Clean

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Tamar


Acts 9:23-12:25

The Story: from “After many days…” at the very bottom of page 400 to the bottom of 405

“God has made it clean.” Acts 10:15

OK, I’m going to admit, this is a stretch as a devotional, but it fits my life perfectly today! And hey, God had me write a post on dishwasher gunk and this is right along those lines.

The kids have been home from school on summer vacation for 4 days now. Over the winter, being shut in for the majority of it and then all the construction this spring, the house has gone downhill fast especially their rooms. And we’ve all been working hard for the last month or two to really get things spiffed back up. Now, there have been many occasions when I’ve talked about my obsession with perfection and neatness and how I’ve had to deal with things not being precisely perfect. Case in point, last night I noticed that my hairspray, mousse, and getll all have varying levels of “hold” from 2-4 and I had to resist the urge to put them in order. And just as I decided against rearranging them into ascending order I noticed they were already in descending order, and I brathed a sigh of relief thinking, “that can be good enough”.

Yes, I really am that particular. Sad isn’t it? It took months for me to allow the spoons and forks in the drawer to NOT spoon together so that someone other than me could put them away. And lets not even get started on the left over container drawer!

It’s all about control and order and me allowing the other members of my family to have some. Here in our house we emphasize teamwork. But if I’m the one doing all the cleaning while they’re doing all the messing that’s not a very good team. We ALL live here, we all make the messes, we all clean them up. I’ll admit, it’s been extremely difficult giving up my OCD ways in order to have an imperfectly clean house, but it’s been worth it. I mean seriously, think about it, what’s more important – that the spoons all face the same way or that they’re all clean and put away?

As my children have aged and life has shifted from changing their diapers to shaping their hearts I’ve had to change my ways and how I do things. For years I did it all myself – mostly because I had to. (And developed quite a few “particulars” because of it.) But that’s not the case now. They’re seven and (almost) twelve, they need to learn how to empty a dishwasher and do their own laundry, how to clean and organize a room and to, yet, even clean a toilet. We’re a team and as a team we all work together to make our home an enjoyable place to live in… instead of a hazardous waste dump.

So! On Monday I gave the children the “we’re a team” speech and handed them a (short) list of chores that had to be done before the TV came on. And for the last week or so I’ve been pinning things to my “Home” board on Pinterest to get inspiration for a fun chores list for them to track their progress. And this is what I’ve done.

First I made a list of all the things in our home that need done every week, leaning heavily on the items from the lists that I had pinned earlier so that I wouldn’t miss anything. Then I took that list, divided it into fourths and made a master list for each member of our family. They look something like this:

For a printer friendly PDF version click here. 😀

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

Chosen Instrument

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Tamar


Acts 7:1-9:22

The Story: From “Then the high priest asked Stephen,” on pg 398 to “by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.” On pg 400.

“The LORD said, ‘Go, for Saul is My chosen instrument to take My message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel.” Acts 9:15

You know the moment, when teams are being picked and the captains are taking turns choosing team members. Do you hold your breath, praying that you’re not the last one chosen? Have you ever tried out for a part in a play, or interviewed for a job? At some point in all our lives we’ve all wanted something – to be chosen. Whether it was for a team, a part, or a position, it’s all the same. We all want to be “the one” that gets chosen. We want to be someone’s preferred person for that job.

In today’s Word of the Day Saul was that person. God had chosen him, Saul of Tarsus, to be His ambassador of the Good News to the Gentiles. God knew that Saul, the zealous murderer and persecutor of His church would be the perfect person to preach about Grace to the world. Why? God knew that experience is one of the best teachers. And who better to teach about God’s amazing Grace than someone who had received such a huge dose of it that it turned their lives so completely upside down that EVERYONE around was bound to notice.

