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My Beloved Child,

Long long ago before you were even born, I carried you in my heart! My thoughts of you were then and are now, more numerous than all of the grains of sand that cover the earth! Before the foundation of the world, I planned with great care and deep affection, all of your days and the marvelous works you would do. 

I chose the appointed time when you would bless the world with your presence and use the gifts I so carefully picked out just for you! I was there at your birth like a proud papa of their first born child! I was there in the beginning and will be with you through every second of every day of your life and onward through eternity! Even when you don’t feel my Presence, I promise you I will never, not ever, no never leave you or forsake you!

Do you know there is not one person in this entire earth that I created like YOU! I know the number of hairs on your head and even how many you lose each day!😊 I know when you rise and when you sit and what you’re going to say before you say it (try not to cringe at that)!  I see you in the darkness and in the light. I see your weaknesses, strongholds, flaws, fears, doubts, sins, and all I want to do is wrap you in my arms and tell you how great, deep and wide My love is for you! I AM ALWAYS ALWAYS FOR YOU and never never against you! 

I want to tell you that there is absolutely NOTHING you could ever do to cause Me to love you less! NOTHING in this world could ever change how I see you! I created you in My image and when I look at you I see a reflection of Myself! I know you have a hard time believing that at times, but My unconditional love for you allows Me to see you as My perfect and beautiful Masterpiece that I created with the greatest joy and anticipation of the sweetest fellowship we would share together for all of eternity!

You know I have the ability to look deep into your heart!  I see into those hidden places that you want no one to see but I also see those things I placed in your heart from the very moment you invited My son Jesus to be Lord over your life! Oh the party we had in heaven that day and the unspeakable joy I had when you chose ME! The thought of an intimate relationship with you and walking right beside you throughout your life and forever, makes the deep sorrow and grief I felt as I watched My Son suffer excruciating pain and suffering, Worth. It. All. THATS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU!

  

You know what I long for on this day when the world celebrates LOVE?  I long for you to see yourself and others as I do! If I could I would give you special glasses that filtered out all the shame, guilt, rejection, condemnation and anything that has wounded you in this life! I have a passion for you to see the beautiful child I gaze upon each day and sing over every night! You are the apple of my eye!

I long for you to grasp even a portion of My unfathomable LOVE for you, yes even with all of your flaws and weaknesses! Remember My strength is made perfect in your weakness and I never have and never will keep a record of the times you have fallen. My great grace and tender mercies are a constant gift I choose to pour out on you moment by moment! Please accept these gifts that came at such a great price!

How I long for and how My son Jesus intercedes day and night at My right hand, for you all to be ONE as My son and I are ONE with the Holy Spirit. I chose each of you to be my conduits of love, to show the world Who I Am! There is so much division and disunity, husbands against wives, children against parents, race against race, churches against churches, judgments passed, critical attitudes. But I’m convinced that if each of you got a revelation of Who I Am, who you are in Me and this TRUE LOVE that is able to Save, Heal and Deliver, the world would see the LOVE they have been desperately seeking and run straight into my open arms!

And so my Beloved Child, on this Valentines Day will you be MINE? – Completely ALL IN, sold out, passionately MINE! You know I am already yours from the moment you asked! I really am wild about YOU and I desperately want you to believe that!

Remember that old hymn “Just As I Am”?  I wrote that! And I mean every word! I LOVE you just exactly as you are – enough to give up my only begotten son so we could be together forever! None of this ‘come to me when you get cleaned up’ stuff! And you may say I’m such a mess, but never forget you’re My Beautiful Mess! So let’s do life together! Let me walk with you and talk with you and tell you over and over and over again that you are My own! Happy Valentines Day my love!❤

With ALL My Heart,

Your Loving Father

Each of us are longing, hoping, waiting for something. At times it seems as if all hope is lost, too much time has passed, circumstances shout loudly into our hearts and say ‘give this up, it’s never going to happen’! There is not even a glimmer of light in the distance that the sun will rise on that which we are hoping for! Have you been there? Are you there now?

Are you still waiting for a physical or emotional healing, a relationship to be restored, a prodigal to come home, financial provisions, deliverance from an addiction or stronghold? There is GREAT NEWS! We know and serve the GOD OF ALL HOPE!

I LOVE to worship and sing! I mean I would rather do that during the entire church service than hear a sermon… sorry pastors! Being in the church choir I noticed I was having trouble with my singing voice until eventually after 15 years I had to drop out. Gradually over the past 10 years my speaking voice became affected as well until this past Spring when everyday talking became incredibly difficult!

After a number of doctors and tests, I’ve been diagnosed with Spasmodic Dysphonia. It’s a neurological disorder where the nerve impulses from the basal ganglia in the brain do not send the right signals to the vocal chords which cause them to go into spasms. It’s a great effort to get words out and when I do I sound as if I am 100 years old or have had a stroke. There is not much volume so people can’t hear me very well and there is no way I can go through a drive through or talk on the phone.

I always took my voice for granted but have realized that not having one takes away the very essence of my personality and isolates me socially from family and friends! I miss being able to sing to my grandchildren and it’s such an effort to read them stories, not to mention I sound like a frog with laryngitis! And when you’re married to someone who LOVES to talk and have conversations, it takes that crucial part of your marriage away! Of course my hubs has been really understanding but one sided convos are not a lot of fun! The most difficult fallout is having to back away from ministering on the Freedom/Healing and Prophetic teams at church. Being difficult to understand is neither comforting nor encouraging! My passion is to pray over, disciple and encourage those who are hurting! I think I miss that most of all! Oh and did I mention there is no cure?  Botox shots through your neck into your vocal chords offer  temporary relief for some but has to be repeated every 2-3 months for the rest of your life! And so I wait! I wait for God to restore my voice!

I know there are many of you who are experiencing much more difficult trials than I’m going through and have waited years for God to answer the cries of your heart! There are those of you where time is of the essence and you need your answer NOW…A critical diagnosis or a large debt that’s due soon. Depression, weariness, hopelessness and even despair have dug deep, dark ditches in your soul! Some of you may have already given up or on the edge of saying game over. And there are some of you who have just begun to wait for God to move.

As we wait and wait and wait, we are easy prey for the enemy! He loves it when we get discouraged and start questioning and doubting the Lord! Just as satan said to Eve in the garden “Did God really say…”. He begins to accuse us and God, and since he is the father of lies, he begins to speak (lie) to us about our situations. Well us Jesus lovers didn’t just fall of the turnip truck!  We know there is only one way to defeat Satan and his lies and that’s with the Truth found in His WORD!!

Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to a Scripture in the Word that is a right now living and active specific PROMISE for YOU. Satan can NOT counter the Truth in the WORD! He knows he’s dead in the water and he doesn’t have a leg/tail/pitchfork to stand on! THE WORD ALWAYS WINS! 💪📖👏✝

Over the past 10 years as I have waited for my singing voice to return and now my speaking voice and have talked with countless others who are waiting for answers to their prayers, I have been seeking the Lord and asking Him:

        WHAT DO WE DO WHILE WE ARE WAITING?

******HOPE!******

 IF WE LOSE HOPE WE LOSE!

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12

H.O.P.E. stands for Having Only Positive Expectations. When we pray asking God to move, do we really EXPECT Him to? Do we speak negative things about our circumstances or do we declare what God says!

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”John 15:7

“And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will he hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him.”1John 5:14-15

“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”John 14:13,14

“You will receive whatever you ask for in prayer, if you believe.”Matt 21:22

“I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”Matt 17:20

Most all of these Scriptures are the red letter state your life and reputation on take it to the bank Promises that JESUS Himself spoke! It doesn’t get any better than that! You must have a come to Jesus meeting and make a choice whether you are going to believe Him and take Him at His Word… or not! And remember asking the Holy Spirit for a Scripture promise to counteract satans accusations and lies telling you that God will never answer that prayer? Well there’s your right now Word that is even now being sent forth by God Himself to accomplish what it was sent forth to do!

Need healing? “That evening many demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. He cast out the evil spirits with a simple command, and he healed all the sick. This fulfilled the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, who said, “He took our sicknesses and removed our diseases.”Matt 8:16-17

Salvation for a loved one? “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”2Peter 3:9

Need provision? “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.”Phil 4:19

There’s a Promise for whatever you are asking God for! Of course if you’re waiting for your new 2018 Porsche or 5,000 square ft beach house in Carmel, you might just get old and grey waiting! We can’t jump on the blab it grab it gravy train BUT the Lord does love to bless His children! But seriously, we know the Lord wants His children to experience the ABUNDANT life He came to give us and that includes healing and wholeness in our body, soul and spirit as well as ALL of our needs being met!

