Passover: A Memorial to Freedom

As Christians many of us don’t know exactly what to do with the Passover holiday.

Isn’t it only a Jewish tradition?

I’d like to take a look at this important holiday and maybe give you a fresh way to look at it in your life today.

You may recall the 1956 classic movie The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston playing Moses. Although Cecil B DeMille took artist license with some of the story, most of it is taken directly from Old Testament accounts of the Israelite's deliverance from 400 years of slavery.

No doubt it will be shown this week on cable. If you haven’t seen it or it’s been a while since you have, I encourage you to watch it with you family this week. The visuals from this movie help me to have a clearer perspective on the reality of the Passover and its importance.

In this story, God has heard the cry of the Israelite people who have been bound by slavery to the Egyptians for hundreds of years. A series of events leads Moses, who has grown up as a Prince in Egypt, out into the wilderness.

God comes to Moses in a burning bush and asks him to go rescue the Israelites and lead them out of Egypt. After some initial doubt, Moses agrees. He goes before Pharaoh multiple times asking for the Israelite’s freedom to leave so they can worship God. Pharaoh denies them their freedom.

With each of Pharaoh’s denials God brings upon Egypt 10 plagues:

1. All the water in Egypt turned to blood

2. Frogs covered the land

3. All of Egypt was swarmed with gnats

4. Then a swarm of flies

5. All the livestock dies

6. All the people broke out in boils

7. A hail storm killed all the plants and animals

8. Locust covered Egypt and ate what was left after the hail

9. Three days of such darkness that no one could move

10. Death of all first born including people and animals

During the first 9 plagues God protected the Israelite people. But for the final plague-Death of the Firstborn- the Israelite people had to take an action to protect themselves.

Before the Death Angel came, God commanded the Israelites to put blood from an unblemished, first born lamb, over the door posts of each home; this would protect them from death.

Inside their homes, the Israelites ate a meal of roast lamb, bitter herbs and bread made without yeast. They ate bitter herbs to signify the bitterness of slavery. Unleavened bread; because the dough didn’t have to rise.

The meal was to be eaten while dressed for travel as a sign of their faith that God would deliver them. Although they were not yet free, they were to be prepared, for God had said he would lead them out of the bondage of Egyptian slavery. The Israelites were ready to leave at any time.

I’m sure you know the rest of the story, the Death Angel comes; the Pharaoh’s son dies then in his grief finally agrees to let the Israelites leave.

So what can we take from this story and apply to our modern lives today?

What lesson is here for us?

For us who are recovering addicts…?

For us who have overcome a particular challenge in our lives?

For us who have been freed from our own bondage?

Since Jesus was Jewish, he celebrated all the Jewish traditions. As followers of Jesus doesn’t it make since that we would celebrate those same traditions as well.

I suggest we take the Passover holiday and use it as an opportunity to celebrate the freedom that God has given us. Maybe have a Passover dinner with lamb, unleavened bread and some bitter herbs. I don’t mean in a legalistic way but simply to honor what God has done in our lives.

I don’t know about you, but the Death Angel has passed me by several times!

Praise God!

I am free today from the bondage of drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, from sexual and relationship addiction, from the grips of pornography, fantasy and disease.

Father God, thank you for sending Jesus Christ; The Perfect Lamb, and covered me with The Blood that saved me from the ultimate Death.

Let’s use Passover as a memorial to the freedom God has given us.

QUESTION:

What bondage has God freed you from?

What can you do to remember the freedom God has given you?

Maybe you aren’t yet free of your bondage?

What can you do as a sign of your faith that God will bring you out as He has promised?

Exciting News!

I'm excited to announce that I'll be writing as a freelance/guest blogger for the www.XXXChurch.com ministry starting sometime in April!

For those of you unfamiliar, XXXChurch has been on the leading edge, tackling the porn industry from the inside, for 8 years now. In 2002, when I was heavily in my own sin/addiction I ran across their site one day when I was surfing for porn. I immediately thought it must be a joke.

