Posted on by Dr. Tammi Love · 3 Comments

Better Days

We are living in peculiar times. We’re experiencing unprecedented struggles that have yielded a bold complaint from our heart to God’s ear, “This isn’t fair.” Job, in the Bible, suffered unimaginative loss and pain, repeatedly. When Job couldn’t take it anymore, Job demanded God explain Himself. His heart questioned God. What is this?

Job’s suffering came at a permissive utterance from God. God made a back-room deal with Satan, allowing Satan to attack Job. The book of Job details his struggles, but also his repentance and recovery. Job’s story is good news for us today.

God is writing a book with the details of our struggles and our overcoming. The book God is writing concerning our journey is proving to be a best-seller. Our loved ones will read about the back-room deal God made with Satan at the onslaught of what we thought was going to take us out. They’re going to learn about how we pressed through and made it over. Maybe our book will take 42 chapters as in the book of Job, or perhaps it’ll take more. No matter the length of our book, God will get the glory in all we go through if we’re mindful of the words our heart speaks.

In despair, do we curse God? In disappointment, do we question God without deeper reflection? God understands our frustration in times of uncertainty. He also understands our anger. However, when times of weakness push us to poor choices, we allow our love for God to direct us to an intimate moment of remorse. Our authentic encounter opens the window of experiencing more with God, to include gaining back everything we lost and more.

Hold on! Don’t throw away all you’ve experienced with God! Your better days are ahead.

 

Posted on by Dr. Tammi Love · 3 Comments

Who Are You?

Growing up, I was taught your reputation is everything. Most importantly, I was taught the truth of your reputation is exposed when unexpected events disrupt your routines, and adversarial darts turn your world upside down. Who you really are lights up like a neon sign in moments of life that matter. Do you recognize who that person is? Are you satisfied with who you currently are and what you represent? Break from the shackles that restrain you from your purpose to please God. Be courageous and take the necessary time and effort to uncover who you are beyond the baiting of fleshly desires. Your deep dive will reveal you are who God says you are. God says you are unusual.

Who, in today’s attention-seeking world, would want to be different for God? God’s people don’t mind being different. As unpopular as being unusual can be, it is the reputation God calls for us to live out. God’s people are trendsetters, not copy-cats. God’s people are moved to action when the least is ignored. We decrease our egos so that His greatness is increased in our witness. We hold His Word close to our heart and profess it in the most uncertain times for peace and direction.

You are rare. You are remarkable. You are peculiar. You are unusual. That’s who you are. Now live it, with the praises of God continuously on your lips.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” – 1 Peter 2:9-10

Posted on by Dr. Tammi Love

One More Day

You’re still here. After every setback and setup, you’ve made it to live one more day. But for what?

We communicate our appreciation for life by the choices we make in plain sight of an ever-present God. No matter how hard we may try to hide our audacious acts, God sees them all. No matter our attempts to escape a consequence, God corrects us all. No matter our unbelief, God forgives us all. And He grants us one more day.

In our current time of uncertainty, living during the Coronavirus Pandemic, I am reminded of the blessing and opportunity of having another day to show my gratitude for God’s grace. I whisper my thanks in prayers; however, I feel the nudging of God to extend my appreciation to action. I am compelled to take advantage of my gift of a new day, one I’ve never seen or experienced before, one He has allowed just for me, and live it as God desires for me to live it, laying aside fruitless behavior.

One more day provides a new beginning. Negative talk, lazy practices, unforgiving thoughts, and complacency are left in yesterday. The moment our eyes discover the dawning of a new day, we must honor it with an unrelenting devotion to God. We should waste no time accomplishing what He has purposed us to do and say. For much is required from those who are given the abundance of one more day.

“… get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.” – Ephesians 4:1-3

Posted on by Dr. Tammi Love · 4 Comments

Put It All in His Hands

We don’t get far in life without having a made-up mind to follow God. We get the best results in our pressing when we are adaptable to the ways and means of God. This means we’ve got to dig deep to access the faith that goes against the norm and defies man’s abilities. This faith will activate God to do what no other can do. God deserves, not just words of compliance, but our actual obedience to trust Him, even in the scariest of times. We’ve got to put it all in God’s hands.

Putting it ALL in God’s hands takes us to places where we can’t see our way out. It takes us into our prayer closets, where we try to make sense of what doesn’t make sense.

But putting everything in God’s hands also settles our anxious heart. Resting our burdens at the feet of our God gives us blessed assurance of whose we are and who has His eyes on us, even when we don’t think He’s near.

Charles G. Hayes wrote the popular gospel song, sung passionately by many church choirs, “I Put It All in His Hands.” As a teenager, I joined others in our teenage choir in singing the song. I find the words very encouraging today.

“Whatever the problem, I put it all in His hands.
I know that He can solve it; I put it all in His hands.
This and that; This and that, I put it all in His hands.
No matter how great or small
He’s the Master of them all
I put it all in His hands.”

Go in peace. God will handle it all. Put it in His hands.

Posted on by Dr. Tammi Love

I Don’t Mind Waiting

The evidence of an effective Christian leader or an eager follower of Christ practicing their faith is one who waits on the Lord. Waiting isn’t a nuisance for them. It isn’t a waste of their time. Waiting on God is the best strategy for a Christian to get what he or she desperately wants – an answer from God. Whatever that answer may be, a Christian doesn’t mind waiting on the Lord.

Only God delivers answers to difficult questions man usually fumbles with temporary fixes. Only God closes doors to reveal promise in open windows. And only God orchestrates seasons of tribulation to be the birthing ground for breakthroughs. God sees the bigger picture. That fact has to be a remarkable game-changer for Christians. It has to make a difference when struggling with defining moments to trust God or man. 

The lost man or woman relies on seemingly clever tactics, innovations, and networking maneuvers amidst uncertainty. However, the re-born follower of Christ counts on and respects the beauty of waiting on and trusting God. Waiting is a sacred experience of expectation that reveals God’s magnificence, His rebuke, His love, and His instruction. Most of all, our waiting on God activates a renewal in our faith walk, a revival of our calling, and restoration of our zeal to obey Him. This perpetual rebirth is enough to allow us to run on just a little while longer, trusting everything will be alright.

“but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” – Isaiah 40:3