loving through prayer

"If you surrender yourself to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and live a life wholly for God, you will realize that the time spent in prayer is an offering well pleasing to God, bringing blessing to yourself and power into the lives of those for whom you pray." ~ Andrew Murray

This past week a friend and I spent some time praying through a list of people who do not know the love of Christ. We used Scripture as our guide for this prayer time as we read through Ephesians 3:14-21 using the person's name for each YOU found in the verses. We would like to do this weekly and trust God for the results which we may not personally see during our lifetime since most of these people are not people we have regular contact with in our lives.  

Do you know someone in your life who needs to find God's love?  Let me save you a step by providing God's Words here allowing you to pray for them right now:

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen (NAME) with power through his Spirit in (NAME)'s inner being so that Christ may dwell in (NAME)'s heart through faith.  And I pray that (NAME), being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that (NAME) may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him to glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  AMEN" (Ephesians 3:14-21 NIV)

Use whatever version of the Bible you may have - we used the Living Translation that day because that was the Bible we had on hand - and mark this Scripture so you can regularly use it for a prayer time.  You never know how God will use your faithfulness to prayer!

Blessings,

Tammy ~@~

love in February

A new month stretches out before us!  February tends to delight me because it is the shortest month in midst of a long winter.   Even with this year being a Leap Year and adding an extra day it's still the shortest month.  And it's also the month of LOVE....

God's love

"Beloved, if God so loved us, then we ought also to love one another."  I John 4:11

Ponder how you will love others in the month ahead!


Blessings,
Tammy ~@~

share the love

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to the power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Jesus Christ throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." ~ Ephesians 3:14-21

One of my favorite things to do is to prayer Scripture and this is one of my favorite passages to use.  Fill in the word "you" with a person's name.  A person who is especially in need of knowing how amazing and abundant God's love is for them.  I'm guessing that could be just about every person you know!  So what are you waiting for....get busy going through your list of people who need to know God's love by praying this Scripture for them!  You may never know how much it could impact their life TODAY! (and that's the cool part)

Blessings,
Tammy ~@~

shooing the shoes

No wonder there's no room in our mudroom.  As I was recently trying to clean that room up a bit, I counted eight pairs of soccer shoes from last summer/fall in the midst of the tangled mess of boots, scarves, mittens, hats. Interestingly there's NOT eight kids that are wearing them which means we have the pairs that ended up not fitting for this season never being taken back downstairs.   Time to put ALL those shoes in the downstairs closet until they'll be needed again later in the year.  

A mother's work is never done, eh?


Blessings,
Tammy ~@~

be free

Well, my husband filed a complaint.  At first I was taken back and hurt.  Then I realized it wasn't personal and it was something I could work on to help him not be so annoyed.

What was it?  He said the scent of his clothes made him feel sick to his stomach. Really sick to his stomach.  Even being outside when the dryer was running was making him feel that way as the air wafted in his direction in the breeze.

After my initial reaction, I was stumped.  I had basically used the same detergent and softener sheets for my laundry for as long as I could remember.  Tide© - with bleach once it came out - and Bounce© dryer sheets.  For years.  It was a combination that worked well with lots of boys and their dirty clothes combining with our dry static-filled winter air. 

But my current reality is that my family is growing up and my youngest son is almost 18 years old and not playing in mudpiles much anymore these days.   The last few kids at home are girls who change clothes frequently which means those clothes hardly see a dust speck.  

Take that information with the consideration that perhaps those two favorite laundry products have changed their formulas over the years making them much more scented which is a disaster to my husband who already is known for his sensitive sniffer.

Time to consider change.

Here's my first attempt at change.  Sticking with products I know but in their scent free sensitive line.  So far so good as the scents in our clothes are gradually coming out with each washing and my husband is much happier which means I'm much happier, too. 

Time to get off my computer and spend some time using those products this weekend!

Blessings,
Tammy ~@~

head to heart

Yesterday for our devotional time, we were on Psalm 136.  Growing up in a liturgical kind of church, I thought it would be fun to read the beginning of each verse and have the kids reply together with second half of the verse - His love endures forever.  We were about a third of the way through the psalm and the kids weren't thinking it was so fun.   To them who had not grown up in a liturgical kind of church it seemed like a silly thing to do. 

So we talked about why the author of this psalm kept repeating that phrase - because he felt this was an important lesson to sink into the hearts of those who read it. As the author - inspired by God - considered so many things about God, his only heart response could be that His love endures forever.  

Ya ya, they agreed.  Ya ya, they know that in their heads was my realization.  Ya ya, someday when they are perhaps older they will know it in their hearts was my other realization.

Because as they live their lives that thread of faith will weave throughout each day. They will pass through deep waters and dark valleys and when everything falls apart there will be that thread of faith still evident when they realize in their hearts the one and only truth that will truly matter - His love endures forever.  

And then they will read Psalm 136 with eyes filled with emotion.  Like their mom.

His love endures forever.


Don't forget it!


Blessings,
Tammy ~@~

all the Bread

It's always cool to me how God reinforces what He's teaching me through Scripture that jumps out at me.  Here's the verse that went with my devotional today:

"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." ~ Matthew 4:4

Eating daily is essential to life.  When our bodies are not being properly nourished with good foods, life fades away.

So it is spiritually.  Jesus talks much about being the Bread of Life in John chapter six.  We need to be feeding on the words of God daily to become nourished as we allow God's words to fill our hearts.  

What does that have to do with yesterday?  Think of bread. How many people pull off the crusts to only eat the the soft middle?  Or just the opposite as I knew someone who use to pull off the crusts to eat them and left the soft middle uneaten.  

Jesus is the Living Bread.  We need to be nourished with ALL of His Word.  Nothing is optional.  It's all essential.  It's all life giving.  

Think about that today when you eat your sandwich for lunch....

Blessings,
Tammy ~@~