spiritual growth

Faith as Precious as Peter’s: Embracing Your Spiritual Value

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Timing is so interesting.

I make the anointing oil we sell in the church coffee shop. I’ve been making it myself because every oil I considered carrying retailed for more than I felt comfortable charging. Also, as I researched, I found myself wondering how most of the oils were made. By that I mean, were they simply another commercial product? Were they even prayed over?

My conclusion was that the only way I would be satisfied was if I took on the project myself. Then I could control the blending, the decanting, and how each bottle would be handled through the whole process. Yes, obviously this includes a lot of prayer, and usually worship.

Recently, someone was looking at our oils and asked me who anointed them, was it the pastor or intercessors or… I took the question to mean, “Who prayed over them?” and I explained what I’ve just told you. She seemed…less than satisfied.

She didn’t know who I was, of course, but apparently someone with an unknown title was questionable. At least that’s what I got from her withdrawal, and her reaction made me sad.

The sadness wasn’t because she doubted me; that’s no big deal. I was disappointed because she apparently believed you have to be “somebody” to qualify to pray over oil that will be used for anointing. That sort of assumption is dangerous. Too often, we fail to understand who we are in Christ Jesus, and that failure can really hold us back.

Which brings me to why I say timing is interesting. Shortly after that brief encounter I read 2 Peter, and in chapter 1, verse 1, Peter addresses his readers as those who “have been granted a faith just as precious as ours.” He’s serious, and he’s right.

Peter walked with Jesus and was one of those closest to Him throughout His ministry. He has worked for decades to help the Church grow and mature; at this point he is in prison and God has already told him he will die soon. Yes, his faith is precious, but in what is apparently his last letter he particularly wants his readers to understand that their faith is every bit as precious as his.

So is the faith of all those who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. You don’t have to be “somebody” for your faith to have value. It was the first batch of oil I made that was used to teach me this truth. I had taken it to someone whose faith I know to be great and asked her to pray over it. She agreed to pray but also assured me that I could pray over it myself, that I was every bit as prepared as she was for the task. Until that moment, it had never occurred to me that I was “qualified.”

You don’t have to be “somebody” for your faith to have value. You have value as a child of the Most High God and you are very much somebody in the ways that truly matter. So don’t limit yourself. Do you make your own anointing oil? Pray over it. Do you write worship music? Use it to worship, both alone and with others. Does Holy Spirit teach you as you read the Word? If what you learn excites you, it may excite your friends as well. Share it!

Your faith, dear Christian, is just as precious as that of the Apostle Peter. Never discount what God has done in you.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Seeing Beyond the Now: Finding Strength in God’s Promise of Eternity

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When a baby wants to be fed, he wants it NOW.

When a toddler races for a toy, obstacles that delay him frustrate him.

When a child is put in time out, a moment can feel like a month.

But children grow, and so does their concept of time. While “next year” seems impossibly far away, “tomorrow” eventually becomes acceptable, and then “next week,” “next month,” etc.

As adults, we can excitedly anticipate a vacation six months from now while understanding that we have things to do in the meantime. Depending on what those things are, we may walk through the days so busy that suddenly we look up to see that The Day has arrived. On the other hand, when life is in the process of throwing everything and the kitchen sink at us, we may be back to feeling like the clock has slowed and every moment is a month. Either way, we know that a special day is approaching, and the promise of tomorrow’s vacation empowers us to take each day as it comes.

Second Corinthians 4:17-18 reminds us that this life, even if it’s a life filled with trials and heartache, is nothing compared to eternity. First Peter 1:6 assures us that those “momentary trials” are helping us become the people of faith we are called to be. The more we’re in the Word, meditating on verses like these, and the more we are in fellowship with Him, the greater we understand this truth. Like the growing child who develops an increasingly accurate time sense, so do we who are children of God, as we grow spiritually, develop an increasingly accurate eternal time sense. It is this that makes life bearable even during the bad days (weeks, months, years…).

I explained in my Surviving Narcissism series that this one revelation was what made the difference in my ability to stay with and care for my disabled, narcissistic husband. I realized one day that, when compared to the eternity in which I’ll live, my life here isn’t even ten minutes. While thinking about it like that, I decided I can do anything for ten minutes.

