Baptism

I've had the question come up to me recently,
"Do you have to be baptized in order to be saved?"
I've always felt that it didn't seem to be a
prerequisite to going to heaven until recently.
I was baptized under water when I was a teenager.
I felt then that it was just like a washing away of
the sins of past and that's about it. I didn't know
if there was anything more to it or not. I even got
a little bothered when I read in a study course that
you had to be baptized in order to go to heaven.
Now, it really made me start thinking when I
saw some verses that tried to state that very thing.
Many of those verse I was shown didn't really say
that we had to be baptized to be saved, most of
them said you should believe and be baptized.
Mark 16:16
"Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved.
But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned"
Now that tells me that I'm saved if I believe and
am baptized, but it says that I am comdemned only
if I refuse to believe.
Well I found it last night.....
John 3:5
"Jesus replied, "The truth is, no one can enter the
Kingdom of God without being born of water and
the Spirit."
So I see there, I think the only verse in the bible
that states it fully, we must be born of water and
the Spirit in order to enter the kingdom of God.

Taken from My Utmost For His Highest

March 4
Is This True of Me?


None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself . . .
Acts 20:24


It is easier to serve or work for God without a vision and without a call, because then you are not bothered by what He requires. Common sense, covered with a layer of Christian emotion, becomes your guide. You may be more prosperous and successful from the world's perspective, and will have more leisure time, if you never acknowledge the call of God. But once you receive a commission from Jesus Christ, the memory of what God asks of you will always be there to prod you on to do His will. You will no longer be able to work for Him on the basis of common sense.
What do I count in my life as "dear to myself"? If I have not been seized by Jesus Christ and have not surrendered myself to Him, I will consider the time I decide to give God and my own ideas of service as dear. I will also consider my own life as "dear to myself." But Paul said he considered his life dear so that he might fulfill the ministry he had received, and he refused to use his energy on anything else. This verse shows an almost noble annoyance by Paul at being asked to consider himself. He was absolutely indifferent to any consideration other than that of fulfilling the ministry he had received. Our ordinary and reasonable service to God may actually compete against our total surrender to Him. Our reasonable work is based on the following argument which we say to ourselves, "Remember how useful you are here, and think how much value you would be in that particular type of work." That attitude chooses our own judgment, instead of Jesus Christ, to be our guide as to where we should go and where we could be used the most. Never consider whether or not you are of use, but always consider that "you are not your own" ( 1 Corinthians 6:19 ). You are His.

Malachi Christmas of 2002 

This is a good picture of my 3 kids taken about a year ago. Malachi holding Ayanna, and Isaac sitting next to them. 

Do you believe?

Do you really believe?
What does it mean to you to believe?
In the book of John it talks a lot about believing.
In the Amplified bible it says next to many
scriptures what they are saying by believe.
John 3:12 says it means trust in, adhere to, rely on
John 3:18 says it also means cleave to
John 4:42 says believe means trust, or to have faith

There are so many verses we could look at read
the whole book of John again. You will find it also
states all these same things in the scripture along
with the word believe in many places.

Can you believe and not trust?
I don't believe you can. Part of believing is trusting.
If you don't trust, how then can you say you believe.

These are my thoughts of current...
tell me in the comments what you think and feel...
what do you believe?

Be Strong! Put On Your Armor!

Ephesians 6:10-18
10.Be strong with the Lord's mighty power. 11Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil. 12For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.
13Use every piece of God's armor to resist the enemy in the time of evil, so that after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14Stand your ground, putting on the sturdy belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. 15For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News, so that you will be fully prepared.[b] 16In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan.[c] 17Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere.

God'sPlan For Beth

I for one really appreciate what Beth is doing here. God is revealing His Plan for her and this Inspirational Blog certainly seems to me to be a part of His Plan. I hope others who are reading this will take the time to tell their friends and family about this site.

The Truth

John 14:12-14"The truth is, anyone who believes in me
will do the same works I have done, and even greater
works, because I am going to be with the Father. You
can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, because
the work of the Son brings glory to the Father. Yes, ask
anything in my name, and I will do it!"

