
I have always tried to write what the Holy Spirit wants me to share. This time isn't much different. When I thought we had finally arrived, after almost 5 years, and gone through our trials in Israel and had begun to be established into what I call “normalcy” God sent us out of Israel.
There was a lot of drama when God had us leave Israel back in March of 2021. We had jumped every hurdle to get Tom his citizenship and Israel said, “No, unless we wanted to go to the Israeli Supreme Court.” God told us we were done and to return home to the USA. Yay! Right?
We were leaving in the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. We were required to get a test to show we didn't have the covid and have these paper proofs for traveling.
We had only a few weeks to sell the contents of the 4 bedroom house we were now living in, and a van and a new car I had purchased. If it weren't for my friends Dawn and Este helping me sell that car after I left, it would not have been sold.
There were so many things that transpired as we readied to leave Israel. Our friends rallied together to help us sell what we could and give away the rest. It's amazing, just like when we left America, people we didn't know until we were moving that were part of the community showed up.
Dawn had agreed to take us to the airport. We loaded her Scota car with what we had left of our belongings; four large suitcases, two small suitcases, two computer bags, my keyboard and maybe one more bag, everything we owned. We were being stripped down again. It was a miracle that our bags fit into Dawn's car, and the three of us.
We left for the airport around 11 pm. I sat in front with Dawn. As we made our way to the airport Dawn was telling me how much she liked her car, how reliable it was. We had made it onto Highway 6, south toward Ben Gurion airport. Suddenly her car's dash began flashing all kinds of lights and the power began to shut down. We had to pull over on the side of the road. It was now about 12:30am and we still had at least 40 minutes drive to the airport. What a “balagone” a mess.
I'm sure if the drama were recorded during that time it would have been hysterical to anyone viewing it. We couldn't get a taxi because we couldn't speak Hebrew. Dawn was on the phone with her insurance company and I was calling friends in the middle of the night that could speak Hebrew to get us help. Finally we got through to the Police and to a taxi company. The police showed up first. They were the nicest officers I've ever met. They helped us talk to the taxi company. We told them we needed a larger car for all the luggage. When the taxi finally showed up, only half our bags could fit in the car and Tom. The police called the taxi company and got them to have another taxi meet us at a bus stop off the highway. Although a little unwilling, we convinced the police to put the remainder of our luggage into their SUV and Dawn and I sat in the back of the police car. We had to laugh. The situation was so bizarre it was funny.
They took us to a bus stop where the other taxi was waiting for us and helped us get our things transferred. They gave instruction to the taxi drivers to get us to the airport by 3:00am, it was then 2:30. Taxi drivers don't need any encouragement to drive fast in Israel but now they had permission! Oy Vey!
We arrived at Ben Gurion to a huge line outside of the airport. They were inspecting everyone's test documents before they let them into the airport. Which created a delay with the flights. After finally getting into the airport and stepping up to the counter we were told we needed more documents for London, as our flight was making a layover there. That was fun trying to do the work on my cell phone screen but finally I got it done and we got our boarding passes. The final step before going through security was to get my keyboard put on the plane. They had Tom running back and forth from one place to another, across the front of the airport before we could get someone to receive it. It was a good thing he had a little luggage cart to run it around with. Finally, we got to go to the plane.
The plane was packed. People were traveling for Passover. Coupled with the requirement of having to wear a masks, it made for a long journey.
We arrived at Heathrow, London airport and were held up in customs. Which caused us to miss our connecting flight. By this time Tom and I were exhausted and drained. Somehow in all of the inspections Tom had ended up with my Covid paperwork and had lost it. Yes, another drama. We needed to show the paper work to the ticket agent to get our new connecting flight. I had it on my phone but the wifi wasn't working and I couldn't get to my email. When you are traveling, you must get creative and think outside the box sometimes. I asked the ticket agent if I could hotspot off her phone to get to the paper she needed to see. She agreed and we got it done. Traveling is not glamorous or something to be envied. Arriving alive and in one piece, with your sanity, now that's something!
I had reserved a hotel room for five days when we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale., Florida. I had used this specific hotel because they had a limousine service to carry our bags. We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale at 12:30 am. Because of the change in our flight our luggage did not arrive with us. Which ended up being a good thing because, evidently, the limo service stopped at 11pm and we had to catch a cab to the hotel. Due to the delay, our bags were directly delivered the next day to my mom's house. Good thing too, they wouldn't have fit in our small hotel room.
I thought we would stay with a friend and or family once we arrived in Florida so I only reserved the hotel room for 5 days, figuring I would go to stay with them afterward. However, that is not what happened. Because of the Covid scare my mother didn't want to let us stay with her, my friends also didn't have any room and there were no affordable hotel rooms. Unfortunately it was also Spring Break, which meant every hotel increased their prices at least two to three times more.Tom's friend Leon had let us at least borrow a car, but we couldn't stay in it.
Talk about stress. If we thought we had died in Israel, we were about to experience it some more.
