There will not be sinners in heaven

Hebrews 10:26-31
"If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left. but only a fearful expectation of judgement and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
Hebrews 10:35
" So do not throw away your confidence, it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised."


As I read the above scriptures, I get kinda scared. I'm not a "big" sinner, but all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. Do you ever feel guilty when you are watching a movie or a TV show that you know you should not be watching? Or say something that you should not say? Do we get comfortable with sin in our lives? Almost knowing that we can just ask God for forgiveness when it is all said and done. Well I have thought that. I recently watched a movie on the demand channel. It is $3.99 per movie. There was a part in the movie where they were making fun of "Godly "people and going to church, etc. The Holy Spirit that lives in me immediately told me to turn it off and get on my knees. I justified watching the rest of the movie telling myself that I could not waste that money and I know what I believe in. You may not think that is a big sin, but little sins turn into big ones. And truthfully, a sin is a sin. We will all stand before God on the throne one day and that day will not be fun for a lot of people. Can you imagine hearing, " I can't find your name in the Lambs book of Life. SORRY I NEVER KNEW YOU". Just writing that makes me feel sick.
We should be heartbroken when we sin. Life is hard, but we have got to live minute by minute in the word and praying that God gives us the strength to make it. We cannot be deceived by the devil, he wants nothing more than us sin over and over again. He doesn't want to be all by himself in the Lake of Fire. He wants to bring everyone of us down with him. The unrighteous will NOT inherit the kingdom of heaven. I pray every morning that God creates in me a new heart and searches my soul for anything unholy. I just want to draw near to him.
Love in Christ,
Amy

Give me Jesus

Make sure your scroll down and turn our music off first!!!
     Some of this was taken from my devotion today: "My UTMOST for HIS HIGHEST," by: Oswald Chambers

The vision Paul had on the road to Damascus was not a passing emotional experience, but a vision that had very clear and emphatic directions for him... And Paul stated, "I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision" (Acts 26:19). Our Lord said to Paul, in effect, "Your whole life is to be overpowered or subdued by Me; you are to: HAVE NO END, NO AIM, AND NO PURPOSE BUT MINE." And the Lord says to us, "YOU DID NOT CHOOSE ME, BUT I CHOSE YOU AND APPOINTED YOU THAT YOU SHOULD GO..."(John 15:16).
We must have the foundation of a personal relationship with Jesus. It is NOT enough to know that God has redeemed the world, nor even to know that the Holy Spirit can make all that Jesus did a reality in your life....
It is not our job to prove His existence. He did not die on the cross for you and I to argue with people that He is real...It is OUR JOB to "PROCLAIM," Him......
Paul was not given a message or a doctrine to proclaim, he was brought into a vivid, PERSONAL, OVERPOWERING, RELATIONSHIP with Jesus Christ......Acts 26:16; is tremendously compelling".........to make you a minister and a witness....." There would be NOTHING THERE without a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with Jesus Christ.... Paul was DEVOTED to a PERSON (Jesus Christ), NOT to a CAUSE!!!!! He was absolutely Jesus Christ's. He saw NOTHING ELSE and he LIVED for NOTHING ELSE....
(1 Corinthians 2:2), "For I determined not to know anything among you except for JESUS CHRIST and HIM CRUCIFIED." Don't you want to know Him like that? Ask yourself today "Do I have a personal relationship with Jesus? Do I know who I belong too? What do I live for? What is my heart? Is it Jesus? Or is it things? Money? A bigger house? Nice clothes? Impressing other people? Your kids? Are you living through your children? If they are your only interest then that my friends is an IDOL.......Ask God today to reveal to you your idol's. Then have some prayer time with God... We have to place God first in our lives... Nothing else matters and I believe with all my heart that the road to heaven is narrower than we think....
Give me Jesus,
Robbie

Baptism at the Jordan River................

Please turn off our music first and listen to this song....truly amazing

The greatest "River," in Judeo-Cristian history.....

I have put this post off long enough.....Not sure why I am finding it so hard to share that I had an "encounter," with God.........It is so personal and I am unsure how to put it into words!!!