And that’s what I told God. It went something like, “I can do anything for ten minutes, so if You want me here with him until the day I die, I can do it. With You helping me, I can.” If you know my story, you are aware that I outlived him, but with a true revelation of eternity I was able to say those words and mean what I said. Bible teacher TeDese Ross expresses it beautifully:

Hope for the future gives us strength for the present.

So, if you’re living in a world where a moment seems like a month, where hope is hard to come by, I advise you to turn to God and ask Him to give you that same revelation, to help you fully grasp the fact that while your problems and trials seem endless, they – and this life – really are “but for a moment.”

One revelation can change everything!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

My Bible Shelf Spotlight: The Message Bible

Tammy M Cardwell4 Comments
Here you have all of the Bibles I currently own.

A friend recently asked for a photo of my Bible shelf along with input on my favorite Bibles. I’ve been meaning to do this very thing for my readers for nearly a year. My apologies for the delay!

So here begins a tour. As you can see, my Bibles are shelved more by height than anything else. We’re “reading” from left to right, beginning with The Message, which is an excellent paraphrase.

I had been hearing about The Message for quite a while when I stumbled across a copy in the most unique “resale shop” I’ve ever seen. Everything was literally piled, and you crawled around and climbed over said piles in search of gems. My first copy of The Message was one of those gems, and it instantly went on my readthrough list. By this I mean I read it through from Genesis to Revelation. This is, as the publisher is quick to point out in the introduction, a fantastic “reading” Bible.

Unlike most Bibles, this one bears only one translator’s name: Eugene H. Peterson. His story is exceptional, and a little heartbreaking for people like me. Here’s an excerpt from the introduction that answers the question, “Why him?”

“I began my work life as a teacher and for several years taught the biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek in a theological seminary. I expected to live the rest of my life as a professor and scholar, teaching and writing and studying. But then my life took a sudden turn to pastoring in a congregation.

“I was now plunged into quite a different world. The first noticeable difference was that nobody seemed to care much about the Bible, which so recently people had been paying me to teach them. Many of the people I worked with now knew virtually nothing about it, had never read it, and weren’t interested in learning. Many others had spent years reading it but for them it had gone flat through familiarity, reduced to cliches. Bored, they dropped it. And there weren’t many people in between. Very few were interested in what I considered my primary work, getting the words of the Bible into their heads and hearts, getting the message lived. They found newspapers and magazines, videos and novels more to their taste.”

Sadly, I see the same thing in the church today. It’s one of the reasons I keep coming back to this one topic, leaning hard into the fact that we cannot afford to disregard the Word of God. We CANNOT!

As a pastor, Peterson learned to meld the old with the new – the original, common-man languages of the Bible (Hebrew and Greek) with the common language of today. He made the Bible come alive in such a way that the difference in his congregation was noticed by an editor, and he ended up spending ten years creating The Message, a Bible with a specific purpose.

It is meant to be read. Or, as the publisher expresses it, it is a reading Bible, not a study Bible. It’s a Bible designed specifically to get people into and invested in the Word of God. With this purpose in mind, Peterson crafted it very carefully. Not only did he select just the right words to make God’s Word available to modern readers, he also chose to list verse numbers alongside each paragraph rather than presenting verses individually. This can take getting used to but historically the Bible didn’t even have chapter numbers until early in the 13th century and verse numbers waited another 300 or so years to show up.

While chapters and verses are helpful when seeking specific text, they can also lead to reading passages out of context and, as a result, losing part of their richness and meaning. Not interrupting trains of thought with verse numbers, The Message enables us to grasp a more complete picture and, at times, see what the Bible is really saying as opposed to what we thought it said. This is one of my favorite things about quality, modern translations and paraphrases. They take verses that have become so familiar that, as he pointed out, they’ve reached cliche status and put them into words that wake us up and make us start thinking again.

One more note and I’ll move on. Although it’s not a study Bible, Peterson does offer helpful introductions to sections (i.e., The Books of Moses) and chapters. If you’re one who tends to pass over such introductions, I suggest you make an exception. It often helps to begin a journey, even into a new book, with an idea of what’s to come.

Finally, I do realize there are people who have a problem with any and all modern translations, especially paraphrases, but the intention is to make the text available to the reader. As beautiful as the King James is, and most of the scriptures I’ve memorized come from the KJV, it’s not really the language we speak today. As a result, it can be seriously challenging for modern readers. High quality translations and paraphrases like The Message can make a huge difference in understanding and appreciation.

