When Two or Three Are Gathered

Sometimes we have absolutely no idea what God has planned, and how He puts his "teams" together. Yesterday was one such day.

I drove to one of Denver's largest hospitals to spend the weekend with a dear sister in the Faith who is very ill with cancer.  When I arrived the nursing staff filled me in on the latest report. It seems she was refusing all food and all water that morning, as well as any medications or treatments. I was quite surprised at this news. I had not realized the illness had been so aggressive.

When I entered her room I noticed the woman sitting near the window, saying not a word. I wondered who she was, but I wanted to focus on my friend, so I pulled a chair up next to her bed and tried to engage her.  Her eyelids were fluttering rapidly and her teeth in a continual, rapid clicking. She was not responding or using any words. So, I opened my bible and began reading over her the healing words of Psalm 91 and Psalm 139. Then I began to sing and give God worship for her wonderful life. Slowly she began to respond. After a couple of hours, the clicking and fluttering ceased, the eyes engaged mine, but still no words spoken.

The woman at the window closed her eyes when I prayed and smiled when I sang. Finally, I went to the cup of water at my friend's bedside and put it to her lips. "This is living water," I told her, "and Yeshua wants you to drink. Drink and receive life!"  She looked again into my eyes, this time with comprehension, and she drank deeply.  My heart was filled with joy.  Next I tried a little food - fresh, organic veggies, her favorite.  She began to nibble on the food and then she began to eat.  

I continued in praise, both spoken and sung, to fill her room with the Word and with worship. Finally the woman at the window got up and helped my friend to use the bathroom and to take her vital signs. "I am Edna. I'm a CNA," she told me, "assigned to sit with her all day today and keep her safe."  

"You are a believer, aren't you?" I smiled at her. "Oh yes, ma'am," she replied enthusiastically, "and I can see that today we are going to get to watch our God at work!"  

The rest of the afternoon we partnered, Edna and I, to "keep her safe."  We sang old hymns together, and my friend began to sing them too, in a soft, hoarse voice.  Then she began to giggle, so we all giggled together, in the joy of the Lord. A soothing bed bath was given and as the woman comforted my friend's body with her gentle touch, and warm soap and water, we kept singing, giving God glory.  Then as she removed the covers from the hugely swollen, red legs, we both gasped. The swelling was down, almost to normal size legs!  My friend began to move her leg for the first time that day and it was no longer painful.  

I stared at Edna.  "You were assigned here today.  I was assigned here today. We are two or more...and we are powerful unto the pulling down of strongholds and victorious in the Mighty Power of the Holy Spirit!"

My friend's body had rejected the last three attempts at blood platelet transfusion. I mused about the pattern I was seeing. Food and water had been rejected, but was now being blessed into her body. What about the platelets?  Could we bless those to her body too and cause her body to accept them?  She had to have them to stay alive!  So when the nurse arrived with the little bag of life-saving platelets, Edna and I began to pray, and my friend prayed in the Spirit, right alongside us. Now we were three, asking the Lord to bless these platelets to her body, that she would LIVE AND NOT DIE, that her blood would be restored!  In less than an hour we got the news. God had answered. Her body received them.  It was a glorious moment and my friend began to wave her arms around in a "happy dance," a huge smile across her face, victorious in her spirit.

I won't soon forget yesterday. God had put together His chosen team to win a victory. He was right in the midst of us!

Matthew 18:20:  When two are three are gathered together in My Name, I am there in the midst of them.

Now it is one week later since I wrote the words above. I did not want to publish this blog until I had my friend's permission and she has now granted it.  

John and I visited her again yesterday, exactly one week later.  The Sabbath was here again and my friend had called me in the morning, asking if we could come. I gathered together a little kosher Pomegranate wine, a small loaf of crusty bread, two tiny olive wood wine cups from Israel, and my Bible. When we entered her room I was overcome with joy and astonishment, my memory hearkening back to what I saw one week ago in this same room. I had know in my spirit that she was literally at death's door that morning, and she told me she had known it too. The fluttering eyelids and clicking teeth, the altered brain waves, the rejection of food and water -- all these things were signs that she was truly in the Valley of the Shadow of Death. But, my friends, the glorious news is that she passed THROUGH that valley (as the psalmist tells us) and was delivered by God's merciful hand!

So, we celebrated yesterday. My friend had such joy in setting up her little hospital bedside table with the small decanter, the little olive wood cups, blue napkins to make a "tablecloth" and a few gold-wrapped coins someone had brought as a Hanukkah gift!  We sang the sh'ma, we prayed the blessings over the bread and the cup, we prayed to bless our children and grandchildren, and then we gave God all the mighty praise He is due! 

When our little service was over, my friend got really excited about just having a small celebration with what she had to offer from her little dorm-size refrigerator: hummus to spread on the bread, Kalamata olives, and slices of red pepper.  I am certain that after four weeks in a hospital room, after countless transfusions and poking and prodding of her body, after untold nights of sleeplessness and finally, the darkness where death tried to take her, this little "party" seemed like a huge vault back into some sort of "normal," where she could set a lovely table and celebrate a special Shabbat with friends.  

Again, my heart gives God deep thanks and praise, as He demonstrates for us once again, "When two are three are gathered together in My Name, I am there in the midst of them."

On the 24th day of the Ninth Month

Shalom, beloved friends! If you have been blessed by these messages this past year, please consider sending us your year-end donation. See the bottom of this blog for wonderful free offers that we will send back to you with each donation.  We love you and praise God that you walk with us in this ministry!

Haggai 2:20-22:  The word of the LORD came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the [ninth] month: Tell Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, that I will shake the heavens and the earth. I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.

Yesterday morning the LORD spoke to me in my prayer time and said, "I want you to study the book of Haggai with me this week."  I read through the whole book and when I got to this last paragraph (above), my spirit was greatly quickened.  These verses are a continuation from verse 18, where the prophet mentions the "twenty-fourth day of the ninth month." The ninth Hebrew month is Kislev, the month we are in right now. The 24th day was yesterday (Tuesday), the day the LORD asked me to study this prophecy.  I never cease to be utterly amazed by God's perfect timing in all that He does and all that He shows us!  He led me to a prophecy that was given ON THIS DAY in approximately 538 B.C.! Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah had returned from Babylon along with the remnant of about 50,000 Jews. In verses 10-18, on the twenty-fourth day of Kislev (the ninth month), Haggai is drawing upon priestly knowledge to tell the people that the LORD is able to bless their meager crops and offerings to make clean what is unclean through their re-building of the Temple.

