2015: A Year of Joy

When I realized that 2014 had culminated in success, and that I finally trusted God? I was overJOYed!

And, as I look back on 2015, Joy was such a fitting word. Not because everything was perfect, but because my God was and is perfect and He doesn't need me to be perfect. I even won a book called "Breaking Up With Perfect" from Amy Carroll!! I learned so much about Grace. That was my second word for the year, really. It still is. Grace is AMAZING! If you didn't get to read my post about it, here's a link on OneWord365. And here's the second one on grace.




My joy comes from the place of security inside knowing that I'm redeemed. That God's grace came to Earth (not on December 25, but that doesn't negate His coming) one time, lived for 33 years here, then died and rose again. And with His rising came the glorious hope that was foretold ever since the first time sin entered the world.

JOY to the World, the Lord has come.
Let Earth receive her King.
Let every heart prepare Him room.
And Heaven and Nature sing, and Heaven and Nature sing, and Heaven, and Heaven and Nature sing!

I weekly blog over at tammysincerity.blogspot.com and participate in the Five Minute Friday linkup over at katemotaung.com because it's the most wonderful community!
One of our prompts this year was JOY. Here's that post.

Thank you for joining me on my journey.

As I nudge the passing of time into another year, my new word is HUMBLE. And it's a word that God's been leading me to for a while. I've already had to learn some big lessons. It seems that the fall is always my trying season, and my place of great growth. This year was no different. I've been broken and humbled and He's not done, but it's making me such a better representative of Him!

That's all for now!
Love,
Tammy

Free From Pursuing Perfection (One Word Guest Post)

So honored again to share over at OneWord365 for the month of April. I forgot to re-post here.

So, here's the beginning, and then there's a link to finish over at the One Word blog. :)

~Tammy

It’s been a long and fruitless pursuit, but I’m finally getting free. Oh how wonderful it is to live a life without an impossible standard!
Often I feel like I’m the only one. The only person in the world who believes that perfection is attainable. I see every magazine and every internet photo and believe that these women have flawless skin. I have heard of Adobe Photoshop, but some part of me thinks that there are real people out there that look like these manipulated images. I then see everything I have that they don’t (or has been airbrushed away).
As a pre-teen, I experienced acne in all its glory. It became the only thing I saw when I looked at the mirror. It probably wasn’t as prominent as I believed, but I was very self-conscious. That was the real problem. Self. My focus was entirely on myself. Now, most pre-teens will struggle with self-consciousness—it’s a normal part of human development. In my thirties, however, I’m being set free. I’ve been given the secret!
Would you like to hear it? Are you tired of the up-and-down diet, beauty routine, next “new” thing that makes you feel great and then you fail? How many times are we searching for the wrong kind of success?

Click here to jump over to the OneWord365.com/blog site! (and read the rest)

Giving Up My Right to Grump (Choosing Joy)

Have you ever been disappointed by something?

Do you feel justified in your grumpiness, that "funk" that you find yourself in?

For a moment, you should allow the feeling, as it is real, but please please don't stay there.

I found myself fighting a few disappointments in a row and the temptation to stay there was real. God, though, through His Spirit, was gently speaking to me at each turn of events, each silent moment.

The cancelled babysitter, the unanswered phone call, the unanswered text, and then an hour later another set of unanswered calls and texts, and another hour later? Again.

What is it about knowing somebody could communicate with us that creates such angst when we don't get a hold of them?

"You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!" (NLT)
"You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you." (NIV)

Isaiah 26:3 is such a good tool to combat this crazy, frantic feeling that starts to come up from within!!

I need to trust in God. Not in my phone, not in another person's phone. I need to fix my thoughts on God and what is really important, not the wild musings of my imagination that jump to conclusions on a whim.

Pretty soon, if you fixate on "why haven't they responded", you will be in a stinky, smelly "funk".
Don't let it happen. Get up, get on with it and just trust that you'll eventually hear back.

Maybe, like in my case, "all circuits are busy".

That's right. I tried calling, and nothing worked. Except the voicemail. When the missed calls and texts were discovered? "All circuits are busy."

Thankfully, we have a landline for backup and I received a call.

By that point, I had calmed down, and had received some of that precious "peace that passes all understanding." (Philippians 4:7)

When we make a chOICE to REspond with Joy, we "RE-J-OICE". We make a "joy" choice.

This is a step in the journey to heaven that is well worth taking. Whether yours is a baby step or a giant leap, be encouraged to step!

~Tammy

Speaking From The Heart (Guest Post)

Today, my post is featured on One Word 365. Here's an excerpt and then a link to finish over at their page. So thankful to be sharing what God is teaching me in order that others may be edified and encouraged!
The words always come from Him and just flow through my fingertips. It's never something I'm able to do on my own!

In February, the image of a heart is frequently before our eyes as a symbol of love. When it comes to hearts, God is a multiplier. Whatever is in our heart, He will multiply for His use and His glory.

