Under Conviction

I teach Sunday School for 4th - 6th graders.  Every week I study the lesson.  I don't expect to be "convicted" about anything in particular as I teach the familiar scripture passages and lessons.

But that's exactly what happened this morning.

This week's lesson is on "perseverance", based on Galatians 6:9, and is based on the story of the 4 friends who dropped their friend thru the ceiling so he could see Jesus.  The "Teacher Preparation" page went something like this:

• Look around your house.  How many projects are sitting unfinished?  A strip of wallpaper; a second coat of paint?
• What tempts you to leave a project undone?
• Perseverance carries us through projects, especially the unpleasant ones, when we feel like quitting.  Are you known for your perseverance?
• While house projects can be left undone without much consequence, spiritual projects are a different matter.  Ask God to help you to persevere in a spiritual project this week.

Any idea what the convicting part of this was for me?  Well, I'll tell you.  Just yesterday I was bemoaning the fact that I have all these ideas bouncing through my head; projects I'd like to do, etc.  But you know what?  Not one of them is a "spiritual" project.  Wow!  I was so convicted when I read the teacher prep - Ask God to help me persevere?  How 'bout I at least HAVE one to persevere in??

I'm so thankful God doesn't give up on me, and that he uses the most simple means - like a Junior Sunday School lesson - to get my attention.    ~Tammy~

You Never Know...

I was stunned, humbled, encouraged...when I discovered yesterday that the sole remaining "founding" member of our church, a sweet lady in her 80's, had never been to a ladies conference before this past Saturday.  She said she thoroughly enjoyed it and is looking forward to next year!


It was a quiet reminder that we never know how God is going to touch a life through the things he lays on our hearts - so listen for that "still, small voice" - and follow it wherever He leads you!  ~Tammy~

Ladies Conference - March 26, 2011

I know of few things more encouraging to a woman's heart than to gather with other women for a day of singing, praising, listening to God's Word, fellowship, and good food!  Such was the day we had yesterday at our church.  My heart was blessed and challenged.  The weather was cold, stormy, and gloomy - but inside the auditorium, we were warm, joyful, and blessed!  Our men did an outstanding job with the valet parking (in the midst of horizontal rain, thunder, and lightning), and then handled all the food - pick up, serving, and clean up.  It is a rare day, indeed, to find no women in the church kitchen, but yesterday was just such a day, and I do believe the Lord was pleased.

Thank you to all of you who worked, served, and attended.  Without those of you who attended, all the work would have been in vain!  And there is nothing more discouraging than an empty auditorium.  :-)  You all encouraged my heart!  ~Tammy~

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Isaiah 43:1 - He created me, He formed me, He redeemed me...I am HIS!!    ~Tammy~

Sundays - March 20, 2011

There's nothing quite like Sundays - 
we're rushing here and there...
Seeking missing shoes and socks,
Wondering what to wear!


Grab our bibles, take our seats
Preacher starts with prayer...
Close our eyes and bow our heads,
Stop messing with your hair!


A gentle tap upon heart's door,
Jesus whispers still...
"Cast all your care on me, " He says,
"Obey my perfect will."


All that seemed so critical
just a few short hours ago
Now fades into the mist of time
As His love o'er me does flow.


Jesus is my guiding light,
my hope in time of need.
Upon Him will I rest my head,
Those hands for me did bleed.


Monday comes and so begins
a week of work and toil;
But Jesus is my rock, my friend,
To Him I will be loyal.


Sunday comes but once a week,
And Jesus never fails;
To the one Who saved me from my sin,
In my life He will prevail.


Jesus loves me, this I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Lord, help me live my life for you,
So others to You will go.


There's nothing quite like Sundays,
no other day so sweet,
But Lord, help me every day,
To sit at your dear feet.

AWOL, March 19, 2011

Do you ever feel like your days are just running amok, totally out of control??

Hmm.  I do.  In fact, this week, while much has been accomplished, feels that way.  I was thinking this morning that I could use a good solid week just to "putter"...you know, just to clean up little odds & ends that I never seem to have time to take care of.

Unfortunately, so much of those "odds & ends" are in my brain, not my house, that it may require much more than a week...

A week from today is our first-ever ladies conference at our church.  I am incredibly excited to see how God will work that day.  Even now, he is at work, I know, preparing the hearts of the ladies that will be there, including my own.  How I long to see Him move!!  My earnest prayer is that each lady there will be willing to open her heart to complete surrender; utter abandon to His will, His leading...what joy would be ours if we would allow God to start a revival in our hearts!!  Of course, it doesn't take a "ladies conference" or any other gathering for revival - but, oh, the joy!!