So, last evening was the first day of the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah, and this feast recalls the cleansing of the Temple altar by the Maccabees after it was horribly desecrated by the edict of the evil ruler Antiochus Epiphanes.  

So, you're saying, "Great, what does this have to do with me today?"  It has everything to do with where we are today, in terms of Israel, Jerusalem, and also many of the "foreign kingdoms" spoken about in this prophecy!  As we look through spiritual lenses, through the eyes of Haggai the prophet, we see that this prophecy was fulfilled on the 25th of Kislev in 165 B.C.E. by the Maccabees, who cleansed the temple and re-lit the lights of the menorah; and we also look ahead to 2017 when events seem to be fulfilling this prophecy a second time.

God says that on this day He will be shaking the heavens and the earth, and overturning royal thrones, shattering foreign kingdoms. Anything outside the borders of Israel is considered "the nations" or "foreign kingdoms." So, are we not seeing a day in which Saudi Arabia has arrested eleven of their princes and assassinated many of them? How about the nation of Lebanon, where the Prime Minister fled to Saudi Arabia and there offered his resignation from office? Do we not live in a "foreign kingdom" where the government offices are cleansed of evil and wickedness, and where even Hollywood celebrities, and high business and corporate officers are being exposed and arrested? God is even now overturning and overthrowing that which is "unclean" and opposed to HIS Kingdom!

And as if that were not enough to take my breath away, we have just witnessed the Proclamation going forth from this nation that Jerusalem is indeed the Eternal Capitol of Israel, which has sparked much discussion regarding the re-building of a third Temple in Jerusalem!  

The LORD also speaks of shaking the heavens and the earth, and on this same day in 2017, there were two significant earthquakes in the Middle East, centered in Iran, arguably the most fierce of all Israel's enemies. As God is shaking and overturning wickedness and shattering the power of foreign nations, He is also preparing us for the war that is very soon to come - "horses and riders will fall, each by the sword of their brother."

We see these prophecies being fulfilled before our eyes and we are astonished; but we do not fear. Hanukkah is the season of cleansing, but it is also the season of LIGHT.  The Jews have passed on the story from generation to generation, how the menorah in the Temple was lit with just enough oil for one night, but it kept burning and did not go out! That is a picture of Yeshua. He is the lampstand, the Light of the world. His light never goes out!  He said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

How gloriously the LORD led me to these passages in Haggai, where He showed me events coming to pass, even in this week of Hanukkah, thousands of years after the prophet spoke it.  Let us be FILLED with the light of Yeshua/Jesus, in this season of light, and let our hearts - the temple of the Holy Spirit - be cleansed and made ready for His soon return!

Shalom and blessings,
Kelly

On a personal note: We at Doorkeeper Ministries are involved in much work of visitation and prayer over the elderly, the sick and those who are getting ready to go home.  We are seeing many miracles in these days! We are also planning ministry trips for 2018 and we expect this will be a year in which our God moves very powerfully.

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I Did Not Come to Bring Peace, But a Sword

Matthew 10:34-36 and Micah 7:6
Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies will be the members of his own household.

I've read these verses all my life and wondered what they could mean. How could Jesus have even spoken these words? Isn't He all about unity and family?

Finally I have had to accept that His words are true for me. I always imagined it would be other families, perhaps those of other cultures, who experienced this great division and pain. But now I realize these words were written for a time of the future - and the time is here.  Our abiding faith in Yeshua (Jesus), the Messiah and Savior of our souls, is a sword dividing families. Even the nation we live in now appears to be overcome by the world.

On the 41st birthday of my oldest child I was greatly moved to write him a letter and send him a book, my heart filled with hope that I could somehow finally reach him so that I would not have to face living in eternal life without him. I've witnessed often to him and his children and they have nodded with disinterested hearts, moving the conversation quickly to something else. But his birthday this year fell on Yom Kippur and I knew I would be in Israel that day, interceding for him with all my heart and soul. So I wrote words that sprang from my inner-most being, filled and anointed by the Spirit, and sent with a hope-filled heart.

On Thanksgiving Day we finally talked, and he finally drew the line and plainly instructed me not to speak of my faith anymore to him and his family. He let me know in no uncertain terms that he does not need or want a God.

For a day I wept. Tears just wouldn't stop. But finally I got my journal and sat with Abba Father and asked Him to speak something to me to help me move on, despite this pain. I have decided I needed to write this to all of you, because I am pretty sure I'm not the only one needing this word God gave me:

1 John 4:5-6
They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world and the world listens to them. We are from God and whoever knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of falsehood.

I raised this child of mine in the Truth. But he has made a decision in the spirit of falsehood - so right now he cannot hear me. But perhaps that is right now.  Perhaps it isn't the end of the story.

Micah 7:7-8
But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD. I wait for God my Savior. My God will hear me.

The Conclusion of the Matter

I am re-posting a word I received a few years back, at the instruction of Holy Spirit.  I pray that it speaks to you again today, as it did to me!

Ecclesiastes 12:4-7

⁴ when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when men rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint;
⁵ when men are afraid of heights and of terror in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags himself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then man goes to his eternal home , and mourners go about the streets.

⁶ Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well,
⁷ and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Clearly the Teacher who wrote these verses (Solomon) is prophesying about a time at the end of the age, when there is terror in the streets, when food is scarce, and not even water can be found at the springs.  He sees a time when the earth is returning to dust and gold and silver can no longer "save" us.  In those days the doors are closed, and I thought of the passage in Isaiah 26, when God's people are told to "go into your rooms, close the doors, and hide yourselves for a little while" as God's wrath passes over.  Yet even in the midst of these dark and gloomy verses, the phrase "when the almond tree blossoms" bursts forth in surprising, unexpected delight!  The almond tree is usually symbolic for Yahovah's authority and sovereignty, just as Aaron's staff that budded with almond blossoms, right in the midst of Israel's slavery in Egypt!

"I am still here on the Throne," our Elohim is saying, "and you must not be in fear in these days, but you must be doing what I have called you to do." 

"Tell me more, then, Father.  What have you called me to do?" He summed it up in verse 13:

¹³ Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man. 

Will the stock market crash again?  Undoubtedly.  The golden bowl will be broken, the sound of grinding will cease, and the sun and moon will turn to darkness.  But the Light of our God will burn ever brighter, and the sons of God - those who have held to the testimony of Yeshua and kept His commandments - will shine ever brighter.  In fact, as we are told in Daniel 12:3, Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness shall shine like the stars forever and ever.  But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end..."

Utterly Unnoticeable

Following Bible study, we enjoyed lunch with a 92-year-old resident of the retirement home. He said, "I've heard about you guys. What denomination are you?" 