Until next time, I’m…

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

God’s Question That Stopped Me in My Tracks

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

I was thanking God for a friend a few days ago. Some time back, she volunteered to handle a specific task every month. It’s not super complicated, but it does take time and requires her to run an errand that otherwise wouldn’t fall on her. Month after month, she consistently covers this project for me. “I’m so grateful for her, “I told God. “I know I can hand her this job and she’ll get it done.”

I meant what I said, every word of it. My heart was full of gratitude. Then God asked me a question.

He wanted to know why, if I trust her so easily, I sometimes doubt Him and whether He will “get the job done.”

OUCH!

We’re talking punch-in-the-gut stuff here. I like to think I’m a woman of strong faith, but He wouldn’t have asked me the question if it didn’t apply. Do I really, at times, trust a human friend more than I trust my God? I mean, this is GOD we’re talking about. Of course He will get the job done, whatever that job is!

I do tell Him on occasion that it’s not Him I’m doubting, but me. More specifically, I too often doubt my own ability to hear Him clearly. Did I really hear God’s voice, or did I go off on a tangent of my own creating? Yes, I have those moments – more than I like to admit. I wonder if this is part of what He’s talking about, that in doubting my own ability to hear Him I’m doubting His ability to help me understand. Possibly?

I’m still thinking about this one, about how I have at least on occasion failed to trust The Creator of the Universe, how at times I apparently put more faith in the one who holds my project in her hands than in the One who holds my whole life in His hands.

This faith walk? One of its most important factors is self-assessment – making sure we are who we think we are, and repenting if we’re not. If we’re not listening and judging ourselves when He asks questions like this one, we’re not getting the job done.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Here’s Your Invitation: Subscribe to My Newsletter

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

I published my December newsletter yesterday, and realized afterwards that I’ve never shared about it here…which is admittedly ridiculous.

So if you’re interested in a more personal contact, especially if you’d like to keep up to date on the books I’m writing, you’ll want to sign up for the Eternally Planted newsletter right here. Do this and you’ll receive one email a month, two at the most unless there’s something extra special I need to share. Among other things, these emails will contain snippets from my works in progress. These book samples will not be shared here on the blog.

I pray for you, today, that your Christmas will be truly blessed and Wednesday will find you…

Celebrating Jesus!

Tammy C

What My Cervical Traction Device Taught Me About Faith

Tammy M Cardwell2 Comments

RESTCLOUD Neck and Shoulder Relaxer

This funny looking thing is a cervical traction device, AKA my neck stretcher. Other than going to the chiropractor, this is the best tool I have for fighting neck issues. As I lie on it, this bit of oddly-shaped foam gently pulls at my neck, slightly separating the vertebrae, releasing pressure, and helping relieve the headaches that pressure can cause. It’s one of the best investments I’ve ever made, and I encourage you to check it out if neck issues plague you.

I use it often, like at least once a day, and there is something I’ve noticed while using it. Obviously this process takes time, which means it requires patience. I’ve also discovered, however, that for it to work most effectively, I must relax fully while lying on it.

Sounds simple, right? I mean, it should be. The funny thing is, I’ve discovered I can honestly think I’m totally relaxed when suddenly I’ll exhale or move slightly and a muscle I haven’t even realized I was keeping tense will abruptly loosen. When this happens, my head shifts slightly and I feel a definite release; in an instant, everything is totally different – better. Over time, I’ve learned to consciously pay attention to all those little muscles, intentionally relaxing them as I rest on this “pillow.” When I do this, the effects are amazing.

Interestingly, as I was lying there thinking about this during a twenty-minute session a few days ago, I realized just how much the experience parallels my faith walk. Having faith in God, trusting Him, also requires patience and relaxation. For my faith to work the way it’s supposed to, I must consciously let go of anything that holds me back from “relaxing,” from leaning into Him and trusting Him to do what He’s promised.

It’s funny, really. We know that faith without works is dead (James 2:26) and it seems that my first work of faith in any situation is to choose to put my trust completely in Him, to consciously set aside any worries, fears, and distractions that would interfere with me resting on His love, grace, and mercy.