In Luke 7:36-50 Jesus is sitting at dinner with his friends and some religious officials when a sinful woman comes in and washes His feet with her tears, dries them with her hair, kisses them and anoints them with expensive perfume. Simon, the host of the dinner, said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, He would know what kind of woman is touching Him. She’s a sinner!” And Jesus, knowing Simon’s thoughts told him a parable.

There was a man who lent two men money. To one he lent $29,000 and the other he lent $2,900. Neither of them could pay him so he canceled both their debts. Which one is going to love him more, thank him more and be more appreciative of the cancelation of the debt?

The one who owed more!

While all the apostles were grateful for their sins having been forgiven them, Saul was even more so! Unlike the other apostles (but just like Moses and David) Saul had committed murder. And he hadn’t murdered murderers, or thieves, or drug dealers, he had murdered innocent men doing God’s will!!! Talk about a debt of guilt!

God CHOSE Saul to be a minister of Grace because he had received more of it than anyone else! Saul knew what it felt like to realize his sins and to be forgiven for ALL of them. Saul knew what it felt like to have THE marvelous light shine down on him in such power that it blinded him. It blinded him and made him see.

For the first time he saw the TRUTH that he hadn’t been fighting men, he had been fighting God! The light of the Truth knocked him down from his high horse to the dust from which he came and provided clarity of vision. He realized in the light of that moment how blind he had been and repented of his ways. Saul thought he had been fighting for God and came to realize that he had been fighting against God. But God is good and gracious and had chosen Saul for a specific job; a job that Saul would be perfect for, once he saw the light. And oh my friends, once he saw the light of God’s amazing Grace, there was NO stopping Saul in the completion of God’s chosen mission for him!

Lord, I thank You that You have chosen us and not rejected us. I thank You that like Saul we too are Your chosen instrument for Your chosen plan for us. And I praise You for it. Lord, if there is something where we’ve been fighting You, I pray that today You would shine Your marvelous light upon our blindness and help us to see with brilliant clarity precisely what You’ve chosen us for. Lord, I thank You for the knowledge and reassurance that once we stop fighting against You on this and start fighting with You – we too will be unstoppable! In Jesus’ name, Amen!!!

Categories: 365 Life, Acts | 3 Comments

Fighting Against God

Posted on June 2, 2014 by Tamar


Acts 4:1-6:15

The Story: 394-398 (stopping at “…and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.”

“Then [Gamaliel] said to his colleagues, ‘Men of Israel, take care what you are planning to do to these men! Some time ago there was that fellow Theudas, who pretended to be someone great. About 400 others joined him, but he was killed, and all his followers went their various ways. The whole movement came to nothing. After him, at the time of the census, there was Judas of Galilee. He got people to follow him, but he was killed too, and all his followers were scattered. So my advice is, leave these men alone. Let them go. If they are planning and doing these things merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown. But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God!'” Acts 5:35-39

Is it just me, or is this story extremely comforting? If you’re doing something for God, no one will be able to overthrow you. No one will be able to stop you, hinder you, perhaps. But stop you? No way! If God is for you then WHO can be against you? And if they ARE against you, then they will find themselves fighting against God. And you’ve got to know as well as I do what a pointless battle that is! It’s a dreadful thing to fall into the plan that fights AGAINST God! I’ve been there, I’ve tried it. It DOESN’T work. Trust me.

But then there are the plans that fight WITH God… mmmmm, those are the BEST plans. Those are the plans that no matter what happens to try and trip you up and make you fall, they still end up succeeding! Just look at Joseph! God gave him the “plan” in a dream. And almost immediately that plan was thrown into a tizzy. He was flung into a pit by his o-so-loving brothers, then they sold him into slavery where he went to work for Potiphar in Egypt. But then after working there for a while Potiphar’s wife decided that if she couldn’t have Joseph then no one could. And he ended up getting thrown into Pharaoh’s jail where everything he touched practically turned to gold earning him favor and prestige. Until one day Pharaoh himself called for Joseph so that he could take advantage of his dream interpretation skills, which ended up earning him the second highest position in all of Egypt. When a severe famine hit the land it forced Joseph’s brothers to travel to Egypt in order to get food from none other than Joseph himself, whom they’d written off as good as dead. The moment that they bowed in submission to him (without knowing yet that it was Joseph) the plan that God had given him in his dream came to fruition. In all the things that the Enemy threw into Joseph’s path in order to keep him from becoming everything that God had planned for him, all Satan did was push Joseph to EXACTLY where he was supposed to be.

