Sunday, March 26, 2017

Are You Bad Enough to Become a Christian?

bad christians

Jesus probably did a facepalm when the Pharisees said to his disciples, "Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?". The religious leaders of the day didn't understand why Jesus would bother with these bad people. Accordingly, many religious people today, like the Pharisees, will allow their own perceived righteousness to hinder their salvation dooming their souls forever.

The question is not if you are good enough to be a Christian. You will never be good enough. Jesus answered to someone who called him Good Master, "Why are you calling me good? there is none good but one, that is, God". That is Jesus speaking. HELLO! He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings and he doesn't refer to himself as good. Some people put themselves into the good column when they don't let alcohol touch their godly lips or if they attend church every service or when they defend their goodness with someone else's failures (ex. they curse and I don't). Christianity isn’t based on good works. 

The question is are you bad enough to become a Christian? Every person must realize their bad condition; unclean and in need of redemption. Jesus offers free guilt and sin removal. Do you tell lies, steal, cheat, have extramarital affairs, curse, disrespect your parents, or kill others with a gun or your mouth? Do you have hate in your heart? Do you simply know that you're not good? Do you know that you have sinned and fell short of God's glory? Good. You're good! We all have done these things. WE ARE ALL SINNERS! The Bible says so. You are just the type of person Jesus is looking for. Each and every one of us are bad enough to become a Christian if we will realize our fallen sin nature and ask Jesus to forgive us. Forgiven is received with a broken heart and a simple prayer of submission.

When Jesus heard the religious leaders inquiring about him eating with sinners, he answered "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." You may also paraphrase as "They that be good need not a savior but they that are bad."  Jesus is the way for sinners to repent and receive eternal life and blessings.

Quit trying to be good enough to get into heaven. Ain't happening! Jesus is the only name given whereby we must be saved. He can't save you if you think you're good. Bad is a redeemable quality. You'll never be too bad or too dirty or done too much for Jesus to save. Then, with Jesus as your savior, good will flow out of you by his spirit but it still doesn't make you good, it makes you whole, redeemed and forgiven.

Are you bad enough to become a Christian? If not, just be yourself. You'll get there in no time at all! Promise.

 Bad and Forgiven,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap
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Saturday, March 25, 2017

3 Tips to Make Your Easter Easy

oriental trading easter
I received the products in this post free from Oriental Trading.

Easter Sunday is almost here, April 16, 2017. Easter is a fun holiday filled with colored eggs, chocolate rabbits, real live bunnies and a Lamb. Yes, Jesus is who makes Easter special! You may be starting to think about what you'll get the kids and how you'll decorate. I've put together 3 Tips to make your Easter Easy by using products from a trusted friend of mine, Oriental Trading.

Tip #1: Use Filled Easter Eggs for your Community Easter Egg Hunt. Every year our church requests plastic eggs and candy for the hunt. Then, they ask for volunteers to pull the eggs apart and insert the candy. I got smart and you can too! I'm donating these beauties that accomplish many goals including presenting the resurrection story with the colorful wording on and inside the eggs. Easy? I think so.

oriental trading filled eggs

Tip #2: Easter pencils are an easy and useful addition to any Easter Basket. Kids love pencils! They can never have too many. These religiously decorated pencils are eye-catching and also remind children what Easter is all about. Jesus lives!
oriental trading easter pencils

Tip #3. Decorate your space with colorful yard signs. These signs are well constructed with a laminated front and two stakes per sign. Super easy to beautify your landscape for Easter and share the Good News of the gospel. Very visible from a distance too.
bunny signs oriental trading

Enjoy your holiday. Be sure to check out all these Easter items on sale now. Buying in bulk is one more way to save money and make your Easter easy. Please share these 3 Tips to make your Easter Easy with your friends and make their Easter easy too!

Hoppy, hoppy, hoppy,
Tammy
The Happy Hanicap

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Tuesday, March 14, 2017

A Modern-Day Miracle

imuran

Do you want a miracle or a mess is the title of a blog post I published just 35 days ago where I asked  you to help us pray for our dilemma; Steve's medicine costing $852 for a four week month and $1065 for a five-weeker! Thank you for your prayers. We received a modern-day miracle.

Everyone involved has been very sympathetic to Steve's need. Dr. Staton at Emory Clinic has been working hard with Encompass Pharmacy to get the brand Imuran approved. The generic Azathioprine doesn't work for Steve. The cheapest I found Imuran (with an internet coupon) was $213 per week for 30 pills. I bought one week at a time hoping for help soon. Roberta, the nurse at Emory called me every couple of days to give me status updates. Dr. Staton wrote an addendum to the patient file to finally satisfy the insurance company.

Yesterday morning at 8 a.m., I received a call from Envision Drugs that Imuran was approved! Can you hear the Hallelujah Chorus playing in my head? I immediately called the pharmacy. They agreed it was approved with a copay of $450 per month. Good news interrupted with bad. The pharmacy tech quickly informed me they were filing an exception appeal to reduce the cost. I said "Well, I got Steve a grant and it may not be necessary." I gave them the information and guess what?

A Modern-Day MIRACLE!
The pharmacy tech said "I'll fedex the Imuran to your address by this Thursday with a copay of zero dollars!" Yes, that's right, FREE! The grant covered the copay. The grant should cover the copay for the rest of the year. The grant is $9000. Psalm 150:6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord!

How did I do it? Perseverance, tenacity and our Heavenly Father!
  • I called the manufacturer of the drug. The original maker is Glaxo Smith-Kline in Dublin, Ireland. I contacted them on their facebook page. They responded very quickly referring me to their North Carolina office to find out there was no financial assistance or coupons available for Imuran.
  • I called Walgreen's to obtain the manufacturer of the exact pills in Steve's bottle. They were right here in Roswell, GA. Seleba Pharmacy was so rude, so unconcerned, the customer service agent so made me not want to buy their drugs at all .... but my husband needs them.
  • I tried every Google search term I could think of, forward and backward; financial assistance for Imuran, Imuran coupons, discounts for Imuran, pulmonary fibrosis, etc. without any good results. If I did find a lead for his condition, pulmonary fibrosis, it was the wrong kind of fibrosis. Most assistance was for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and his is not idiopathic. Then, there were the financial hurdles to overcome personally or the programs were maxed out.
  • After MANY hours and days of searching, I prayed and asked Jesus for some help.
  • I don't remember what search phrase lead me to a site that I read and re-read, clicked, clicked and clicked some more until I divinely landed (not stumbled) upon a site that had funds available for pulmonary fibrosis. The application process was painless and you know if you are approved when you hit the submit button. 
  • HealthWell Foundation helps individuals afford the medicine they need! There are qualifications and stipulations but thank God, Steve fell into one of their paying categories! Steve received the grant five days before the medicine was approved. Perfect timing!
  • I was so excited to go to Walgreens for his meds last week only to be disappointed. There is one caveat to using the grant money. The grant covers the copay only meaning insurance has to approve and pay first. The money was appropriated and sitting there but couldn't be used because insurance had not approved the medicine.
  • If I can assist anyone with this process, please contact me. 
HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH! HAL-LE-LU-JAH!
One of my favorite verses, Psalm 37:25 is so true. Trust Him and expect your miracle!

I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

squirrel praise

Thanking God for a modern-day miracle,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap

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