Rick stated to me that he believes most people don't
adhere to(or accept) this passage to be true. I agree
with him, and you can see evidence of that in our
churches today. Think about what works Jesus did
while he was on earth. He healed every disease, every
sickness, every infirmity. What did he tell the disciples
when they came to him after not being able to heal
someone? He told them they didn't have enough faith.
If you only believe. We have the power given to us to
heal the sick, to raise the dead! When we ask Jesus into
our hearts we also ask his power into us. We then have
the same power that he had to heal people, and to raise
the dead. Now most people aren't going to believe me
when I tell them they have the power to raise the dead.
But it is true!! Jesus said so! You will do greater things
than even I have done, he said. If you truly believe and
don't doubt, see that's the key, people start thinking
I'm not good enough for this healing stuff, I'm not worthy
of that kind of power. But when we accepted Jesus into
our hearts and asked him to make us new again, he
washed away all those not good enoughs and made us
worthy. We are worthy to use the power given us to help
people as it aligns with the Word. Jesus said that we
can ask for anything in His name and He will do it, because
the work of the Son brings glory to the Father. That means
when we heal the sick in Jesus name it brings glory to
the Father. We as the church of God need to be doing this.
We need to believe what Jesus said and use that power
that He gave to us and heal people. GO raise the dead!

Prayer

2 Chronicles 7:14-16
"Then if my people who are called by my name will humble
themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their
wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their
sins and heal their land. I will listen to every prayer made
in this place, for I have chosen this Temple and set it apart
to be my home forever. My eyes and my heart will always
be here." NLT

This is so important to this generation right now. We need
to be on our knees in prayer, for marriage, for separation
of church and state, for our President now and in the future.
We need to be praying that we in our lives are where we are
supposed to be, and most importantly of all, listen to God
for a response! He will talk to you! I used to think, "I'm not
important, God won't talk to me, little old me in this rinky
dink town out in the middle of nowhere. How is God going
to use me?" But I tell ya' he's using me, in ways I don't even
know sometimes. And he wants to use you too! Listen to Him
in the morning when you're brushing your teeth and hair
for the day. Listen to him when you're driving to work, stuck
in traffic. Don't sit there in your car wishing you were there
already, be glad for the few moments you have to pray by
yourself and listen to God. Communicate with Him, we were
created so that God would have someone to talk to. Talk to God!!
Part of talking to someone and carrying on a conversation is
listening to what the other person has to say back. God wants
us to know Him, He wants to know us intimately, not just to be
an acquaintance.
Dictionary.com defines acquaintance as this:
Knowledge of a person acquired by a relationship less intimate
than friendship.
Do we want to be less than a friend to God, our Father? NO!!
We want to be more than a friend, we want to be intimate
with Him and He wants to be with us. So start today.
Open that dust covered Bible just sitting on your night stand.
Dig into God's Holy Word and find out who he really is and
what he wants for you today.
I'll leave you today with one last verse to ponder.
John 14:12-14
"The truth is, anyone who believes in me will do the same
works I have done, and even greater works, because I am
going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my
name, and I will do it, because the work of the Son brings
glory to the Father. Yes, ask anything in my name, and I will do it!"

Scripture Reading

Psalm 91
1.Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2.This I declare of the LORD:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
for he is my God, and I am trusting him.
3.For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from the fatal plague.
4.He will shield you with his wings.
He will shelter you with his feathers.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
5.Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor fear the dangers of the day.
6.nor dread the plague that stalks in darkness,
nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
7.Though a thousand fall at your side,
though ten thousand are dying around you,
these evils will not touch you.
8.But you will see it with your eyes;
you will see how the wicked are punished.
9.If you make the LORD your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
10.no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your dwelling.
11.For he orders his angels to protect
you wherever you go.
12.They will hold you with their hands
to keep you from striking your foot on a stone.
13.You will trample down lions and
poisonous snakes;
you will crush fierce lions and serpents
under your feet!
14.The LORD says, "I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
15.When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue them and honor them.
16.I will satisfy them with a long life
and give them my salvation."
I should have stated in here to begin with that this is taken directly from the New Living Translation(NLT) Bible and all future scripture verses will most likely be the same.

