Interview with Christian Book Author, Harriette Barron

Posted on January 27, 2017 by Tamela

I was blessed and honored to have as my in-studio guest, Harriette Barron, Christian book author of “Coffee Time with Daddy”, My Road to Recovery. Mrs. Barron and I discussed her new book and she shared her powerful testimony.

If you would like to purchase her book, Coffee Time with Daddy, My Road to Recovery, please click on the link below.

<br />

In addition, you can click on the video and watch the full segment. I pray that this video uplifts, encourages, and be a source of inspiration. Go with Christ today and to God be the Glory!

Sharing God’s Word in love,

Tamela D. Bowie

Hallways of Preparation: Waiting on God

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Tamela

Being an interior designer, we view hallways as areas in homes where your eyes are able to get a “respite” before taking in the decor of another space in the home. Not too much design attention is given to hallways because these are areas that do not receive much of the homeowner’s interaction or time. Hallways are basically meant to be used as a means of functional transition or preparation for what’s to come in other spaces in the home.

I am able to relate this message to what I do as an interior designer because as hallways serve as a functional purpose for our homes, they are also spiritually functional in our lives.

As human beings, we will always find ourselves one time or another in the “hallway of preparation”. The hallway of preparation is a place in a person’s life when God has closed one door but He has not immediately opened another door at the same moment. We are basically waiting in the “hallway” until He decides to open another door of our life.

If our lives consisted of no hallway preparation moments, we would continually be on a transitional mission, always coming and going with rest, reflection, and proper preparation. We need those hallway moments to get refueled, recharged, and sometimes redirected by God especially when we have steered off His path for our lives…“A man’s heart devise his way: but the LORD directs his steps”…Proverbs 16:9

Because we are a nation of people who are always wanting our way all the time, used to things being fast-pace, quick, and always looking for the next fast opportunity, those hallway moments can sometimes feel like punishment. We can sometime feel that God is not listening, or He has not heard our prayers, or that our lives are on a path leading to nowhere. These things are not the case. We have to realize that there is power and purpose in those hallway moments just as there is power in closed and open doors. The hallway provides a chance for us to breathe and get ready for what God has in-store next for us.

Here are four things to do while waiting in the “hallway of preparation”:

Accept that you are in the hallway. Calm down, rest, and be content. Just know that God is working on your behalf to get you prepared for the next level or season in your life.
Continue to work on yourself spiritually. Get deeply immersed into God’s Word because this is the time when the enemy will try to test your faith and your obedience to God. You will need to know God’s Word and His promises so that you can defeat the lies of the enemy as you wait on GodAllow this time to deepen your relationship and walk with God.
Do not try to look for another way out. This is not the time to put into action the old saying…”when the going gets tough, the tough gets going”. God is at His best when we are at our weakest moments or when things look somewhat unsure or uncomfortable. It is easy to open a pre-mature door or seek an alternative path, but we do not want to miss out on what God has planned ahead for us…just stay put in the hallway!
Be faithful, obedient, and be PREPARED! We have to remain faithful to know that God is behind the scenes creating the perfect opportunity, creating a favorable atmosphere, changing hearts and getting everything perfectly prepared BEFORE He opens the next door. That is The God that we serve, He only wants the best for His children…“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning”…James 1:17

Hopefully this message has shown the importance of “hallway preparations” in our lives and what to do when we find ourselves standing in the hallway waiting on God. When you find yourself in your moment of a “hallway of preparation” be mindful that God is up to something great and this is your opportunity of respite before your next promotion in your life.

Sharing in God’s Love,

Tamela

Filling in the Gaps

Posted on February 3, 2016 by Tamela

This winter we have been dealing with issues of unwelcomed visitors in our home’s attic. At first, we were not quite sure if it were squirrels, rodents or just an overgrown possum because of the extremely loud noises and heavy foot traffic. Usually, whenever we have this issue we just place a couple of traps in that one concentrated area of the attic and the noises seem to disappear after a week. But this time, it was different, the noises and heavy foot traffic seem to be all over the attic, so it was time to take drastic measures…we had to find the point of entry and fill up the gap!

Don’t we sometimes find our lives being played out like this scenario? Although this is a true scenario happening right now in my home’s attic, it was this scenario that actually helped me to see where I had gaps in my faith and my relationship with God that needed filling up.

You see I sometimes struggle with the fear of death, illness, sickness or disease. And I am sure that I am not the only one who struggles with these fears, but my fears can sometimes be so overwhelming to the point of my becoming a hypochondriac.

