The Word

The Woman in the Basket

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

In Zechariah chapter 5 we see our prophet friend having an absolutely bizarre vision, one I’ve heard more than one person attempt to explain – never in a way that made sense to me. But I may finally understand it.

Then the angel who was talking with me came forward and said, “Look up and see what’s coming.”
“What is it?” I asked.
He replied, “It is a basket for measuring grain, and it’s filled with the sins of everyone throughout the land.”
Then the heavy lead cover was lifted off the basket, and there was a woman sitting inside it.
The angel said, “The woman’s name is Wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and closed the heavy lid again.
Then I looked up and saw two women flying toward us, gliding on the wind. They had wings like a stork, and they picked up the basket and flew into the sky.
“Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel.
He replied, “To the land of Babylonia, where they will build a temple for the basket. And when the temple is ready, they will set the basket there on its pedestal.”

Zechariah 5:5-11 NLT

According to the vision…

  • The basket is filled with the sins of everyone throughout the land.
  • The woman’s name is Wickedness.
  • The basket will be taken to Babylon.
  • A temple will be built for the basket.
  • The basket will be placed on a pedestal in the temple.

As a reminder, Old Testament prophesies are sometimes literal and sometimes figurative. They also can have multiple fulfillments. With that in mind…

Working our way backwards through this list, it becomes clear that the basket or, more accurately, what it contains, will be worshipped. This is, after all, what happens in temples. Just as God was worshipped in the Temple built for Him, this basket’s contents will be worshipped in the temple built for it.

I’m thinking a figurative temple.

The temple will be built in Babylon, which in the Bible represents the world’s system.

So, if I read this prophecy correctly, it’s telling us that the world’s system will worship wickedness and sin.

Which it takes little discernment to see pretty much sums up the condition of the world right now. Today’s society condones just about everything God condemns. In fact, it doesn’t just condone sin; it exalts sin, pushing it to the forefront in every arena possible, sadly even in the church. The world system we live in, indeed, worships sin and wickedness.

As I see it, this is just one more sign of how close we are to The End.

Celebrating Jesus and looking for His return!
Tammy C

He Let Everyone Hear

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

In Luke 23:34 NLT, you read, “Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.‘“ This line always makes me pause, because it shows His tremendous love for the people, His mercy, and His grace, but there is another verse in this chapter that also makes me sit up and take notice.

Think about every crucifixion scene you’ve ever watched. Almost always, you hear Jesus gasp out words just before he dies.

But that’s not what happened.

“Then Jesus shouted, ‘Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!’ And with those words he breathed his last.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭23:46‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Did you see it?

Jesus SHOUTED.

At the end, He left no room for doubt. With a voice that could be heard by everyone present, this man for whom shouting should have been a physical impossibility (google crucifixion) let everyone know that God was His father and that He was still the one in control. By all rights, it should have taken several more hours for Him to die, but He very publicly died when HE chose.

Everyone present had to recognize the significance, so it’s really no surprise that the soldier made his declaration in verse 47.

They were all there either to mourn or to mock and jeer. They were also there, whether they liked it or not, to hear.

Celebrating Jesus!

Tammy C

Carry Your Own Cross

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“And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me,
you cannot be my disciple.”

Luke 14:27 NLT

I’m reading through the book of Luke in preparation for Christmas, and after much thought decided I needed to back up to this verse for a bit.

We celebrate Christmas in honor of Jesus, who is the greatest gift. He came, by His own choice, to die so that we could live. It’s important to note that He didn’t come to bring salvation as it is sometimes casually viewed – essentially a get out of jail free card. He came so that we can LIVE. We aren’t only looking forward to eternity in His presence, but to a full and abundant life right here, a life that counts where His Kingdom is concerned.

Foundational to living, truly living, is being His disciple. Those who heard Him that day, in Luke 14, knew exactly what He was saying when He used the word “disciple.” To be someone’s disciple is to follow their example in all things. It is also to accept and act on their instruction and guidance as they strive to help you mature. Jesus was actually making the offer to all who heard Him, but few would accept the invitation. Why?

In verse 28 He commanded them, “But don’t begin until you count the cost.”

This is wisdom, as He warned in Luke 9:62 NLT: “But Jesus told him, ‘Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.'”

Jesus had already let them know in verse 26 that, if they wanted to be His disciples, they had to count Him as more important than everyone else in their lives, including themselves. And then came verse 27: “And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.”

This verse is quoted so often than I’m not sure we really see it anymore, that we’re not paying full attention to what He’s saying here. I even remember thinking, during one of the really bad times with my husband, “If he is my cross to bear, then I will bear it,” but this verse means so much more!