Anyone with experience knows it’s not always that simple. When you hear the devil yelling at you, it’s relatively easy to recognize his voice and throw the Word at him. The real challenge comes when he whispers; it’s in the little things. Like a tiny muscle that tenses when you clench your jaw without realizing it, a snide comment from a “friend” can tear away at your faith. A glance at online banking can lead you to wonder if God is going to come through this time. Doubt doesn’t always run in; it often sneaks in the back door.

The key is to stay alert and keep that door locked, to be conscious of your spiritual state and aware of what is and is not affecting you. Keeping your focus on Jesus, refusing to be distracted by the doubt-inspiring signs around you, helps you stay on track, maintain your trust in God (which is what faith is), and rest in Him.

You will keep in perfect peace
all who trust in you,
all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Trust in the LORD always,
for the LORD GOD is the eternal Rock.
Isaiah 26:3-4 NLT

It’s easy to give in to fear, to abandon the fight and let the giant win, but that’s not what God has called us to do. He’s called us to remember whose kids we are, that we are children of The Most High God and He is the Ultimate Faithful Father.

Yeah, let’s do that.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

From Frustration to Progress: What’s New at Tammy Cardwell Publishing

Tammy M Cardwell2 Comments

If you read my Behind the Scenes post from a month ago, you know we’re working on a completely new site for TammyCardwell.com. This experience has taught me much about myself, some of which is not at all pleasing. In that post, I shared that dealing with completely new app details had caused me to shut down and stop making forward progress. It happened again this month, and I went two weeks without a single post in this blog because I let my head get twisted by my inability to complete something else.

I’m not proud of myself for letting it happen again. It’s a frustrating reminder that we all have areas in which we can grow. Overcoming this type of intimidation and frustration, clearly, is one of mine.

BUT, to bring you a little up to date on what’s going on with me…

I did launch my newsletter. When the new website is up and running, the blog will simply become part of TammyCardwell.com instead of its own entity, so I decided to use the blog’s current title, which I love, for the newsletter. I invite you to sign up today!

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE

In the welcome email, should you choose to sign up, you’ll find a link to a gift I created just for my newsletter subscribers. It’s an ebook entitled 2 Steps to Strengthening Your Relationship with God, and I look forward to it being a blessing.

My newsletter publishes once or maaaaaybe twice a month, unless I’ve got something special I need to share. I’ll keep you up on what’s going on in my life, give you chances to let me know what’s happening in yours, and in general make myself available on a level I can’t on the website.

I’m currently very much in research and write mode too! While taking care of all the backoffice business stuff, I’m also laying the groundwork for two new books, one a devotional and the other about the book of Leviticus. Yes, you read that correctly. As crazy as it sounds, I have learned to genuinely love Leviticus, and I plan to share my “why.” I don’t intend to publish excerpts publicly ahead of time, but my newsletter subscribers will get sneak peeks into both of these books.

I still work full time as one of our church’s secretaries, which does kind of limit how much brain power I have in the evenings. Other than watching The Voice with my family (a favorite thing to do), I don’t accomplish much during the week beyond maintaining my tiny home. So, when it comes to writing, I’m mostly a weekend warrior. But, slow or not, I’m getting it done!

And I’m enjoying seeing the progress!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Again, if you want to subscribe to the Eternally Planted newsletter, just click here.

Don’t Own It

Tammy M Cardwell1 Comment

At one point, I very much wanted a shirt that said, “Don’t own it!” and referenced 1 Peter 5:7.

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

1 Peter 5:7 KJV

Why did I want this shirt? Because I needed the reminder, of course!

I have had a tendency, in the past, to take on other people’s problems as if they were my own. Now, empathy is a good thing, a very good thing. Being consumed by others’ problems is not, and that’s what I would let happen.

So, sad to say, then I would flip. I put a wall around my heart so I could hear about other people’s issues yet stay totally separated from them. Needless to say, this was equally as bad. Yes, it “protected” me from being consumed by the other person’s pain, but it also meant I was pretty much useless to them spiritually.

Both ends of the spectrum are demonic, in case you haven’t realized this already. God is in the balance one finds in the middle. So yes, when a need comes to your attention take it, but don’t keep it. Don’t own it. If you take ownership, refusing to hand it over to God (who is the only One capable of handling everything), you don’t help them and you harm yourself. Cast all cares on Him; He can handle it and it’s what He wants.