We all know as believers of Christ that being fearful is a sin and it is the total opposite of being faithful which pleases God. And anything that is tied to or around fear is directly from the enemy. In addition, being a follower of Christ, I always strive to please God in every area and aspect of my life. So just as we made the decision to stop temporarily fixing our unwelcomed visitors situation with traps, but instead to focus on finding and filling up the gap of their point of entry, I too decided to stop allowing the enemy to invade me with fear, but to find the point of entry and fill in the gaps with God’s Word.

Finding our unwelcomed visitors points of entry were pretty easy. All we had to do was to follow their trail of destruction and it led us right to their point of entry. However, it was not as easy to find the enemy’s point of entry in my life that was causing the fear. That is because it is all spiritual, not a physical point of entry. That is where I had to call upon The Lord so that He could use His spiritual eyes and wisdom to help guide me to the point of entry. And as such, because He is always faithful to His Word, He showed me exact gaps that the enemy used to send in fear.

Lack of Trust
Need stronger Faith
Quit making the situation appear to be bigger than God

Wow!…I had 3 points of entry that the enemy was using to send in fear! Now it was time to take drastic measures immediately! First, I had to go in, (go into my prayer closet and pray), second, clean out the fear, (bind up the enemy’s tactics), and third, fill up the gaps with God’s Word (reading and speaking scriptures into and over my life).

Please don’t get me wrong, the enemy is still going to try to come back to those points of entry just as our new unwelcomed visitors will try, just to see if it is still open or weak. But their ability to get back in will be determined on how strong or how weak your barrier is or the type of material you used to fill up the gaps. That is why it is very important that you stay in prayer and in God’s Word so that your barrier will always stand strong and be fortified!

Proverbs 18:10 “ The name of The Lord is a strong tower”…

Thanks for stopping by!

Tamela

How to Have an Effective Prayer Life in 2016

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Tamela

HAPPY NEW YEAR!…Let’s thank The Lord for granting us the opportunity to see another great year!

I am sure by now that you have began working on all those New Year’s Resolutions which I am hoping included spending more time in prayer…at least it is one of my New Year’s Resolution. So what better way to kick off the New Year of 2016 than by working on establishing an effective prayer life.

We all know that prayer works and that prayer changes things. But if we do not have an effective prayer life, it will be somewhat difficult to see the things and the people that we pray for come to fruition. I am not implying that there is a magical formula or a mandated style when it comes to effective praying, but knowing how to pray and to pray effectively is the key to communicating with our Heavenly Father.

If we could just look at praying as just a way of communicating with God, it should be easy right? Praying comes easy for some and for others it may seem as if it is the hardest part of being a Christian. In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus teaches His disciples about prayer and how to pray. In verse 2, it states…”and He said unto them, when ye pray say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the power, the kingdom and the glory forever amen!

So Jesus gave us a great starting point or opening statement towards having an effective prayer life. The rest is for us to seek and develop a genuine relational communication with our Heavenly Father. I know that may sound hard, but it is really less complicated…the first thing that we must do is to accept The Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior and then open our hearts to God in which He will place a desire for us to want to have a deep relationship with Him through our prayer life.

Here are some suggested practical ways that we can further nurture an effective prayer life:

War Room. If you have not had the opportunity to view this powerful movie, I implore you to go and watch this movie. The entire concept behind this movie ties into the first way and that is to go and pray in your prayer closet. Make your prayer closet to be in the most quietest area in your home away from all the noise and distractions
Keep a list of your prayer needs. Jot down the names of people who you are praying for, situations and circumstances
Pray out loud sometimes. This makes it much easier to stay alert and to concentrate more on what we are communicating with God
Include praise and worship in your prayer time. God loves it when we praise Him and give Him glory. In Psalm 22:3, it states that God inhabits the praises of Israel…His people
Carve out time each day to pray. Make prayer time as an appointment; schedule it in as the first thing on your “to-do” list. In addition, pray during your unused or unallocated times of the day…sitting in traffic, cleaning the house, or out on a jog or while exercising.

Our best weapon of defense against the enemy is when we are on our knees praying to our Heavenly Father. The enemy knows that if he can prevent you from having an effective prayer life, the line of communication between you and God will slowly diminish and render you ineffective at defending yourself against the enemy. We must always remember the truth in James 5:16, “…the effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much”. KJV

Thanks for stopping by…take care and be blessed!

Warmly,

Tamela

Tamela Bowie Ministries

Sharing God's Word in Love

Category Archives: Family Matters

Interview with Christian Book Author, Harriette Barron

Hallways of Preparation: Waiting on God

Filling in the Gaps

How to Have an Effective Prayer Life in 2016