365 Life

365 Life is the Bible Study series that came from writing through the bible in a year

50 Shades of Grey AND True Intimacy

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Tamar


Nehemiah 12:1-13:31

“But our God turned the curse into a blessing” Nehemiah 13:2

About six years ago our marriage changed forever.

You see, we went through this phase where we loved each other, but… we didn’t really like each other that much anymore. My only job was to cook, clean and care for the family – and I was THRILLED with it! My days were extremely fulfilling, I was proud of how I was taking care of our budding family. My nights on the other hand, were anything BUT a scene from 50 Shades of Grey. Most nights I would put the kids to bed on my own and then watch TV or hang out on the computer writing. My husband was nowhere in sight, off hanging out with his buddies working on those derby cars they cherished more than their wives. There were many nights I would cry myself to sleep because I was so frustrated and lonely. This man I had spent the last seven years surviving hell with was suddenly gone. We had been through so much together, with only the two of us to go through it, and now here we were, “settled” and he was gone. I felt so extremely alone, and hurt, and kind of used.

Then there came a day when, through the direction of the Holy Spirit, I went to him and told him everything that had been on my heart. For the next 30 days we lived through the “rough draft” of our first book, True Intimacy.

We did everything that this book details before pen ever touched paper. We experienced God in a completely different way than we ever had before; we experienced Him together by coming apart… and then back together again.

This Valentine’s Day everyone seems to be buzzing about 50 Shades of Grey. I haven’t seen the movie OR read the book and therefore have no informed opinion on it. But from what I have seen in the reviews and the commercials, 50 Shades of Grey is an intense journey through the bedroom of this un-married couple who do… ahem, different things to one another in a sexual manner. Now, the fact that this couple is not married enrages me for a multitude of reasons. However, if they were married to each other, it becomes a story of GOD’s picture for marriage! YES! It really is!

Again, I haven’t read the book or watched the movie however; after spending a lifetime studying the Bible and how God feels about sex and marriage, I am 100% confident in telling you that God WANTS you to enjoy sex with your spouse! God created sex. God created marriage. He put Adam and Eve together and said, “Go populate the rest of the world!” Hello! If that doesn’t mean go have LOTS of sex and enjoy each other while doing it, I don’t know what does!

There was a day when I was praying about sex and marriage and asking God about it and He told me, “I created marriage so that you could do whatever your filthy little minds came up with to do.” God KNOWS that humanity is going to come up with some pretty “weird” stuff to do to each other when we’ve been married for YEARS and we want to “spice it up a notch”. And as long as you’re keeping it all between the two of you, man and wife, and both of you are comfortable with what’s being done, GO FOR IT!!!! God created you. He created your bodies and your marriage and everything that that entails. He wants you to enjoy each other completely! Why else would He have included the Song of Solomon in the Bible where He says to the happy couple, “Eat friends, drink and imbibe deeply, O lovers.” (5:1) Sweetie, He aint talkin’ ’bout no regular food and drink here! He’s talking about sex!!!

For the next few weeks I’ll be posting the chapters from our book True Intimacy! I encourage you to read them with your spouse and see what God taught us about marriage and how wonderful it can be. It is a challenge. To do everything the book suggests isn’t easy; however it is TOTALLY worth every difficult second! Our marriage has never been better and we praise God for bringing True Intimacy into our lives! We pray that God will use it in your lives to bring True Intimacy to your marriage too! God bless you!

Categories: 365 Life, Nehemiah, Season 3, True Intimacy | Leave a comment

Go For It!

Posted on February 12, 2015 by Tamar


Nehemiah 9:1-11:36

“You led them with a pillar of cloud by day, and with a pillar of fire by night, to illuminate the way they should go.” Nehemiah 9:12

Every Tuesday I get an email from Marie Forleo. She is one of my FAVORITE people on the internet right now. What I love the most about Marie TV is her tagline. She ends every show with, “Keep going for your dreams, because the world needs that special gift that only you have.” And I have to admit, I think there are days that I watch her videos JUST to hear that tagline.

Then yesterday I got an email back from Fishhook and wouldn’t you know it, the tagline to his last email said, “Because who you are, and the work you do matters.”

Then while reading today’s Word of the Day the phrase “illuminate the way they should go” stood out to me. It is the way of the Lord to lead us. It’s just what He does. He always has and He always will. And it’s our blessing to follow His lead and see where He takes us. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God has plans for us, plans for hope and a future. He created each and every one of us with a purpose, a goal in mind.