In today’s Word of the Day the apostles were being held for questioning because they had healed a crippled man and had been teaching in the name of Jesus. By the sound of it the majority of the high council was highly intimidated by these “unschooled ordinary men” who spoke so boldly; obviously they had spent time with Jesus. In their fear of the apostles the high council wanted to get rid of the apostles. But the wise one among them, clearly impressed by the signs and wonders committed by these apostles and perhaps some of their teaching, spoke up. In his wisdom he had noticed that when these two other upstarts had gathered a following, when they died the movement died with them. Yet that’s not what was happening with the death of Jesus, instead it was spreading… RAPIDLY! And with signs and wonders!

If God is not in this, then it will fail.

BUT

If God is in this, then it can not fail!

Categories: 365 Life, Acts | Leave a comment

A New Season of Telling an Old Story

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Tamar

Acts 1:1-3:26

The Story: pages 389-394 (only finish the sentence from the bottom of pg 393)

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be My witnesses, telling people about Me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.” Acts 1:8

Oh my friends how I have missed you this week!!!!! There were so many things I wanted to tell you! God is amazing, period. He is good and gracious and kind and loving and He is all ours!

I’m very excited to be starting Season 3 of 365 Life here on the blog today. If you’re unfamiliar with this program you can find its back story here and the Season 3 Reading Plan here and Outline here. Last week we finished Season 2 of 365 Life as we read through the Bible Alphabetically in the English Standard Version, today we’re starting the New Living Translation. If you, or someone you know, is interested in having the entire Season 2 of 365 Life Blog Postings they’re available here as a Kindle e-book.

I’m also delighted to say that Sean was able to get a great many copies of The Story from our church over the winter so we’re hoping to get those into as many people’s hands as possible this summer at the Demolition Derbies. So, I will also be including page numbers for that along with the Word of the Day so anyone who is using that form of the Bible will be able to follow along with us as we go. 😀 Please be praying for God’s will to be done with the Derby side of the ministry this year. We’ve been feeling God nudging us to go bigger this year and that is, of course, intimidating to an extreme level; and yet, exciting to an extreme level too. Oh the plans He has for us, plans that we haven’t seen yet but only glimpsed from a distance…

Anyway, enough business talk! Let’s move on to today’s Word of the Day, shall we? 😀

In today’s reading we find a new beginning. The beginning, it’s a great place to start in any book, right? In the very beginning God created the heavens and the earth, in this beginning He has come down from heaven to earth, changed absolutely everything they’ve ever known about Him, and then He went from Earth back to Heaven leaving His apostles to tell His story (which is History) to the world. My friends, nothing has changed since then. His story is still being told today by His apostles – you and me. He walked side by side with them and He walks side by side with us. (Acts 2:25 “I see that the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me.”) Oh my friends, He is RIGHT BESIDE YOU! If that’s not a message you need today then I don’t know what is! NO matter what you’re going through, no matter how awful or awesome He is RIGHT BESIDE YOU. If you’re in the mud and the muck, He is RIGHT THERE saying, “OK, we’re going to get out of this”. If you’re on the mountain top, He is RIGHT THERE saying, “See, I told you we’d get out of there.”