Especially in his generation the label was important. It defined a person. "Are you a tongues-talking Pentecostal or a Bible-thumping Baptist, or are you a Lutheran or Episcopalian who doesn't utter such things? What are you? I need to put you in one of my boxes."  That's really what he was asking.

I smiled and gently responded, "We are not in a denomination. We are followers of Jesus Christ, the Savior."  The 92-year-old brain, still keenly functioning, stopped to process my answer. Then he nodded, as if he accepted it, and it would be okay if we still had conversation!

I'm glad I don't have a label anymore. I don't judge those who do - we are all on this journey with the Master, and many of us have worn lots of labels as we grew and took new steps. Every step was and is important as we follow our Messiah and the ultimate goal for us all is to become like Him.

There is another step, though, that we all must take. We need to stop measuring our "success" in the journey by what we DO.  Sometimes I think believers get trapped by the mentality of the "scouting syndrome." Were you a girl scout or a boy scout? The goal was always to get another badge! I was a Brownie Scout and then I graduated into Girl Scouts, and I can remember striving to have more badges on my sash than anybody else in my troop!  We are so trained to climb the ladder of success and prove ourselves.

But Oswald Chambers writes, "If you are rightly devoted to the Lord Jesus, you have reached the sublime height where no one ever thinks of noticing YOU; all that is noticed is the power of God coming through you all the time. It takes God's Spirit in us to make us so absolutely humanly His that we are utterly unnoticeable."

After reading that devotion this morning, I sat with my Lord and we had a very short conversation. I heard Him say to me, "You told the man you are My follower. How do you do that?"

"I love you, Lord," I replied.

"How do you love Me?"

"I keep your commandments."

"How do you keep them?"

"By loving others."

I think He nodded - just as the 92-year-old man nodded - and I become more and more aware of the simplicity and the gentle joy of serving the Master.

An In-breaking of Light and Justice

Up all night. Sleep would not come. The images of twenty-seven people worshiping God in their small, quiet country church, suddenly gunned down in a Satanic blood bath, would not leave me. Grandmas and toddlers. Moms and dads. Utterly innocent folks, utterly unexplainable.

As I sat pondering this horrific event in sleepy Sutherland Springs, Texas, an e-mail popped up from a childhood friend of mine who lives very near there. We were neighbors in Missouri in the 1950s, little girl playmates in an innocent, gentle era.  Our favorite thing to do together was to wrap white sheets around us to make "princess gowns," with plastic tiaras on our heads and home-made magic wands in our hands.  She was the child of Arab immigrants, whose grandmother called herself a Palestinian.  Our parents were best friends. Now I am closely bonded with the Jewish people of Israel, and so our lives have taken turns that should have pitted against one another.  But our joyful childhood memories are too strong to let that happen. We wrote to one another this morning, both of us affected by the devastation of this tragedy in a small town in Texas, and we agreed that if we could wave our magic wands over Israel and America, our wands would immerse people in Love - the pure, unadulterated, unwavering Love of God.

Although it truly does appear that the time of Satan's fury upon this earth has come, there is also an in-breaking of light and justice in this nation. God is finally exposing the wretched corruption of Washington and Hollywood alike.

Mark 4:22: For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought into the open.

God is doing what is meant to be! Lies, deceit, wicked plans and deceptions are coming out of the shadows everywhere and perhaps an hour of reckoning and justice is upon us.

A prophetic word this week from my dear sister Phyllis Ford confirmed this, and I am printing an excerpt from it below. You can view the word in its entirety if you wish at this link:  https://www.facebook.com/phyllisfordministries/

"I AM moving in this time to release My righteous judgments in the land and deal with those who have been smug and arrogant with their own power. Their influence will be humbled by My Mighty Hand. The hands of the unrighteous and their works have been weighed in the balances and found wanting. I have a redemptive purpose and the restoration of My people will carry a major part of My plan. I will bring down the high tree and exalt the low tree and I will uncover all things. My word will be the last word," says the LORD. "I will remove these evil foundations and I will destroy that which does not represent My plan. Know that there are plans of war, plans of upheaval and plans of betrayal; but there are also plans of standing for that which is holy and that which is right. So wait before Me and allow Me to strengthen you for the journey ahead and enlighten you concerning the serious things that are to come."

Father, we wait before You. We need your strengthening and Your enlightening. Bring into the light whatever is hidden and concealed. Make us to carry a part of Your plan in standing for that which is Holy and that which is right! Give us deeper discernment in this hour. Lead us - not into temptation - but deliver us from evil.

FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM AND THE POWER AND THE GLORY - FOREVER AND EVER! AMEN

Who Are the 144,000?

Today I have remained very deep in the study of five small verses in Revelation Chapter 14. The subject is the 144,000. It has remained one of the biggest mysteries in this awesome end-time vision of the Apostle John. I have struggled for many years with these verses, wondering, "Who are these pure, holy young men, where do they come from and above all, what is their purpose?"

Today I received revelation from the Holy Spirit, and I know this because my face is stained with the abundance of tears that came when He showed me the answers. Maybe some of you saw all this a long time ago - I do realize that it was written right there in plain sight - but today is the first day I have had such profound, anointed understanding.

Revelation 14:1-5
Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

The first thing that blew me away was this: these 144,000 have TWO names written on their foreheads - not just one! The name YHVH (Yehovah) is written there, but also the name YESHUA. 
It appears to me to be a "double blessing." I don't remember any other place in Scripture where anyone is marked with BOTH the names of the Father and the Son.  

These 144,000 young men are playing harps and they sang a "new song" before the four living creatures and the elders. In order to be before these heavenly beings, they have to be in the Heavenly Throne Room. And they are there before the rest of the saints are gathered (or "raptured.") They are the only ones who can learn this song. That means you can't learn it and neither can I. Why? Let's look into the answer for that question, which leads us to discover their true purpose.

I have listened to many teachers say that these 144,000 men are "last-days evangelists" to go throughout the earth preaching the Gospel. It doesn't say that in the Bible! The verses that follow in Chapter 14 do speak about an angel "flying in mid-air, who had the eternal gospel to proclaim to all who live on the earth." But that is the job of this specific angel, not of the 144,000! So what is their purpose and why have they been given this honor to be in person with the Lamb (Yeshua) in the heavenly Jerusalem before any of the rest of us who are still alive and believe in Him?

As the Spirit showed me, I just couldn't contain my tears. These young men are blameless. They are virgins. They have never lied. They follow the Lamb (Yeshua) wherever He goes. This tells me that from a very young age they have been set apart to Him, wholly surrendered, keeping His commandments and doing whatever He called them to do, in perfect obedience.