“But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the Law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse of our wrong doing. For it is written in the Scriptures, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.‘”

Galatians 3:13 NLT

As Christians, we look at this verse and we love it. And why not?! This amazing act of mercy, Christ taking all of our sins on Himself, washing them away with His own blood, changed our lives forever!

But let’s go back to the gathering in Luke 14 and think about where their heads were, where their thoughts must have gone. They couldn’t see what was coming. They were limited by their own knowledge and experience. In their world a cross served one purpose, and Jesus had just told them they would have to take up a cross that would be particularly their own. They wouldn’t be helping Him carry His cross as Simon the Cyrene was forced to do. He was asking each of them to take up their own cross.

This had to set them back, throw them for the proverbial loop. Because they knew.

They knew…
The cross was a sign of being cursed.
The cross was a very public tool of death.
The cross was a clear mark that you were a criminal.
The cross was intentionally demoralizing.
The cross was a cause of shame for the criminal’s family.
The cross was physically backbreaking before you were even put on it.
The cross was an incredibly slow and agonizing death.

If anyone wanted to be His disciple, they had to accept the reality that the cross, at least figuratively, could very well be in their future. Far from offering them the life of comfort many were currently enjoying, the life His abundant miracles might have implied, the life of sunshine and roses that Christians sometimes foolishly promise to potential converts today, He was laying out a heavy truth.

And here it is.

As Christians, genuine disciples of Jesus, while we look forward to the mountaintop experiences, it’s best to be prepared for the hard seasons that will inevitably come, to consider the cost ahead of time and be ready so that we won’t be tempted to look back. Like Jesus, we can expect to be hated, vilified, attacked unmercifully, laughed at, and more.

So… are you ready?

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Get Experiencing the Bible Anywhere

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

I’m excited to announce that the ebook version of Experiencing the Bible is now available pretty much anywhere you buy ebooks. This JUST happened, so if you’ve looked for it before on Kobo or any of the other sources, go do a search. You should find me!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Submit or Be Burned

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

No, this is not a “turn or burn” post. I’m straight up talking to Christians today.

A few months ago, God told me that the Church, meaning the individuals who make up the Body of Christ, has two choices: Submit to the fire of the Holy Ghost or be burned up by the fires of tribulation.

Not surprisingly, I was in no hurry to share these words publicly. They could be taken in several different ways, and I’ve been talking to God about what He meant by them. I do think there is an element of us having to submit to the Holy Spirit if we don’t want to miss the Rapture and be burned by The Tribulation, but I believe this warning is more immediate in nature.

I’ve been doing some intense Bible study lately, working my way through several Old and New Testament books, and see more clearly than ever the truth Jesus spoke when, in John 16:33, He said, “In the world you will have tribulation.” That’s the New King James. In the New Living Translation (NLT) it’s, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.”

We like to think that when you accept Jesus as your Savior life becomes a walk in the park. Consequently, we’re sometimes surprised when things don’t go the way we want them to, when we pray and our prayers aren’t answered like we would choose to have them to be answered, or when others in the body of Christ hurt us whether intentionally or on accident. We don’t want tribulation, trials, or sorrows. But you know what? 1 Peter 1:6-7a (NLT) says, “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine.” (emphasis mine) So your godly reaction to the trials is the proof of your faith.

I know there is also the stance that says if things are going badly for you it’s because you’ve sinned. Now, before I go any further let me say we can, through our sin, open doors that invite the devil in. I did that very thing once while driving. My husband and I were arguing, and I was so angry with him that I couldn’t have heard the voice of God if He’d been sitting beside me yelling out a warning. As a result, we were in a potentially deadly accident. My sinful anger opened the door but thank God His grace brought us all through it alive. Having said that, no, the fact that you’re going through “It” does not necessarily mean you’ve sinned. As I quoted above, Jesus said we WILL have tribulation in this world.

Yes, it’s clear in the Old Testament that Israel’s sin brought on God’s judgement repeatedly. But here’s the thing, it’s also clear that the judgement was to serve a purpose: It was to draw God’s people back to HIm. In Ezekiel alone we see the phrase, “Then they will know that I Am the Lord,” 54 times!

Throughout Scripture we see that it is the fire, the trials and tribulations, that purifies us. Walking through the fires of tribulation with our focus on God, actively choosing to submit to Him and His Spirit, burns off the things that don’t belong. For illustration, the bonds that held Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego burned off when they were thrown into the fiery furnace. They were in the fire, but they were in the very best company (Jesus) and were walking around freely. And to top it all off, they didn’t even smell of smoke when they walked out.

It is going through the fire that strengthens us, building our faith and enlarging our testimony. That sounds counterintuitive but think about a metalsmith forging a sword. The heat and the pounding of the hammer are both necessary to turn a simple length of metal into a warrior’s blade. If the metal could talk, would it choose to be treated so? Maybe, if it had a vision of what it was destined to become.

