the Holy Spirit did fall in the same way that Satan fell! And it’s magnificent! This father of lies started a mutiny in heaven and was cast out, thrown down, and he “fell like lightning” to the earth; quickly and without delay because he had been sent away. The Holy Spirit of Truth on the other hand had been sitting around in heaven waiting for thousands of years for that moment; the moment when He could FINALLY come down and be a part of the picture for all of us. The day when He could come and abide in us and we in Him, through Him. Yes, the Holy Spirit was sent out of heaven, but not because He had done something against God’s wishes, but because we had. The Holy Spirit was standing at the door of heaven in a runners starting position waiting for that starter pistol to fire so that He could sprint down here as fast as His supernatural legs could carry Him and start to set this upside down world right side up again. And when Papa nodded His head that it was time, off He went, as fast a lightning bolt to the earth to chase away the darkness and make the shadows in our hearts flee. And every time a storm comes along we get to watch what that moment was like. We get to trace that speedy trail of light with our eyes and smile at the eagerness of the Spirit of Life. Like the end of a sappy chick flick where the man and the woman are running across the screen to embrace one another because they’ve been apart for so long… only not in slow motion. He really does love us. A lot.

This was all terribly exciting for me, I will admit, but it still didn’t answer my heart question did it? That puzzle piece was still dangling from my finger tips waiting for me to finally see where it fits. Hmmmm…

Puddles that shine on ground dry and desperately thirsty,

The gurgle of a fish tank pump in need of more water in one ear and overflowing water splashing on the ground in the other ear,

ribbons of light and color through the dark night sky,


The heavens declare, they pour forth speech, they reveal knowledge!!! God’s creation speaks! What was I doing? I was sitting and listening, I was watching, I was witnessing God’s creative poetry in motion! When you look at a painting you can see the artist’s heart in that piece of art. When you read a writer’s work you can see their heart in the piece. When we stop the business of our lives and pay attention to The Creator’s art it speaks to us and reveals His heart of amazing love for us!!! It’s no wonder I feel such a connection to my camera and my photography, God speaks to me through them! Each photo is a well filled with living water, it’s no wonder I find myself just staring at them sometimes, it’s because my eyes are thirsty for a word from the artist!

Thank You Jesus! I love You too!

Categories: Ezra | Leave a comment

Write

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Tamar

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 48:1-35 & Ezra 1:1-2:70

I have had a whirlwind of a summer thus far! We have traveled farther and done more than I think we’ve ever done in one month before. And honestly, there are no signs of it stopping any time soon. Through all the chaos of our regular schedule getting disrupted I have (obviously) had a difficult time keeping up with my commitment to write daily. This has affected me greatly! I have quickly discovered that writing is a deep well of living water. My writing is where I date Jesus; it’s my own little garden of relationship with Him. It’s the place where I take the seeds that He has given me through His word and I plant and water and watch them grow by talking through what I have learned, what I believe and why. It’s the best and most effective way that I have found to communicate with my Beloved Jesus. In other words, while it may seem like I’m writing to you and for you, I’m not. I’m writing to God and for me. I’m discovering just how much writing fulfils my longing to spend time with my Savior. And I’ll be honest, the unexciting Word seeds don’t always “do it” for me. But that’s just it, seeds need time to grow and become something exciting. And the pages of my journal is the soil in which those seeds get planted.

In today’s reading, the very last paragraph of Ezekiel talks about gates and how there is a gate for each tribe of Israel “And the name of the city from that time on shall be: The LORD Is There.” (v. 35) The LORD is there, within the walls of the city, the confines of those precious gates dwells a King above all kings, a Lord above all lords. And then again in Ezra 2: 42 the sons of the gatekeepers are mentioned, do you realize the significance of a gatekeeper; especially Biblical gatekeepers? Their jobs were critical to the safety and wellbeing of everyone within the walls of the city! If someone with evil intent slipped past a distracted gatekeeper the entire city could be destroyed!

