Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit

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I’ve been baptized in the Holy Spirit and do not know how people make it through their days without a close connection with Him. I’ve tended to think of this relationship as a New Testament thing but, when you think about it, it’s awesome how active the Holy Spirit was long before the Day of Pentecost. How many times, as you read the Old Testament, do you see words like, “and the Holy Spirit came upon him”? A lot! And it always results in something amazing happening.

Even in the New Testament, still under the Old Covenant, we see in Luke 2:25 that, “there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him.” We don’t know much about Simeon, only that he was “a man in Jerusalem,” which implies that he wasn’t a priest. Well, and we know he was someone who was particularly devout, anxiously waiting for the Messiah, and… oh yeah… the Holy Spirit hung out with him.

He was a normal man, but one who loved God so very much that the Holy Spirit stayed in contact with him, and precisely when Mary and Joseph were taking Jesus to present Him to the Lord, “the Spirit led him to the Temple.” And, oh my, what happens next!

Things always happen when the Holy Spirit gets involved.

Celebrating Jesus
Tammy C

Experiencing the Bible Available Now

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Experiencing the Bible is now available in paperback at Amazon. If you’re looking for a new way to explore the Bible, a fresh way of looking at the Word of God, or just curious about what it means to “get into the Word,” you can check it out now!

I’ve been asked about an ebook option, and I am looking into that possibility, but the power of this book is its introduction to journaling and the fact that you can journal on these pages. So we’ll see.

It’s been a long road to walk, a big project, and I’m very happy with it. I hope you will be too!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Exploring the Bible: A Guide & Journal

Suck It Up

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Photo: Tammy Cardwell

I love succulents! They are amazing in so many ways; one of my favorites is their ability to suck up water when it rains and store it for use during dry seasons.

I want to be like that! I want to stay full of the Holy Spirit, full of the Word of God, and full of love so that dry seasons, times of trials and troubles, don’t catch me unprepared. Yes, I may take a beating and look less than my best in the midst of the battle, but when it’s over I’ll still be standing!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Staying in the Word

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NLT Inspire Bible

Months ago, I shared that my word for the year is consistency. I also reviewed some things that were helping me stay consistent in my walk with God. One of those tools is the Through The Word Bible app.

It seemed right to return today and share that yes, I have been consistent. It’s taken self-discipline, sometimes in the form of a swift kick to my own backside, but I am working my way through the Bible in an eye-opening, methodical way that I’m loving. Best of all? It’s simple, requiring nothing but my Bible, pens, and one app.

I start my study by reading a chapter in the Bible – just one. I don’t ONLY read it, however. I ask the Holy Spirit to talk to me, teach me, open my eyes. As I read, I’m underlining and making notes (journaling Bibles help with that!).

Then I hit play on my Through the Word app and listen to what Chris Langham or one of his associates has to say about the chapter. While I listen, I’m making more notes as things become clear or I make connections I’ve never made before. I’ll sometimes go back again, afterwards, to make even more notes. It seems the more connections you make the more you see new connections.

It’s such an easy way to gain a greater relationship with The Word, which is necessary if we want a greater relationship with God, and a close relationship with God is an absolute necessity.

Time is short, my friends. If we’re putting off this vital aspect of our walk with God we are making a grave mistake. The day will come, soon, when there will be no tomorrow. I mean that literally. If you’ve studied the end times at all, you know what I mean.

Blessings!

Celebrating Jesus, The Word!

Tammy C

Get Ready

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A friend asked me to tell her, in one sentence, what God has been saying to me recently. The question caught me off guard because He’s been saying so much on so many different topics that, for a moment, I had to think. How to put it in one sentence?

Then I saw it. Other than the times He’s come to encourage me and help me through something, or to answer one of my myriad random questions, everything He’s said has ultimately been about me getting ready – ready to be used.

I’m not talking about being used as a speaker or writer, both of which I’ve done before and loved. I’m talking about being used every single day of my life.

I’m to stick close to Him, constantly listening for the Spirit’s whispered, “There. He needs help,” or, “Stop. She’s crying out for someone to listen.”

I’m to be prepared and able. For those two nudges, anyone could respond, but He’s calling me to more. I’m to truly grasp who and what He is in me and who and what I am in Him, to understand the authority I have as a believer when it comes to dealing with demonic activity.

I am to have His Word firmly planted in my heart, ready to be brought out and used as the Sword of the Spirit that it is. There are two important things about a sword. You cannot use it if you don’t have it (I’m talking memorization, not just carrying a Bible) and you can’t use it if you don’t know how to use it.