There’s another phrase I’ve heard tossed around a lot when people are talking about doing work for the Church they’ll say, “I’m attending to the Lord’s work.” That phrase has never bothered me until lately, as in, since I’ve been called away from my desk and computer and out into the “real world” to “go to work”. For the last seven years I’ve felt like I was doing “the Lord’s work” aka, ministry. And the thought of being called away from it killed me. It took nine long grueling months for me to come to terms with something. It’s ALL the Lord’s work! The only difference between doing something for my boss and doing it for God is the state of my heart when it’s done. It is COMPLETELY possible to do something for God by doing something for my boss. God made me for a purpose; He made me for a lifetime filled with tasks and accomplishments according to His plan. And believe it or not, He made me for a lifetime filled with mistakes and mishaps and blunders in mind too because He knew in His infinite wisdom that those mistakes, mishaps and blunders would lead me to where I needed to be and would put me in the right frame of mind and heart for when I got there too.

I have wanted nothing more than to be a teacher my entire life. It was a longing that started in Kindergarten and has never gone away. It’s who I am. It’s who I was made to be. God put that in me for a reason… He wanted me to be a teacher! Does that mean that my work as a teacher is any less important and critical for the Kingdom of God than that of a preacher? I used to think that it did, I was wrong. God made me to teach and if I’m not teaching then I’m not fulfilling the role God created me to fill. Just like if a preacher isn’t preaching they aren’t fulfilling the role God created them to fill – leaving that role, and all its duties, empty.

God created you with a dream deep in your soul, something that you long to do. You may not get paid to do that thing, and you may not get to do it all the time, but if you’re never doing it, then you’re not doing what God made you to do. The world NEEDS for you to do that thing you were created to do. When God planned it, He had you in mind. Think about that for a while. There are things in this world that you are the only one who can do them completely according to the way God planned them.

Things done for the Lord are never wasted. Turn your dream into a goal and go for it!

Categories: 365 Life, Nehemiah, Season 3 | Leave a comment

Don’t Give Up!

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Tamar


Nehemiah 5:1-8:18

“Ezra read out of the book of the law of God every day, from the first day to the last.” Nehemiah 8:18

For those of you who are reading through the Bible this year, I know that picking that big ole’ book up every day can begin to get burdensome; especially if you’re currently in a part that’s not quite as exciting as some of the others. Don’t give up! You CAN do this!!!

Galatians 6:9 says, “So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.” (Emphasis mine)

Categories: 365 Life, Nehemiah, Season 3 | Leave a comment

Just Read

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Tamar


Nehemiah 1:1-4:23

Today is Tuesday and our first book for is Tuesday’s with Morrie! So let’s make today a Tuesday with Morrie reading day! 😀 Happy Reading my friends!!!!

Categories: 365 Life, Nehemiah, Season 3, Writing Through the Bible in a Year | Leave a comment

#LikeaGirl

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Tamar


Nahum 1:1-3:19

“Look, your troops are women among you;” Nahum 3:13

Did any of the rest of you see the Always commercial during the Super Bowl?

While watching it I cried because it made me realize I had lost the faith in myself that those little girls have. GOD made me a woman. He didn’t make woman to be less than man, that was part of the curse.

In Genesis chapter 2 God makes woman from man’s side. She is bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh! She is made from HIM – they are carbon copies of one another with a few… convenient differences. She has been made to be his helper and his mate; yes different, but equal.

Then that stupid snake came along and convinces both the Man and the Woman to turn everything over to him and he turns everything upside down. God comes along and doles out the consequences of their actions. To the woman He says, “Your desire will be for your husband, yet he will dominate you.” (verse 16) It’s at this very moment where woman becomes unequal to man.

Years and years and years go by and woman is still viewed as inferior to man. Then Jesus came along and gave the most important news of all time to A WOMAN!!!

The entire Christian faith rests on one moment in time, the moment Jesus rose from the dead. Without that moment all of our religion would be null and void because Jesus wouldn’t be who He had claimed to be – the Son of God. And in that moment of victory over the grave He appeared first to a woman, not a man. And what was it He first called her? He called her “woman”. He wanted to make sure that everyone knew that this one who had searched for Him with her whole heart and had found Him was a woman. I feel like this was God’s way of confirming the redemption of the daughters of the first woman from the curse of woman. Mary had been tormented with seven demons, the number of completion. She had been completely tormented by Satan, the serpent from the Garden, and Jesus saved her completely. And it is to this once cursed and tormented woman that Jesus appears first and commands, “go to My brothers and tell them that I am ascending to My Father and your Father – to My God and your God.” (John 20:17)

If Jesus, the Son of God, the Risen Lord didn’t want women in evangelic positions in His Kingdom, why on Earth would He have told her to evangelize His brothers? According to Galatians 3:28, “There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” We are all ONE in Christ Jesus. There is no distinction between male or female we are equal once more!