In Genesis 3:24 we meet the very first gatekeeper in the Garden of Eden as God is being forced to drive Adam and Eve out of the garden for their own good (believe it or not). “at the east of the garden of Eden He placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the Tree of Life.” Now, I’m no gate-keeping expert, but I’m thinking that anything that requires multiple angelic guards AND an enchanted sword of fire to guard the gate to it must be something pretty special. Something worth more than perhaps even life itself. And right here in this verse we’re told precisely what that precious thing is, the way to the Tree of Life.

You know what I’ve never picked up on before, “the way”. The angels and the sword weren’t just there to guard the Tree itself, but rather the way to the tree. It is these supernatural gatekeepers’ job to allow none to pass save those with the secret password; the word that brings them through that gate into the Garden of Intimate Relationship with the Creator of Life Himself. There, they are allowed to feast on the fruit from the Tree of Life. But how do we get through that gate? How do we know the way to get there? I’m not the first person to ask this question and I’m sure that I won’t be the last either. Thomas asked Jesus this very same question at the last supper in John 14:5-7 “Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

So what’s the secret password that gets you past the flaming sword and guardian angels? “Jesus.” Jesus is the Word, He is the Way and He is the Tree all wrapped up in One beautiful triune God package. When I walk through those secret garden gates and feast my eyes on all the beauty that surrounds me there, plucking that sweet fruit from the vine with my pen and allow its syrupy juice to flow down my throat through writing; that always does it for me. And really, from what I can glean from those around me who also write to/for God whether publicly or not, they feel the same way about it. For whatever reason that I don’t currently understand, God manages to speak to us through what we write. I often call my writing, praying with a pen. Writing gives you a way to SEE your prayers, to actually visualize how you’re feeling and thinking about something. It turns completely abstract ideas and thoughts into concrete physical objects that you can see and feel, touch and manipulate in order to understand them better. The written word is a very powerful tool indeed! I strongly encourage you to begin a prayer journal immediately if you do not already have one. When you open your journal you are opening the gate to the enclosed garden of intimate relationship where only you and God have a key. It’s an incredible thing to possess, the key (a mere pen) to your own personal Garden of Eden. By the simple turn of it within your hand it unlocks an entire supernatural world of untold treasures and hidden puzzles that challenge you to climb higher in this world of endless mountains and valleys.

In Revelation 12:10-11 it describes the fall of Satan and says “for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” Did you catch who conquered Satan? “They” did, the same they that he accuses day and night; they are the ones who conquered him… They are us. We are “they”! And how is it again that we are to conquer Satan? By the blood of the Lamb! Precious blood spilled out on our behalf, for our benefit and our USE! The blood of the Lamb of God, giver of life Himself, who shed His blood in order to dismiss His life-giving Spirit to come and abide within us, like a child in a womb. Blood we are to use, to spread over our doorframes in order to show death whose we are so that he will pass by in his mission to destroy. He roams around like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour, but when he sees the blood spread over us like a banner of love he must keep on walkin’!