No matter where you are and what you’re going through the power of the Holy Spirit is right there with you, ready to guide your way out of a mess and into a message of how He saved you from the mess. We ALL have been called to be His witnesses, not just to Jerusalem, not just to our friends and relatives, but to the ends of the earth! Each and every one of us has a story to tell, a testimony of how Jesus has come through for us in some way or another. Those stories need told!!! Whether in a movie, a book, a blog, a Facebook page, a conversation, or our lives, the story MUST be told. HIS story must be told. The story of Jesus didn’t end on the cross or at the ascension into heaven. (Spoiler alert) The book of Acts doesn’t end. Every single letter written by the apostles has a greeting at the beginning and a salutation at the end… every letter except Acts. Acts ends abruptly and with no salutation. In fact, in the Greek it actually ends with a word that anyone with half a brain wouldn’t end a Greek sentence with. (You know like how proper English doesn’t end sentences with prepositions, like “with”.) 😉 The book of Acts has no end, because the acts of the Holy Spirit aren’t finished. The Holy Spirit is here to help us, to be with us and in us and to guide us into all Truth. He’s here because we need Him.

And I for one am ever-so-grateful that He is with me! Grateful enough to start a blog, and spend thirty minutes a day reading His Word and then writing about it on the blog so that SOMEBODY else who may be going through the same muck that I am might, perhaps, benefit from the Words I read and the Words the Holy Spirit speaks to me while I’m reading them. This is MY testimony, this is MY message, this is MY telling of His Story – and it’s a beautiful story.

Don’t forget to tell yours to someone today. I know you have one.

________________________________________________

Because it’s Sunday and I’ve been saving them for a week, here are my Sunday SHMILY’s! 😀

My flowers from Mother’s Day.

The picture Anna drew during Children’s Church. Flowers on the side of the road.

A smile in my ketchup packet during Gabe’s graduation from fifth grade celebration dinner.

That little black spot on the road the tread from my tire!!! Gabe, Anna and Skippy super bored and hot while waiting for me to try and change my tire on my own. You know, because no one was stopping to help me.

God would just so have it that the sheriff from Boone county was just *happening* to be on his way home from Indy and saw me and HE stopped to help me. Thank You Jesus!!!

Categories: 365 Life, Acts | Leave a comment

Introduction to 365 Life

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Tamar

We are embarking on a year-long journey through the Word of God together. We call this journey 365 Life.  365: Because it is a journey that takes 365 steps around the calendar. Life: Because those daily steps toward God bring us the abundant life Jesus spoke of in John 10:10. “The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
In John 6:22-59 Jesus tells us that He is the bread of life, the manna from heaven, sent down for us to feast upon and to have a life everlasting. In this passage Jesus, a.k.a the Word (John 1:1), refers to himself as the bread from heaven, or manna. When we inspect that particular story from Exodus 16, we find some key details for 365 Life.

“Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them whether they will walk in my Law or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” (Ex 16:4-5)

For you- these daily readings are for you. They’re not you serving God, they are Him serving you a banquet that brings life!
Go out- the Israelites had to get up, put on their shoes and gather the manna. While God is providing the feast, we have to make the choice to indulge in it.
A day’s portion every day- just like you eat food daily to stay alive, so too we must feast on the Word of God to stay alive. While there are many different ways to prepare the meal and to eat it, God has brought you to my restaurant where you never really know what shape the manna will take, but you will know it’ll be the same amount of reading every day and that you’ll walk away full and satisfied from the Scriptures.
Test them- in the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve chose to believe Satan’s word over God’s. To this very day that is still the test humanity is taking. Whose words will you believe today? By reminding yourself daily of God’s words it is so much easier to take every thought captive and toss out the words from the enemy. Life is a test, so let’s study like we want to pass!
The sixth day- last season I did not get all the way through the Bible. I had a plan. I thought it was great. But it had one huge flaw, me! I had committed to reading and writing all 365 days of the next year. I failed to take into account my human frailties, my own un-reliability and most of all a day of rest! In describing the manna God said, “when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” So although we may be reading the same amount of words on the 6th day, it will last us twice as long. The Sabbath principal.

“At evening you shall know that it was the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against the LORD.” Exodus 16:6-7

These are our parameters for the next year.