It’s a simple concept, but oh did it take me a while to learn to walk it out.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Make God Your Refuge

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

I apologize.
This has been sitting in my drafts since we were working on the site move.
I greatly regret the delay!

Although the red flags, which had begun waving before our marriage, started becoming more obvious when we moved in with his parents after six months of marriage, things didn’t blow up for me until he had his first affair (that I knew of) some years later. The experience crushed me.

And that, being crushed, drove me deep into God’s arms.

It’s sad that it so often takes truly horrific experiences to send us to the one place we most need to be! As a pretty typical American Christian, I thought I was doing well. I attended church regularly, served, tithed, read my Bible (some), prayed (fairly often)… All of that was good, and it was a start, but we were created for exactly what Adam had in the garden – an intimate relationship with God, one where we spend regular, quality time with Him as our sole focus.

I had young children, so I was able to keep myself distracted from what my husband was doing during the day, but once the boys went to bed and he was with the other woman, ignoring my repeated calls (which he’d explain away as bad cell signal the next day), it was just me and a waiting God.

I don’t remember how long it took me to wake up and turn completely to Him, but at some point I did. I changed my own actions, choosing to spend those endless hours in prayer, worship, and His Word.

Psalm 91 is fantastic, containing powerful instructions and promises that I and many others pray and declare regularly. It was in this season that I learned the reality of verses 1 and 2.

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”

Psalm 91:1-2 (NKJV)

In turning my focus entirely on God during those long nights, I opened a door to a whole new relationship with Him. In getting to know Him better and better, developing a truly intimate relationship and learning to more clearly hear and understand His voice, I came to that precious place.

In the midst of the worst days of my life to that point, I was living in God’s secret place, hidden under the shadow of His wings. I had run to Him as my refuge, found myself safe in the fortress that was my God, and I was confident that if everyone else failed me I would always be able to trust Him.

I kept prayer journals at the time and I clearly remember telling Him in both prayer and my prayer journal that I didn’t want to lose what I had found in Him, what we had developed in the middle of the fire I was walking through. I straight up said that, while I wanted out of the fire, I was afraid that I would lose my focus when I left, that I would lose that closeness that was so radically changing me.

In point of fact, I had a group of online friends who knew what was going on and were genuinely worried about me. I emailed them at one point, and shared what would later become a blog post entitled “The View from Inside the Furnace.” I had discovered I had much in common with Shadrach, Meshac, and Abednego who, while they obviously hadn’t wanted to be thrown into the fire, abruptly found themselves having private time with Jesus.

Like me, they suddenly were in no hurry to leave. Like me, they probably learned things in that time that changed their lives forever. Like me, they were perfectly safe while in the very midst of the flames. They didn’t leave the furnace until they were commanded to.

Like them, I walked out of that particular fire changed forever, freer than I had been when I was thrown in, and not smelling of smoke.

Admittedly, in years since this hellish season, I’ve had times of being more intentional and less intentional where my relationship with God is concerned, but I have never let myself walk away from my Refuge. It has always been God who has brought me through, and to this day I am grateful that I was driven so deeply into His arms during that time.

Understand that I could just as easily have run in a different direction. I could have stayed buried in the books I loved to read. I could have turned to drink or drugs as so many do. I could have let the fear and pain eat away at me until I landed in a hospital’s psychiatric ward. I didn’t.

I didn’t because I chose
to make God my refuge.

God is not only the only refuge you need, He is the only real refuge. We can try to do it on our own, but we aren’t meant to carry those kinds of burdens. His plan has always been for us to run to Him.

Make God your Refuge.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

The following is a complete list of the articles in this series.

Surviving Narcissism: Introduction to the Series
The Power of Refusing to Care
Yes, It IS Abuse
Truth Matters: Be Honest with at Least One Person You Trust
You’re Not Protecting the Kids
Review: Hope for Healing from Domestic Abuse
Your Narcissist is Not Your Real Enemy
Make God Your Refuge

Like a Bride

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

A friend’s recent Facebook post reminded me of a conversation I had with God some time back. She had been talking to God about the Rapture, and what He told her was so close to what He said to me that I had to come share, or share again if by some chance I’ve posted on the topic before.