On this day I have spent a great deal of time working through a puzzle that God has presented me. Many times I have felt like I was simply going in circles, but perhaps that may be because I was circling the puzzle in order to get the best view of it so that I could paint the best word picture for you that I could. It’s been one of those days when I’ve felt like I’ve been right on the cusp of something truly amazing and yet I couldn’t quite put my finger on what the pinnacle of the amazing thing was. And honestly I still feel that way, as if I’m simply staring at the tip of the iceberg knowing full well that there is so much more under the surface but as hard as I strain my eyes to try and see it under the surface I just can’t… at least not yet anyway. So for the time being know that God is telling you and I both to start writing and keep writing down the words of our testimony!!! Get a journal and start using it daily! If you feel the Spirit leading you the way I did, get a free blog from WordPress (there is a link at the very bottom of my website for you to do this) and start slaying the Enemy with the words of your own personal testimony. Use the flaming double-edged sword of God’s Word in your life to conquer doubt and fear in your life by commemorating through the written word every single tiny little blessed miracle that God has performed for you; every gift from heaven above sent to help you trust Him more with each passing moment of life. Long long long ago someone picked up a pen and wrote down the stories of Abraham and Sarah, Joseph, Ezekiel, Ezra, Jesus, Matthew, Mary and Martha and their stories have changed millions and millions of lives over the years since they were written down. Perhaps God has a similar plan for your life, for your story, who knows that He didn’t put you here in this place in this current circumstance of life for such an epic time as this? Even if you never share what you write with everyone on the internet, it is still critical that you write down your own story, if nothing else than to open up the gate to the secret Garden of Relationship with The Tree of Life. “And the name of the city from that time on shall be: The LORD Is There.” The LORD is there, within the covers of that notebook, the confines of those precious pages, dwells a King above all kings, a Lord above all lords. Won’t you open them up and discover more of Him today?

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I have started a online journaling class at www.walkofages.com I would LOVE for you to join! Simply click on the link, and then submit your email to receive a weekly writing prompt to help you start writing to God. It’s that simple! Today’s post is this week’s assignment – GET A JOURNAL AND START USING IT!

Categories: Ezekiel, Ezra | 2 Comments

Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Tamar

Today’s reading: Ezekiel 45:1-47:23

Taking the time to thank God builds trust in Him and His infinite goodness. Today, make a list of all the things you are thankful for in your life, build that trust bridge today so that the next time you come up to some troubled waters all you have to do is flip out that bridge built from previous experience and by remembering His goodness here in the land if the living walk right across that bridge over troubled waters.
Taste and see that He IS good, His love endures forever!

Categories: Ezekiel | Leave a comment

Ode to my Hard Workin’ Man

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Tamar

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 42:1-44:31

Some days writing comes so easily, others, not so much. Today was one of those days. I wanted to write, I just didn’t know about what. Nothing in today’s reading really jumped out at me as something that I was supposed to write about. I wasted most of the day moping and fretting over money. But this afternoon I realized that, as usual, I was looking at the situation all wrong; I was looking at the money instead of the source of it. And as far as today goes, more importantly, from whom God chooses to provide it through and the tremendous blessing that he is in my life!


My amazing husband, Sean!

This man came into my life as a Christmas present from a mutual friend in 1994.


She drew my name in our high school Colorguard gift exchange and knew that I had a crush on him so she talked him into going to the Christmas dance with me. We’ve been together ever since. Sean is one of those stand-up guys that everybody loves and wants to spend time with.


He’s a great listener, which is good because I’m a great talker! And he really is honestly my best friend.


This man would do anything for me, and he proves that every day in so many ways. Mostly just by putting up with me. On those days when I feel like no one else wants me, I know he still does. On those days when I feel like EVERYONE needs me, I know he’s the only one that really does, but he stands back and waits instead. On those days when I don’t feel very lovable, he seems to find yet another way to make me laugh and love me.



He’s the greatest dad to our children and they absolutely adore him!









Which makes me love him even more, but what’s even better than how much he loves our children, is how much he loves me.



Go back through and just look in his eyes, you can see it in there. It fills him, it consumes him and obviously has possessed him to do crazy things like work his butt off every day, all day, so that I can stay home and pursue this passion for writing and ministry that hasn’t made us more than $12 so far in three years. What kind of man does that? What kind of man works a job he’s not happy in anymore, has a derby tire business on the side in order to support his own passion, gets up before first light and works until well after dark most nights




and never complains about his wife literally sitting around all day reading, praying and writing and taking care of the kids of course… by playing with them at the park and the zoo!?! Who does that? What kind of love is that? And who in the world am I to deserve a love like that directed at ME?