In Luke 6:45, Jesus said, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” (NIV)
A heart full of love will be multiplied, and love will abound. A heart full of hurt will be multiplied, and hurt will abound. The words we speak come directly from our hearts. What are we offering up to be multiplied and served to others?
When Jesus asked his disciples to collect food for the crowd of 5,000 men (plus women and children), Andrew said to him, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” (John 6:9 NIV)
Many of us have a small offering, but God is the multiplier of all and can feed many with what we have. If you are filled with joy, He will share that joy to people you never knew needed it. If you are filled with love, He will cause you to share love with those thought unlovable. If you are filled with negativity or bitterness, your bread is moldy and your fishes smell like fish—not fresh or life-giving. The multiplication of such brings sickness of heart, and is not to His glory whatsoever. Still, even Pharaoh who had hardness in his heart—God used his offering to display the hand of God in delivering His people out of an impossible situation.
Always, it is for God’s glory that our heart endures—that it is not of our own might or strength or power. Proverbs 4:23 gives us a warning “Above everything else guard your heart, because from it flow the springs of life.” (ISV)
Read the rest over here at OneWord365.com

~Tammy

A Perfect Zero

I love to do math. I've always enjoyed the simple, predictable comfort I have found in numbers. The answers never change. Again and again, I can control the outcome if I place the same numbers in the same equation.

How frustrating life becomes, when people are not predictable like numbers.

For me, a recent revelation occurred where I realized that I'd all along thought that God was like people. God is not. He is predictable and consistent, never changing. This is not to mean that I can predict what God will do, but that His character is laid out in the Bible.

1 John 4:18 "Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love." (NLT)

My life has been spent trying to please God. Trying to perform well so that I will remain in His favor, and worried that He will be angry if I fail. When I read the above words in New Living Translation, it was so clear. My efforts? A perfect zero.

Whether I try to add my efforts to God's love to gain more of it, or whether I fail and fear that my efforts will take away from His love for me, the truth is, that my efforts are a whopping zero!

All my failures and sins, multiplied by the value of my efforts? Deeds x zero = zero
All my good deeds, divided by the value of my efforts? Deeds / zero = zero

Christ died for us while we were still sinners, and all sin has been accounted for. The balance is paid and we have a zero account.

Let us then live a life worthy of our calling, penitent for our missteps but not pining over our poor performances. God has so much more for us. We say we're sorry and then we step forward, victorious! Just as you and I delight and praise young children for taking their first steps rather than expressing dismay at their stumbling and falling, God delights in our efforts toward His glorification!

Deuteronomy 31:6 "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (NIV)

God's love for you is perfect and unchanging, and there is nothing you can do to separate yourself from His love (Romans 8:28-38)

Filled with joy,
~Tammy  

Choosing Joy in Challenging Times

When you tell people that your word for the year is "Joy", you may receive some similar reactions. Some people then expect you to don pink glasses, dance, twirl, and sing like Glinda from "The Wizard of Oz" and her little Munchkins, "Fa la la la la, la la la, la la la."

Some people may roll their eyes and scoff at your naivete'. "Surely you don't think it is possible to be happy all the time?" Some people may impose their negative circumstance upon you. "Jolly good for you, you aren't facing *insert challenge* like I am." And, some people will have a response of life-giving proportion. Perhaps they have already found joy themselves. They will smile, affirm your choice, perhaps give you a motivational post on your facebook page or tag you in an Instagram photo.

The verse that first prompted me to consider "Joy" for the year spoke of considering joy.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4 (NIV)

Just yesterday, I had an amazing dream. I was bold, courageous, not afraid to fight and defend on behalf of others! Spiritually in the dream, I was battling the dark shadow people and completely confident that the Lord was with me! I awoke charged up, ready to go, saw some amazing things, heard amazing praises, it was a high!
Last night I don't remember dreaming. I don't know why I awoke at 3:30am, nor why I stayed awake until 4:30am.

Today, joy was a choice. I had a challenge in the afternoon, one I knew was coming, but was not looking forward to. It was necessary, it would be good for me, good for the other person directly involved, but still, it would be difficult, painful, and would be draining emotionally, mentally, physically, socially and spiritually.
I knew my situation needed to progress. It was time. We had to face the giant, knowing we could defeat it. 
Still, joy was not my first thought today.
Did I want to face this challenge?
No.
I wanted the Jonah option. Next ticket to Tarsus, please!

Now that it's done, progress has been made, I am trying to focus on the joy that is mine to have. Something happened. We had breakthrough. This has been a process over four years in the making. Last year, I chose "Trust". I wanted to trust God fully. Somehow, in all the turmoil that came, the brokenness that had to happen, He helped me lose that trust in myself and find my trust in Him.

I anticipate that this year is going to bring harder challenges, but it's because I'm deeply rooted in Him (Colossians 2:7) and it will only bring us closer together. 

https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/colossians2_7-roots.png

Truly, is that not joy? That my heart would be closer to my God, and my journey home would be that much closer to its blessed reunion?! I want to be refined, matured, to let go of the need for affirmation and to instead be full of rejoicing in hearts reached for Him. For His kingdom to advance, we must be prepared to let Him work in us and through us. That takes a lot, but He promises we will not lack anything when perseverance has finished its work!

I encourage you to draw close to Him. He is speaking to me through the prophets this year. Isaiah, Joel, Habbakuk, Zephaniah, Ezekiel, all their voices are being brought to life again! His Word was in the beginning and is still alive and speaking.
Choose to find the joy. It is there if you are looking for it. Joy is a reward. A reminder that we are being used for His glory, and the Holiness of God passing through us refines us in the passing!

May His praises be ever on my lips. (Psalm 34:1)
~Tammy

http://tammysincerity.blogspot.com