It hit me when we were on our way to the Baptism site;   that I had "NEVER," been baptised as a Christian..........yes I was baptised as a child without knowing who God was at all....

I started praying to God telling him that I wanted him to purify my heart and how unworthy I felt to be baptized in the Jordan River, the very river that He chose to be baptized in........wow  

Dec. 3 around 4:30 pm; I will never forget...... As I was praying and changing into my bathing suit and white robe I felt this heaviness come over me like never before... I could feel God's presence all over me.....It was so strong that it caused my legs to buckle...... I felt like I had no strength to even stand...... I just kept praying and praising Him and then I heard him speak for the first time in a still small voice in my heart...

Somehow I managed to open my door to my stall and try to walk out; (the beautiful lady with her arm around Amy), heard me crying and came over to me and before I could say anything her whole look changed on her face and she started praising God and she said to me: " I see the presence of God all over you," she then took my hand to help me stand and walk with her to the river....... she continued to praise God........................God will touch you to give you strength to stand in His presence............

Both men are pastors in the water with me.... the one on my Right was our amazing Leader "Scott", who is a believing Jewish Pastor..........He asked me to state my name and the reason I was being baptized....I wish you could hear me,  because I was crying so hard but on the inside I wanted to scream that I had come because my sin is the blackest form of dark with only God knowing my thoughts through the years, with only God knowing my words that I have said to my family, friends and even strangers through my life............Only God alone knew how much I desperately needed to be there..............I needed help to walk down to the river because I could only think of how much I needed to be forgiven for; as Renee was holding my hand and helping me enter into the cold dark murky water I wondered if the river could even hold all the ugly in my heart that had darkened my soul over the course of my life?

I need to be at the banks of forgiveness every single day of my life....Tears continue to fall as I look up understanding (tears of pure joy), that my life can NEVER be the same again....................................

Dark.........a river so murky that the water reflects the over grown foliage teetering over it like a black mirror.......It looks more like a swamp instead of  a river....

As I was going down in the water for some reason I opened my eyes and there was this amazing bright white light....As I was being pulled up through the water it felt like I was moving in slow motion through this amazing white fluffy stuff..... When I drew my first breath I felt so free, so weightless like I could have just floated away.....It was the most amazing day in my whole trip...the most spiritual moment in history for me. Words do not do it justice.......

To the side of me is my precious new friend, "Renee," that God sent to give me strength( and I found out later that she a pastor also)........ she is standing there praising God for what she had just witnessed..........................

Jesus talked in scripture about the people who live in darkness.....but will see a great light.......they live in a place covered with shadows of death, but a "LIGHT," will shine on them......Jesus continued to preach, saying "CHANGE YOUR HEARTS AND LIVES, BECAUSE THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS NEAR..............................................

Amy is going to blog about her experience as well....

THE DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL.................

Life by the Spirit:

What does life by the spirit mean to you? To me? God wants to purify our Soul..........I have  reached a point in my Spiritual Journey with God that feels like I am in the "DARK NIGHT OF MY SOUL."  The dark night of the soul is when a person loses some of the pleasure that was once experienced in one's devotional life.......But there is a reason for this, it is when God is doing his best work in us...... This can happen because God wants to purify and refine us by moving us on to greater things.....

Their comes a time in our life where God wants more! He will nudge us to grow deeper with him....What is it that is holding me back from this? Did you know that it is us who determines the level of intimacy that we have with God? Not God....In other words the only thing that prevents me from going deeper with God is ME.....My spiritual laziness... My desire to keep the house clean, and the laundry done. It is me who is always trying to shove one more load of laundry in. It is me who is putting God on the back burner because of this thing called "LIFE."  So now I have found myself to be one who is having "a dark soul of the night."

 Did you know that anything that keeps you or me from growing deeper with God is called IDOL WORSHIP?..........What is it that we are elevating to a higher importance than spending time with God?

We have to lay our idols down.....Instead of strolling through the house picking up the kids clothes off the floor,  making all the beds up in the mornings and wiping the crumbs off the counter and trying to squeeze in that one more load of laundry. We should be taking the time to just "BREATH," and enjoy God's prescence........ 