And honestly, if that isn’t enough to make you fall in love with this wonderful man God has blessed me with, get this! The kids and I aren’t the only ones he serves. He is constantly helping others as well.


From trying to lead a men’s group at church and helping his buddies out in demo derbies;


to helping total strangers in the Tough Mudder, or little old ladies with restaurant doors, he never stops. He is always on duty.

Lord, I don’t know how I could ever thank You enough for my hard working man! Thank You for such a tremendous blessing that I get to love and cherish all the days of my life; may I always give him the credit he deserves. Please help me to bless him the way he has blessed me. Help me to be the wife and helpmate that he deserves. Help me to be there for him when he needs me, to hold him up when he’s low, to cheer him on when he’s tired and doesn’t want to go on. Help me to love him like no other so that he can feel Your love through me in whatever way he needs it most. Help me to put him first instead of my selfish self all the time. GOD BLESS HIM! Because you know I can’t bless him the way You can! Lay Your hands on him and pronounce Your Name over his head and his heart. He loves You Lord! Oh, how he loves You! Father, thank You for this man! May our son, and our future son-in-law, be JUST like him; because he’s a keeper.

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Living Water and Light

Posted on June 23, 2012 by Tamar

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 40:1-41:26

Some say a picture is worth a thousand words, Today God’s telling me this is all I need to say. J Bask in His beauty today, rejoice in the glory that surrounds us. He is here, we just have to open our eyes and look around.

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Come

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Tamar

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 36:33-39:29

It’s HOT right now! I don’t know about you and where you live, but here in Indiana it is hot and dry! The once lush and fresh green grass in our yard now has large brown dead patches that just happen to be in all the sunny spots where it is the hottest. The ground has large cracks in it that have opened up and beg for the moisture from heaven to come and quench its thirst. But there is no rain to answer the ground’s prayer. It reminds me of the verses about the shrub and the tree in Jeremiah 17. The LORD tells Judah

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.”


The first part of this verse sounds so harsh, CURSED is the man… shrub in the desert… no good will come his way… dwell in the parched places… wilderness… uninhabited. Yet look at WHY that man is cursed and living in parched places, his HEART has turned away from the LORD. If you read down to the very end of this section of Jeremiah 17 to verse 13 we may understand a bit better why turning away from the LORD would cause dryness.


Jesus tells the Samaritan woman at the well that “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink’, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water…. Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:10, 13-14) It’s funny; I’ve never noticed the significance of how Jesus began His conversation with this woman, “If you knew the gift of God.” The gift of God, THE stream of living water that springs up from within us, the Holy Spirit! (John 7:37-39) And KNOWING that gift, personally, intimately, its like nothing on this earth!

I’m still just beginning to learn how to tap into this spring of Living water and draw from the well of the Living, breathing Spirit of Life. The Holy Spirit was never really something we heard about much in church or Sunday school, when I was young or even still. Plenty about Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross, but mostly I just remember learning a LOT about how to be a good person. I’m only just now learning, through searching on my own, how being a good person is a FRUIT, a consequence of knowing this gift of God the Holy Spirit. A few years ago I was blessed beyond measure with the gift of speaking in tongues (read about this in more detail here).

Speaking in tongues is one of those things that I remember reading about in my Bible late one night in high school and thinking to myself, “You know, it’s too bad that things like that just don’t happen anymore. That’s really a miracle!” Up until only a few years ago I was completely clueless that there are entire denominations of Christians that not only believe in speaking in tongues and actually have the gift to do it, but they speak in tongues during their church services even!!! I had no idea! In Acts whenever the apostles came upon anyone who was a believer in Christ and hadn’t received the gift of God, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, they would lay hands on the believer and pray for them and they would not only receive the Holy Spirit but they would then immediately begin speaking in tongues and prophesying. The apostles saw this gift as a critical one for all believers. Why? I’m still not sure, but I’m working on it! All I know so far is that it was important to them to make sure that everyone received this gift, so it MUST be an important one… which is why I’m passing all this information onto you! The Holy Spirit, in at least the book of Acts, always came and then as if to prove that He was dwelling within that person allowed them to speak in languages that they did not know AND caused them to prophesy something reserved only for prophets until Jesus came along!