There are 12,000 of them from every tribe on earth. I believe this is a literal number, not a symbolic one. So this tells me that there are 12,000 from each of the original 12 tribes, who are probably gathered from all the nations where they were scattered over the ages. Perhaps they were touched by the Ruach (Holy Spirit) at a very young age, chosen by God and marked for this very purpose. Maybe they even grew up in families that were not walking with God, and yet He touched them and kept them pure. I know of two families right now in my own circles who have little boys who believe deeply in Jesus, but whose parents do not!  It is possible for the Ruach to continue to fan the flames in these young boys' spirits and cause them to be overcomers even if they are surrounded by unbelief.

Then we are told that these 144,000 holy young men were "purchased from mankind and offered as firstfruits to God."  Yes, it has always been written right there - but I didn't get it.  Not until today. Today, through my tears, I caught the vision! These 144,000 have one single purpose and that is to go before you and before me, to stand in the Heavenly Throne Room as firstfruits offerings from all mankind on the earth. 
2 Cor. 15:20 tells us, 
"But Messiah has indeed been raised 
from the dead, the firstfruits 
of those who have fallen asleep.

Messiah Yeshua was indeed the firstfruits offering from those who have "fallen asleep," or died. He perfectly fulfilled the Feast of Firstfruits, being resurrected from the dead and entering Heaven three days after His death on the stake. But these 144,000 - are they not then the firstfruits from the living?
They stand with Yeshua on the mountain in Jerusalem playing their harps and singing this wondrous new song, as they are offered to Him as a firstfruits offering of those still upon the earth awaiting their deliverance. As a reward for their pure, undefiled lives, they are offered on our behalf - because we are not undefiled! They sing and play to worship the King; but their worship is offered for all of us who cannot yet learn the song.

What a glorious purpose they have! It was written there all along, but many of us tried so hard to give them some other mission. "Surely they must be the earth's final evangelists," we thought. "Surely they will lead the military procession into Armaggedon!" No, I don't see any of that written. I see a higher purpose, a more beautiful expression of the fulfillment of the LORD's feast days. I think it is highly likely that these 144,000 men will be sealed on Mount Zion on the Feast of Shavu'ot (Pentecost). Just as the two "fine flour" loaves were waved before the LORD as the firstfruits offering in Leviticus 23:16-17, so these 144,000 fine men are "waved" before the LORD on Mount Zion and sealed with His Name and the Name of His Son, and offered as firstfruits to them both.

I am a worship leader. I used to read Revelation 14 and wish so much that I could know this song that they sing. But today I simply bow before Messiah and offer my gratitude that the song will be offered up on my behalf - as another gesture of His amazing grace!

Keep Listening!

It has been close to ten years now that I've been teaching bible studies at our local retirement home. I've often written of the precious people God has placed in our study, many of them in their 80s and 90s, and how God has continued to show us that this little ministry matters to Him.

This past week two of our very dear friends in our study - one age 74 and one age 81 - went to be with the Lord.  It is so hard to lose those you've grown so close to, and especially those you have journeyed with in the pages of the Word of God!

We held a little memorial service for one of them yesterday so that other residents could come. I was stunned to hear these old voices raised in such a chorus of harmonies as together we sang "Blessed Assurance" and "Because He Lives" and "Amazing Grace"!  But the best part was when I asked if they wanted to share about their memories with Jim (the deceased). It was then that I remembered the greatest gift I could give. Not playing the piano, or singing, or preaching or organizing or leading the prayers. No...the greatest gift is listening. I was so deeply blessed listening to them share their stories about their friend, all the memories they had of him, and all the ways he had graced and blessed their different lives.  They seemed so very happy to have a place where they could tell the stories and someone would listen.

I know this was the one gift that meant the most to them because so many of them stayed afterward to tell me so, and people lingered, as if not wanting to leave this place where memories mattered and stories lived on.

I think it's something we need to be reminded of - and so I'm reaching out to each of you, at the unction of the Holy Spirit - to tell you that the very small times you have spent with others, just listening, has truly mattered to God. From pastors and shepherds to neighbors and every-day folks, you may feel weary and battered from all the times you've tried to be there for people, but it seemed as if you accomplished nothing, or you felt you didn't have the resources or the right words to help. Know that you didn't need resources or right words. Know that your gift was simply being there and caring and listening. It made a difference - far greater than you know in this life.

Remain in Seclusion

Shalom everyone,

We are back to Colorado. I cannot utter the words "we are home," because we just left our true home! The transition is difficult. From walking the ancient paths of Israel to modern life in America is like some vast time warp, and my mind and emotions struggle to readjust. I watch the news reports of the vicious fires in California and see the unbelievable photos of entire neighborhoods melted by heat and I am astonished at the complete devastation.

This morning God has me reading in the book of Hosea and I stopped as He quickened this one verse to me:  "Then I told her, 'you are to remain in seclusion for a long time and be mine.'"  Hosea 3:3.  Hosea the prophet has had to suffer the pain of a wife who betrays her husband and prostitutes herself with other men. God has asked Hosea to endure this as a parable to His own relationship with unfaithful Israel. In this part of the story, Hosea goes to find his wife and he literally buys her back for himself with silver and barley - and then gives her this instruction: "You are to remain in seclusion for a long time and be mine."

I heard Yah's voice speaking to ME when I read this verse - and I felt He instructed me to send it on to you also. It is His loving instruction for each of us during these days of fiery trials. If we take time each and every day to get into seclusion with HIM, to hear Him, to know Him - we will be HIS, marked with His Name, sheltered in His strong tower.

Let us leave whatever activity has been separating us from time with HIM and remain in seclusion.

It's About the People

I need to go back one day in my journal, as I skipped over September 26. I should not have skipped it; it represents a big part of the reason why God calls us to Israel. On our last trip here in 2014 we had the great privilege of meeting and coming to love some of the young Jewish families in the Shomron (formerly Samaria), who have settled on these mountains of Ephraim and have bravely put their hearts and their hands to work to build homes, raise livestock, plant olive trees and add more families to their community.  We returned to one of these small villages and once more enjoyed a wonderful lunch of Israeli salads with salmon and their delicious fried Haloumi cheese. This little cafe sits atop a steep mountain with a breathtaking overlook of the Jordan Valley below, and we sipped warm cups of coffee while enjoying this view of Israel that the tourists never see.  One precious woman in this village has established her skin care shop where she makes her own marvelous face creams and essential oils and Rosemary and I were so blessed to support her with a little shopping and a lot of conversation that hopefully encouraged and lifted her up.