It's far from a joke. The founders Craig Gross and Jake Larson started simply by showing up at the renown Las Vegas Porn convention with their own booth, telling the porn stars and producers that Jesus loves them no matter what they have done. The ministry has grown so much that now they've started, among other things, the Strip Church which is reaching Sin City with the love of Jesus Christ.

Three years after I first heard of XXXChurch, I got free myself from sexual addiction and have followed their ministry closely hoping to one day partner with them in the fight against pornography. Praise God! That day has arrived!

For my friends who've been with me so far, buckle up, this ride is about to get really exciting. God has opened a huge door for my ministry, one I've been anxiously waiting for.

More details to come soon...

Blessings... T

Isn't It Funny How God Works?

Earlier this week I posted a blog. OK, that's not big news, it's what God taught me after the post that's so cool.

Since I started writing my blog two years ago, I've been focusing on trying to become a better writer, post on a somewhat regular basis and grow my reader base.

For those who know me or have been following me for any time, you know Bill and I have moved multiple times in the last 3 years. (6 moves to be exact!) Needless to say, that can put a cramp in anyone's writing style or schedule.

When I did get a chance to write, I would take several hours of an afternoon, armed with the inspiration God had given me and set out to write the best blog possible.

Carefully, consciously, creatively crafting...

Occasionally I get discouraged. Even though a lot of women follow me, I've only had a couple of comments post to my blogs these two years.

No long ago I found out that to post a comment on my blog you must sign up for a Gmail account because Blogger is a Google product. This has kept many readers from posting comments.

To deal with the Google issue I contracted with Feed Blitz to distribute my blogs in an email newsletter to my followers. That's going well; my reader number continues to grow, but still little response.

Now to this week's post...

On Tuesday instead of spending hours carefully crafting my blog, I just sat down and blurted out what was on my heart in about 15 minutes.

I've gotten several phone calls and multiple emails in response to that post.

So...


What's the lesson learned here???


Don't try so hard.

Set a timer.

Go with the flow.

Share from my heart.


Trust the Lord, He's in control!


It's for Him that I write anyway!

Struggling to Focus

It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted a blog, so I must apologize for my silence.

I was sick for almost two weeks; during that time and since, I've been having technical difficulties with my computer.

Now that the sickness has subsided and my computer is pretty much back to normal, I hope to get my writing schedule in sync too.

These last few days I've been a bit overwhelmed with the task at hand...

So many books I need and want to read. So much to say to the many women who need reaching. I feel like I'm running behind. Getting discouraged because I don't seem to be making any real progress.

One of the books I'm currently reading is You Were born for This: 7 Keys to a Life of Predictable Miracles by Bruce Wilkinson; best known as the author of The Prayer of Jabez.

During my most recent slump- today, I read:

"If you're determined to serve people for the sake of people, you'll eventually burn out and quit.... you've been called to serve God--and that's always worth it. But one of the ways you serve Him is by serving others. You have to keep your eyes on Him, because otherwise you won't last. Once you're focused on serving and pleasing God, the rest becomes irrelevant."

It dawned on me--

Why am I doing what I am doing?

For the hurting women; for the head knowledge from all the books I read; or because I've been called by God to serve Him in whatever way He wants to use me?

Joyce Meyer aptly puts it this way: Frustration=Works of the Flesh

In other words, if I'm getting frustrated maybe I'm trying to do something in my own power and strength not depending on God's guidance, strength or power to get me through.

Today, I will re-access my goals, back up a bit and prayerfully see where God leads me from there.

The main thing I want is to be available to be used by God; if I'm overwhelmed, out of focus or discouraged, I'm certainly of no use to Him or anyone else for that matter.

I appreciate your prayers as I labor to rest in the Lord, to keep my focus on Him and not the tasks at hand, to know that He will bring about what He wants me to do in His perfect timing.

Is Chastity Possible in the New Millennium?

Since I’m a married woman, you may be wondering…

“Tamara, why are you writing on chastity?”