One day a man came to Jesus and asked Him “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”  And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Matthew 8:19-20) This phrase “lay his head” is a very unique phrase in the Greek and it’s only found one more time in the Bible, you wanna know where??? At the most pivotal moment in all of history, the cross! “When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished,’ and He bowed his head and gave up His Spirit.” This verse is so profound I have to take it slowly and allow us all to savor this bite of spiritual steak for a moment. “When Jesus had received the sour wine,” Let’s first focus on “sour wine”. In the Garden of Gethsemane in Jesus’ last few moments of freedom He prayed “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” That cup Jesus is speaking of, it’s not a literal cup of wine, it’s a spiritual cup, a cup filled with the grapes of wrath, all of The Father’s wrath and judgment poured out into that cup. While on the cross when Jesus was given a physical cup of sour wine, it was pointing us to remember the spiritual cup that Jesus was accepting on OUR behalf in that moment. And Jesus received it. He didn’t refuse it, because He certainly could have, but He didn’t. He then said “It is finished.” Not many words on this earth are more musical to our ears than those! Jesus took that cup of wrath, drank down the whole entire sour thing, slammed it down on the table in front of Satan and said IT’S FINISHED! They are paid for; they are free and clear, clean and MINE! And it is at THIS point that Jesus lays down His head. The man that wandered this earth for the last three years with not a single place to call His own and lay His weary travel-sore head down to rest, on the cross He finished His work and He rested. He wasn’t able to rest until WE were free! Jesus started this life free, but He would not rest, He refused to rest, until every last drop of that sour wine had been drunk down and sat there in His perfect belly. He drank the poison just for you. But wait, that’s not the end of the story! There’s still more to tell! Because then, after He bowed His head to rest, He “gave up His Spirit”! The words “gave up” in the Greek are so beautiful! It’s the word par-ad-id-omee, and it means to give over into (one’s) power or use: to deliver to one something to keep, use, take care of, manage,

When my husband and I had been dating for about a year, Christmas came around and I wanted to give him something that would tell him just how much I desperately loved him. I racked my brain trying to think of something that he would like but nothing was coming to me. Then one night when I lay down to go to sleep I snuggled up with one of the stuffed animals that he had gotten for me and looked at my ragged old white teddy bear “Snowball” that I had gotten when I was small and had slept with every single night since I got him. And then I knew what I would give him. The night came when the two of us exchanged gifts, I don’t remember what he gave me, but I’ll never forget what I gave him. I ran upstairs to my room and carried Snowball down behind my back and somewhat un-cerimonially handed him to Sean. He got the strangest look on his face so I explained to him that “since I now sleep with the stuffed lion that you gave me I no longer “need” Snowball, so I thought you would like to sleep with him so that it would remind you of me every night.” As I was explaining this my heart was ripping in two and the tears just flowed. Giving away my precious bear was much harder than I had expected it to be,(Garden of Gethsemane) but I wanted to show Sean how much I loved him and this was the way, I knew it. So I did it anyway. I was giving over into Sean’s power my beloved possession for him to keep, use and take care of. And while no where NEAR the sacrifice that Jesus made, I think it perfectly illustrates what He was doing in that moment on the cross. Jesus gave up His most precious possession, the thing that made Him who He was, who He IS. He gave up His SPIRIT. He gave it up for us to receive. It’s like we were sitting with Jesus at that table across from Satan and the Father and Satan is pointing his boney accusing finger in our direction and reminding the Father of every single thing that we’ve ever done wrong and trying to get the Father angry enough to pour out that sour wine into the cup and serve it to us. And He did. And so there we all sat at this table, with a cup filled with sour wine before us, and a cup filled with sweet Holy Spirit wine before Jesus and He reaches across the table and exchanges our sour wine for His sweet wine! Take, drink, this is My blood poured out for the forgiveness of many! And yet here we are, still today, only sipping away on that beautiful cup of sweet Spirit before us, allowing ourselves to become dry and crusty and dead. When all the time, there, right in front of our faces is a cup FILLED with LIVING WATER! It’s amazing to me.