What is it that's keeping me from going deeper with God? What is it that's keeping me from praying with great urgency and perseverance? Where is my "JOY?"

He has removed some consolation from my soul. He is teaching me virtue and showing me where I have developed "PRIDE." God himself has placed His righteousness in us!! How am I thanking Him for His gift?

Have we become so content in our growth that we prefer to condemn others for not being as "SPIRITUAL," as us? This is huge:  (Do we BEG God to take away our imperfections, only because we want to find that inner peace? BUT NOT FOR GOD'S SAKE?  Am I walking in obedience to God, or am I only doing what I really want to do?Description of me these last few weeks:     I have cried more in the last few weeks than I have in a lifetime. I feel that I am in what's called the "dark night of the soul."  I have become angry with myself  thinking that my loss of joy is a result of something I have done to anger God or something that I have neglected to do for God.  God has shown me that I lack the patience that WAITS on God.......I am beginning to learn about Spiritual Meekness.....which will only come in the dark night of the soul......

                    This is the verse that God spoke to me directly through his word a few days ago:

Galatians 5:16-21;  16; So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17; For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18; But if you are lead by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19; The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery. 20; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21; and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.......

This is a warning! "I warn you as I did before, that those who LIVE LIKE THIS WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD!!!!!!!!!!!

But the beautiful thing about God is:

The invisible unfelt "GRACE," of God is much greater, and it is beyond our comprehension........True Spirituality comes from:  patience, perseverance and humility....The Lord will heal our souls through the darkness in our life......He will take the imperfections within  us and because of His Love for us will nudge us, to grow closer to him and in the process He will burn away our impurities.....He is not content to leave us in  our weakness thus why He allows the dark soul of the night to grow us...This is where He can and will wean us from our idols if we are open to the dry times.. This is when He will take away all the places where we have pride, selfishness, envy, greed........ He will create NEW VIRTUES; within us. Through the darkness pride will become humility, greed becomes simplicity, wrath becomes contentment, luxury becomes peace, gluttony becomes moderation, envy becomes joy, and sloth becomes strength.  We will never grow deeper with God unless God works passively in our soul by means of the dark night....

Taken from the book:   DEVOTIONAL CLASSICS

BY:    Richard Foster and James Bryan Smith

Read Psalm 42 when you have time and meditate on God's word.....

In my dark soul of the night,

Robbie

Pictures from a buffet dinner on the Sea of Galilee. They made fresh bread and Hummus at the stations above. You can see how big the bread is that she is holding up. I wanted to share one, but Robbie wanted us to each have one. If you can see Robbie above- her mouth is full like a chipmunk storing up for the winter. LOL. Every night we had salad, bread, and a lot of dessert. This buffet did have french fries. I was in heaven!! This was our first full day in Israel. Robbie's husband and mine had already text us and told us to catch the next flight back to Charlotte. We were kinda stressed from this, but our husbands did fine and we had the time or our lives.


I just wanted to share a quick scripture with you. Luke 22: 31- " Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you. Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." You can not be "Sifted" unless God gives Satan the OK to do so. Hard to believe, but what ever sifting we go through only strengthens us for our brothers. So take what you learn during the "sifting" and help someone in need.  God has a overall plan- and a plan for us. What we are going through now is preparing us for his kingdom. Jesus told Peter that he would pray for him. Just think, when we have trials and hear, "I am praying for you". Sometimes I think, I need more than prayer- throw me a rope!!! But remember that Jesus is at the right hand of God and that he is praying us through the situation. If you are calling Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour then Satan feels threatened by you. He will do everything in his power to destroy us. During the Sifting- we should pray more, read his word more, fast, etc. Draw near to God and he will draw near to us. I'll pray for you also,that God will strengthen you and keep you and your family safe. Be strong!!!
Saved by Grace,
Amy

It's snowing again

The snow falls like God's Grace...and once again I find myself looking for a corner to curl up in and not to take part in this race we call "Life."

Tension in this home is what brings back the pain......the intensely painful mothering failures......Have I damaged my kids? Has my own selfishness wounded my husband?