Categories: 365 Life, Nahum, Sheridan Reporter | Leave a comment

Sunday SHMILY

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Tamar

image

Micah 5:1-7:20
“Do not rejoice over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will stand up; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.” Micah 7:8

Well folks, it’s that time again! Sunday SHMILY! 😀 (SHMILY=See How Much I Love You)
Here are my pics from this week.

image

I know I’ve already shared this photo with you, but I just HAD to include it in my SHMILY post. He loves me enough to put me through 9 months of… well, there are no real words concise enough to describe what these last 9 months were. I KNOW that part of that time was spent to make sure I completely understood the importance and magnitude of what would come next. THIS is what came next, the job I’d been dreaming of! This week was my first week back in the classroom and I could not be happier about it!

image

The student – faculty basketball game at my first homecoming pep session at Sheridan! 😀 (a faculty member tore his Achilles tendon and is having surgery this week and could use some prayers too.)

image

Yup. If you look closely (on the top shelf) those are two of my books available in Capstone Bookstore in Northview Church in Carmel! 😀

image

A heart chicken nugget at lunch.

image

I unearthed a cute little smile after I cleaned the kitchen table off.

image

My daughter is a genius! I told her to rinse the grapes off and then let the water drip off of them for awhile. I was busy putting groceries away and didn’t notice what she had done for quite awhile. I turned around and saw that she had hung the bag over the faucet so it could drip. So smart! I have never thought to do that in all the years of cleaning grapes so I had to share!

Categories: 365 Life, Micah, Season 3, SHMILY! | Leave a comment

Skull Place

Posted on February 5, 2015 by Tamar


Matthew 27:24-28:20

“When they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Skull Place),” Matthew 27:33

Some of you are really gonna dig this.

Jesus was crucified on a hill named Skull Place. It was on this hill that through His death He conquered the greatest Enemy mankind has ever faced.

Jesus was known throughout both the New and Old Testaments as the Son of David.

Are you ready for this? If you flip back to 1 Samuel 17 you’ll find the epic fight between David and the biggest enemy he had faced up to that point in his life. The guy was like 9 feet tall, seriously, and probably had the most rippling muscles around. And there stood scrawny little shepherd boy David with his sling and his rock. Yet it wasn’t David that was outmatched, it was Goliath! He completely underestimated what David could do to him. With his first shot David slung that smooth stone from the river and nailed Goliath right in the forehead bringing him down to his level. Then with Goliath’s own sword David cut off Goliath’s head and according to 1 Samuel 17:54, “David took Goliath’s head and brought it to JERUSALEM.”

Now, while there is no proof in the Bible, there are rabbinical writings that state that David buried Goliath’s head just outside of Jerusalem. Perhaps in a hill they named, the Skull Place, aka Golgotha!!!!!

In Genesis 3:15, when God curses the snake for deceiving Eve He tells the serpent that while he may bite her child’s heel, her child (Jesus) will crush the serpent’s head!

My friend is that not precisely what Jesus did on the cross? He removed the fear and sting of DEATH from us! Forever! While Satan stood there watching Jesus die on the cross, he must have thought of how outmatched Jesus was. Satan underestimated the power of the Son of David. There Jesus was, literally standing on Goliath’s head conquering ALL the sin of the world with one strike to its forehead, it all came tumbling down. And Satan fell, like lightning, defeated.

Utterly defeated.

Hallelujah!

Categories: 365 Life, Matthew, Season 3 | Leave a comment

Lavish Love

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Tamar


Matthew 25:31-27:23

“Why this waste?” Matthew 26:8

Every time I read this section I cringe. Jesus and His followers are all reclining to dinner at a leper’s house and this woman comes in with a bottle of EXPENSIVE perfume and starts pouring it all over Jesus’ body. It’s a beautiful gesture of love and appreciation toward the Son of God. And yet the other men at the table look at it and say, “Why this waste? This might have been sold for a great deal and given to the poor.”

WHAT????

He is the Son of God! He’s been walking around with you guys for the last three years constantly telling you about how He’s going to die for you and this honor paid upon Him is a WASTE? You’ve GOT to be kidding me!