From there we drove on into Tiberius where we stayed with Avigail - a very special divine appointment. As it turns out, Avigail has been a reader of this blog for many years, but I had never met her nor even e-mailed with her!  Now it was Yah's perfect time to connect us and we were blessed beyond measure to stay two nights in her incredible home right on the shores of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). She is an American who has been in Israel 26 years, laboring in the harvest fields here and touching so many Jewish lives in the process.  There was a little twinge of pain deep in my heart that I did not continue to find a way to stay in Israel since my 2005 experience; but I pray that I've still found a way to follow God's plan for me. There is just such a STRONG connection I have with Israel and on this trip He revealed to me once again - in even stronger terms - that the connection is not about the Land, but about the people. It is the people we are here to pray for, and the people who found their way deep into our hearts! In fact, on the way to Tiberius we had trouble finding a place to stop for lunch on Highway 90, but eventually saw signs for gasoline and a pizza place. The sign read "A BETTER PLACE."  What a great name!

We went inside to look at the menu and the owner, whose name was Chaim, greeted us with such cheer.  "I have the very best pizza in all of Israel!"  he proudly boasted.  We told him we'd come all the way from America to try his pizza and you could see the sheer delight on his face. In truth, it was some of the best pizza I've ever had and I'm not sure why - unless it was the delicious cheese and fresh, pure Israeli olive oil!  Chaim visited with us between pizzas and deliveries and once again we saw the hard work and courage of these Jews who have settled on the so-called "West Bank," and made their own land their home, no matter how hard it might be, no matter what threats they may face from all the nearby Palestinian towns.

September 28

Hugs with Avigail and promises to meet again, and we were on our way across the country to Haifa, on the west coast. On the way we kept our appointment with the prayer portal on top of Mt. Tabor. It's a good thing John is an experienced Colorado driver!  A road has been carved out of this extremely steep mountain, with continual hairpin switchbacks. No tourist busses or even cars normally make this ascent - but we did - and we met countless shuttles coming down this tiny narrow road while we were going up, making the drive a tremendous challenge!  This is the mountain generally accepted and widely taught to be the place of Yeshua's transfiguration. Once we reached the top and then walked until the Spirit told us, "stop and pray here," we looked down at the incredibly difficult climb it would be on foot and marveled that Yeshua, Peter, James and John could make such a climb! So we opened our bibles to all four gospel accounts looking for one that specifically mentions Mount Tabor in the story of the transfiguration. It's not there! We realized that all four of us and countless others have accepted Mt. Tabor as the location of this incredible, supernatural event, where Moses and Elijah appeared and Yeshua was utterly transformed into the radiant fullness of His kingdom glory. But the gospel accounts do not give a location. So we began to pray over all Israel, with a view that stretched almost across the country from east to west. We prayed over the Jezreel valley below, and we again sang "Baruch haba b'shem Adonai" (Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord) as we have sung in almost all the portals, calling Yeshua to return.  Then we were in silence and listened to what the Spirit might have to show us, and here is what we clearly heard: "The location of the transfiguration is not in the Scriptures because it does not matter where it happened. It only matters that it happened. It  was a powerful and glorious glimpse of Yeshua's future reign over all Israel - and over all nations from Israel.  It was surely a heavenly conversation between Him and Moses and Elijah, concerning these things that are still to come.  And just as Elijah shut up the sky and held back the rain while he was on the earth (Luke 4:25), surely he will do it again as one of the two witnesses in Revelation 11:6.  Similarly, Moses once turned the river into blood (Exodus 7:20) and I felt the Lord was confirming for me that he would certainly be the other witness of Revelation 11:6.  Perhaps they even received this assignment in that heavenly conversation!

September 29
We had checked into the Beit Yedidia Guesthouse in Haifa, where we would spend the next six nights. Once again, it was about the people. The first person we met was a young man pushing a double baby stroller with two very tiny toddler boys and another two boys alongisde.  The daddy looked disheveled and worn out.  As we entered into conversation we learned that he and his wife had been in Israel a year, hoping to make aliyah and stay there. He is an American who learned that he is of Jewish descent - but when the Ministry of Interior in Israel learned that they are believers in Yeshua, they blocked any opportunity for them to have citizenship. In fact, we learned on this trip that quite a number of Jews who have become citizens in Israel and lived there for years, are having their citizenship revoked because they are believers.  The enemy is in a last-ditch effort to remove every trace of belief in Jesus from the land of Israel! We ask your prayers for these people and a huge change of hearts for those in the Israeli government.

This young family had been granted asylum at Beit Yedidia, and we saw that this guest house truly had a ministry to help those in this type of homeless situation.  We were able to give both the young family and the guest house good donations to help.  The couple has four boys under the age of five, and we had the great joy of seeing them often in the house while we were there, sometimes sharing groceries and often just playing with the boys to give the parents a break!  They are headed back to the U.S. now, where they have jobs in Pennsylvania. Please pray for them as they make the transition and deal with the persecution and disappointments they experienced in the Land.

As Friday evening, and the High Sabbath of Yom Kippur began, there was a glorious sunset - a tremendous burst of light at our Haifa window - and then the continual roar of a lion that lives in the zoo right behind us! It really, truly struck me as a small foretaste of that awestruck Day of His coming to judge the world, as the sky is flooded with lightning and the Lion of Judah roars!  The sun went down and then all of Israel fell silent. No cars, no busses, no eating, no shopping, no sounds at all except the lion's roar and the birds. A holy hush - or just a tradition? A fast in order to draw nearer to Him - or just to do what the Rabbi said?  And why a somber day? For us it is a day of rejoicing in the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world!

September 30 - Yom Kippur
The lion roared all night! Whoever thought that our room would be over a zoo in Israel?! The roar feels so prophetic to me. Yom Kippur came and went peacefully in Israel and I was grateful. In Europe the neo-Nazi movement is rising up from the ashes and they marched on this day as an ominous sign of things to come.

But we had the delight and great joy of attending a service here in our guest house. A young Jewish man in love with Messiah Yeshua led us in worship with his guitar and then in two and a half hours of spontaneous, Spirit-led prayer.  About 30 people had gathered together and they did not stand for hours and beat their breasts and read ancient, ritualistic prayers; they prayed earnest pleas of their hearts for the God of Israel to lift the veil over the hearts of the Jewish people. They prayed for salvation and for liberty! They prayed 2 Corinthians 3:6-18. Those verses spoke to me as never before. Verse 13 says, "...unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Tanach (Old Testamant) because the veil is taken away in Messiah." I was moved by their passion, touched by their longing for their brothers and sisters - even their own families - to find Yeshua.