Here is another thing the Lord is teaching me in the wait!

   ******CONTEND!******

The definition of contend is “to exert one’s self to obtain or retain possession of, or to defend.” Jacob wrestled /contended with God and told Him he wasn’t letting go until He blessed him! In 1Timothy we are told to fight the good fight! But no worries! Apart from Him we can’t do anything and it’s His strength and power that lives in us that allows us to CONTEND for the Promises! We can not do it without HIM and if we try we’ll feel like a 5k runner trying to run a marathon!🏃‍♀️🏃

The following is taken from an article written by Jim Goll who knows a lot about contending as he was healed of terminal cancer.

“Why Contending Is Necessary

A. You are contending for more than just yourself – your breakthrough is for others!
Please realize that what you are going through is not just about you! Every personal breakthrough is so that you can release faith, courage, healing, and the grace package you just received from God to others. Maybe you are contending for a breakthrough in cancer. Maybe you are laboring for a victory over generational curses. Well, your individual, personal victory builds a testimony which helps others receive what you fought so hard for. You are contending for your family, church culture, city, and even nation. Come on now, you are contending for more than just yourself!

B. It strengthens you in God. It builds you up!
If you work out, you look buff. If you are a couch potato, then you will resemble one. In the ways of God, contending in the spiritual is a lot like lifting weights – there is a resistance factor that eventually works in your favor. Your contending causes you to grow up spiritually, cleanses your motivations, and builds you up. The process of becoming might seem intense at times, but believe me, it strengthens you in the long run.

C. There is a real enemy who opposes your promise. Your fulfilled dream is the enemy’s nightmare!
Why is contending necessary? Because we have a real enemy and your success is a threat to the kingdom of darkness. We must put on the full armor of God because your wrestling match is not against your boss, spouse, pastor, or children. Our battle is against the powers and principalities of darkness and evil spirits in the heavenly places.  

Last but not least, the Lord is teaching me to:

                                ******REST!******

I know I just talked about contending and that seems like the antagonist to rest, but we contend by His Spirit and in His strength. The Lord beckons us to lie down in green pastures but sometimes He MAKES us! Psalm 23 He promises us peace in the midst of storms and protection from all that is meant to harm us! Chew and mediate on Psalm 91!

We can rest while we wait because all of our HOPE is in Him! He is FAITHFUL AND TRUSTWORTHY AND TRUE TO HIS WORD!!

“And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us GREAT and PRECIOUS PROMISES. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires” 2Peter 1:4

He is our Advocate, our Redeemer, our Deliverer, our Provider, our Healer, our Prince of Peace and so much more! So we rest in His GOODNESS while we wait! For

             HE WHO HAS PROMISED IS FAITHFUL!

So as we WAIT we:

HOPE

CONTEND

REST

And the Lord will show each of you some other things He wants you to know, to do or to learn until you see the fulfillment of what you’ve been asking Him to do! So we wait together, encouraging one another to not give up, to not stop short of prayers answered and promises fulfilled! We need each other and those who are weary in their waiting desperately need to find HOPE again!

In Isaiah 40:31 there are some awesome Promises for those who wait on the Lord! The word WAIT is also translated HOPE or TRUST! In the waiting, hoping and trusting:

*we get renewed STRENGTH

*we MOUNT UP with wings like eagles

*we will RUN and not be weary

*we will WALK and not faint

So take heart precious ones! There is life and strength in the wait!

This one thing I know! He is wild about each one of you and has a deep desire to bless you! None of His plans for you will be thwarted! He uses the waiting to draw us ever so close! He longs for an intimate love relationship with each one of us and will use this time of waiting to woo us, perfect us, refine us, strengthen us, empower us, teach us, use us, speak to us and make us look MORE LIKE JESUS so others will want to KNOW HIM!

                            Isn’t that worth the wait?

Heavenly Father,

We ask you to draw near to us as we draw near to you! Reveal to us everything you want us to learn during these trials! We want to know you more intimately! We want to look more like Jesus so others may know You! Give us courage and strength as we wait for you! Our hope is in you and you alone! 

In Jesus Mighty Name

Amen

I would love to pray for you as you wait! Please feel free to share your request with me! There’s power in prayer and numbers!!

With all His love,

tara

Let’s go back……waaaay back…..to a beautiful garden, a perfect garden with the most luscious trees! No bugs, no 100 degree temps or humidity (=good hair!), oh and no clothes necessary because there was no shame, no self-consciousness, no sin! Only cool breezes and the greatest thing of all… the constant fellowship and Presence of the LIVING GOD, Creator of heaven and earth and everything in it!

Who could ask for more? Except Adam and Eve! Here it all began. The great deceiver! The father of lies! Spewing out promises that were as far from the truth as the east is from the west!

And then flesh reared its ugly head in a quest to be wise and just like God! Surely just one bite wouldn’t hurt anything! Look at that fruit! It’s so beautiful and looks so tender and juicy! 🍎

And so our lives were changed forever!

As we look at Genesis 3:8-10, it’s kind of crazy for Adam and Eve to think they could hide from God! I know there were lots of trees and everything, but really? But even crazier, how could the all knowing, all present Lord God Almighty have to ask them “WHERE ARE YOU?”  Doesn’t He know? Can’t He see them?

It’s not rocket science! He asked because He wanted them to answer the question, look within, see their rebellion, feel remorse and repent of their sin! But sadly that didn’t happen! The blame was put on each other and even God Himself!

Things have not changed since those days in the garden! We still blame others, our circumstances and even God Himself for our disobedience! Today, right at this moment, our Lord God wants to ask each one of us:

WHERE. ARE. YOU?

The million dollar question and one that if we answer honestly and then choose to take steps to change, could alter the course of our life and bring us into greater intimacy with our Lord and give us the abundant life Jesus promised us!

You know we are so good about taking our cars in for maintenance and tune ups and we faithfully make time for yearly checkups with our doctor and dentist……but our walk with God needs check ups and tune ups too!

1. WHERE ARE YOU in your relationship with the Lord
2. WHERE ARE YOU in your relationships with your family?
3. WHERE ARE YOU in your relationships with friends, neighbors, coworkers?

1.It’s time to take our temperature! 🤒🌡Are we hot with a passion to know Him more?  Is HE our FIRST priority, does our relationship with the Lord trump everything else in our life, our family and friends, our jobs, our activities, our Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and even our ministry to others and in the church? Do we spend more time with HIM or on the things of this world? Time really tells us where our treasures are and where our treasures are there our hearts will be!

2. How are things going with the fam? Are we murmuring or complaining about our spouse, our kids, our siblings or even our parents? Is there someone you’re not speaking to in your family?Is there discord, unforgiveness or do we just take them for granted and forget to show them unconditional love and appreciation? Aside from Jesus, are we putting our family above everyone and everything else or do they get our leftovers?

3. How about our friends, neighbors, coworkers or even those we come in contact with at the grocery store or restaurant? Is there discord, disunity, divisiveness or even jealousy amongst friends? Do we try to pretend we have no prejudice and that we don’t pass judgments on those who are different than us or who treat us unkindly?  Or do we walk in the unconditional love of Christ, loving and giving to others and expecting nothing in return? Do others see us as Jesus with skin on? Do we carry the fragrance of Christ?

There is a very sobering verse in Revelation 3:15,16 and one that causes all of us to cringe! Not a popular sermon topic! I know I don’t really want to meditate on this part of the Bible! Let me chew on the verses that talk about how much God loves and forgives me, how I’m seated with Him in heavenly places and how the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in ME! 💃 As they say in the South, you can’t beat that with a stick!……..

But we NEED the full counsel of God and His Word, for that is how we are conformed to His image and transformed so that others will see Jesus in us and loooooong to KNOW Him! So here it is in all of its in your face reality, mixed with love of course!!

The Lord God Himself says:

“I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!”

HOLD ON! Don’t stop reading! I can almost hear those buttons clicking, returning to your news feeds on FB to find out what your friends ate for dinner!

JUST WAIT! THERE’S GOOD NEWS!!  No need to cover ourselves with sack cloth and ashes and beat our chests! Or live in fear and trembling that our God will go full out Wizard on us like the Wizard did to Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz!

For we have been REDEEMED by the blood of the Lamb and clothed with His robes of RIGHTEOUSNESS! 

He has seated us WITH Him in heavenly places!

Though our sins are as scarlett, He has made us white as snow! 

He loves us with an everlasting and unconditional love!

He’s the God of a million+ second chances!

He lovingly and gently corrects and convicts us like a Good Good Father because His love for us NEVER changes!

He understands every temptation that comes before us and He forgives then forgets every sin we repent of! 

