God's Steadfast Love

Paul wrote, "I am convinced that neither death nor life... nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  ~Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)

Today's devotional from the Upper Room was one that hit me right in the head and in the heart.  It was written by a mother who lost her adult son due to the lifestyle he was living and it described how he had walked away from the Lord.  This mother then related it to herself as a child of God's and how defiant she is at times.

The parallel she drew was poignant and dramatic and it was profoundly effective.  It hit me so very hard as we still have a son living at home.  He's 31, unemployed, and has a prison record.  He's never been married but has fathered two children from two different women... I could go on and on, but suffice it to say - after reading this woman's devotional there are a number of us who have family 'issues', don't we?  In my own anger I have raged at God about 'why? why? why?' and have been met with silence.  More often than not, that silence speaks so much louder than words.

 

The prayer focus of today's devotional was 'Defiant Children' and I suggest we do the same today, and pray for the Defiant Children and as well as for those who are compliant.

Abba, Father~ hear my prayer!  I ask that You cleanse me from my sin so that the words of my heart will be heard by You.
 
I lift up my son and all the sons and daughters who willfully turn from You and walk a path of dilliberant indifference.  Please Lord, draw them back unto You.  As scary as it is, at least for my own son, do what ever it takes to get his attention and devotion.
 
For those of us with compliant children - thank You!  May we never take them for granted, but seek to nuture them in an environment of love, faith and trust.   In Jesus name I pray ~AMEN!

because we're His,

Tamara

The Upper Room Devotionl

He Is Risen!

If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.  ~1 Corinthians 15:17 (NRSV)

The prayer used at today's sunrise service:

Oh God, giver of new life, we gather this morning to welcome You as You have welcomed us.  We come to sing songs of praise for the new life we find in you.  We come to experience the resurrected Christ through the hearing of His stories and the joy we find in greeting each other.  Our prayer is that You join us Lord.  Lead us and guide us on our journey as we seek to live as Christ has taught us!  Love us! And now hear us as we pray.

Even so ~Amen!
 
May the resurrected Christ be your beacon that points you toward home,

Tamara

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Isaiah 53:12 (The Message)

11-12  Out of that terrible travail of soul, he'll see that it's worth it and be glad he did it. Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant, will make many "righteous ones," as he himself carries the burden of their sins. Therefore I'll reward him extravagantly— the best of everything, the highest honors— Because he looked death in the face and didn't flinch, because he embraced the company of the lowest. He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many, he took up the cause of all the black sheep.

I love 'black' sheep.  They are actually more varied in color than just black and it's wonderful to see their wool cleaned, spun and used for making wonderful natural fiber and colored clothing.  But then there is the stigma of being a 'black sheep.'   Someone who 'sticks out.'  Someone to whom attention is drawn and perhaps not intentionally.  We've all heard about 'the black sheep in the family.'  Perhaps you were that family member.  I'm pretty sure I was.

That is why I love this scripture from Isaiah ~ it shows that Christ loved us, the black sheep, the heathen gentiles so much, that He looked death in the face AND He conquered it! AMEN?  AMEN!  Yet I must recall that He did this for the Jew first, then for the rest of us.

Thursday evening, we will be celebrating a condensed Passover Seder at our church as well as a foot washing.  I never truly understood Communion until I participated in a Passover Seder twenty years ago.  Communion merely seemed a part of the Christian tenant that we (read 'I' here) were obligated to do.  Then my heart and my eyes were opened to the symbolism that is portrayed in the Old Testament Passover.  How could I have missed this for so many years? 

As far as the foot washing, well, the church we learned the most in (read discipled instead of learned) performed a three-fold communion that included foot washing.  I've missed that portion of worship and perhaps I need to explain a bit.

In the book of John, when Jesus is having the Passover Meal with the Disciples, he washes their feet.  Peter (who's feet well fit into his own mouth) told Jesus, "No, you will not wash my feet!" as this was the lowliest of all servant's tasks.  Jesus reprimanded him lovingly by saying, "If you don't let me do this, you have nothing to do with me." (Please note: these are all my paraphrases here.) Then Jesus goes on to explain that they are 'clean' but not all clean:  They may have bathed that day, but they have walked the dusty roads in their sandals and now their feet are dirty. That is like us.  We may be 'clean' because we trust and rely upon Christ for our salvation, but we 'walk in this world' and our feet get dirty and need to be cleansed.  It is symbolic of us going to Christ daily and asking for forgiveness. Similar to the model prayer that Jesus taught the Disciples ~ 'forgive us as we forgive others...'

This most High, Holy Week, I seek His forgiveness for all my many sins, those of commission and those through omission.  If I have offended you through the words of this blog, I ask your forgiveness.  If I have offended you through my acts or actions, I ask your forgiveness. 

My prayer:

Abba, Father ~ wash my feet... cleanse me from the filth I walk through every single day.  Help me to stay on the path you have deemed I walk and to not stray from it.  In Jesus' name I pray ~AMEN!

because we're His,

Tamara

What to Give Up...

A Lenten Reflection

Give up complaining——focus on gratitude.

Give up pessimism——become an optimist.

Give up harsh judgments——think kindly thoughts.

Give up worry——trust Divine Providence.

Give up discouragement——be full of hope.

Give up bitterness——turn to forgiveness.

Give up hatred——return good for evil.

Give up negativism——be positive.

Give up anger——be more patient.

Give up pettiness——become mature.

Give up gloom——enjoy the beauty that is all around you.

Give up jealousy——pray for trust.

Give up gossiping——control your tongue.

Give up sin——turn to virtue.

Give up giving up——hang in there!

because we're His,
Tamara

Sacred Living

Joel 2:12 (The Message)


Change Your Life

12 But there's also this, it's not too late—
   God's personal Message!—
      "Come back to me and really mean it!
       Come fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!"

How do you find nourishment when you hunger for a more sacred way of living?

I’ve discovered a lot of junk in the basement of my inner self. Old wounds, past losses, and shameful deeds may lie covered, out of sight for most of the time but there they hide, and they are still troublesome.

A good old fashioned spring cleaning may be needed. Not just in the living room of my life, but down to the depths of the basement as well; not just tidying up a bit but getting rid of all this accumulated stuff. Things I’ve held onto for years that have become rotten and putrefied and need to be purged. Perhaps that’s the purpose of the Lenten season – to allow us a spiritual spring cleaning.

So… where to focus? Prayer? Fasting? Reading God’s Word? Giving – and not just of funds but of time?  Singing of Psalms?  Praising when I think I cannot?

Forty days of Lent to draw us ever closer and they are already half over.

My Prayer ~

Here I am, Abba, Father ~ seeking nourishment for this insatiable hunger for a more sacred way of living.  Fill me, Abba! Fill me with Your Spirit.  Direct the steps I take and permit me to be mindful of those around me who may be ever thirsting for living water and the bread of life.               ~even so, Amen!

because we're His,
~Tamara