In today’s reading God takes Ezekiel out to a valley filled with dried lifeless bones and tells him to prophesy (or speak a message from God) to these bones. It was WHAT God had Ezekiel prophesy over them that caught my attention this morning. “Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.” (Ezekiel 37:5) That word “breath” in Hebrew is the word ruach and means breath, wind, or spirit! But get this! Only a mere nine verses later God uses this very same word again when He says “And I will put My
Spirit within you, and you shall live,”

The scriptures make it very clear that the bones Ezekiel was speaking to were “very dry” (v. 2), yet all Ezekiel did was speak the Word of the LORD over those dry lifeless bones and they came to life. Yet it tells us that they still didn’t have “breath” or “spirit” and so the LORD God tells him, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath. Thus says the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” God was having Ezekiel speak straight to the Holy Spirit to COME, breathe on these afflicted souls and bring them LIFE! The Spirit of the Living God brings LIFE! Drink Him up today! Soak Him in! Drain that cup before you, down to the very last drop! He is desperate for you and a relationship with you, do you want Him? Are you dry and thirsty and need a drink from the well of Living Water? Speak; prophesy to the four winds, “O Breath, breathe on me that I may live!” Ask the Holy Spirit to come, to fill you with His Holy fire! He is a gentleman; He does not go where He is not wanted, so you must ask Him from your heart, from your belly, your innermost being to COME. Speak it out with your lips “COME”, no more is necessary, just “Come”. He knows your heart; He can hear that it beats for Him.



As I am finishing this final edit before I post this, it is raining! Hallelujah! May the Holy Spirit rain on ALL the dry and thirsty souls today! May He FILL YOU UP with His sweet wine of victory! Amen!

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His Spirit

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Tamar

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 33:21-36:32

In today’s reading God shares His future plans with us, He tells us about the Spirit that He will put within us.


That word “heart” in Hebrew has the same definition as the Greek word translated “heart” that we discussed yesterday; it means the innermost being of a person. The phrase “heart of stone” is such a great visual isn’t it? This idea that our hearts can be hardened by the laws written on stone tablets and turned by the idea that our works have anything to do with our own success or failure in life.
For the last several weeks I have been chasing-the-wind-busy. So busy, that I have routinely neglected my private time with God. And while He has most definitely spoken to me through signs and wonders in this world around me, I haven’t taken any time to be still and really process those things that He has been telling me. I haven’t just taken a day where I could sit and type and think and rejoice about what He has done for us all. I’ve been “too busy” to spend intimate time with the One who loves me the most.

In John chapter six verse twenty-two through forty we encounter a crowd of people who have followed Jesus to the other side of the sea to Capernaum. The day before, they had seen Him performing signs of healing the sick and feeding the five thousand of them from a little boy’s lunch of five barley loaves and two fish and He had twelve baskets full of left-overs. So on this day, as the crowd is again approaching Jesus He says to them “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” Here I have to stop and point out why they were really seeking Him in this moment. They were not seeking Him to be His friend, they were not seeking Him to even help or heal them, they were seeking Him because they had seen Him multiply the food. Their wives labor hours every day to make bread because it is their staple food. The bread that only lasts a few days before it goes stale and is no longer any good to eat and can be fed to the birds. They pay a pretty penny to buy their food and here’s this guy that can make it multiply right before their eyes. In the response Jesus gives them you can tell that He knows, they aren’t seeking Him out for Him; they are seeking Him out for what He can give them, what He can do for them. They’re seeking Him so that they can have their bellies filled a second day in a row with a bread that doesn’t last. They are seeking Him to fulfill their desire for material things from this world. So Jesus explains to them:


Oh, how many times I have been caught in this very catch twenty-two! Where I am laboring for something that simply won’t last past today; worrying hard about the circumstance that will only last momentarily and then pass by me like the wind and be gone. What is this food that endures that Jesus speaks of and where can we get some???