He graciously gave us His Word so that we would know exactly how to live His abundant life, experience every spiritual blessing and be equipped for every good work that He planned for us BEFORE we were even born!

So you see precious ones, this check up/tune up is profitable and necessary for us so that we can identify the things in our lives that are creating distance between us and our Lord! We desperately need Him in these troubled times!

The Elections. The Economy. Terrorist Attacks. A Diagnosis. Divorce. Rejection. Shame. Abandonment. Loneliness. Anxiety. Addictions. Strongholds…….. These things do not have to shake us or break us, but fear will grip us if we are not staying close to God and our Faith, Hope and Trust in Him is not steadfast and secure!

FOR HE IS OUR:

PROTECTOR!

PROVIDER!

PEACE!

SUSTAINER!

DELIVERER!

REDEEMER!

REFUGE!

STRENGTH!

HOPE!

EVER PRESENT HELP IN TIMES OF TROUBLE!

So WHERE ARE YOU? Do you know Him and love Him more than you did yesterday, last month, last year? Our God already knows the answer to that question and yet He lovingly calls out to each of us and longs for our complete honesty and heartfelt desire to turn from those things that are hindering our intimacy with Him!

Yes we blew our opportunity to live in a perfect garden, but God sent His son Jesus to die for us! And He rose again, giving us full access to the constant fellowship and presence of the Living God, just like Adam and Eve had in the garden before they selfishly made a decision to put other things above Him! Oh that we would all stop repeating that same mistake!

Let this verse resonate within you and overtake your heart, soul, mind and strength! May this be our deepest desire and our heartfelt prayer!

Oh dear sisters and brothers, we MUST draw near to Him! We can not live a lukewarm life! There is too much at stake and too much to lose!

So come on in to His Throne Room for that check up! Let Him ask you those questions and walk you through a tune up! He’s got all the grace and mercy you could ever need and He will run to meet you with His arms wide open! His unconditional love will cover and fill you until every bit of that which is lukewarm or even cold will be replaced by a passion and love for Him that can not be quenched by anything or anyone in this world! And it only hurts a little! So hurry! He’s waiting for YOU!!

OUR LOVING AND KIND FATHER!

THANK YOU FOR NEVER GIVING UP ON US! THANK YOU FOR ASKING US HARD QUESTIONS THAT CAUSE US TO STOP, LOOK AND LISTEN!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND FOR YOUR WILLINGNESS AND DESIRE TO SEE US BECOME ALL YOU HAVE CREATED US TO BE, LACKING NOTHING!

HELP US TO DIG DEEP WITHIN OURSELVES, DROP OUR PRIDE AND BE TRUTHFUL WITH THE ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS! WE CAN TRUST YOU TO WRAP YOUR LOVING ARMS AROUND US, OFFER FORGIVENESS AND GIVE US THE STRENGTH TO DO THE NEXT RIGHT THING!

HOW AMAZING THAT WE CAN COME BOLDLY INTO YOUR THRONE ROOM AND RECEIVE ALL THE GRACE AND MERCY WE WILL EVER NEED! WE OWE OUR LIVES TO YOU! WE LOVE AND ADORE YOU! IN JESUS MIGHTY AND MATCHLESS NAME! ✝

❤️ALL my love,

tara

 

Ahhhh dear girls! I knew I could grab your attention with this title! Who doesn’t love to hear a command to get out of the kitchen! Now I like to cook but I would rather lay on a bed of nails while undergoing Chinese water torture than clean the kitchen after I cook! Not to leave the guys out, the command could be step away from the lawn mower, weed eater and edger!

You gotta love our girl MARTHA!! She knew JESUS was coming to HER house and she had to uphold her reputation as the hostess with the mostess and provide the ultimate fine dining experience for the Messiah, Savior of the world! Can you just imagine what you would do if Jesus was coming to your house? I know I would be on my hands and knees with a toothbrush, scrubbing my dirty grout off the floor and cleaning my baseboards! I would also have to clean out my closets and drawers because after all HE sees and knows everything!

Then you’ve got Martha’s sister Mary! How can these two be related? She’s always got her nose in the Torah and she practically prays all day either in the temple or in her “prayer closet”! I’m sure Martha would describe her sis as being so heavenly minded she’s no earthly good! Mary Mary’s not contrary! She’s the epitome of a devoted worshiper and follower of Christ!

So the stage is set. MARTHA has been preparing the house for days and has been in the kitchen since 5am! Sweet Mary, being the great sister she was, had been helping Martha in between her reading and praying, but as soon as Jesus showed up, she high tailed it out of the kitchen faster than a Pharisee can find fault in you! Down she goes! Right at the feet of Jesus! She knew she may not get many opportunities like this!

THE SON OF GOD WAS IN THE HOUSE!

Well that didn’t sit well with Martha! She needed Mary back in the kitchen ASAP to watch over the gefilte fish while she prepared and cooked the matzah! Surely Mary knows that for the matzah to be kosher she only has 18 minutes from start to finish! True story! But when Martha complained to Jesus, she was a bit taken back by His response! Luke 10:41,42 Not only did He tell her she was way too stressed out-translation: basket case, but He used her name twice! MARTHA MARTHA!!! Now she’s in good company! God used the double name to address Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Samuel and Jesus also used it for Simon Peter and Saul/Paul right before He spoke something really BIG!  She’s in great company and she better pay careful attention because He’s about to speak wisdom for the ages!

Whaaaaat could be better than having a spotless house and a Food Network worthy meal???? Hmmm…Doing what Mary is doing!

Now the chapter ends right there so we don’t know if Martha had that aha moment, dropped her matzah bowl or balls right then and there, let the gefilte fish burn and nestled in as Jesus spoke golden nuggets of truth and wisdom! Or did she roll her eyes, not letting Jesus see that of course, and scurried back to the kitchen to complete her tasks! After all sis Mary isn’t budging from the feet of Jesus and no one would be able to eat if she doesn’t finish cooking! And Lord knows, God in the flesh had to have sustainous to keep up with His grueling ministry schedule!

There is a third scenario which I really love and one which we should try when we are in those crazy busy times. It’s being a Marytha or Marthy. A combination of Mary and Martha! I can see Martha having that light bulb moment when Jesus called her out on her anxiety and busyness, then calmly going back to her work in the kitchen while meditating on the words of Jesus! Sometimes life pulls us in so many different directions and demands our time, but our attention can still be focused on the Lord! We just have to pull our thoughts away from our tasks and CHOOSE to turn our eyes and our hearts towards Him!

So finally after all this yada yada, here’s the takeaway! There are times we need to be Martha’s or Marty’s (for the guys)! I mean the meals don’t get cooked or the trash taken out or the yard mowed or the laundry done unless we do it! I think I just heard someone mumble that’s what kids are for! 😳 But we can still turn our thoughts to Him as we work! It’s not easy though!

I do think most of us have waaaaaay too much Martha in us and not enough Mary! What percentage would you give yourself measuring Martha to Mary? Some of you may wildly fluctuate depending on the day or season of your life and some feel that twinge of conviction as you realize you are running in the upper 90% of being a modern day Martha/Marty! So now what!

1.Acknowledge you’re Mary deficient!

2.Understand the incredible benefits of being more like Mary!

3.Be intentional about carving out time to sit at the feet of Jesus!

ITS AS EASY AS 1,2,3!!😉

Lets just talk about some of the benefits of spending time with Jesus! And I don’t mean running through our cares, concerns and complaints! I confess that many of my times with Him are spent in a one sided convo with very little listening on my part! I have to be intentional about being still and quiet before Him! You also have to believe that the God Who created heaven and earth and everything in it, longs for you to come into His presence! He’s more accessible than anyone on this earth and He is absolutely wild about you and has so much He wants to teach you and tell you!

There are many doctrines out there that teach that God doesn’t actually speak to His children and that He has already spoken to us through the Bible! But the Word is clear! He does speak to His children and wouldn’t you love to hear what He has to say about you, or a circumstance you’re in or a big decision you have to make? Try this little experiment. Go sit in a quiet place, it’s great if you can play some worship music softly in the background, then say out loud to the Lord “I love you!” Listen for His response! 😊❤️ HE STILL SPEAKS!

 

Oh my goodness precious ones, if you would just get out of the kitchen and take just even 5 minutes or 10 or 30 to clear the noise in your head and just be still before Him, the things He longs to speak to your heart will transform you and bring you unspeakable joy, hope and peace! Yes, your Creator wants to spend time with you! Yes you with all the flaws, faults and shortcomings! Yes you are His beautiful mess and He wants to pour out His unconditional love on you! You are His delight!