Categories: 365 Life | 2 Comments

A Fresh Start

Posted on May 24, 2014 by Tamar


Zephaniah 1:1-3:20

“Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:16-17

Fanfare please….. Done – da – da – done – da – da – DONE!!!!!!

With the publication of THIS post I have OFFICIALLY written through the entire Bible in a Year!!!!! 😀

On March 11th, 2012 I took a Sunday Siesta that forever changed my life. I was juuuust getting comfy and dozing off when out of the clear blue, like thunder the voice of God the Father Himself spoke to me, “Write Through the Bible in a Year”. I literally sprang from my bed and went straight to my computer to draw up the plans. They were simple at first, not too specific or refined. And I started out of the gate with guns blaring ready to GO. But it wasn’t long before I started faltering. The way I had planned things out, I hadn’t taken LIFE into account. I hadn’t planned for my humanity or my busy mom’s schedule. And it wasn’t long before I was waaaaay behind on my plan. So much so that on August 24th, 2012 I decided I would quit blogging in the hopes that I might still succeed in the reading portion of the plan. It was a hard decision to make, one that I got a lot of flack about, but it had to be done. I believe in that decision more now than I did then. You know why? Because I never would have made it through this time if I hadn’t taken that break. I know what that break did for me. It helped me to see with clarity, the importance of the blogging element of this challenge. The writing helps me digest what I’ve read, it helps me to formulate how I feel about it and how it applies to my own situation in life at the moment when I’m reading it. And it always does. That break was glorious bliss, knowing that there was no pressure to perform and to please. And yet, it made me hungry. I was still reading, I was still writing, I was still doing everything I had been doing before, I just wasn’t posting, and wouldn’t you know it, it just wasn’t the same. I kept writing thinking, “Gosh this is good stuff”, but then had no one to share it with! And there’s nothing like having something amazing and not having someone to share the experience with. Life was meant to be SHARED!

That “Fast” from the blog lasted about two weeks before I just HAD to share some pictures with my friends. I started posting about once a month… then on December 12, 2012 my first article was published in the (then: Sheridan Reporter) Hamilton County Reporter, so I started posting that weekly onto the blog as well. Then by March 25th, 2013 I was back to posting daily and not just writing but doing weekly VIDEOS too! I was gearing up to be an official Bible Study Teacher like Beth Moore. But something was still off kilter. There was this HUGE GAP in my posted writings and it bothered me tremendously. Finally after a lot of prayer and soul searching… and quite of a bit of help from Holy Spirit I decided that I needed a fresh start. (If that phrase just struck you like it strikes me today, you may want to read this post and watch the video that goes with it. They’re short and powerful. There is NO SHAME in a fresh start my friends.) Just because I’ve failed before doesn’t mean I should to stop trying. Every morning is a fresh start. Every day is a new day to try again at something you’ve failed in yesterday. Just because you didn’t make it “up the pipe” yesterday doesn’t mean that you won’t make it up today! (Right Sean?)

So on June 1st, 2013 I started the challenge again. This time with a new plan based on my previous attempt and experience. This time I took my humanity into account and God used scripture to give me permission to give myself a lot more lee-way than the first time. And wouldn’t you know it, when I took into account that I might need a grace day EVERY week, instead of every month, the plan worked SO MUCH BETTER! Not quite flawlessly, I discovered a couple of baubles along the way, typos, and what not, but on the whole I believe that it went tremendously. There have been very few days in this journey where I have not taken the time to write and there have been no days when I planned on reading and didn’t. For as long as I can remember I’ve been trying to read through the entire Bible. From the time I was in High School on, I’ve lost count of the times I attempted reading from cover to cover! Genesis and I know each other pretty well at this point! But I could never make it past Numbers; it was just too much for me. But back then I didn’t have a timeline or a plan of attack, I was just winging it. And I never made it through. UNTIL TODAY!!!!! It may have taken me thirty-four years to get through it, but I DID IT!!!! WE did it! I never could have done this without you guys! Thank you so much for all your support1 It’s been a wild ride and we’re not about to jump off now!