I am excitedly looking forward to the Rapture! I watch as evil and deception grow more prevalent in the world, natural disasters become mind-numbingly common, and we seem to be nearing World War III and, though it pains me on the one hand, on the other hand I know it’s just more indication that Jesus is coming back very soon.

So why was I talking to God about this particular topic? Well, yet another person had said something to imply my focus was on the wrong thing. (Yes, I’m referring to the old slam about being “so heavenly minded you’re no earthly good.”) Keeping my focus on God and doing all He asks me to do is vitally important to me, so I went to Him with the question just to make sure I’m still on track. And do you know what He told me?

It would be unnatural
for a bride not
to look forward excitedly
to being united with her groom.

Needless to say, I stopped being worried about what others thought. I am excited, and I am excited for good reason, but my excitement doesn’t distract me from one of my primary purposes on this earth – telling people about Jesus and helping them grow closer to God. Rather, it drives me forward, especially as I see so many in the church, so many pastors even, completely ignoring the import of the book of Revelation.

Of course, you know my stance on the importance of reading and studying the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation. At least you do if you’ve read much of my work. I wrote Experiencing the Bible: A Guide and Journal specifically to help Christians who don’t know how to “get into the Word” come to a greater understanding of the Scriptures and a closer relationship with God. It’s obviously great for more mature Christians too, but the bottom line is that my focus is on expanding the Kingdom of God, which is right where it belongs.

And since I am not unnatural,
my excitement is right in line.

The Bride of Christ, the Church, is destined to be united with Jesus Himself and be with Him forever. This is HUGE! Yet it seems to me that the vast majority of Christians don’t even think about Eternity, much less the glaring neon signs all around us that indicate the church will be taken out of here very soon!

Ok, maybe you don’t know what I’m talking about. A quick web search will probably give you more information on the Rapture (including criticism) than you could imagine, but here’s a super condensed synopsis. In these Last Days, a day will come when those who are in Christ will be taken off the earth. We call it the Rapture. Rapture isn’t a word you’ll find in the Bible, but if you go back to original texts you’ll find the word “harpazo,” which means…

  1. to seize, carry off by force
  2. to seize on, claim for one’s self eagerly
  3. to snatch out or away

It has also been translated as “to rapture.”

If you do know this, then you probably also know Matthew 24:36 (NET): “But as for that day and hour no one knows it–not even the angels in heaven–except the Father alone.” This verse is another reason people like to avoid thinking about The Rapture. After all, if you can’t know the day or the hour, what’s the use?

The thing is, you CAN know the season, and we are in it.

In Matthew 24 and Luke 21, Jesus tells His disciples the parable of the fig tree. Throughout the Old Testament, the fig tree represents Israel as a nation, so we know this parable is about the nation of Israel. Jerusalem was devastated in 70AD and Israel was ripped apart by invaders, ceasing to be the nation the Jews had always known. The Jews were then scattered throughout the world (which had been prophesied) and Israel became a wasteland that no one wanted because she had nothing to offer.

It wasn’t until May of 1948 that Israel was, in essence, recreated as a nation/state by countries that determined reparation had to be made for the Holocaust, that the Jews must have a home. Last year, Israel celebrated 75 years as a nation. So let’s go back to Matthew 24.

“Learn this parable from the fig tree: Whenever its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also you, when you see all these things, know that he is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”

Matthew 24:32-35

No, no man can know the day or the hour; God hadn’t even told Jesus at that point. We can know this, however. My father’s generation saw the budding of the fig tree, the rebirth of the nation of Israel, and right here Jesus says that generation will not pass away. There are various opinions on just how long a generation is. I believe it’s 70 to 80 years, because that’s pretty much the average life span, but at the outside it could only be 70 to 100 years. Go out 100 years from 1948 and you have 2048, which is only 24 years away.

No matter how you look at it that’s not long, and every pre-rapture prophecy has been fulfilled, so the only thing holding Jesus back is The Father. God has a specific plan in mind and will fulfill it in His time. While we wait, we need to be getting ready for the wedding. It’s past time to get excited!

If you want an inexpensive and quick read
that will help you better understand what
I’ve shared today, grab a copy of
Amir Tsarfati’s little book, Any Day Now.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C