Taken from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers

February 21
Do You Really Love Him?
She has done a good work for Me —Mark 14:6
If what we call love doesn’t take us beyond ourselves, it is not really love. If we have the idea that love is characterized as cautious, wise, sensible, shrewd, and never taken to extremes, we have missed the true meaning. This may describe affection and it may bring us a warm feeling, but it is not a true and accurate description of love.
Have you ever been driven to do something for God not because you felt that it was useful or your duty to do so, or that there was anything in it for you, but simply because you love Him? Have you ever realized that you can give things to God that are of value to Him? Or are you just sitting around daydreaming about the greatness of His redemption, while neglecting all the things you could be doing for Him? I’m not referring to works which could be regarded as divine and miraculous, but ordinary, simple human things— things which would be evidence to God that you are totally surrendered to Him. Have you ever created what Mary of Bethany created in the heart of the Lord Jesus? "She has done a good work for Me."
There are times when it seems as if God watches to see if we will give Him even small gifts of surrender, just to show how genuine our love is for Him. To be surrendered to God is of more value than our personal holiness. Concern over our personal holiness causes us to focus our eyes on ourselves, and we become overly concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, out of fear of offending God. ". . . but perfect love casts out fear . . ." once we are surrendered to God ( 1 John 4:18 ). We should quit asking ourselves, "Am I of any use?" and accept the truth that we really are not of much use to Him. The issue is never of being of use, but of being of value to God Himself. Once we are totally surrendered to God, He will work through us all the time.

Our latest news

This last weekend we went out to the cabin by my parents to try to get everything situated for moving it out onto the field. We were going to meet up with Ron and see about how we'll need to go about moving the cabin. Saturday, which would have been a good day probably to meet with Ron, we went to try to get our truck from home which we thought had water in the gas and figured after putting in a bunch of Iso Heat the day before that it would probably start and run without too much trouble and we could then haul the junk out from underneath and around the cabin off so it can be moved. Well the truck started up without too much trouble and seemed to be running decently so we headed into Blackduck first to pick up wic and give the truck a little run before we headed out to the cabin. We got to the golf course and around the corner and lo and behold the truck just plum dies and we try and try and try and finally did get it running again after going and getting wrenches and fuel filter and changing that. Ross drove the truck to Becks in blackduck and gets out of the truck figuring on letting it idle while he goes and asks about what's going on with it and the thing dies and won't start again. So then we left it there since it's a mechanic shop anyway as well as NAPA so they aught to be able to fix it. Well that spent most of our day and we didn't get met up with Ron at all. We hoped to sunday but that didn't work out real well either. We did get the stuff inside straightened out some and we're going to need to put up boards on the loft edge to keep everything from sliding out while moving. We'll fill it up first of course and make sure everything damageable in the cabin is either down on the floor safe or packed in boxes so it can be moved safely first uphill then down and finally up again and around to get it in the right spot. We will then move the trailer we're living in now out to the field spot and connect the 2 together. We're figuring we'll face the cabin the same way it is now, sliding door facing the open field to the south and front door on the west where we will connect the door of the trailer. We'll have to build up a slanted roof on top of the trailer and connected to the cabin to drain off the water away from the building so it doesn't rot out on us. We will also have to get the well and septic in before moving the trailer out there. I'm praying finances will be provided from above for this to all take place this spring to summer. Then next summer we would like to build our first addition with bigger bedrooms and kitchen specifically.
Please pray for us as we are fighting against the enemy hard core in this endeavor.
Blessings to you all,
Beth

Ayanna about 18 months the youngest(twin) 

my oldest Malachi 3 1/2 years 

my husband Ross 

Beth, Isaac, and Ayanna Dec. 2005

these are the most recent pictures I have of my family taken probably in november or december of 2004

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