And yet just this morning, while I was still laying in bed and avoiding opening my eyes and fully waking up, the Holy Spirit confronted me with my own “wasteful” thinking. This past weekend I cringed at spending $20 on a game for my son. Now, this wasn’t just any old game, it was THE game that he has been longing for, for a VERY long time. It’s the game that all the rest of his friends play and they play online with each other… and he didn’t have it. Now, the big reason he hasn’t had it was simply because we didn’t have all the equipment to play it so that he could connect with his friends.

Two weekends ago, I cringed at spending the great amount of money for the game system to play this game. Why did I cringe? Was it the money, or was it something else? That same amount of money could have purchased things that I wanted. Things that I would like to have, but certainly don’t need. It could have paid debts that I would like to see eradicated.

But then something happened yesterday, Gabe was able to meet up with one of his friends online after school and play this game for the first time. I kid you not, he was giggling like a little school girl. No, actually, the little school girl in our house doesn’t even giggle as much as he was! He was SO HAPPY. And his happiness made me happy. So very happy.

So then this morning as I lay in bed fighting consciousness everything came into focus, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.” (Matthew 25:40) Jesus, plain as day, said it to me. “This gift you purchased your son, it was a gift to Me as well. It was NOT a waste. It brought MUCH joy to both him and his friends. That’s not wasteful, it’s love! Gifts are not love, they are a sign of love from those who give and receive love in that manner. It’s not a waste of money; it’s an abundance of love. And love spent on those you care about is NEVER a waste! Indulgence upon a fellow member of the Body of Christ is never wasted. Follow the direction of My Holy Spirit in how to spend your love, your time and your money and you will never go astray. I will not lead you into paths that will swallow you, though sometimes it may feel that way. Those paths are meant to strengthen and define you into who you are meant to be – made in My image. You are a cherished, Beloved Child of God – the One True King – He is the owner of ALL the sheep and ALL the cattle on ALL the hills… and He owns the hills too. You are His child in whom He is well pleased. He delights in your complete and total prosperity, you MUST believe that! If you, who are merely human, delight in giving good gifts to your children; then why is it so difficult for you to believe that your Father who is in Heaven would not also delight in giving good gifts to YOU as well? And you’ve got to know that I’m not just talking about spiritual gifts from a spiritual God. I delight in your joy and give you the things that bring you that joy. And as long as they don’t come between you and me, we’re good. But when that happens, well, then those things are no longer good for you because I am BEST for you; never forget that. Like a husband who loves to dote on his wife and children, I love to dote on YOU! Don’t be like the ill-dressed wedding guest and refuse My lavish love. I want to show you My love for YOU in wonderful ways today – let Me!

Categories: 365 Life, Matthew, Season 3 | Leave a comment

Oil and the Holy Spirit

Posted on February 3, 2015 by Tamar


Matthew 23:1-25:30

When the foolish took their lamps, they didn’t take oil with them. Matthew 25:3

This verse struck me. I’ve always read it at face value and never pondered any deeper than that, until today. The moment I laid eyes on it one word stuck out like a sore thumb; oil. Oil through the entire Old and New Testament is a symbol for the Holy Spirit. It’s why all the priests and prophets and kings were anointed with it. They wanted all of their leaders to be anointed with the Holy Spirit in order to properly lead them in the way that they should go, according to God’s will, so as not to evoke His wrath.

After the resurrection Jesus told His Disciples “not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. ‘This,’ He said, ‘is what you heard from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Acts 1:4-5

They were not to leave that very spot until they too had been anointed with the Holy Spirit. While Jesus had given them the Great Commission to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20 They were not fully equipped to carry out that commission until they had been anointed or baptized with the Holy Spirit. Then Pentecost came.

“When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. And tongues, like flames of fire that were divided, appeared to them and rested on each one of them. Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit gave them ability for speech.” Acts 2:1-4

Tell me friend, what was it that the Virgins carried?

And what was it that the foolish ones forgot but the wise one brought with them?

And what is it that the priests, prophets and kings were anointed with?

And when oil is touched to a flame, what happens?

Oil burns! Oil, when placed inside a lamp and lit brings light to the entire area it is in. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit appeared as tongues of fire at the tops of their heads! Why? Because they had been anointed with the spiritual oil of the Holy Spirit and were now prepared to burn BRIGHTLY in this dark world. Which they DID!