."Then I remember we are just dust.......This life is not about us......The Lord does expose our wounds...so I am laying my heart out for everyone here to see.....I am vulnerable and humble so I make this an offering to Him.....who has given me so much..... I am torn in places I never knew I could tear...........the broken worn out me....one who is a mother, teacher, writer, caretaker, wife, sister, daughter, friend, lover of Jesus.....completely and utterly worn out....not taking the time to just "BREATHE

I am craving the stillness, the quietness....of it all....craving the still small voice of Him whispering to me that everything is going to be all right....But instead He speaks the words from Luke 12:48 to me......and it is clear as a bell:

Robbie, for one who has been given much, much will be demanded.......and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.................Wow.......oh how I wish I knew how to lay it all down on the altar as a sacrifice to Him.................this blog is not about me.....it is where I can take myself lower.....making me more humble................. I want it to be all about Christ!!!!!!! As I blog the Lord gently nudges me....lay it out....lay out your wounds.....your torn out wounds......your failures and how you have lost your patience but with a gentle reminder how our Saviour never looses His...... and He never grows weary........

This place is about finding the beauty and the stillness in all the chaos in this thing called "LIFE." And I want to know what it is like to stand on Holy Ground.......to feel His peace even in my chaos......oh how I want to fall face down as Joshua did and say "what is it that my Lord has to say to me?"

Joshua 5:13-15...................13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

14 “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord[e] have for his servant?”
15 The commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
     So now what is it that the Lord has to say to me? To you????
It is so clear to me now why God laid on my heart the main verse of our Yahweh Sisters Blog site; it is what he has been saying to me to you?
Matthew 22:37-38.....
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 




      I know that I am a bit of a mess in this "Life, raising teenagers....it actually feels like I have pit bulls instead of daughters sometimes.........and yes it was me that told Amy that it is us 'WOMEN," who have the power to set the pace of our homes. It is us who controls the atmosphere....it is even US who sometimes causes the chaos when things are spiraling out of control................Did you know that "grace truly is contagious" ....        and when we don't lay it on the altar,  when we can't give up the control.... when I make the mistake of screaming at my kids and telling them that they are crazy, and I really do think my 15 year old is crazy....lol     It is then that I can sense the spiritual attacks and feel like Satan is up to his same old tired tricks of using my family members to get me to react and lose it.   It works when my daughter screams to the top of her lungs....."WHAT IF I DON'T BELIEVE IN  GOD?".........and I scream back:   "well just sit in the church and FAKE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! (yes I did say that.....)"

Yes words hurt and I have spoken harshly and I cried and they cried and I just pray that I haven't damaged my girls forever......

I cried out to God last night with everything in me and screamed like a crazy women that: " I don't want to do this anymore......I want to run and never look back.... I want to run to that stillness and quietness that I long for....

I cry out to God with weariness on how I have allowed the flesh victory today............Please Abba Father don't let the girls be confused ...let them know the power of your grace......your unfathomable grace......

pouring out my heart like dirty water,

in his grace,

Robbie

Peace at home

A wise friend, Robbie, told me that a "MOM" controls the atmosphere of the house. This is so true. When I am all to pieces, my family is all to pieces. We have three boys. For Christmas we got our eleven year old a "puppy". Well oh course he is cute, BUT a lot of work. He is like a new baby- goes to the bathroom every hour. Well one day in particular,  I was at work- I received several phone calls from my husband about how much work the puppy was, and that he had went to the bathroom several times in the house- yuck!!! I couldn't wait to get home.HA HA .  It is funny, when I'm home, the puppy doesn't have accidents, but that is another story. Also this one day in particular, the boys were destroying the house. I rushed home, pulled my car into the garage and was trying to mentally get ready to meet every one's needs. Well I didn't pull my car far enough into the garage- the garage door came down on my car, usually goes back up when it meets resistance, but didn't this time. The door caught a hold of my expedition and tore the garage door opener completely off the door. So instead of me creating peace in my house that night, I added to the chaos.  My husband was DONE. Instead of praying through it, I told my husband to put the dog on eBay to sell, the kids too if that was possible. I was DONE too. So instead of creating a peaceful night, I went to bed. The next day I left for work and had to manually shut the garage door, I ended  up shutting my finger in the door and cried all the way to work. Later that day I talked to Robbie, she laughed and again told me that I could, with God's help, change the atmosphere of my house. I tried it, and it worked. I loved on the puppy, and my family. I lit candles, fixed dinner, and most of all- bit my tongue. I kept my mouth shut, Girls- this is war. We have to put on our armor before we get up in the morning- the armor of God. Read our bible and pray. God did not promise that life would be easy, but that he would not leave us.
So today, try to remain calm. Pray for Peace. Trust and Love God. We will make it to the finish line. One way or the other. We maybe crawling, but we'll make it.
Love in Christ.
Amy

