Merry Christmas

Max and I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. This time of year is about celebrating Christ’s birth and the life He has so freely given. For many this will be a time of celebration, spending time with family and friends, buying gifts, receiving gifts, parties, going to church, bright lights, Christmas trees and decorations. For some it will be the first Christmas without a husband, dad, grandpa, mother, wife, sister or friend. For other’s it will be spent alone, cold and hungry. For some it will mean going in debt.

Our prayer is that we reach out to our family in Christ and to the lost world this Christmas. We want to change in our family how we have been spending Christmas and make it all about Him and giving ourselves to those in need. Not just at Christmas time but every day. My prayer is that we seek God this year and ask Him to show us what is important to Him and allow Him to guide us.

There will be people in prison not receiving anything from anyone. There will be people in a nursing home without family and friends. There will be children who won’t have one gift to open. There will be families all over who need us to show the light of Christ to them. There will be families losing their homes and not having anywhere to go.

Dear Father, let us celebrate Christmas this year the way it was intended. Lord, we want You to shine through us to those in need. Lord lay upon our hearts those who need us and guide our steps, our words and our actions. Lord, we are so sorry for what we made Christmas and help us to be more like You. Help us to give the gift of You. Lord, we want to be obedient to the calling You have put in our lives. Please quiet our minds and hearts so that we can hear You with all that is going on right now to get ready for Christmas. Thank You Lord for coming to this world, suffering and dying on the cross so that we may have eternal life with You. We love you Lord. Amen.

Max and Tammy

Matthew 25:39 - 46

Mathew 25:39 – 46
The Sheep and the Goats
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 37 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' 41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' 44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45 "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these you did not do for me.' 46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. John 12:12

I read the above passage and verse and realized how much I need to seek God on this very thing. How much of my life am I clinging to and how much of my life am I losing for Him and His Kingdom?

Literally – are we helping the sick, visiting the people in prison, clothing and feeding the poor and are we inviting strangers in? Are there places in our communities that we can give money, food, drinks and clothing too?

Spiritually – are we helping the sick become healthy? Maybe they have a sin in their life and need help from the body to stops sinning. Is there someone you know in bondage/prison and does not have anyone to help them carry the burden. Do we see someone struggling but yet walk on by w/out offering ourselves to them?

Are we one of those people who are in bondage, hungry and thirsty but yet keep it to ourselves because we do not feel the love of Christ in the body? What keeps us from reaching out to others? What keeps others from reaching out to us?

My prayer is that we search God and ask Him to put in us a desire to give up our lives for Him and His family. My prayer is that we make this Christmas about serving Him and others.

Max and Tammy

Romans 10:8 - 15

NOTE today Tammy is having serious surgery. She was determined to remain faithful to her responsibility of providing the Breads this week, regardless. She's quite a woman and an exemplary Christian model for all of us. Please take a moment and lift Tammy, her husband, Max, and the medical team attending her in prayer. I know she and Max would appreciate our post-surger prayers as well….

Romans 10:8 But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,"[a] that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."[b] 12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."[c] 14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"[d]

John 3:16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[f] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for sending people into our lives to share who You are with us and what it means to accept Your calling on our lives. Thank You for giving us eternal life with You. Lord, give us the desire to learn more about who You are and how to live our lives for You. Search our hearts and take out any hardness that we may have and create in us a heart of love. Help us to spend more time with You in prayer. Keep us still and quiet so we can hear You and feel You. Help us to see You in all things. Help us to be a light for You each and every day. We want more of You Lord. We want a deeper relationship with You. Help us to be more like You. Guide us into the lives of others to share Your Word and Your love with the lost. Let us share the Gospel without adding anything to it. We ask all these things in Your Holy Name Jesus…amen.

Max and Tammy

I Peter 4:11

I have had a good life. I have been blessed by family, friends, jobs, a wonderful God-fearing husband, an awesome dog…I could list the blessings for many weeks. I even had great health. I knew God loved me and He was so good to me. I had a comfortable life w/out much pain or heartache. Then May 5, 2005 came and I lost my baby and a very dear friend of mine. Then on August 5, 2005, I found out I had breast cancer. My comfortable life that I had was no longer comfortable. I questioned myself. I questioned God. I honestly thought God no longer loved me and was punishing me. I really did. I was sick with thinking I had done something that caused this to happen to me. I could have gone on thinking that but God wouldn’t let me. God put in me the desire to search Him and His Word and come to realize that His love for me will never change and that He was getting ready to use me to further His Kingdom.

I think one of the most important things is to search God in all things. Sometimes I search myself more than I search God. God has a purpose for everything that happens in our lives. Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose.

I also think until we come to realize that God is in control of all things, the good and the evil, we will be missing the point of what is going on in our lives. Let our Lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on the harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thout shalt be well. 1 Samuel 16:16

1 Peter 4:11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as the ability which God giveth: that God in ALL things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion over for ever and ever. Amen.

My prayer is that our lives become all about God and His Kingdom. I pray that when good and evil come into our lives that we will seek God and His purpose in all of it. My prayer is that we come to the understanding that we “do not” and “cannot” build a highway to the sky. I pray that when trouble comes into our lives that we know God has a reason for it and His love for us is unshakeable. My prayer is that we cling to Him and know He has us in the palm of His hand and will never let us go.

I thank God for revealing Himself to me through this trial and for using me to serve Him and others. What an honor to be used by God. How often do we say, I want to be used by God...I used to say that so flippantly. Do we really want to be used by God if it means losing the comforts of our lives? Do we live our lives and “fit” God into our lives or are we truly living and giving up our lives for Him?

No matter how high a level we feel we are in our relationship with God there is still an infinitely deeper place to go with Him. What does it take to go deeper? Are we willing?

Tammy

Ephesians 2:8 - 9

Breads for me are sharing what God is laying on my heart to share. Sometimes it is something He has shown me in the past and sometimes it is what is going on right now. Today’s bread is about what He has been revealing to me the last few weeks. Maybe more and maybe I’m just now getting it.

Many times we think if we are sitting comfortably in our homes in front of a warm fire and everyone is “good” then we have been blessed. And yes, I thank God many times for being able to do just that. Many times we think as long as we have a job, a home, a family, etc, then we have been blessed by God. And yes, I thank God many times for having those things in my life. Many times we think if we have a full day of kids, sports, family gatherings, church dinners, church gatherings etc, then we have been blessed by God. And yes, I thank God many times for those things. I can think of many more blessings that we look at as “good” blessings given to us by God. And thank You Lord for all those things. But what happens to us when trouble comes into our lives? How do we perceive others when trouble comes into their lives? And when trouble comes how do we perceive God?

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 1 Corinthians 6

71 It was good for me to be afflicted, so that I might learn your decrees. Psalm 119

5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. 7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. Psalm 139

2 "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. Job 42

If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4:11

My prayer is that we seek God in all things. I pray that we seek His will for our lives and the lives of others. I pray that we look at life through God and His Word versus our understanding of things.

There are many times I thought something was a true blessing and it wasn’t, or was it?

Tammy