So, understanding that fire is necessary for spiritual growth, there are a few things we need to consider. First, just like Israel had the choice to move on into the Promised Land or spend forty years walking in circles in the desert, we have a choice. When going through trials we can either actively submit to the Holy Spirit in the midst of those trials, doing what God tells us when God tells us to do it, so that we can learn, grow, and be purified and strengthened by them, or we can lean on our own strength and not only be burned up but face having to go through the same fire again. We’ve all seen this happen. That’s why there’s the saying that one definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting to get a different result.

And then there’s this, which is the point I believe God was getting to: Although trials are a natural part of this life, they don’t have to be a necessary part of our growth. Yes, I mean some trials can be avoided, IF.

“Submit to the fire of the Holy Spirit.”

Do you remember from when you were a child, or if you have children, how some things are learned the hard way and others by paying attention? One child learns not to touch the hot stove because he ignores his father’s warning and gets burned. Another child doesn’t need to touch the stove to grasp the concept because he pays attention to what Dad says. For him, the physical fire isn’t necessary for growth because he understands and submits to His father’s instruction. He avoids the fire because he obeys.

The Holy Spirit, if we submit to His will, can bring us through the fires of our lives uninjured just as surely as those three Hebrew boys were brought through their fire, but that’s not all. If we submit to the fire of the Holy Spirit, obeying God’s will and doing what He tells us instead of having to learn through hard experiences, we can grow without trials and troubles. I would much rather grow this way!

Also, do you remember what I said about the blade being willing to go through the “torture” if it had a vision of what it was destined to become? The Holy Spirit can give us that vision. My pastor says often that it’s not what you are today that has the devil attacking you; it’s what he knows you have the potential to become. It is a sad thing when the devil has a more powerful vision for your life than you do! Ask for that vision; it will carry you through anything!

Not so sure about that? Jesus dreaded the Cross. In the garden, He begged God to find another way to save us from our sin. Nonetheless, He submitted, and in Hebrews 12:2 we see the vision He had, how He focused on what really mattered. “Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame.”

And I think I’m going to leave it right here: Submit to the fire of the Holy Spirit or be burned up by the fires of tribulation.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Check me if you still doubt. Here are a few verses to get you started.
Isaiah 41:10, Isaiah 43:2, John 16:33, Romans 5:3-4, Romans 8:28, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Hebrews 12:11, James 1:2-4, James 1:12, 1 Peter 1:6-7, 1 Peter 5:10

Experiencing the Bible with Children

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

I was asked, recently, if I would consider writing Experiencing the Bible for Children. I’d really have to pray about that one because, though I spent years homeschooling and working with homeschoolers, it’s been a long time since I’ve actually dealt with curriculum for children, and in a sense this book is a Bible curriculum of sorts.

However, as a parent, I strongly encourage you to work through Experiencing the Bible with your kids. Whether you realize it or not, you are continually translating the truths of the world around you into a language your children can understand, and you can do the same thing with my book.

You may not be homeschooling, but if you know any homeschoolers you might want to talk to them about the power of studying as a family. Family discussions, with everyone having the opportunity to both listen and give input, can be truly power-packed.

They do much more than merely offer a rich setting for learning the material being discussed. They also let children of all ages witness their parents actively pursuing knowledge and understanding. This is huge, since much of what any child learns is from what he sees adults do. Yes, that old adage, “More is caught than is taught”? True!

Such discussions also help children, people of all ages, learn how to have true conversations and even debates without arguing and getting into fights. In today’s culture, where it seems we’ve reached a point of “fight first and maybe agree later” this is a vital skill.

Open family discussions can also head off potential misunderstandings. I have a personal story that is a classic example of what happens when a child hears something and fails to understand it, but doesn’t feel comfortable asking questions. The preacher was reading Psalm 23 and for the life of me I could not figure out why I wouldn’t want the shepherd to lead me beside still waters.

This is only a short list of benefits, but you get my point. I encourage you to get a copy of Experiencing the Bible, whether in paperback, ebook, or audiobook, and work through it as a family or in a small group.

You can get the book in all three formats at Amazon by clicking HERE.

You can also get the ebook, and name your own price, at Smashwords by clicking HERE.

Get into the Word and be blessed!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Can You Imagine?

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

In February, I posted “I Can’t Imagine,” in which I shared my recent revelation that I have aphantasia and the rest of you don’t. Quick explanation: I have zero visual imagination. When I learned that most of you can not only see pictures but also movies in your heads I was floored.