He is OUR Mighty Warrior Who heals, saves, protects, redeems and delivers us! He gives us wisdom when we ask, peace in the midst of our storms, joy for our mourning and beauty for ashes! He fights our battles for us and forever lives to intercede for us! He loves us no matter what we’ve done and ALWAYS takes GREAT delight in us! And He rejoices over us with singing! Wow! That thought just makes me giddy! Almighty God sings over each of us! Each song is perfectly composed for us individually and sung with the most amazing love and grace! A love song like no other!❤️

My goodness doesn’t that want to make you bolt from the kitchen to do what dear Mary did? I know the busyness of our lives make this a real battle and of course the enemy will do whatever he can to prevent it, but this time is worth fighting for! Start with just 5 minutes! Just be still, open your eyes, ears and heart! Before long you will hear that beautiful still small voice speak to you and as you continue to sit at His feet, I’m almost sure you will hear Him sing that beautiful love song over you! I can almost hear it now!

Our Most Gracious Lord! It’s so hard to wrap our brains around the fact that You in all your Greatness and Glory, desires and even longs for an intimate relationship with each one of us! Forgive us for not carving out the time to allow you to pour out over us, your love, wisdom, peace, joy, grace and delight! We need you now more than ever in this world where tragedy, chaos, disillusionment and hopelessness are shaking us to the core! But in YOU do we put our hope and our trust! Help us Lord to step away from the noise and set our eyes on You, the only one Who can bring peace in the midst of all this craziness! We commit to being intentional and even protective of our daily time with you! You are so worthy of our time and effort! Thank you for being patient with us! We love you more than we can say! In Jesus matchless and beautiful name! Amen

With ALL my love,

tara

GOOD GOOD GOOD Friday!!!…..The most difficult, traumatic, excruciatingly painful day for JESUS was absolutely the most life-changing, freedom-giving, love-filled day that we as believers in Jesus have ever known!

This was THE day that LOVE DEFEATED death! Not only physical death, but any death we all experience in this life here on earth. The death of dreams, relationships, expectations of what your life was supposed to be like! We’ve all experienced the death of something that left us at best discouraged and quite possibly devastated! But on THE Day known as Good Friday, the GREATEST expression of LOVE ever known, SHOUTED in the face of death and snatched away it’s power to discourage us, defeat us and crush us!  We need only BELIEVE and then RECEIVE it!

It’s THE Day we got direct access, 24/7, to the very THRONE of GOD, assuring us that His ear is inclined completely to our cries, groans, bargaining, pleading and prayers! Hebrews 4:16, Matthew 27:51

It’s THE Day we received the unrepayable gift of a life eternal, forever and ever and ever and ever……with our Creator, Redeemer and Spirit of the Living God! John 3:16, Titus 1:2

It’s THE Day that purchased our FORGIVENESS for every sin we have or will commit and all it takes is our confession! Romans 5:8, 1John 1:9

It’s THE Day that fear was defeated by a LOVE like no other! Romans 8:15, 1John 4:18

It’s THE Day that allows us to be blessed with every spiritual blessing and by His divine power, be given EVERYTHING we need to live a godly life! Ephesians 1:3, 2Peter 1:3

It’s THE Day that we received provision for our peace, our healing, our freedom, our deliverance, wisdom, grace, mercy, justification, sanctification and EVERTHING we could possibly need! Jesus said: “IT IS FINISHED! Isaiah 53, John 19

I truly could go on and on and on about the incredible benefits and blessings that the children of the Living God received on that day that LOVE defeated death! That day our Blessed Saviour WILLINGLY and even JOYFULLY chose to suffer the most excruciating and painful death on the cross, being beaten and scourged to the point of being unrecognizable!

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THE day when He hung on OUR cross!! The one we should have had to suffer on because it was OUR sin that caused our Abba Father to CHOOSE to send His ONLY SON to this earth to DIE so WE. COULD. LIVE!! OH WHAT A SAVIOUR! ❤️

What drew Him there to that cross? It was YOU precious son and daughter! His indescribable LOVE for us drove Him tenaciously to that cross with a deep desire to KNOW you and be there for you through every trial, tribulation and death you experience!

Just go ahead and insert your name here…

My JESUS willingly suffered and died for _________ , because He loves me with an everlasting and unconditional love and passionately desires an intimate and everlasting relationship with ME!

YOU ARE WORTH IT TO HIM! I AM WORTH IT TO HIM!

TO HIM WE. ARE. WORTH. EVERY PAINFUL THORN ON HIS HEAD, EVERY LASH HE RECEIVED THAT RIPPED HIS BACK TO SHREDS, EVERY TIME SOMEONE MOCKED HIM AND SPAT UPON HIM AND BEAT HIM WITH THEIR FISTS AND EVERY LAST DROP OF BLOOD UNTIL HE TOOK HIS VERY LAST BREATH!

Oh dearest ones, this is not hype or exaggeration! In fact our meager words and vocabulary can not even come close to describing the magnitude of His suffering and the deep deep love for you and me that compelled our Father to send His beloved son to us to die! GOD being God could have just given us eternal life and forgiveness of sins and just forgotten about the BIG sin in the garden of Eden that caused death and sin to rule and reign, but he knew the world would never fully comprehend the great love He has for every person ever created, unless He sacrificed His most precious gift, His only begotten son!

And our beautiful JESUS!! He could have chosen not to do this! Oh He thought about it it the garden when He compelled His besties to PLEASE stay awake with Him! Oh how He needed their love and encouragement as He was in such anguish that He literally sweat drops of blood! But it was late and they were tired from walking all those dusty roads these past three years, the throngs of needy people coming at them day and night, desperate to be healed and delivered, and then there was that Last Supper together where one of their very own turned on their beloved Master! So much stress, weariness, intensity, so much drama, so much confusion and so many unanswered questions! And so……… they slept.

I’m thinking back on my life to the many many times I’ve been just like those disciples! Because of all the distractions, drama and stresses of life, I’ve chosen to shut her down, retreat, deny, ignore and just be asleep at the wheel! I’ve known the gifts God has blessed me with and the assignments He has given me and yet I’ve missed it many times! Times when He’s really needed me to be JESUS with skin on to someone who was hurting! But I was too distracted and self-absorbed!

I was shopping one day when the Lord spoke to my heart as I looked at a young mom pushing her toddler through the store. He said “go and tell her that she is a wonderful mother! And tell her I said so”! Well I looked closer at that mom and saw a happy, well dressed, beautiful woman! I immediately reasoned in my blonde brain that she must already know that she’s a great mom and surely has no need to hear that! And so I shopped on! That was probably 8-10 years ago! I think about that momma often and wonder what my words of love and encouragement, which would have been straight from heaven, would have done in her life and heart that day! I know we have all had those nudges! My prayer is that we are not like those disciples who let their Lord down when He needed them the most!

In looking at ALL the amazing benefits the CROSS of CHRIST brings us, and I did not even list them ALL, for me the BIGGEST benefit has been death to the spirit of fear that controlled and tormented my life from the time I was young! I grew up with a grandma whom I adored, but she constantly told horrific stories of people who had these terrible diseases and died! She didn’t mean to bring fear to me but because I am very empathetic, I took these stories to heart and they deeply affected me!

This began MANY years of walking in fear that these same diseases would come upon me. And surely the bad family genetics would visit me and I would end up with these same diseases that have been passed down for generations! Then one day about 10 years ago, my precious, godly, prayer partner, SuzAnna, asked me a question. So what is the worse thing that can happen to you if you were to get a disease and die? I said well I would be with my JESUS for eternity! She then said that I needed to tell satan that I was no longer going to fear disease or death because the worst thing that could happen is I’d get to see JESUS face to face! I also needed to tell the enemy that I was going to TRUST God to take care of me and keep me until THE appointed day I am to be with Him! I have to admit I really didn’t want to tell satan that I wasn’t afraid to die, I thought he just might take me up on it, but I knew I had to do it! My precious friend actually had me repeat after her since I didn’t think I could muster up the words!

And…… Oh My Goodness! I think a GIANT lightbulb actually went off over my head that surely could be seen for miles and I’m pretty sure I heard a choir of angels singing as years and years of the weight and torment of fear was replaced with a revelation that my God LOVES me PERFECTLY and HE can be trusted with my life! All because of THE Day LOVE defeated death, fear, sin, shame, rejection, addiction, sickness, guilt and EVERYTHING that causes us pain and ultimately affects our relationship with The One Who LOVES us MOST!