So, if you see my posts become more sporadic this week, it will be because I am so focused on the conference and the myriad of details that need to be worked out.  Praise the Lord I have HIM to lean on!  He's better than any Daytimer or phone alarm - I know I can count on Him to bring to my mind all the things He wants done this week.  :-)

So, if you think of it, pray with me this week - that God will be lifted up, glorified, honored, and pleased with all that happens regarding this conference.  And that our hearts will be yielded and humble before Him, our King of Kings and Lord of Lords!   ~Tammy~

March 15, 2011

My thoughts for today are "simple"...

"Sanctification"  -  Becoming more and more like Jesus; less and less like the world.

Will I See YOU in Heaven?

If we could get to heaven by “doing good”, what would we need God for?  But God’s Word tells us, “there is none righteous, no not one.”  (Romans 3:10)  And “all our righteousnesses (good deeds) are as filthy rags”. (Isaiah 64:6) “For by grace are ye saved through faith; not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)

You can’t go to heaven by being a good person.  You can never be as “good” as God is Holy.  A holy God cannot abide the presence of sin.  We - each and every one of us - is a sinner.  So, the only way to heaven is by admitting your sin, seeking forgiveness, and acknowledging your need for Him to save you from that sin.  When our sin is "washed by the blood of the Lamb", we can enter into His presence.  God accepts anyone – He made the first move by sending Jesus to die on the cross for your sins. Now it’s your turn.  What will you do with Jesus?

Oh, and one more thing.  This is not my idea, my plan, or my thoughts.  This is God’s plan.  Since He created Heaven, I guess He can decide how we get there, eh?

March 11, 2011

Sometimes, just soaking in the sunshine and the glory of God's creation is enough.  

March 10, 2011 - Arrrggghhh!!!

So, since I recently learned that it is encouraging to others to know that even those of us who have been saved for 30 years still struggle, here is an example...

Last night, I allowed someone else's discouragement and annoyance to influence my attitude and reactions.  :(  Rather than maintaining a godly attitude and keeping my focus on the One who created me, I allowed my attitude to slip into irritation and annoyance.  I recognized it, even as I did it, but wasn't willing to reach out and take the "way of escape" the Holy Spirit was offering me, choosing instead to insist that the blame lay with the other person, not me.

I hate it when I'm being stupid.

So now I not only owe my heavenly Father an apology, but this other person as well.  Because whether they were right or wrong, it matters not - what matters is that I was wrong - and that is the only wrong I can correct.

So, "seeking to surrender"?  Yep - every day.  :-)

March 8, 2011 - 2 Peter 1:5

As seems typical with Peter, one verse is more than enough to chew on for the day.  2 Peter 1:5 says, "And besides this, (referring to the previous verses about God's precious promises and power), giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;..."


The center reference of my bible says, "in your faith provide virtue".  Another bible I have says, "supplement your faith with virtue."  This gives me a little bit clearer understanding of this passage - instead of "faith" and "virtue" being "building blocks", as I first thought, i.e., 'Okay, so now here's my faith block.  Got it.  Now, I stack on top of that my virtue block...' - I see that virtue and faith are intermingled or combined; virtue makes faith better.  Likewise, then, knowledge must enhance my virtue/faith....


Now if I can just grasp what "virtue" is!!  ~Tammy~

March 7, 2011

March 6, 2011 - God's Plan

I love watching God at work when I'm totally oblivious!

Yesterday Mike was in and out, and I just had a bee in my bonnet to get all the laundry washed, dried, folded and put away (something I seldom do in one day); the main floor dusted and vacuumed, AND I even made plans to put something in the oven for lunch this morning while we were at church - instead of having "left overs", which is our usual Sunday lunch fare.

And then I watched God at work today...when one of our senior saints arrived at church, shivering.  Yes, it was chilly outside this morning, but this was something more than that.  So when Mike asked her why she was so cold, we discovered that after moving into a new apartment last week, she'd never had the heat turned on.  Last week had been pleasantly warm, so it wasn't a problem, but this weekend had turned cold again - and this dear lady had gotten so cold overnight, she couldn't get warm.

So, we brought her home, fed her a warm meal (which was in the oven and waiting for us when we walked in the door!), tucked into bed (with freshly laundered sheets!), and gave her free reign of the house (which had just been dusted & vacuumed!).  Because she'd gotten so cold, she'd not been able to sleep the night before, so she caught up on sleep while we went to choir practice and church.