My friend, today, I encourage you to pray this prayer and invite the Holy Spirit to come and fill you with His POWER and LIGHT in order to fully equip you to go and shine brightly in this dark world of ours.

morning prayer 4x6

Categories: 365 Life, Matthew, Season 3 | Leave a comment

Soft Clothes

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Tamar


Matthew 20:17-22:46

“But when the king came in to view the guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed for a wedding. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. “then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Matthew 22:11-13

I have to tell you, this passage transfixed me this morning! I kept trying to move on to the next passage, but I couldn’t. I just sat there staring at it. One question nagged at me more than all the rest, “Of course he wasn’t dressed for a wedding, the slaves had just pulled him off the street like you told them to. How could you be mad at him for that?”

I pressed on.

I read it again.

“Dressed for a wedding”, a wedding! This is a wedding banquet the King has thrown for His Son. It’s the wedding supper of the Lamb! It’s OUR wedding party!

But again I had to return to this poor soul sitting there joyfully eating the supper that others refused who then gets thrown out onto his duff in the middle of the sorrowful street. L Why? The question just wouldn’t go away, so I was forced to dig deeper.

In Jeremiah chapter 38 we find another king’s palace. In that palace there was a closet with “old clothes” in it that Ebed-Melech used to comfort Jeremiah while pulling him out of a muddy cistern. These clothes were kept specifically for the poor to use. It was a common practice for the king’s palace to store these clothes for those less fortunate in need of more proper clothing. Think about it when you go through your closet and pull out a bunch of “old clothes” and donate them to Goodwill. You look at those clothes and think, “Ugh, I’m so sick of these clothes.” But the person who’s shopping in Goodwill looks at them and shrieks, “OH! It’s perfect!” That’s how I picture the clothes from the king’s palace to be, “old clothes” that the king is just simply tired of wearing and lets someone else wear them for a while.

And wouldn’t you know it, when I looked up a commentary on the verse with our ill-dressed wedding guest; this king’s case was similar. It said that the king (God) is not making an impossible demand upon the man, since there was a custom of kings providing festal garments for those who needed but lacked them. And it hit me, RIGHTEOUSNESS! And He took me back to another verse in Matthew that stood out to me, 11:8, Jesus is speaking of John the Baptist when He asks the people, “What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothes? Look, those who wear soft clothes are in kings’ palaces.”

At the time I had just spent the day going through my closet and putting together (I’m not kidding you) TWENTY-EIGHT outfits for me to wear to my new job. 100% of those outfits are guaranteed to be softer than the outfits that people in third world countries are wearing today. I live in a King’s palace! I am a Daughter of God Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He has told me over and over and over again,

Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the sky; they don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow; they don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon (a KING) in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you – you of little faith? –Matthew 6:25-30

According to tradition, this man at the wedding banquet WAS offered clothes to wear, probably clothes more beautiful and luxurious than he had ever seen in his life! And he rejected them. He chose not to wear them. Oh, he chose to accept the King’s offer of food and a party, but not the clothes that – like Jesus’ on the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 17:2 – shone as white as the light! He passed them up!

Which begs me to ask the question, “WHY!!!!?????!!!!!”

Want to know what the Holy Spirit’s answer was?

“Because he didn’t feel himself worthy of them.”

*Tears, streaming down my face.*

“Why not?”

“He couldn’t forgive himself.

I forgave him. But he couldn’t forgive himself enough to put on those robes of pure righteousness. My Beloved, today is the day, now is the time. Forgive yourself! Satan WANTS for you to hate yourself enough to reject the gifts that I offer to you. He WANTS you to feel worthless and un-reliable. He wants you to think that you can’t do what I’ve called you to do. HE LIES!!! Do NOT believe him! In Jesus’ name you ARE forgiven by God Almighty, who are you to withhold forgiveness from yourself? Go.

Let your anger toward yourself go. You are worthy in My eyes, because I don’t see you as you see yourself. My ways are not your ways and My thoughts toward you are nothing like your thoughts toward yourself.

I LOVE YOU.

I always have and I always will and there is NOTHING that you can do to change that or make Me love you less.”

 

 

 

 

Side note: Today was my first day as a Special Ed Aide at Sheridan Middle School!!!!! And wouldn’t you know it, when I went to leave my car was frozen onto the driveway! It took me 20 minutes and half a bag of salt to get it out and I ended up being late on my very first day! Ugh! But that’s OK, because I still made it. And loved every second of my day! 😀 Here’s MY first day of school picture:

I figure I make the kids do it so I’d better do it too. 😀

Categories: 365 Life, Matthew, Season 3, Writing Through the Bible in a Year | 2 Comments

Blog at WordPress.com.