Oh precious ones! Let me be that friend to share with you the TRUTH about the CROSS and the LOVE that was so vividly expressed there for YOU! Are you struggling with fear, rejection, loneliness, hopelessness, addiction, guilt, shame, sickness, anger, a broken marriage, a prodigal child………

KNOW that you have a God Who is:

• YOUR SAVIOR
• YOUR HEALER
• YOUR REDEEMER
• YOUR DELIVERER
• YOUR CREATOR
• YOUR PROVIDER
• YOUR COUNSELOR
• YOUR PRINCE OF PEACE
• YOUR STRONGTOWER
• YOUR PROTECTOR
• YOUR WISDOM
• YOUR STRENGTH
• YOUR SHEPHERD
• YOUR ROCK
• YOUR SHIELD
• YOUR COMFORTER
• YOUR CORNERSTONE
• YOUR BREAD OF LIFE
• YOUR LIVING WATER
• YOUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST
• YOUR ADVOCATE
• YOUR BREATH OF LIFE
• YOUR HUSBAND 
• YOUR INTERCESSOR 
• YOUR EVERLASTING FATHER
• YOUR MEDIATOR
• YOUR MERCIFUL GOD
• YOUR GRACIOUS GOD
• YOUR FORGIVING GOD
• YOUR LOVING FATHER/ABBA
• YOUR FRIEND

WOW! That is one AMAZING and INCREDIBLE list! One attribute for every day of the month!😊 But this is only a partial list! I can promise you, that no matter what it is you are battling, struggling with or going through, you can find Him right in the middle of it waiting to be your SAVIOR, HEALER, REDEEMER, DELIVERER……..because YOU. ARE. WORTH IT! And oh my, He LOVES YOU SO!

BEAUTIFUL, LOVING LORD GOD, WHAT COULD WE POSSIBLY DO TO REPAY YOU FOR THE UNFATHOMABLE GIFT OF YOUR PRECIOUS SON JESUS! NOT ONE THING, YOU SAY! BUT I KNOW WHAT GIVES YOU GREAT JOY IS WHEN WE RECEIVE EVERY BENEFIT THAT THE GREAT SACRIFICE OF YOUR SON PURCHASED FOR US WITH EVERY DROP OF HIS BLOOD! FATHER, FORGIVE US FOR LIGHTLY ESTEEMING THESE PRECIOUS, COSTLY GIFTS AND HELP US TO BELIEVE THEN RECEIVE ALL THAT YOU HAVE PROVIDED FOR US TO LIVE THE ABUNDANT LIFE YOU SO YEARN FOR US TO HAVE! HELP US TO TRUST YOU WITH ALL WE ARE, ALL WE HAVE AND ALL WE GO THROUGH BECAUSE WE KNOW YOU HAVE PROMISED TO NEVER EVER NO NEVER LEAVE US OR FORSAKE US! WE SURRENDER OUR FEARS, OUR GUILT, OUR SINS AND SORROWS TO YOU FOR WE KNOW THAT YOUR LOVE DEFEATED ALL THESE THINGS THAT GOOD GOOD GOOD FRIDAY! WITH ALL OF OUR LOVE! IN THE PRECIOUS NAME OF JESUS! 

Love ALWAYS,

Tara

P. S. I think I see countless giant light bulbs popping up all over the place and can hear beautiful choirs of angels singing as precious saints run to the Cross to embrace EVERY blessing and benefit that was purchased because of LOVE!

It’s Friday!!!! But Sunday’s comin!👏🎁

I stood before 400 people and testified to the awesome healing power of God! I proclaimed His goodness and faithfulness! I praised Him for doing the impossible! I encouraged others to stand and believe that God was GREATER than any problem or circumstance they faced!

You see my son Adam was diagnosed with a brain tumor at 22 months and the tumor along with the 8 1/2 hour surgery to remove the orange-sized growth, caused a seizure disorder that would control our lives for a number of years!  During his first grade year he had a seizure at school almost every other day. One specialist told us since there was seizure activity coming from every part of his brain, he would ALWAYS have them!

I walked out of that office knowing I had exhausted every medical and natural pathway to end these wicked seizures! If you’ve ever seen one you know why I call them wicked! They’re terrifying to see and you’re helpless as you watch your precious child stop breathing as their sweet little bodies writhe and contort. But God…..

He heard my cry that day that said to Him  I BELIEVED this was not His will for my child and that I knew He was willing and able to heal my beautiful boy! From that moment on, Adam has had only a handful of seizures and mostly only with high fevers or sleep deprivation! Quite amazing since for 5 straight years and dozens of medications, there seemed to be no relief in sight! He will be 30 years old this year and has been married to his beautiful wife Melissa going on 3 years!  But God!…. He is FAITHFUL!

The “rest of the story” and the meat of my message today takes us back to that great testimony I gave to those 400 people! What you don’t know is that it had been exactly one year at that point since Adam had had a seizure! Not even fever or sleep deprivation brought one on! What you also don’t know is that very next night after I stood and proclaimed Adam’s healing, he had a seizure out of the blue! There was not one thing that caused it! It was random, unprovoked and it broke my heart! He was 13 and about to leave on his first church mission trip!

As I laid there that night on the top bunk keeping watch over Adam, tears of deep disappointment rolled down my cheeks! How could this happen God? Didn’t you see me stand up boldly before all those people and testify about how You healed my boy?Didn’t you hear how I proclaimed Your goodness and faithfulness? Didn’t you love it when I exhorted them all to trust You for their miracle?

Then I heard it! Words that would forever change my heart, shape my attitude and become the filter and eyes that I would see everything through!

“REHEARSE MY FAITHFULNESS”!

Those three words that my precious Lord spoke to me, would begin on that very night to turn my heartache into hope, my tears into triumph and my confusion into the certainty that MY GOD IS FAITHFUL NO MATTER WHAT I SEE!

Rehearse! Being a theatre major, I knew what that meant but looked up the official definition.

Rehearse: “to recount; to say again, to go over again and again.”

THERE IT IS! God wanted me to go over and over again and again and recount ALL the ways and ALL the times He has been FAITHFUL to me, my family, my friends, to all the many prayers I have seen answered!  But on that night my soul was desperately disappointed and my mind wanted to run rampant with thoughts like, the seizures are back, they will keep coming, he’s not been healed! But God….. in His loving kindness and tender mercies repeated: REHEARSE MY FAITHFULNESS!

And so I did! Up on that bunk that night, the Lord brought to my mind all the many many times in my life when He protected my family and me, forgave me, gave me grace and mercy, healed my body, touched my kids and brought them through sickness, brought our marriage through different challenges, provided financially, brought favor with job promotions, brought precious friends into our lives, blessed us with a home and cars, vacations and met each and every need. Always. Every. Single. Time!

He replayed in my mind all the times He had come through for us from the moment Adam was diagnosed with his brain tumor! The time he ended up in ICU at 5yrs old having had 26 continuous seizures which paralyzed him on one side of his body and left him unable to speak or swallow! Dr’s said that all those seizures had fried his brain and that it was likely the damage would be permanent!

I did it then too! Right there in that ICU I recounted all the ways the Lord had touched Adam and carried our family through each and every dark, scary, discouraging moment! I BELIEVED in the promises of God including Psalm 103 that says He forgives all of our sins and HEALS all of our diseases! I REHEARSED HIS FAITHFULNESS! The next morning Adam woke up totally whole and completely healed! Praise our Faithful God!

Love, love, love this verse in 2Timothy 2:13! Even if we are unfaithful, HE REMAINS FAITHFUL! It’s who HE IS! Faithfulness is His character! Let that sink into your mind and then get deeply rooted and grounded into your heart! God’s Faithfulness is not dependent on what we do or don’t do! We can be absolutely faithless or unfaithful and He is still going to keep every one of His promises to us and love us unconditionally! Deuteronomy 7:9

REHEARSING HIS FAITHFULNESS renews and builds our faith and helps us to believe that even though you don’t know how or when, God will come through for you again! And on that night in that top bunk, the Lord filled my heart with hope to trust in His Faithfulness even though it looked as if everything was falling apart! And Faithful He has been to keep Adam healthy all these years!

Oh precious ones, I know there are so many of you going through dire circumstances that have caused your faith to waiver and your heart to lose hope! Just in the past few days I have spoken with precious friends, one just being diagnosed with ovarian cancer, another whose husband has been suffering with a painfully debilitating disease for 12 years and he’s just in his 40’s. You each have your stories of struggle or know someone who is trying not to sink into the quicksand of despair!