I’m to stay on the offensive. This is something that’s been churning in me for a while, that as a Christian I’ve been living my spiritual warfare life on the defensive. No military leader wants to fight battles defensively. He knows the best chance of winning any battle is to stay on the offensive.

I am to live thankfully trusting, because this is where peace lies, and peace – His peace – is one of the most vital elements of all.

I am to love with compassion. I am to love like never before, being intentional about expressing the love of God to the people He puts in my path – whoever they are.

So, almost everything He’s been saying recently falls into one of these categories. Really, there’s nothing new here. But that’s the point, isn’t it? We never know what’s coming, but He does, and He wants us ready to face it head on.

Celebrating Jesus!

Tammy C

Meditations: Romans 8:5

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Copyright Clarissa Pardue 2014
Copyright Clarissa Pardue 2014

Romans 8:5
AMP

For those who are according to the flesh and controlled by its unholy desires, set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh. But those who are according to the Spirit and [controlled by the desires] of the Spirit, set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the (Holy) Spirit.

 

I see several things in this verse. First, I see that we all fall in one of the two camps – either we set our minds on and seek those things of the flesh or we set our minds on and seek those things of the Spirit. Most of us would likely leap to say we seek the things of the Spirit, but when faced with the Holy Spirit’s unyielding truth I’m not so sure. I know that, as much as I hate to admit it, I find it far too easy to waffle back towards things of the flesh. Spirit may win more often than flesh, but flesh is still in the game (or war, actually).

Too…

…set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the Holy Spirit.

Set their minds…

This phrasing is very firm, very active. You set a nail in wood – it requires a hammer. You set a table – it requires deliberation. You allow concrete to set – it requires a commitment of time. Whenever the verb “set” is used, there is a commitment of certain resources. Whenever the verb “set” is used, there is the expenditure of effort and the result of that effort is that something remains as it has been set. If I truly set my mind on those things that gratify the Holy Spirit, I am making a conscious effort that does not allow my mind to wander, does not permit foreign thoughts and questions to enter.

 

Seek those things…

I am also to seek those things which gratify the Holy Spirit. Here, too, effort is required! To seek anything requires action, an active outpouring of energies. Because He commands me to do it, I do know that what I’m seeking can be found, praise God! Hm… It also requires a set mind to actively seek something; seeking requires concentration. It requires truly thinking about a thing and where it might be found, and seeking in that location. You don’t seek for a dog in a mouse hole because the dog obviously wouldn’t fit in such a place. Likewise, you don’t seek that which would gratify the Holy Spirit in places that only the flesh would find fitting.

 

Gratify the Holy Spirit…

Looking at the word gratify in the dictionary is truly eye-opening. “Gratify – v. to afford pleasure to; indulge; humor” I love this! So if I live in accordance with the Spirit… Oh! “in accordance with” means “in agreement with” – so if I live in agreement with the Spirit, then what gratifies the Spirit will gratify me as well!

Okay, so if I live in accordance (in agreement) with the Holy Spirit, then I will set my mind on and seek out those things that will gratify the Holy Spirit, and in gratifying the Holy Spirit I will bring pleasure to, indulge and humor Him. So I am not just seeking out that which the Holy Spirit requires, or even that which the Holy Spirit desires, but I am actively looking for ways in which I can please, indulge, and humor the Holy Spirit.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

RIGHT

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RIGHT

REFLECT
To show an image of the One who is looked at. Let the Refiner see His face in you just as the silver refiner can see his face in the pure silver. This only happens when your heart is pure.

INSIGHT
Insight comes from reflection, from studying the reflection. How accurately do I reflect Him? Where am I a little (or a lot) off?

GLORY
Glory comes only in His presence. We can be mirrors reflecting His glory out into the world just as mirrors have been used to send messages from place to place through history. Everything we need and desire is found in His glorious presence. Let us stay there.

HOLY SPIRIT HELP
We must have the Holy Spirit’s help in all things. Without God we are nothing, and without Him we can achieve nothing of eternal value. We must humble ourselves, seek His help, and follow His instructions.

THINK
When He speaks to us, be it through the Word, a minister, a friend, or directly to our spirits, we must not simply hear what He says; we must also think about it, meditate on it, and chew on it. Only then will it truly change us, making us more like Him.

At all times, we must strive to be RIGHT.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C