I’m taking the next week “off” from reading AND writing so that I can BREATHE and make a better plan for this next season based on the lessons I’ve learned from this season of writing. Starting June 1st, 2014 is another fresh start for this blog and this writer. J There are things that I flew with and other that I fell in, and neither gives me permission to quit, but to continue on and to keep trying. I will also still be posting my “book reports” from So Long, Insecurity You’ve Been a Bad Friend to Us by Beth Moore. It’s been a fabulous book so far and I really am enjoying sharing it with you.

This week’s reading covered the Insecurity roots of:

*Dramatic Change

*Personal Limitations

*Personal Disposition

And it REALLY hit home for me today! Sadly, as much as I’d love to share more about it with you, I’m out of space and time. So, I’m not quite sure when I’ll get this one to you; if at all. Maybe you’ll just have to read it for yourself. 😉 Now it’s time for this girl to take a NAP! 😀

Have an AWESOME Memorial Day Weekend friends!!!!!

I love you! But Jesus loves you more!

Categories: 365 Life, Jesus Loves YOU, Zephaniah | 3 Comments

Memories

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Tamar


Zechariah 12:1-14:21

“Thus declares the LORD, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him.” Zechariah 12:1

It’s funny, I just sat down all prepared to tell you all about verse five from chapter twelve, “The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the LORD of hosts their God.” And how tired I am, but God is giving me the strength and determination to carry on. But then I opened my computer and the rotating background picture changed to this:

And I knew I wasn’t just going to be writing about how God strengthens us.

Today’s reading was a lot of end time prophecy, things that most of us don’t think about that often, and I was planning on avoiding talking about them. 😉 Mostly, because they’re hard to talk about, partially because they’re hard to understand, but mostly because they scare me. It’s a lot of talk of misery and people suffering and being raped and pillaged, it’s like watching the news, I just don’t want to have my mind filled with these images. But then God gives me this picture and its beautiful message.

It’s not going to last forever.

The pain you’re in, the struggle you’re going through, the heartache you’re experiencing; it’s not going to last forever. Heaven and Earth WILL pass away, but His Word will NEVER pass away – not ever. Period. There is an eternity waiting for us on the other side of death’s door. There is a reality that is more real than our present reality, you’ll see. And the good years there will come and swallow up the bad years so completely that you won’t even be able to tell that the bad years even existed. The only place they will exist is in your memory.

Categories: 365 Life, Jesus Loves YOU, Zechariah | Leave a comment

I Will…

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Tamar


Zechariah 7:1-11:17

“Thus says the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be My people, and I will be their God in faithfulness and in righteousness.” Zechariah 8:7-8

This passage sounded so familiar to me when I read it this morning so I went back and looked up some old footage. There’s a good reason it sounded familiar:

Exodus 6:6-8 “Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.”

Is it just me or is there a refrain in those two verses? “I will save”, “I will bring”, “I will deliver”, “I will redeem”, “I will be your God” and “I will give it to you”, it’s all about what GOD will do… for YOU. If I’ve learned anything over the last few years it’s that I’m NOT perfect. I’ve learned that no matter what I do, it’s still never good enough for me. No matter how hard I try I will still sin and I will fall oh so short of the glory of God.

BUT

I’ve also learned that it’s not about me. The Bible, life, it’s ALL about Jesus. They’re all about what Jesus said and what Jesus did – for ME. And for YOU.