If we choose to look at our circumstances and the things going on in the world, we will go under emotionally and or spiritually and it will affect us physically as well! But God!!!…… He wants us to REHEARSE HIS FAITHFULNESS in our lives! For those worried about this country and the elections, we need to rehearse God’s Faithfulness to America since the 9/11 terrorist attacks! Even with economic crisis’, a fractured and disunified government, and now a Presidential election that is looking more and more like we may be voting for the lesser of two evils (my personal opinion only) , God has kept us safe from further attacks and blessed our economy to recover from stock market dips and high unemployment! I believe He will continue to provide for and protect His children!

In all of this we have a Good Good Father and a Faithful God who wants us to trust in His unwavering and everlasting love for us! He wants us to take a look back throughout our lives and go over and over and recount the countless times He has never left us or forsaken us, the times His strength empowered us and His grace was sufficient! The times when things looked impossible yet He made path to victory in the midst of the desert!

REHEARSE HIS FAITHFULNESS today or tonight as you lay in your bed and turn your thoughts of discouragement and even despair into faith in the One who knows the number of hairs on your head! The One who captures every one of your tears in a bottle and hears and is moved by every cry of your heart! The One who gave His very last drop of blood and breath so you and I could have all that we need to live the abundant life He wants us to have here on this earth! For He has overcome sin, sickness and death! But what really moves Him to act on your behalf is His deep deep love for you, His beautiful child! Trust Him with the impossible!

OUR GRACIOUS HEAVENLY FATHER! YOU HAVE PROMISED US THAT YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE US OR FORSAKE US AND THAT YOU HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD AND ALL THE PERILS IN IT! HELP US IN OUR FAITHLESSNESS AND UNBELIEF TO CONTINUALLY REHEARSE YOUR FAITHFULNESS TO US AND TO BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE THE GOD OF THE IMPOSSIBLE AND THAT THERE IS NOTHING TOO HARD FOR YOU! HELP US TO GRAB HOLD OF EACH OF YOUR PRECIOUS PROMISES FOR US AND NOT LET GO UNTIL WE GET OUR FREEDOM, OUR HEALING, OUR VICTORY IN WHATEVER WE ARE BATTLING! HELP US CONQUER OUR FEAR, DOUBT, UNBELIEF AND YES EVEN APATHY! THANK YOU FOR BEING OUR REDEEMER, OUR HEALER, OUR DELIVERER, OUR PRINCE OF PEACE AND PROVIDER! GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS OH GOD TO US! WE LOVE YOU WITH ALL OF OUR HEART, MIND, SOUL AND STRENGTH! IN JESUS MIGHTY AND MATCHLESS NAME!

LOVE ALWAYS,

tara

John 3:30

We’ve all heard it or perhaps have even been the one to say it as an awkward, insecure elementary school kid! “Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!” So now as grown ups, who would we chant that to with true grit and conviction? Who would we shout this to with righteous anger and a spirit that says “enough is enough!”?

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Oh no! We’re not going to talk about the devil are we? We should not give him any credit or spend any time focusing on him! After all he’s just a character with horns, a pitchfork and a red suit that is waaaaay too tight on him! Well I for one spent years believing his lies! But one glorious day I had a revelation that one of his greatest schemes is to get the children of God to believe lies about God Himself, others and ourselves! He is the father of lies and there is absolutely NO TRUTH in him!

The power of a lie is that it masquerades as TRUTH! The Word says satan disguises himself as an angel of light! 2Cor 11:14 If you think that everything you believe is TRUTH, then you never question your thoughts and feelings! I can almost promise you, that without a doubt, every one of us is believing at least one lie!  Most of us are buying into a number of lies perhaps about God or what we think about ourselves. If we never recognize a lie as a lie, then we are deceived into thinking that what we believe is truth so we never question it!

But Houston we have a problem! Lies create false beliefs which in turn cause a chain of events with damaging emotions, often wrong behavior and distorted views of who God is and/or who we really are! Who we believe God to be and how we look at ourselves and others is in direct correlation to what we believe! So if we are believing LIES about anything it can and will totally DISTORT our views and thus affect how we react and behave!

This is BIG dear ones!! Really really BIG!! I would venture to say if we counseled with every person in the prison system and prayed and asked God to reveal any lies they believe, I’m pretty sure there would be a long list for EVERY ONE! These lies resulted in behavior based on believing every one of those lies were true! I’m sure many heard these things growing up; You’ll never amount to anything! You can’t do anything right! You’re just like your father and he’s a loser!  You’re so stupid! You’ll never change! 

And for those of us that aren’t in a physical prison, we can become entrapped by lies in an emotional and sometimes spiritual prison that create feelings like fear, rejection, unforgiveness, anger, bitterness, insecurity, hopelessness and even things like self righteousness, self pity, legalism or pride.

Perhaps growing up you heard some of those same things mentioned above. Satan can use other people to speak his lies to us! You’ll never amount to anything! You’re so stupid! Or perhaps no one spoke those things over you but you’ve heard the insidious, persistent voice of satan in a deafening whisper, accusing you, accusing God or others with words of failure, contempt, hopelessness, hatred, unforgiveness, rejection, guilt, shame… and the list of accusations is endless! For satan is the accuser of the brethren and he accuses us day and night before God! Rev:12:10

So what lies are you believing? Obviously you can’t rattle those things off the top of your head since the very nature of a lie is deceiving you into believing it’s TRUTH, therefore never questioning it! One of the lies I believed for many years was that God’s love for me was based on how good I was, how much I prayed, read my Bible, how kind I treated my family and others, how much time I spent in church and on and on!

Growing up I heard from many sources: “God’s watching you and He’s not happy with what you just did!”  So my view of God was that He was a hard taskmaster requiring close to perfect behavior from me which of course I could never accomplish! Unfortunately this type of performance based, conditional love, affected the kind of mother I was to my children! I expected close to perfect grades, behavior and attitudes and when I didn’t get that from my children, I responded harshly, lacking not even one ounce of grace! All because I believed a lie!

Thank the Lord this lie was exposed one day as a friend spoke the TRUTH to me and I was introduced to God’s grace….getting blessed by God when we don’t deserve it or earn it! It’s His gift to us because He is wild about us ya’ll! We are His beautiful mess and He loves us no matter what we’ve done or what we don’t do!! Word!!😉

The great news is that your Loving, Compassionate, Good Good Father (cue song!☺️), desperately wants to reveal every. single. lie. you believe and replace it with His TRUTH! He wants you to be FREE!

You see, when we believe lies that are counter to God’s TRUTH, it keeps us in bondage and puts us in captivity! These lies give us a distorted view of everything and this can lead to destructive behaviors like addictions, self-hatred, rebellion, promiscuity.  It can also affect every relationship we have on earth! I’ve seen marriages and children and friendships damaged because of lies believed! I truly believe that these dear ones who take their own lives are listening to the lies satan is telling them and they truly believe there is no way out and no hope here on earth! Oh how crucial it is to expose this wicked scheme of the enemy who comes to kill, steal and destroy!

So how do we uncover these lies? Well that’s good news too!! All we have to do is sit before the Lord and ask Him to reveal them to us! We then need to dig into His Word to find out the TRUTH to dispel each specific lie! It’s all in the Bible! Amazing!

One day a few years ago, I felt prompted by God to sit quietly before Him with a pen and paper and ask Him to reveal any lies I believed. I questioned the Lord on this as I felt I had already done this many times before for many years! Surely every lie had been exposed by now! But I’ve learned by now to be obedient to His promptings so I sat on my couch and prayed! I was stunned as the Holy Spirit began bringing things to my mind faster than I could write them! I knew this was God! I couldn’t come up with this stuff on my own since the nature of a lie is to be hidden! There were no BIG lies on that list as those have already been exposed and replaced with His TRUTH, but a lie is a lie is a lie and these “smaller” lies have negative consequences as well! I quickly asked God to reveal His Truth to replace each lie and He gave me Scriptures for each one which made this a done deal! Lies exposed! Case closed!

Here are some common lies satan tells us:

• I’m not good enough, pretty enough, thin enough
• I’m not worthy
• I don’t deserve a good husband, job, house, car
• Everyone is better than me
• I can never measure up
• I’m not smart enough
• I’ve messed up so much no one could love me
• I’m not lovable
• I can never be free from this addiction
• God doesn’t love me
• God is punishing me
• God caused my tragedy or sickness
• God is angry with me
• God is disappointed in the person I am
• God loves me only if I do the right things
• God loves me more when I do the right things

Once a lie is exposed and TRUTH is revealed in His Word, the lie has no more power over you, your thoughts and behavior change, those chains are broken and YOU ARE SET FREE! Now that should make you want to go put on your dancin shoes! 👠💃

So what are you waiting for? Go grab a pen and paper and bring with you a heart that is ready and willing to dig down into those deep dark places where satan has deposited his ugly lies! He has held you captive for way to long! Enough is enough! Don’t waste another minute believing a lie! We say to you enemy; Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!