This revelation has led to many conversations in various forums, and one thing has been consistent. Those who can see and experience everything that I’ve never known are genuinely sorry for me that I’m missing out on so much. Now, in reality, I don’t know what I’m missing. Do I kind of wish I could get in on the game? Sometimes, yeah, but I know it’s impossible and I tend to not waste my time on impossibilities.

There is one thing. If I do have a vision while in prayer or worship, if I find myself seeing something in my mind in similar fashion to what I’m guessing you all see, I know without a doubt that it’s from God because my imagination can’t create it. I don’t get these visions often, but now that I know what’s what I can have no doubts whatsoever about their origin, and that’s seriously cool.

Which brings me to a thought. If you’re a Christian, when I talk about my walk with God you can relate on at least some level. We both have the capability, as it were, to “see.”

If, on the other hand, you’ve never had a relationship with God, you’re like me in a sense. You can’t imagine the wonder and joy of having a relationship with Him because, like me with aphantasia, you’re blind to the possibility. And let me tell you, as much as those who have visual imaginations feel sorry for those of us who don’t, their feelings can’t touch what I feel for those who don’t have a relationship with God.

Listen, please. Unlike me, you don’t have to stay in the dark. You can reach out and accept the salvation that Jesus offers and enter into God’s very presence, learning how to walk closely with Him and know what it’s like to live inside His love and grace. I literally would not trade my relationship with God for anything – ANYTHING. I cannot express strongly enough what you are missing if you’re not walking with Him. Nothing compares, and knowing that this life is just the beginning, that I have eternity in His presence to look forward to… It’s wonderfully overwhelming just to think about.

So I encourage you to step out. Come to Jesus and accept what He did for you. He came and lived a sinless life specifically so that He would qualify as the perfect and final sacrifice. The blood of the lambs the Jews sacrificed covered their sins temporarily. When you accept the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross, that blood washes your sin away completely, and God never thinks about it again. This, the removal of that sin, opens the door for you to enter into a relationship like none you’ve ever known. Honestly, you cannot imagine what will happen when you take that step; it’s beyond human ability to predict.

If you’re ready to accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord, it’s easy. Primarily, it’s about what’s in your heart, that you’ve decided to repent of your sins (meaning to turn your back on them and walk away) and accept His sacrifice, trusting His work on the cross to save you. Open your mouth and pray, talk to Him. There is no official “Sinner’s Prayer” that you have to seek out. It’s as simple as saying something like, “Lord, I know I’m a sinner, and I know that I cannot pay the price for my own sins. I need a Savior. I need You, the One who lived without sin and then let Himself be crucified for me. I accept Your sacrifice on the cross as payment for my sins, and I invite you to come live in my heart, to fill me with Your love and be the Lord of my life. I choose to spend the rest of my days, the rest of eternity, living for You, and I ask You to lead me, to help me become who You want me to be. Amen.”

And then do what you’ve promised; learn to become more like Him. In Luke 6:46, Jesus says, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” You’ve asked Him to be your Savior and Lord, so get into the Word of God (the Bible) and find out what He wants you to do. Get in a Bible-believing church, one where the minister actually preaches from the Bible (Sad, that I have to say that, but many ministers today don’t.), and learn from the man of God. Pray! That may sound intimidating, but think of it as talking to God on the phone without a phone. Seriously, when I’m praying, I’m real with my Creator…and He is real with me. Yes, He talks to me too! I spend most of my prayer time listening…or try to.

I promise you: While accepting Jesus in no way guarantees an easy life (On the contrary, the devil doesn’t like losing!), having Him by your side makes all the difference in the world…and more. I don’t have to imagine it; I live it daily. I hope you will choose to as well.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

If you want some help getting into the Bible, you may want to check out my book, Experiencing the Bible. It’s available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook, and it’s a practical answer to the question, “What do you mean, ‘Get into the Bible’?” It’s available in all formats on Amazon. The ebook can also be found at various retailers including Smashwords.com (where you can literally set your own price – even free).

Signs of Where We are in Time

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment
From Real Life with Jack Hibbs

I don’t remember ever sharing a video on this blog before, but this one is important. It’s important for everyone in my opinion, but it’s especially important for Christians because it gives a very clear indication of where we are in End Times prophecy.

Don’t want to think about the End Times? I get it, but the fact is that if you are watching what’s going on at all you can see the signs of a world that is rapidly setting itself up to be the earth of the book of Revelation. Just the things I’ve read in the past few days, warnings given by top AI developers, is nothing short of disturbing. Jack Hibbs, in this video, shares even more than I’ve heard – and that’s only part of what he’s talking about.

Stop reading this. Start watching the video.

Celebrating Jesus and His Soon Return!
Tammy C