After the service we went out to walk along one of Haifa's busiest streets, where cars and busses race and horns blare all day long. There wasn't a car to be seen- except two little boys in their toy car!  Young families all came out of their houses and walked or jogged down the middle of this big four-lane road. Children rode bikes and scooters without fear of being run over. Stoplights went out, every hotel and restaurant and shop closed up. It felt like 1958 on a Sunday afternoon in my own childhood in Missouri!

An older Jewish woman stopped to visit with Rosemary. She showed her small packet of drawings she had made - truly stunning renderings of landscapes, hillsides, sea cliffs, orchards and still-life pictures of fruit on thick, wooden tables. "I'm in art therapy," she told Rosemary. And once again we were reminded of the pain and trauma that dwells in the souls of so many here. Their rude and impatient behavior has a root and it is pain. We told her that we pray earnestly for the people of Israel. In her shy, small voice she responded, "Please pray that we will be nicer people." We will never forget that prayer request and the broken heart that uttered it.

October 1
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Rosemary and I spent the morning in the Haifa zoo, built into this cliff over the big port of the Mediterranean Sea. Though small, the zoo requires one to ascend and descend hundreds of steps on the steep hillside. We have really strengthened our leg muscles climbing rocky steps all over Israel! I can't stop thinking how all that will change when Messiah returns - every mountain made low and every valley lifted up.

As we were about to exit the zoo, we met a Jewish woman pushing her toddler in a stroller. She had heard our American accents and asked where we were from. When we told her she struck up a conversation, asking us, "What do you tourists do on Yom Kippur when the hotel doesn't give you any food?" We smiled and replied, "Oh, we keep the fast on Yom Kippur just like you do. In fact, we keep all the feasts of the LORD."  She looked stunned. Then I continued, "We even keep the Esther fast at Purim!" This so amazed her that she was speechless and she gestured to us in honor, as if giving us "kudos."  What a blessing to have "provoked one to jealousy" (Romans 11:14). She was clearly letting us know that she doesn't keep the fast at Purim, and wondered who we are that we would do this. I have often wondered who we are and why we are doing this myself, but toward the end of this trip the Holy Spirit led us to a passage in Isaiah 56: 3-8. Please look up those verses and read them if you have ever wondered whether God really honors the non-Jews (like us) who are keeping His Sabbaths and His feasts.  These verses poured over me as a great clay vessel of blessing and revelation straight from His lips!

In the afternoon we attended the Grand Opening of the "Great Southlands House of Prayer" - a brand new house of prayer near Kehilat ha Carmel, planted by intercessors of Australia and New Zealand. It has been years since I have been in the midst of Spirit-filled angelic worship like that. The dormant intercessor within me sprang back to life and I fell to my knees, overcome with great joy at being where I belong, among God's people - my people - the true worshipers from all the nations! One young woman took us a short way down the road to walk through the Korean House of Prayer. I had not known that so many prayer-houses had sprung up on top of Mount Carmel, and the depth of the praise that must be reaching the ears of God from up here!

We had a brief visit with friend Carolyn Hyde, and got to bless her and her family with some needed items we had brought from WalMart! And we got to be the very first ones to sow a donation seed into this new prayer house.

A delegation from the Solomon Islands led us in worship after Karen Davis' unspeakably passionate leading. The islanders are coming to Israel by the thousands I am told - and I recall the Tahitians at the Convocation in Jerusalem in 2005, who may have planted the seed and sounded the shofar that awakened so many others of the South Pacific Islands to bring the Gospel full circle back to Jerusalem!

October 2
In the morning over breakfast of cheese, toast, fruit and coffee, Rosemary and I met two women from New Zealand, who were at the new prayer center yesterday. Kindred spirits were electrified as we encountered one another! I love it when this happens! We knew each other instantly and our hearts were bursting to share what Yah is doing. We spoke through tears of joy about the great move we sense is coming as the tribes throughout the world hear the call of the shofar to repent and return to Israel. Laws will have to be changed here. Hard hearts of Judah will have to soften toward their Ephraimite family.

Today we drove up to Akko on the Mediterranean coast and an amazing thing happened as we got up to the lookout near the old light house.  Two Arab men were up there and we spoke kindly to them. When they responded in friendly, broken English, we gave them a card about Mashiach in the stars. They were excited about it. Then suddenly one of them set a thermos on a rock, took out four plastic cups and began to pour strong Arabic coffee into them - one for each of us! We were stunned. A few years ago I don't believe this could have happened - Muslim men offering us their coffee on this ledge, overlooking the azure blue Mediterranean Sea! John and Vernon drank coffee and thanked them and there was a new feeling we'd not ever known before; the men were not just "Muslims," but people with wide smiles and generous hearts! It's all about the people.

We shared a wonderful meal of fresh fish at the Abu Christo Restaurant on the edge of the sea. Then we drove up to the Lebanese border, at K'far Rosh ha Nikra. There was an IDF soldier at the gate there and we asked if we could go through the gate. At first he replied, "No, no admittance here." Then I told him we had come to pray for the IDF soldiers and for protection of all Israel from this northern border. His tone and his face changed into a smile, and he motioned for us to go through the gate and park. We were near the border, over the sea,  just below the actual Israeli military installation and Rosemary blew a shofar and read Psalm 91, praying protection over Israel from the evil threats of Hezbollah. It was all in God's perfect timing, as nine hours later there was a threat posted on the news by Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, issuing a dire warning to all Israelis to "get out before the war!" Once again we knew our steps and the timing and places of these prayer portals were being directed by the Lord.

October 3
Windy, squiggly roads led us up to the top of Mount Carmel. We drove to Muhraqa, the monastery at the top of the mountain. What memories came flooding back to me as I watched the tribes of the nations from this year's Convocation come streaming in, forming prayer circles and bombarding the heavens with their passionate African, Asian and European prayers. We found a small open spot in the beautiful rock-walled gardens and began our own intercessions in this, the final portal. God's presence was powerfully there in that place - and an Asian woman just behind us went into deep travail with heavy sobbing. I wondered where she was from and what had brought such pain and intense weeping into her life.

We interceded for America this time, in the wake of the horrible Las Vegas massacre. We blew the shofars and read aloud from 1 Kings 18 - loosing and destroying the evil of the Ba'als and the idolotries that have overtaken America. As Elijah did on this mountain thousands of years ago, we shouted, "Yehovah He is God! Yehovah He is God!"