Cap...part 2

Sea of Galilee in the Back......

The synagogue was built in the pattern common in Galilee with lateral aisles along three sides, with three entrances with the open side facing JERUSALEM..........

Between the synagogue and Peter's house, archaeologists have found the remains of many homes that give us a good idea of the way Peter's home would have looked. It probably consisted of one room,  perhaps even divided by pillars that separated the living area from a pantry type room.  These homes were clustered around courtyards, where baking ovens would have been located. Their were no roofs left on anything. But the stone steps leading to them are still in place today!!! We were told through archaeological findings that the roof would have been flat, made of packed dirt and straw that would be supported by wood or stone rafters.

Early Christians made it easy to identify Peter's house by the most exciting discovery for us Christians:   131 inscriptions scratched into its plaster walls by pilgrims in Greek, Aramaic, Latin, and the ancient Semitic Language Syriac.........Many of the inscriptions bless the name of Jesus and ask for God's Mercy! This realization may have been the first site of the first-house-churches......this would be HUGE for us Christians because it would be a the very first known church in the Christian world.....wow......

Grinding mills for wheat, found in Capernaum......

Me and Peter.............

Thanks to the archaeologists who excavated the ruins of Capernaum during the twentieth century, we can almost picture the scene of a bustling town where fisherman are hauling in their catch for the day..and the women would be hard at work grinding grain, baking bread, or making clothing for their families. 

CAPHARNAUM............................THE TOWN OF JESUS.......part 1

"The people of the country call it Capernaum." Capernaum was a fairly large settlement on the Northwestern edge of the Sea of Galilee.... Capernaum became the home town of Jesus after Nazareth, and from the synagogue there He launched his preaching mission.......

This is the center of Jesus' ministry.......Capernaum means, "village of Nahum," Nahum means, "comfort or consolation."  The meaning should remain us of the many miracles of healing that Jesus performed in this vicinity........

It was a busy fishing town that was located near an abundant spring and well-watered fertile plains........

Archaeological remains of Peter's house..........

The doorways of the Capernaum synagogue, frames the modern Memorial of St. Peter, built over the traditional house of Peter's mother-n-law.......

A reconstructed colonnade stands tall among the ruins of the synagogue of Capernaum.........

Grinding mills for wheat, found in Capernaum.....

Beneath the Memorial of St. Peter are remains of Peter's mother-n-law's house........

This was truly a city of miracles.....and teaching...A place where men were called and they followed. It is the town by the sea that Jesus himself called "HOME." It is where five of the disciples: Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew-lived and were called, and chose to follow......

Reconstructed colonnade...............that stands tall in the ruins of the synagogue of Capernaum..........

Standing here in the shades of the old buildings...Our hearts cry out to want to know more.......more about our Jesus...Amy and I try to picture Jesus touching Peter's mother-n-law and commanding, "Be well," and in that very moment she was healed.......as the sun is beaming down upon us..we thought about the very words Jesus spoke here:   If one of these little children believes in me, and someone causes that child to sin, it would be better for that person to have a large mill-stone tied around the neck and be drowned in the sea......as we stood there if you listened closely enough you could hear the waves from the Sea of Galilee.....

This is also where the sick and desperate sought him out. It is also where those who were hungry in spirit came to feast on Jesus' words who was and who is the "Bread of Life." He spoke the most important word ever here that has been repeated throughout time....

"BELIEVE."

Also at Capernaum it is believed that this is where a demon-possessed man cried out, "Jesus of Nazareth! What do you want with us?"