Guess what the word “endures” means in Greek? ABIDE! Yup, you guessed it! But wait, there’s more!!! That word in Greek, Meno, is the very same word that Jesus uses over and over again when He is standing in the vineyard (John 15) giving His disciples an object lesson on how life in the kingdom works and He tells them “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever ABIDES (meno) in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing…. ABIDE (meno) in My love.”

Oh how great is the love of Jesus; great enough to BE the food that endures. THIS is true love; not how much we love God; that honestly doesn’t really get us very far. Look at the “super apostle” Peter. At the last supper he proclaimed his own dying devotion to Jesus, swearing that he would NEVER deny knowing Jesus and yet only mere hours later there he was three times in a row, within Jesus’ earshot no less, telling people emphatically and with curses that he did not know “that man”. No, our love for God doesn’t get us very far. Not that our love or efforts for Him are worthless; certainly not! It’s just not what we should be counting on, or abiding in, in this world or in the next. No. It’s GOD’S love for US that we can count on EVERY time. While we fail continually, He never fails. His faithfulness is unending and His love endures forever! As much as we love God, He will ALWAYS love us more. And it’s that love that we are called to abide in, to live in, to surround ourselves with and feed on. It is HIS unending perfect love for us that casts out our fears and drives away our sins from remembrance. As far as the east is from the west; that is how far His love stretches for us. While you can go north a far distance eventually you will end up heading south once more. No matter how far east you go, or west, you will never end up going the other direction. The east never touches the west; it is unending, just like God’s love for us… His love for YOU.

No matter what you’ve done, no matter what you’ve said, no. matter. what. God’s love can stretch father than your sin. He has cast that sin as far as the east is from the west because that is how much He loves you… and then some! He has forgiven you, now you need to receive that forgiveness and forgive yourself in the process. His Spirit abides in you, like an unborn child abides within its mother’s womb. And yet, supernaturally, we too are that child in HIS womb, His heart, His innermost being, His Spirit. His love is perfected IN us. His love isn’t perfect without you, because it’s missing a key element, you!


A few days ago I had a dream about a little baby girl named Rose. She was about six months old and all rolly-polly chubby with the bluest blue eyes you’ve ever seen. She was in my bedroom with me because we had taken her into our family and I was taking care of her. I was worried though because I didn’t have any diapers or food for her. But when I picked her up and she snuggled her precious little bald baby head into the crook of my neck I realized that she didn’t need any diapers or food, she just needed me to love her and that was enough. Then I woke up. For the last few days I have been seeking God’s interpretation of this dream asking, “Lord, who is Rose?” Today, through spending the entire day in prayer through writing and searching the well of His word for my Lifewater, He shared with me the interpretation and told me who Rose is. Rose is the child birthed from my marriage to Christ; she is the precious infant that needs no worldly food or possessions. Rose is just that, a flower in the garden of relationship to the One who loves us the most. She is the creation born from a love affair that will last for all of eternity. She is the combination of His Holy Spirit and my flesh abiding together in a perfected unity that can only exist within that secret garden where I meet intimately with my heavenly husband. I need not worry about providing for this little one, because all she needs is me. All she needs is for me to love her and hold her close to my bosom where she can hear my heart beat and know that beats for her Father. She is me. She is Him. She is Rose.