Driving the short distance back to Kehilat ha Carmel, the wonderful worship center where people from all the nations worship Yeshua, we found a table and chairs beneath a shade tree where we could share our small picnic lunch. Then we went again into the anointed sanctuary for an afternoon prayer watch. I wish with all my heart that I could participate in that kind of totally Ruach-led worship all the time! A spirit of joy broke out and we ran, jumped, skipped and danced before the LORD! I got to worship Him with colorful flags and give Him honor due His Name. It was glorious and I realized the magnitude of the thirst my parched spirit has been in for the past few years.

October 4
We packed up and left Haifa by about 10:00 am, once again going up to Jerusalem. On the way we stopped in Hod ha Sharon to deliver a gift of goodies to a friend's grandson who is in boarding school there. My suitcase had been packed full with things that Israelis had asked for or needed, and it was such a joy to make these deliveries!

My spirit leapt once again as we made the ascent up to the Old City. We checked into the Jerusalem Inn by 3:00 pm and already all the shops and restaurants were closing their doors. It was Erev Sukkot - the first evening, the beginning of the High Sabbath. We decided to walk to the Old City anyway, even if the shops and restaurants were closed - but to our surprise, they were still open there!

God once again granted me the desires of my heart and saved us a table and four chairs at the tiny cafe in the Jaffa Gate, where we could eat pasta and sandwiches and watch the unending stream of Orthodox Jews and their families coming down to the Western Wall to pray. It is just an amazing thing to watch - even though my heart breaks that they do not have the joy of knowing Yeshua, the Bridegroom, who will one day fulfill this feast at the Wedding Supper of the Lamb.

Eventually we made our own way down to the Wall and decided to stay on the overlook, where we could witness the amazing sea of black and white, the gathering of Jewish families, with lulavs in their hands, and songs on their hearts. From the overlook we once again sang "Baruch haba b'shem Adonai" and called forth Messiah-King.

October 5 - Last Day in Israel
Today my heart is grieved. Do I really have to leave here again and return to the "Exile?" We walked down Jaffa Street, silent and abandoned to observe the High Sabbath. The Old City too was strangely quiet and we found a small table and 4 chairs near an empty sukka where we ate the apples, crackers and hummus we had brought along. There were sukkas (tents) everywhere that had been erected for the Feast of Tabernacles, but they were all empty. I didn't realize they do not occupy them until the High Sabbath is over.

We visited David's Tomb and the Upper Room and then settled into my favorite place of shalom in the Old City - the garden at Christ Church. How many times in the past I have found solace and refuge in that little garden. How it feels like home to me!  The sun began to go down and we stepped out one last time into the damp chill of the Jerusalem evening and walked to our hotel for a peaceful sleep.

If you're still reading, I thank you for sharing this whole trip with us through my little blog - and all of us send abundant thanks from the depths of our hearts to those who donated to help make this trip possible, and helped us to spread financial blessings all over Israel. Those who bless Israel will surely be greatly blessed, as the Scripture tells us! (Genesis 12:3)

Shalom with love in our soon-coming King,
Kelly

Take Off Your Grave Clothes!

Yes, we are here in Israel. Home.  The place where my heart lives even when my body is in America! We are here to do as the Father instructed and pray through the portals of His Presence. We begin the journey in the Old City. This photo should give you a perspective of the massive size of these walls that surround Jerusalem. I have wandered this awesome city so many times now, and yet I am always inspired anew with the mandate given by our Lord when He so clearly told us to keep watch! As quickly as events are happening now, fulfilling the ancient prophecies, we must be ever more watchful. God's eyes are on Israel and His word is finding its fulfillment right here in Jerusalem, the "navel" of the world.


 September 20: The Aquaduct beneath Christ Church, Jerusalem
We saw the river! We sang and worshiped in the place where the water was stopped up - and we called it forth! We called for Yeshua to set His feet on the Mount of Olives and cause the earth to shake and the mountain to split so the water could flow as Living Water through Jerusalem to the Dead Sea....healing everything as it flows! Ezekiel wrote, "the water was up to my ankles and then my knees and then my waist - and then a river no one could cross!" (chapter 38)  Living water!  And trees for healing the nations (Revelation 22).

September 21: The Garden Tomb

It is Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets, and the day began with blasts of shofars from the synagogues all around us. Sleepy eyes shot open with the thrilling revelation: I am in Jerusalem! The trumpets are sounding and I am HERE - in the city of the Great King - on the day when He will return here in some future year!

We make our way to the Garden Tomb where we find the precious shalom of this place even more holy because there are so few people here on Yom Teruah. We find a small enclosure where we can sing and worship the One who willingly laid down His life for us and then burst forth from this tomb in Resurrection Power!

Crying out to Him to make Himself known to His chosen people, we sang "open the eyes of their hearts, Lord. Open the eyes of their hearts, cause them to see You. Cause them to see you!"

We petition Him for healing of our own bodies and minds and then the Ruach speaks two words to me: GRAVE CLOTHES.  "What does this mean?" I ask. I have to look up the Scripture that uses this phrase and I find it in John chapter 11 - the story of Lazarus. Yeshua tells the men to "take off his GRAVE CLOTHES."  Then the Ruach continues and He speaks to all four of us: "Take off your grave clothes and stop living like you're dead!"

Living like we are dead! And old! And incapacitated! And finished. We knew it was for us - a Yom Teruah wake-up call. Maybe it will be a wake-up call for you too. Just like the water that flows from the Aquaduct beneath Christ Church in Jerusalem and goes all the way to the DEAD SEA, where it heals every living thing; so the Lord is calling us to take off our grave clothes and be healed and stop living like we're dead!

September 22: The Tomb of Samuel the Prophet

We worshiped inside this ancient structure towering above Jerusalem and many villages below. Contemplating the life of Israel's great prophet, I was given a revelation. Hannah prayed for a son and promised to give him to God if He would answer her prayer. He answered and she bore a son whom she named Samuel (which means "borrowed of God.")  She kept her promise. She gave her son over to God to be raised in the tabernacle at Shiloh.

This is what I am called to do now. This is what we are all called to do with our own children. We must fully give them over to the LORD, trusting that they will be found and saved and then used by God. So I prayed it - earnestly I prayed it - and now I call it a finished work, as Hannah did.