Your Savior, Redeemer, Healer and the One who loves you deeply and passionately is riding in on His white horse! Your Knight in His shining, mighty armor is coming to rescue you! Take Him up on His offer to know the truth! Sweet freedom is yours precious ones and Jesus paid for it already with every last drop of His blood! That’s how very very much He loves you!

OH BEAUTIFUL LOVING FATHER! OH HOW YOU LOVE US AND LONG FOR US TO BE FREE FROM THE LIES THE ENEMY TELLS US THAT CAUSE US TO BELIEVE WRONG THINGS ABOUT WHO YOU REALLY ARE, YOUR CHARACTER AND EVEN CAUSE US TO DOUBT YOUR LOVE FOR US! LIES ARE WREAKING HAVOC IN THE LIVES OF YOUR CHILDREN WHO ARE IN BONDAGE TO THEM!  BUT THANK YOU FATHER FOR SENDING YOUR SON JESUS TO DESTROY EVERY LIE OF THE ENEMY! THANK YOU THAT ALL WE NEED IS A DESIRE TO KNOW TRUTH AND YOU WILL REVEAL IT TO US! HELP US LORD TO REALLY SEE EVERY LIE AND REPLACE IT WITH YOUR TRUTH! OH HOW GRATEFUL WE ARE THAT JESUS GAVE HIS LIFE FOR US SO WE COULD BE FREE! HELP US TO WALK IN THAT FREEDOM! IN JESUS MIGHTY NAME! AMEN

Love Always,

Tarabella

John 3:30

 

 

“She felt like doing her part to change the world, so she started by giving thanks for all the blessings in her life, rather than bemoaning all that was missing from it. Then she complimented her reflection in the mirror, instead of criticizing it as she usually did. Next she walked into her neighborhood and offered her smile to everyone she passed, whether or not they offered their’s to her. Each day she did these things, and soon they became habits. Each day she lived with more gratitude, more acceptance, more kindness, and sure enough, the world around her began to change, because she had decided so, she was single-handedly doing her part to change it!” 

I don’t know the original author of this story, but a precious friend posted this on her Facebook page this morning! It really struck my heart, not just because it’s encouraging and spurs me on to ✔️ my own attitudes about life, but this dear friend has experienced the hardship of taking care of a husband who was seriously ill and in and out of the hospital for many years and then losing him and having to raise an 8th grade son alone!

Through it all, even though it was devastating and heart wrenching, she was always the one encouraging everyone else and never failed to make people around her laugh, and I mean belly laugh! I know she had many times where she just wanted to give up and just crawl in a hole and stay there, but she did the things this story talked about and slowly but ever so surely, she changed her attitude about life and that changed her world!!

So what’s my excuse for having a bad attitude? What’s our excuse for negative or critical thinking which leads to negative and critical words, which can lead to some pretty yucky behavior and consequences? We are talking some pretty serious badittudes!

The definition of attitude is: “A manner of thinking, feeling, or behaving that reflects a state of mind or disposition: a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a persons behavior. A predisposition or tendency to respond positively or negatively”. What’s your tendency? Do you naturally respond positively or negatively to the events that life brings you?

So where do our attitutudes come from? Sometimes we grow up and take on certain attitudes of our parents, both good and bad, sometimes we experience disappointments, rejection, loss or hurts that cause us to develop certain negative attitudes. If we are not careful, these negative and critical thoughts will go from being thoughts in our mind to being rooted in our heart! The Word of God tells us:

What we allow to get into our heart literally shapes and forms the person we are or become! I don’t know about you, but that scares the bejeebers out of me! It makes me want to stop dead in my tracks and really evaluate those thoughts/attitudes that have infiltrated my heart!

Now we all can have days where our attitudes are not what they should be! Our morning starts with the alarm not going off, the kids are grumpy, someone cuts you off in traffic, we spill our coffee on our new blouse, you get behind someone at the checkout buying 50 $5.00 gift certificates at Walmart Mart (yes this REALLY happened to me), you busted it to fix dinner and no one is home to eat it and on and on with the stuff life brings! It’s ok to cop a bit of an attitude on days like that but if we are not careful, our thoughts can turn into this:

“I’m so sick of these kids always being grumpy in the mornings! Can’t believe they are so ungrateful and don’t appreciate anything I do for them!”

“I’m so sick of having to get up and go to work! This job doesn’t pay enough and they don’t even appreciate all my hard work!”

“I can’t believe how many people are horrible drivers! No one watches out for anyone else but themselves!”

“I can’t believe how selfish people are! Don’t they know there are people behind them in line who need to hurry up and get home!  There are so few considerate people in this world”

You see how a few unfortunate circumstances can turn into broad based bad attitudes that will cause you to generalize very specific and situational thoughts and turn them into negative attitudes that go deep into your heart and shape the kind of person you are! WE ARE WHAT WE THINK! And like Shakira says “Hips don’t lie”, our LIPS DONT LIE!! We can’t hide what’s really in our ❤️!

Soooooooo it’s time to STOP and really begin asking the Lord if there are any attitudes in our hearts that are negatively affecting us, our behavior and or the people around us! I know for me I have struggled with a “BADITTUDE” about the city I have moved to this past year! I’ve moaned and complained about the traffic, bad drivers, unfriendly people, the BIG bugs and high humidity! Thankfully the Holy Spirit nailed me on that a few of months ago and showed me that my critical attitude was affecting those I love the most! I have made a conscious effort to guard my heart and my tongue! I’m still not there 100%, but I’ve come a long way baby!

There are so many Scriptures that address our attitude in our thoughts and words! Philippians 4:8 talks about how me must think about things that are noble, true, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy! Well that pretty much makes it clear that all that other stinkin thinkin has no place in the life of a lover of God!

The most powerful Scripture about our words is found in Proverbs 18:21:

“THE TONGUE CAN BRING DEATH OR LIFE; THOSE WHO LOVE TO TALK WILL REAP THE CONSEQUENCES.”

That is sobering and we carry a HUGE responsibility to keep our attitudes and our words positive, encouraging and full of hope, faith and love! We can speak life to those around us or let our negative attitudes and words bring death and destruction!

I think where we get tripped up is we speak BEFORE we think! I remember when one of my kids was in High School and they knew just what to say to push my buttons which caused me to lash out with words that were unkind, unloving and very ungodly! I got so weary of this constant battle of attitudes and words! One day I pleaded with the Lord to help me put a guard on my mouth! Psalm 141:3 says: “Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips!” With God’s help and my determination to be a godly example to my child, my lashing out stopped and soon after so did the button pushing!

But even more important than just controlling what we say, it is crucial to ask the Lord to search our hearts, for it is there that destructive attitudes live, grow, fester and defile us to the very core of who we are! Pray these Scriptures to insure that our hearts stay pure and positive!

“SEARCH ME, OH GOD, AND KNOW MY HEART; TRY ME, AND KNOW MY THOUGHTS.” Psalm 139:23”

“GOD, CREATE A PURE HEART IN ME, AND RENEW A RIGHT ATTITUDE WITHIN ME!” Psalm 51:10 ISV

We all know people with positive attitudes! Jesus was our GREATEST example! Even as He faced relentless persecution, excruciating suffering and finally a brutal death, His attitude remained loving, kind and compassionate. We have His Spirit within us that can empower us to keep our thoughts, words and deeds worthy of our calling as sons and daughters of God!

So on this first day of ❤️ month, I’m committing to doing an ATTITUDE ✔️! Will you join me? Ask God to reveal any badittudes you may have, especially those that are really causing damage to those around you or things that are ruining your witness as believers! I know having a negative or critical attitude can also affect our health and it just plain drags everyone down!

The fruits of a pure heart and positive thoughts and words are a closer relationship with the Lord, our families and friends,  better health, fruitfulness in our jobs, ministries, peace of heart and mind, joy, contentment and the list goes on and on!

