blood

Thankful for the Hard Things

Tammy M Cardwell1 Comment

I’ve explained before that God uses the trials and tribulations in our lives, that even the hard times can result in great good if we let God lead us through them. Growth is usually part of the good, as is the gaining of tools. Today I’m thanking God for turning my most recent trial into a tool.

I had already made some definite lifestyle changes before I had the TIA (mini-stroke) last month. I’d cut way back on sugar, dropped sodas almost completely, and begun intermittent fasting to help me gain control of my eating habits in hopes of losing weight.

I’d also started taking some very important supplements. If you read my post Tired of Exhaustion?, you’ve heard of them. Both are from Solle Naturals; they’re Vital and Cinnamate. Oh, and I’d started on Terry Naturally’s Adrenaplex. I started it because it helps your adrenals, and that helps with hormone issues. I’ve since discovered that it’s helping me with a lot more!

So when I had the TIA, I was already on the right course. My A1C was 5.9, which was a bit of a surprise, but since I was already a few weeks into multiple products that help control sugar issues (plus I’d made my dietary changes), it didn’t concern me much. When we discussed my cholesterol numbers, pretty much everything that was suggested I already do-or don’t do since I neither drink nor smoke.

I was able to assure the counselor that I did all the right things until she said, “Cut back on processed foods.” My sister instantly spoke up. “Oh, she’s bad about that! But she’s going to start eating with me!” I didn’t hesitate to publicly accept that offer! Now I just eat like a queen and give her most of what I used to spend on groceries. Win! The only other facet that needs attention is exercise, and I’m working on becoming more serious about that.

So yes, there are lots of great changes being made. I’ve since discovered that at least one of those supplements I take for other things helps with cholesterol as well, so I’m at a double win. And of course I’m taking what the doctor prescribed.

Back to the TIA and why I’m thanking God for it. You see, I know me, and I am well aware that as I get farther down the road I tend to forget the importance of what I’m doing. I forget to buy a supplement and forget why I was taking it in the first place. I forget why I got off sodas and pick them back up again. (I’ve done that so many times!) I forget all too easily.

But this time I have a tool. Its name is TIA. I thank God often that it was only a TIA, that there is no permanent damage, and I thank Him that it now stands in front of me as a clear warning to stay the course. It could have been a full-blown stroke, but it wasn’t. It was a warning I won’t forget.

Was it a trial? Yes. Am I honestly thanking God for it? Yes. Has it helped me grow? Also yes. Thank God!

I hope you’re having a blessed Thanksgiving.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

You are the Tabernacle

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

Image from searchisaiah.org

Did you know that the Tabernacle is a type and shadow of you? Well, of the born again Christian anyway. It sounds crazy, I know, but stick with me.

First, on the off chance that you don’t know about the Tabernacle, it was built by Moses, at God’s command, so that there would be a place for God to come down and meet with His people. Its purpose, or one of its purposes, was to bring God closer to man and man closer to God. That’s putting it extremely simplistically; it’s a topic that is well worth deep study.

Now, back to us…to you. I was recently reminded that when you look inside the human body you see something distinct. There are oxygenated blood vessels that are red, unoxygenated blood vessels that are blue, and vessels carrying mixed blood that are purple; these help make up the fabric of the human body. Inside the Tabernacle, you find fabric woven of red, blue, and purple cords.

Covering the outside of the Tabernacle, you have skin (animal skins, of course). Ditto the human body. Another fascinating parallel.

Now look at John 1. John is talking about God, The Word, who is Jesus, and how Jesus became flesh, or human. In the Old Testament, God came down and settled on the Tabernacle. Here we see that God has come down to dwell with us in the Tabernacle that is Jesus Christ.

Move on to John 2:19 and you find, “‘All right,’ Jesus replied, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.'” Then, in verse 21, “But when Jesus said ‘this temple,’ he meant his own body.” The temple of that day was, of course, the modern version of Moses’ tabernacle.

Which brings us to 1 Corinthians 6:19: “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,.”

Jesus’ body was the temple of the Holy Spirit. Christian, your body is also the temple of the Holy Spirit. God created this temple for many purposes, but one stands out: To bring God closer to man and man closer to God.

Tomorrow is Resurrection Sunday. Let’s not take lightly the magnitude of what Jesus did for us, what we gained in His resurrection, or the purposes God has set for us to fulfill today.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

The Passover Lamb

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

It’s Passover, or will be at sundown.

Yes, we in Christian culture know it as Good Friday, and it is a VERY Good Friday. A few years back, however, I grew hungry for more knowledge of the Jewish Jesus. I had a desire to understand where Jesus and His disciples were coming from, so I began researching more about what it meant to be a Jew. As I learned, Good Friday became even more awesome than before.

Passover isn’t just a celebration of God delivering the children of Israel out of Egypt. It is so much more, and what happens during this feast lies not only at the roots of Jewish culture but that of Christianity as well. The Jews flocked to Jerusalem with their required sacrifices, those spotless lambs they had been keeping carefully for this, The Lord’s Feast. This was no mere offering up of the life of a perfect lamb to them; it was spiritual life and death. Only if they brought an acceptable sacrifice would their sins be covered for the following year – and only for the year.

Think on that a moment. They put forth a massive amount of effort to fulfill their responsibility in this. Whether they counted it labor or honor, it was WORK to preserve a spotless lamb and bring it to the Temple, to wait their turn to actually make their offering in the midst of a chaotic symphony of bleating and talking and prayers and…and the shedding of so much blood. They did all of this trusting God to cover their sins for a single year, planning to return the following year to do the same.

There is much more to Passover, but this is the point to which I wished to bring us. On THAT Passover, THE Perfect Lamb offered Himself up instead. From that moment on, these annual sacrifices became unnecessary because His blood didn’t simply cover our sins for a single year; rather, it washed them away forever.

Oh, how He loved us!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C