In Genesis God calls Abram to come out away from his family and everything he’s ever known and follow God wherever He decides to take him. Abraham agrees and he heads out into the unknown territory. (Which, fun fact, just happens to be where his father was headed when he stopped short of his own goal.) Then in Genesis chapter fifteen God takes Abraham out to count the stars and tells him that although childless at the moment, he will have as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and sand on the shore. Then, in order to make sure that Abraham is able to see how serious God is about this promise He has just made, He has Abraham go get a heifer, a goat, a ram, a turtledove and a pigeon and cut them in half. Then to seal the covenant Abraham took the halves of the animals and laid them out on the ground with space between the halves so that a person could walk between them through their blood. This is what’s called a blood covenant, people would do this to symbolize that if one of the parties involved in the covenant didn’t hold up their end of the bargain their fate would be the same as the animals sliced in half. It was kind of like a gory adult version of cross your heart, hope to die, stick a needle in your eye.

Anyway, the really interesting part of this blood covenant that God makes with Abraham is that when you read Genesis chapter fifteen you’ll notice that God doesn’t make any stipulations on Abraham in order to fulfill His promise to Abraham. All the requirements of the agreement are on God Himself. AND Since there is no higher authority than God, God swears by Himself that He will fulfill ALL the requirements of the covenant in order to fulfill His promise to Abraham to bless him with more descendants than the stars in the sky.

Fast forward to Hebrews chapter nine and I think you’ll find something VERY interesting. “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.” (verses 11-12) My friends, God used the blood of a cow, goat, sheep and birds to secure His promise to Abraham and He kept it. How much more faithful do you think He’s going to be to His promises to you when they’ve been secured by the blood of His own SON!?! Hebrews 9:13-14 says, “For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” In the Old Testament when someone sinned they had to take their BEST animal and kill it, spilling its blood, as atonement for their sins. That animal sacrifice purified them of that sin until the next time they sinned when they would have to repeat the process. Over and over and over again. Blood was constantly pouring over the altars of Israel as their sins continued. While the blood of those goats and bulls had the power to purify, it didn’t last, it wasn’t strong enough.

BUT GOD had a better plan. The blood of a PERFECT lamb, His Son, offered as a blood sacrifice the propitiation for our sins that justified us by His Grace as a gift through the redemption of Christ Jesus. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness, at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:24-26) See, again, ALL GOD, no you. GOD is the one who has covered you, God is the one who has justified you and purified you from all your unrighteousness. According to 1 John 4:17 as Jesus is so are we in this world.

In Zechariah 8:7-8 and Exodus 6:6-8 God says, “I will” and leaves nothing for His people to do except receive the things He is promising to do for them. Today God is saying the same thing to you through Christ, “I will deliver you from slavery to the law. I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Law. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment on JESUS. I will take you to be My people and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Law. I will bring you into the land of rest that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.”

Categories: 365 Life, Jesus Loves YOU, Zechariah | Leave a comment

A Wall of Fire All Around

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Tamar


Zechariah 1:1-6:15

“And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst.” Zechariah 2:5

Once upon a time, several years ago, I was awakened in the night with the horrid feeling as though something evil was just outside the wall behind my head. I lay there trembling in fear and praying in the Spirit. Our bedroom is on the corner of our house and there are two roads that intersect on that corner. As I lay there motionlessly praying; I could feel the evil presence move from behind my head and down the first street. Then it stopped at the corner and sat there for a long time, until turning in front of our house and moving on down the street. This was one of my very first experiences like this and to say that it terrified me would be a vast understatement. Even after the presence was long gone I continued to pray, mostly just to calm myself down more than anything. That night, as I lay in my bed, without words or ceremony God showed me something I’ll never forget. He showed me our property, only there was a wall of fire that COMPLETELY encircled our property. And it was in that moment God showed me HIS protection for my family. I had never asked for a wall of fire, I had never done anything to put it there, or deserve it, it’s just there because HE is an all consuming fire and nothing to get through Him to me.

“And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst.” Zechariah 2:5

I don’t remember reading this verse before today, and yet it’s PRECISELY what God showed me that night; a wall of fire all around with HIS glory in the midst.