We can’t always change the circumstances around us, we can’t always change what others think or how they behave but we can change our words, thoughts and attitudes and subsequently what we let get into our hearts! Let’s choose LIFE! Let’s change our attitude and just maybe we can change our world! 🌎☀️

FATHER GOD, SOME OF OUR ATTITUDES ARE NOT PLEASING TO YOU! FORGIVE US FOR LETTING OUR FLESH RESPOND TO THE FRUSTRATIONS AND TRIALS OF OUR LIVES! SEARCH OUR HEARTS O GOD AND REVEAL ANY AREA THAT IS NOT LINING UP WITH YOUR WORD AND YOUR CHARACTER! WE LONG TO BE A LIGHT AND A WITNESS FOR YOU AND CAN NOT DO THAT EFFECTIVELY IF WE HAVE THE ATTITUDES OF THE WORLD! WE COMMIT TO BEING INTENTIONAL ABOUT THE THOUGHTS WE HAVE AND THE WORDS WE SPEAK! MAY THE WORLD KNOW WE ARE YOURS BY OUR ATTITUDES! THANK YOU THAT WE DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS IN OUR OWN STRENGTH! IT’S NOT BY MIGHT, NOT BY POWER, BUT BY YOUR SPIRIT WE CAN SUCCEED! FOR YOUR GLORY LORD THAT WE MAY KNOW YOU AND MAKE YOU KNOWN! IN JESUS MIGHTY NAME! AMEN

Love Always,

Tarabella

John 3:30

 

 

 

Food, glorious FOOD! Both Oliver and I agree……. Food is glorious! It’s the center of our culture, our gatherings with family and friends, it’s a comforter and motivater to exercise and to top it off the Word even tells us; “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”Revelation 3:20 NLT The Lord Himself will sit down and share a meal together with us in Heaven!

Now I’m from New Orleans! Enough said! I don’t need to explain my love for food! We definitely LIVE to eat down in da bayou sha! It doesn’t matter what time of the day or night it is, if you come by to visit someone in Louisiana they will brew you a fresh pot of coffee and chicory, heat up the leftover jambalaya or gumbo and serve you a piece of homemade chocolate pie with mile-high meringue! I am salivating as I write this and perhaps may have a small tear in one eye!😅

In my adult life I have allowed food to control me in both positive and negative ways and everything in between! I’ve had an OBSESSION with it! In less than 3 months I gained 20 pounds when I went off to college and feasted on every carbohydrate ever created, loaded with some kind of cream sauce, cheese and or butter! I then got a job in a Mexican restaurant, no less, and the pounds continued to stick to my petite 5’3″ body! I didn’t feel good, had no energy and had a terrible body image as I was 40 pounds heavier than my normal weight! I met my dear husband Joe during this time and was amazed that he fell in love and then married me in my “more to love?” state!

Shortly after we married, we moved to Los Angeles, home of the beautiful people! Everyone was thin, ate healthy and exercised and the women wore no makeup! Boy did I stick out like a debutante at a hockey game! I enrolled in dance classes in “Hollywood” and thus begain a huge food pendulum swing! I became anorexic thinking the thinner the better! I would eat only 500 calories a day Monday through Friday, then would BINGE eat until Sunday afternoon! I would go to dance class Monday night with big plastic pants on to cover up my HUGE 105 pound body! I actually SAW fat when I looked into the mirror!

One afternoon as I was with my Sunday school class in the mountains, they were all enjoying homemade apple pie with ice cream and I sat there with my baggie of celery and carrot sticks! Thank God for His Holy Spirit that allowed me to see the absurdity of my actions not to mention the crazy looks from my friends! He showed me I was heading for some serious health, mental and social issues if I didn’t get a grip on my food attitude-foodatude! I prayerfully sought His help and strength and became intentional about a more balanced approach to food!

Since then I have gone from creeping back over to the food depravation camp, though not even close to that extreme , to swinging over to the “throw caution to the wind” foodatude!

Many of my friends from Tyler can still picture me coming at them waving my boney forefinger, as they were drinking a diet soda or eating a donut! I was after all their own personal “food nazi” who was doing this for their own good! Not how to win friends and influence people however! I had also become a group fitness instructor and personal trainer which added fuel to the fire and felt it was my mission to educate people about food and fitness!

Five years ago we moved away from family and friends and this town of 80,000 with a few chain restaurants!  We had lived there for 23 years! We discovered life in a big city that was a “foodies” paradise! Ohhhhhh here comes another pendulum swing! Yep, there it went! All the way to the other extreme! After eating “healthy” for over 30 years and foregoing EVERYTHING fried or filled with sugar, I had had it! We lived in an apartment and tried a new restaurant or happy hour 4-5 times a week! It felt like we were newlyweds and I began gaining weight accordingly! I was rediscovering the deliciousness of all things fried and sweet and I also was not even exercising! I was living to eat!!

Fast forward to last March when we picked up and moved to Houston, yes another Foodie paradise, to be close to our beautiful grandbabies! Of course we had to check out the many eclectic epicurean delights here! And so the OBSESSION with food continued as the pendulum remained stuck on the I don’t care what I eat cause I’m enjoying every morsel! Of course I’ve studied enough about nutrition to know man cannot live on Mexican or Italian food alone! Weak on the vegetables! I continued to feel sluggish, developed sleep issues and just felt as I was aging by the minute! And all of this despite joining a health club and working out 4-5 times a week! Exercise can not offset what we are putting into our bodies!

So what has it taken to yank that pendulum back to a balanced and healthy place? I looked at my precious grandbabies one day and realized I wanted to be here to see them grow up, get married and even have my grandbabies! I want to impart practical and spiritual wisdom and truth to them, but I want and need to be healthy and energetic to do it! I want to be able to able to finish strong, the race set before me! I want to accomplish every assignment the Lord has for me and I don’t want to be dragging myself along to do it! I was abusing my body on both sides of that pendulum! I want to learn to eat to live!

This verse really speaks to my heart! Yes our bodies are TEMPLES! THE Holy Spirit LIVES there! When I read “You are not your own You were bought with a price!”, it made me realize that Jesus paid an enormous price for each of us by giving up His life as every last drop of blood was lost at the cross! Couldn’t I respect my body enough to feed and nourish it in a way that brought health and vitality to it instead of death and destruction?

We are told to glorify God in our bodies! For most of my life I have been obsessed with either not giving my body enough food or being a glutton and overindulging on foods I knew were harming me! Through much prayer, research and more prayer, the Lord has given me the plan that will help me be and feel my best! Your plan will probably be different but if you ask Him how you can glorify Him in your body He will tell you! I’m writing down my goals so I can be accountable!

1. DRINK MORE WATER! 1/2 my body weight in oz’s
2. CARDIO EXERCISE AT LEAST 4x wk; WEIGHTS 2x’s a week
3. EAT CLEAN 5 days a wk; CHEAT 2 days but not going crazy!😜
4. VEGGIE/FRUIT SMOOTHIES 4-5 days (I don’t eat enough of them!)

Some people may disagree with the cheat days and some with serious health conditions should only have 1 cheat meal or none at all for a time! I just know that when I deprive myself, that pendulum flies on over to the overindulgent side! I don’t think God is too legalistic about food and an occasional delicious treat probably won’t harm us! Some of you may be doing a mix of the 2 extremes putting you in the middle, but that’s deceiving! Eating healthy even half of the time is not going to offset the negative effects of the other 50% of your diet. Research shows that even exercise can not offset unhealthy eating, so there goes the idea that if I’m working out then I can eat what I want! 😁

So what’s your foodatude? What’s your obsession that is keeping you from being all God has called you to be and fulfilling every assignment He has for you? It may not be food that’s out of balance in your life, perhaps another addiction? Alcohol, an unhealthy relationship, too much focus on material things, money, your job…..? We can even have an unhealthy obsession with our kids or spouse! What ever you’re OBSESSED with, you can be sure that when that pendulum is way over on one side, there are things being neglected, a big part of you is not able to be and do the things that God has only called YOU to do!

Let’s be accountable to one another, let’s spur one another on to the GREATNESS that lies in the midst of a mess! All it takes is a prayer and a heart that is longing to live a life fulfilling God’s amazing, specific and life-giving purpose! The benefits are out of this world!

PRECIOUS LORD!  WE COME TO YOU TODAY CONFESSING OUR OBSESSIONS TO YOU AND THE THINGS THAT HAVE GOTTEN US OUT OF BALANCE AND HAVE CAUSED US TO TAKE OUR EYES OFF OF YOU! IN SOME WAYS THESE THINGS HAVE BECOME OUR gods! HELP US TO REALLY SEEK YOUR WISDOM AND GUIDANCE AS YOU REVEAL THESE THINGS TO US AND AS WE ALLOW THE PENDULUM TO SWING FREELY AND LAND IN THAT PLACE WHERE IT IS FOR OUR GOOD AND YOUR GLORY! THEN GIVE US THE STRENGTH TO FOLLOW YOUR PLAN FOR US WHICH WE KNOW IS AMAZING! WE TRUST YOU WITH OUR BODY, SOUL AND SPIRIT! WE LOVE YOU MORE THAN OUR OBSESSIONS! In Jesus Mighty Name AMEN

LOVE ALWAYS,

tarabella

John 3:30