When we arrived back home tonight, we found that she'd been up, going up & down our stairs "for exercise" she said, and we warmed her up some more with some chicken noodle soup, and then sent her back to bed with a hot water bottle.

You know, everything I have already belongs to the Lord anyway - it was such a blessing to be able to share some of those belongings with a precious sister in Christ!  God is so good - it was so encouraging to my heart to watch Him at work in my life, while I was blissfully unaware!  My God is sooooo amazing - I just cannot fathom all that He does.  :-)

~Tammy~

March 6, 2011 - Rainy Days & Sundays

Ah.  There are Saturdays where there is no greater joy than sitting here in my piano room with the sun streaming through the windows, the birds singing, the flowers blooming...


and then there are days like yesterday, when I was cozy, warm and dry, as the rains fell and the heavens rumbled and my coffee was fresh and hot...and I could have curled up here in my chair for hours, reading and studying and completely ignoring the outside world, isolated by a curtain of rain and clouds.  :)


My Sunday School lesson this week was a bit overwhelming to me.  It was on Jesus as our standard, and the scripture for the lesson was Ephesians 4.


I understand I am teaching 4th-6th graders, and a 30 minutes Sunday School class does not allow for in-depth bible study, but there is SO much in Ephesians 4 that I had a REALLY hard time not expanding on every verse!  I just wanted to dwell on each one and let it soak in until I could completely grasp all God had for me.


But, instead, I had to work with the time allotted for the lesson, so we focused on verses 22-32; putting OFF the "old man" (our sin nature) and putting ON the "new man" (as believers in Jesus).  I brought two old t-shirts to class and on one we wrote "PUT OFF" and listed all the things we need to put-off when we accept Christ.  Things like lying, malice, fighting, being mean, stealing...and on the other shirt we wrote "PUT ON" and listed all the things that make us more like Jesus - encouraging others, telling the truth, giving, loving, being kind, helping...the kids seem to enjoy the lessons and were excited to hang the t-shirts up on the wall in our classroom.  My prayer is that as they go through their week now, they will think about the attitudes and actions they are "putting on".    
~Tammy~

March 4, 2011 - Impersonations

Do you do any impersonations?  My husband does a fabulous Marvin the Martian.  My youngest son sounds just like Sean Connery.  I can do a wonderful impersonation of an insane person...

In order to do a really good impersonation, you have to know the person's voice and habits very well.  You can't impersonate someone you barely know.

I have heard that "Christian" means "Little Christ."  It was, I believe, originally coined as a derisive term against those who chose to follow Jesus.  Today, though, almost everyone you meet claims to be a Christian.  But are we really?  Do we impersonate Christ?  Not by wearing sandals or a robe or growing a beard, but in our attitudes and actions?


How do we impersonate someone we barely know??


Just like impersonating a famous actor takes time and study, so does "impersonating" Jesus.  We may not have film clips of Jesus, but we have something even better - His written Word.  We have a permanent, portable, readable record of his attitudes, his actions, his prayers...

If you want to impersonate someone, impersonate Jesus.  There's no one I'd rather be like.

~Tammy~

March 3, 2011

Read Isaiah 40:12-15.  When we behold the greatness of God, everything else falls into perspective.  Consider this:  You and I will never experience anything bigger than God.  Wow.  There is nothing He can't handle.  No problem beyond His ability.  Do you realize that no one has ever "counselled" God?  He doesn't need to get anyone's advise or input or suggestions?  He already knows the best plan, the best way, the best idea - because HE is the Creator of all things.  I'm not sure I can quite get my mind wrapped around this...but I sure want to try!

Sunshine in My Soul!

March 2, 2011 - There is a lot going on in my life right now, but I love it when God "aligns" everything like He's doing right now.  My Sunday School lesson, my personal devotions, the messages I've heard, the conversations I've had recently - they all line up with the topic of being more Christlike and living to please Him.  I know I'm pretty dense sometimes, and God has to hit me over the head with a baseball bat, but I think I'm getting it now!!  So listen for that "still small voice" - and avoid the "baseball bat".  Have a fabulous day!                                           ~Tammy~

March 1, 2011 - It's My Birthday!!

Yes, it's my birthday!  30 years ago today, I asked Jesus to save me from my sins and come into my heart!  I was re-born on that day into God's family.  (See the complete story under the "Adventures in Faith" tab).  His grace and mercy have sustained me countless times through the years, and I can only praise Him and thank Him for not giving up on me.  Whatever good there is my life is only because of Him, and He deserves all the glory and honour and praise.  HE is worthy indeed.  :-)                                                                                                ~Tammy~