September 24: Hezekiah's Tunnel in the City of David (Jerusalem)
I will be struggling to describe this experience.  We had spent time reading the history of this tunnel and how Hezekiah's men achieved an engineering marvel, providing water to the city of Jerusalem during the time of the Assyrian siege. And we had read about Hezekiah's illness, and then his prayer of deep repentance, which touched the heart of God and added 15 years to his life!  And so with heads bent low to climb into the tunnel entrance, the Lord began to connect many dots for me. Here we were, sloshing through water that began at our ankles - and then came up to our knees - and then up to our waists! Living water! Healing water! Joy seemed to completely overcome us and then we heard the people in front of us singing and worshiping. We did not know the foreign words they sang, but we knew the melody, so we joined in. Then the people behind us joined in, with yet another language - and it was as if all nations were worshiping in this tunnel filled with water.  The worship grew deeper until I thought my heart would burst from the heavenly blessings that overflowed in that tunnel. For 700 meters we walked through this water, touching the rocky side walls carved out by Israelite men 2700 years ago. They believed they could complete this astonishing water system and by God's grace, they did. We believe that God did a healing work in each of us by His grace, and soon we shall know that He did!


September 25: Shiloh and Beth-El

 The number of children at the Israel Children's Therapy Center has more than tripled from our last visit. They have run out of room and space to build. So, you may wonder, are there that many tender young souls traumatized by terrorism in Israel? Yes, sadly it is true. It can be felt in the atmosphere, this eternal, cosmic struggle between YHVH and Satan, now manifesting itself fully as the war of Islam upon Jews and Christians. It is an ancient war, not a new one. It played out in the Garden of Eden and then reached its violent fullness through Nebudchanezzer, Alexander, Herod, Antiochus Epiphanes, Titus, Suleman, Hitler, and others possessed by the arch-enemy of the Holy One of Israel.

Yet, in Shiloh's peaceful stillness, the children run and play and feed ducks and play with hamsters. They laugh and run like all children and pose for the camera with silly expressions. Music, art and horses are used to minister healing to their wounded souls. I love them so much! I love them like a Jewish "Ima" (mama), whose heart carries their pain.

At the site of the ancient tabernacle in Shiloh, where the 12 tribes worshiped God for 369 years, we gathered beneath the one tree to pray. The tree is surrounded by hundreds of billions of rocks on all sides and Rosemary exclaimed, "What if all the rocks of Israel began to praise God?"  What a staggering thought!

From Shiloh we took the short drive to Beth El, the place where Jacob saw the open vision of heaven - the angels ascending and descending on a "ladder." I sat on the concrete floor of the observation deck at the high pinnacle that overlooks all Israel in all four directions. Here God had spoken to Abraham and confirmed His covenant, that all the land of Israel would belong to his descendants forever. So why is this holy place of the Covenant now surrounded by Arab villages, who lay false claims to this land? Why was I hearing the vile blaring of prayers to the false god Allah, instead of evening prayers and praise to Elohim, the Holy One of Israel?  My heart began to weep. "Abba, I came here to press in deep to your Spirit in these portals of your Presence. I looked forward to this time with such joyful awe, and now here I am and I wonder if we are walking this out the way You desired. I do not see any open heaven; not even an angel or two! Are our prayers lifted in these places a blessing to You?"

Then I started looking up into the sky, as He had told me to continually do. I saw a long, wispy cirrus cloud without form. His soft Voice said, "Watch it. Watch the cloud and keep watching." I did. Eventually the cloud began to take a very distinct shape. It looked like a long road, and then suddenly two arrows formed at the end of the road, one pointing straight north and the other pointing straight west. John saw it too and we marveled. What could it mean?

Later that night, in the shower, the Spirit gave me the interpretation of the cloud. "This is the road just ahead of you. You will go north to the Galilee and then west to Haifa. Don't get stuck here. KEEP GOING! You are doing what you came to do. Now continue on - to the North and the West!"

I sensed that He was saying, "You don't have to figure out what I'm, going to do with the prayers you pray in these portals. You are not failing. Just keep going."  I recalled that in Shiloh we had learned one new Hebrew word: kadima. This words means "march forth!"  Hallelujah!  Now on to the North and the West!

September 27: Capernaum and Gamla
Our wonderful hostess in the Galilee Region, Avigail, accompanied us to the next portal in Capernaum. We prayed in this beautiful area on the Sea of Galilee as we read from the Scriptures about the many miracles Yeshua did here.  In Mark 2 it tells of a man whose child in Capernaum had just died. Yeshua told him to go back home saying, "Your child will live."  The Scripture goes on to say, "The man took him at his word and went home..."  We pondered this a long while in this portal of healing miracles. The man "took him at His word" and his child lived!  It is this simple faith we must re-kindle in our own hearts, learning to take Yeshua at His word. After all, he IS the Word!

Avigail took us on around the sea to the National Preserve known as Gamla. I had never heard of it - but it seems that there is a lot of study going on in this area, as some have come to believe that this is actually the place of Yeshua's boyhood home. In this photo you can see a second ridge behind the first one, with green trees growing along the right side. An ancient village once covered the left side of this steep ridge, and the Sea of Galilee is at the far end of this photo, in the distance. We spent a long time here, learning about what has been discovered in this area that lends credibility to the newly-emerging belief that Yeshua grew up right here rather than in the traditional site of Nazareth. If you have an open mind to new truth coming forth out of the excavations of Israel's land, visit the website of http://www.gamla.org and ponder what you find there!

As we were leaving Gamla, we stopped at the small market for ice cream bars, and there were two Jewish men who work there, smoking cigarettes and talking together. Boldly I asked one of them if he knew anything about this being the place where Yeshua grew up. He nodded and in his heavy Hebrew accent he said he knew about it and believed it must be true. Curious as to whether he was a believer, I asked him, "So, do you believe Yeshua is the Messiah?" He replied, "No. I don't even believe in God. There is no God. How could there be? There is so much suffering in the world and there is no God who cares about us."  The other man was much younger, thoughtful, perhaps less broken and bruised by Jewish persecution and suffering. But when we asked what he believed, I was far more shocked. He said, "I believe that the God of the Jews and the god of the Muslims is the same. There is no difference."  I could hardly believe what I was hearing! Avigail was quick and precise in her response as she challenged them both: "The Koran says that Avraham took Ishmael up and bound him for a sacrifice. The Torah says that Avraham took Isaac up and bound him. If He is the same God, why would He tell the story two different ways? He would not! Therefore one story is true and the other story is a lie." We could see the wheels turning, the hearts struggling, wanting to find truth, wanting to know. Finally I got to summarize it for them the same way the Master summarized it. I told them, "When the Rabbis asked Yeshua what is the most important commandment, He told them, 'Love God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind - and love one another as you love yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the prophets.' So we have come all this way from America to Israel to tell you that there is a God who loves you - and Yeshua, his Son, who loves you so much that He died for your sins. And we also came all this way to tell you that WE love you too!"

It was a divine appointment. It was why we came. We scatter and God waters. Living water! Pray that these two Jewish men take off their grave clothes and live!  Now on to the West...