 

My friends, I had quite a moment yesterday with tears and yelling and a frustrated begging of God to SHOW me that what He’s taught me over this last year is True, and that this life really isn’t about me and what I’m doing but about Him and what He’s done; that while I DO have power over the enemy in this world, GOD has the final say over everything – including the Enemy. And then today, it’s taken me ALL DAY to read today’s Word of the Day, a paragraph at a time, but I did it! Then it’s taking missing the finale of one of my favorite shows to write this post, but I’m doing it. To say I’m frustrated with God’s lack of making these last few days a little easier for me to accomplish this task would be an understatement. If finding time today to do this was hard, making time to do it has been even harder! (Not unlike those last .2 miles of a marathon I’d imagine.) And so just when I’m thinking that God’s not answering my prayer for Him to just deal with the Enemy right now because I just don’t have the energy to do it myself, then He shows me this verse and reminds me of my OWN wall of fire all around.

And the Truth of the matter is that the wall of fire isn’t just around my house, it’s around ME. It’s around me because He is IN me. I have felt more supernatural conflict in the atmosphere today than I have in a very long time, and it hasn’t mattered where I was, it’s been there…especially if I had my Bible in my hand. Satan does NOT want me reading my Bible, because he doesn’t want YOU reading yours. He doesn’t want you to learn its Truths and it he definitely doesn’t want you learning its Words. He doesn’t want you building a relationship with Jesus through His story or through prayer. And he will do ANYTHING that he can to keep you from those things. Anything.

But GOD.

God is the ALMIGHTY. God is the Maker of Heaven and Earth. He is the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end. He was, He is, and He will be. Jesus died for YOU simply because He loves YOU and there’s NOTHING that Satan can do to keep that message from slipping between his slimy little fingers because no matter what darkness does it CAN’T overpower the light! Darkness is simply the absence of light. It’s not even defined by what it is, but rather by what it isn’t. Darkness is defined by the very thing that chases it away and makes it flee in terror. Darkness may make us tremble in fear for but a moment, but it will tremble in fear for all of eternity at the mention of His name; the One, the Way, the Truth and the Life, THE JESUS!

Jesus is our wall of fire; He is our protector and our Savior. He is our confidante and our friend; He is our Beloved and our husband. He is our brother and our LIFE. And while NOTHING in all of creation can separate us from the love that is in Him. There is NOTHING that can separate us from the Darkness better than time with Him. Period. Friends, your life may be hectic. There may be days when you’ll have to miss that favorite show or game. There are going to be times when that time with Jesus is difficult to schedule in – do it anyway. It will be SO worth it!!! He will remind you of everything He’s ever taught you before. He will show you who you are to Him. And He will show you who He is to you. He will open your eyes to things in this world that will knock your socks off. He will because He is the great I Am.

Praise be to God!

 

354 days down, 4 to go. It doesn’t matter if I can do this, I WILL do this. Take that Satan!

Categories: 365 Life, Jesus Loves YOU, Zechariah | Leave a comment

Seven Days Left

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Tamar

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Titus 1:1-3:15
“To Titus, my true child in a common faith; Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.” Titus 1:4
I’m going to do something today I haven’t done in months. I’m not going to write.
I had plans for today. Plans to rest and write most of the day. To recover from a VERY long week last week and no Sabbath rest.  Those plans were apparently only MY plans. Like many of my other plans.
I’m not sure if you can hear the sharpness in my voice but I’m really not in the best mood today, and I doubt that I’m alone in that. So although I did not get time to write, I really would have appreciated getting that time and that message.
Friends, I need prayer. I’m seven days, one measly week, from finishing the task I was given. A task that has taken me two and a half years to accomplish. And these last few feet of this race have been the hardest and most gruesome. I am exhausted from this fight and right now I need the cloud of witnesses cheering me on past the finish line. This is no sprint my friends, it’s a marathon and I’m EXHAUSTED! Sheer will power is fueling me right now. That, and YOUR PRAYERS!

Categories: Writing Through the Bible in a Year | Leave a comment

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