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Abide in My Love

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Tamar

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 31:1-33:20

A week ago today God gave me a vision of the bread cabinet in our RV “Rover”. There were several loaves of bread in it still from our trip last weekend and He showed me taking these loaves out of the cabinet and throwing them away. I argued with Him that it was such a waste to throw away perfectly good bread and He simply said “Fresh Bread”. Reminding me about this blog/daily devotional and what He had told me when I first started it. “Fresh Manna”. Meaning I was to always keep things current and fresh so that I wasn’t serving you stale old spiritual bread. But rather fresh and piping hot from the oven, bread that had just been baked; the Word that His Spirit had just spoken to my own spirit. And so I was all set to do that until I turned on the TV for my daughter that morning. The show that was currently playing was an interview of the author of a new book and she was sharing how she had stayed up until one in the morning reading another woman’s blog because she was so overwhelmed with this woman’s complete abandon to the Lord. I was immediately hooked and convicted. While I needed to make up some fresh bread dough that day, I decided to put it off a bit, just a little bit, so that I could share with you all my weekend. Which I do believe is what I was supposed to do. However, I wasn’t supposed to just write that first bit of the story and then move on with my day. No. God had called me to cease the business of my plans for that day and take the day to write and “catch up” on my bread baking. Unfortunately for me that’s not what I did. I continued pressing on and doing ALL the things on my very full calendar… skipping my usual mid-day quiet time. That’s the time when I do my writing and rest in the Lord while the kids are resting in their beds. You see for me just reading the word is only half the equation for me. God has made me to be a teacher, a teacher through writing, and when I’m not doing that I’m just not complete. If I’m not writing, I’m apart from Him. And when I go too long I can do nothing until I have fused with Him again and become a part of Him once more.

What’s really funny about this whole situation is how God has used it to perfectly illustrate a phrase I got stuck on the Thursday before we left for the mission trip.


Abide in Me, what does that mean exactly? Abide in Me. How do I do that? What does that look like? What does that feel like? How does that work, Abide in Him? And for almost two weeks now I’ve had that very question in the back of my mind rolling around with all the rest of my marbles fighting for a place to rest, until yesterday morning. I was sitting in my rocking chair, Bible open before me, the stillness of a new morning surrounding me and enveloping my chaotic spirit with His still waters the Father showed me a picture of abiding in Him. An embryo in its mother’s womb.

This child has no means to provide or care for itself. The child is abiding within its mother’s love snuggled safely within her protective womb filled with water and blood. To say that this child is dependent on its mother seems like almost an understatement. To abide in the Father’s love for us, in Jesus’ love for us, we stay there. We live in His protective care connected to Him through an umbilical-like vine that provides nutrition and waste management services all through one point of connection, our bellies.

In Bible times the belly was the seat of the spirit, it is where we feel many of our deepest emotions. These days, we call it anything from gut instincts to women’s intuition, but it’s there in our belly where we usually feel it the strongest. In the seventh chapter of John, he tells us “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'” Now this He said about the Spirit, whom those who believe in Him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (verses 37-39) That word “heart”, in Greek, can also be translated as “belly” or “womb” and basically indicates someone’s inner man. When we accept Jesus as our spiritual husband, provider and loving life-long companion we receive His Spirit.


The Bible tells us that we are the Bride of Christ, when we accept Jesus we are choosing to spend the rest of our lives with Him as our heavenly husband. Now, stick with me here, after a bride and a groom become husband and wife there is a certain ritual that we all know and love… it’s called the wedding night. In that wedding night exchange the two become one flesh, not just in word alone, but in deed as well. These two halves of a single heart join and become whole, one completing the other in an inseparable bond for life. And it is in that very union that something is born created from those two halves and is knit together in its mother’s womb. When we spend that wedding night with Jesus we receive His spirit, the very spirit that He gave up on the cross after yelling “It is finished”. That Spirit comes to abide within our bellies and becomes for us a river of living water springing forth from our inner most being. His Spirit in us is the vine, the umbilical cord that connects us directly and immediately to the Father, our Creator.


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