I’m reading an excellent book by John Michael Talbot - The Lessons of St. Francis-How to Bring Simplicity and Spirituality into Your Daily Life, where Talbot discusses how to apply the spiritual disciplines taught by St. Francis in our modern world and relationships.

As I was reading the chapter on chastity I was prompted to write a blog that relates chastity to the challenges sex addicts face today.

With the hyper-sexualized media that's thrown at us today, many are desensitized. From fashion magazine at the grocery checkout, to billboards on the freeway, to commercials on TV. It’s almost impossible to avoid the near naked images of provocatively posed models vying for our eyes and pocketbooks.

For some of us, this is a serious battle, continuously waged; always careful to look away, preventing possible triggers from being set off. Sober now 5 years from sexual addiction, Praise God today these images are not a big problem; not that I dare let my guard down.

Jesus said, “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman [or man] lustfully has already committed adultery in his [her] heart.”-Matt. 5:28

I take these words very seriously, because I know it only takes one look to lead to... a fantasy, which, if meditated on long enough, can easily be acted out on.

Chastity, along with celibacy, is usually seen as something only practiced by men and women who’ve made specific vows to God.

I’d like to challenge that thinking with the idea of celibacy and chastity to heal or improve sex in a marriage relationship.

Celibacy is critical in the very early days of sex addiction recovery. It’s important the sex addict refrain from all sexual stimulation for a period of 3-6 months, this may vary by individual. (includes sex in the marriage and self-sex). For an addict beginning recovery this is very difficult, but crucial to recovery.

Chastity in a marriage can be as simple as cherishing your sexuality as a gift from God, using it in appropriate holy ways that respect God and your mate, resisting any temptation, no matter how small, when they come your way.

Our marriage relationships are tender gardens that need to be cared for. If we’re not careful, the weeds of fantasy and comparison can easily tear down any healthy growth, if not kill it completely.

Talbot writes from an interesting perspective on sexuality:

“I’ve personally lived through at least three completely different approaches to sex: the freewheeling sensuality readily available to a rock musician; the cleansing fire and spiritual passion of repentance and sexual abstinence; and the rejuvenating joy of marriage, a union through which the church has long honored sex as a sacrament, and which helps me see sexuality as sacred and God-given.”

Talbot further notes that many people don’t remain faithful in their marriages because they never learned the value of sexual control.

I heartily agree with this last statement and will even go further to say, when you make a covenant with your eyes, to not look at another person with lust, examining them like they were the roast about to be served up for lunch, you’ll have more desire for the mate God has given you.

If marriage was respected as the sacred covenant that it is, with its vows taken as seriously as our brothers and sisters who take a vow of celibacy, we’d have much healthier sexual relationships.

Similar to Talbot, I’ve lived through three different worldviews of sexuality:

• Relational - sex is part of a loving relationship; without commitment to marriage

• Recreational - sex is purely for pleasure; dispenses with romance and spirituality
  

• Traditional - sex is exclusive with mutual respect; emphasizes lifelong commitment

For most of my life I used sex to substitute unmet emotional and spiritual needs.

After trying all the world has to offer, sexually speaking, I tell you today, without a doubt, sex kept simply between a husband and wife, with no toys, no fantasies, no porn; is better than any orgy, better than being hyped up on drugs using every toy one can imagine.

If you would've asked me 5 years ago:

"Is 'Meth sex' possible without the Meth?" I would've said, “NO WAY!”

Today, I tell you it is! Because with God, ALL THINGS are possible!!

By God's grace and mercy, practicing the discipline of chastity in mind, soul and body, God has not only restored my marriage but continues to renew our desires in ways we could never have imagined before sexual sobriety.

If you struggle with sexual sin or are just playing with the idea of it, I want you to know first of all you are not alone.

Millions of women struggle with sexual sin even in the church.

Find someone you trust and share your struggle with them; that's the first step to freedom.


Whether you’re single or married; one who struggles with sex or not; I encourage you to make a covenant of purity with your eyes, your heart and your mind.

It will change your life!

Question: What's your world view of sex? How important is chastity to you? What are you doing to maintain a pure heart and mind?