I had considered before we had left Israel that we might need and RV but we didn't have a truck to pull one and we had a limited amount of cash to buy anything. While praying the Lord told me there was an RV for us. He told me which road it was on. We went there. There was only 3 RV's for us to look at. He told us to buy the one called Majestic. To our amazement and the salesman's, our bank financed us for this 2005 RV. Of course the lot overpriced it, of course we had no clue what we were getting into. The purchase of this RV has now led to another year's worth of adventure and crises as we have traveled around SE USA.
I know that this is not super spiritual lesson or teaching but it is what living in the Kingdom of God is like. Constant reliance upon God. Constant dying to self and your desires. Believe me, Tom and I want to be in a house! We have a promise from God that says He will give us one.
Mat 19:29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
1Pe 5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you
Who determines what a little while is, and who decides that you have suffered enough? In 2015 when God called us to the mission field we sold or gave away everything. For some reason, God did not let us sell our house. So we lost it on a technicality.
We saw God move miraculously in our lives while in Finland and in Israel but for some reason, it has been more difficult to get established in the country of our birth than in these foreign countries. Do we have less expectation or more? We found the people in the other countries were more helpful in trying to help us be established. They wanted us there. In Finland they thought it was wonderful that God would send people to their country to minister their people. In Israel, people want you to make Aliyah and get established there. They were helpful. Our faith was that God would do it. But now, here we are in the USA. Instead of feeling useful and welcomed, we have been made to feel as though we are imposing and taking up space. Is it us, or is it the spiritual climate of the USA? We are helpful, we carry our weight. Tom is still always ready to fix or repair whatever is in need of repair but nothing has opened up for us to be established.
Thank God, for those who have been faithfully helping us financially along the way. We would not have been able to do the things and help the people we were sent to without the financial aide. But now, that is also changing.
This is the reality of living. Just because you serve God doesn't mean everything goes as planned or the way you would like. Just because you have a promise from God doesn't mean He is going to answer it right away. Tom and I have been living in this 29ft RV for one year now. It is a small space for two people. Nothing glamorous about tiny house living. We get into lots of disagreements that we wouldn't get into if we weren't in such tight quarters 24/7.
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We've also seen some beautiful places and met some really awesome people in our travels.
Out on the limb, that's where the fruit is. Some of the best fruit is higher up the tree, where it is harder to reach. In these crazy and unusual times “normal” takes on a new meaning. The word of God says, whatever can be shaken, will be shaken. God has been shaking a lot of people in this season. Many have lost loved ones because of the man made pandemic. Many more will lose their lives because of man's solution to it. It's a theatre. We are all actors in this theatre. Some play bigger roles than others.
I was speaking with a group of people at a church here in Tennessee and they were discussing the “end times”. What is the sign of Jesus' return. Look to Israel. Israel is “center stage”. The more Jews returning to Israel, making Aliyah is a sign. (Aliyah is when Jews come home to the land of Israel and get citizenship.)
Jer 23:3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
Isa 11:11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
Isa 11:12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
Jer 31:8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.
Jer 31:9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
Eze_20:34 And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.
As I am writing this now April 2, 2022. Tens of thousands Ukrainian Jews are being shook from their homes and returning to Israel, making Aliyah. Who is to say how the Lord will work this thing? It looks horrible from a soul-ish perspective. Many are dying and suffering along the way. Again, this is scriptural. God foretold these things.
Not everyone that is called to return to Israel will complete the journey. Many will die on the way, leaving a remnant. God always has a remnant.
We are awaiting the return of the Lord. The Messiah. In the meantime things are going to be shaken. God is about to move in a way we have not seen nor experienced. God's Glory will once again be manifested upon the earth in such a profound and miraculous way that no man will received the Glory. Man, is interested in the things of man, in the flesh. Even the most noble of God's servants is about building their kingdom within God's Kingdom. All you have to do is listen.
In this season we should be inspiring each other to be the sons and daughters of God we were called to be. We are to be exemplifying the Kingdom of God through our lives. The Kingdom of God doesn't look like the Kingdom of the World. It looks different. It sounds different. It feels different. God told us not to get entangled in the things of the world, however, many of us are.
Gal 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
2Pe 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
2Pe 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2Pe 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
For me, I become most discontent when I am trying to obtain the things that are of this world. My Abba Father knows what it is I need, when I need it. He said all I have to do is seek first His Kingdom and everything I need will be added unto me. He has never let me go hungry, cold or without. It is not always comfortable not knowing what's next or where we will be but He always, always shows up. I must repent for times of not trusting God like I should or trying to take things into my own hands. His ways are perfect.
I haven't written because I have been dying some more. More to myself. Less of me, more of Him. It has been hard, I believe harder here in America. Why? Because here in USA “I” can make things happen if I push hard enough but that doesn't make it God's will. Being fully submitted and not moving until you are told takes discipline. I don't claim to have this perfected. It's been hard. However, if I want God, His Presence, His Promises and His Glory in my life; then it is a price I am willing to pay. To me, this is more valuable than any house, thing or position I could have. Things will be burned up in the fire. Living a life unto God will produce eternal fruit, it will give me golden crowns to lay before His feet.
Where are you at in the process of dying? What is God requiring of you? Is what you are doing a God idea? A good idea? Or Your idea? What kind of fruit will it produce?
God values things differently than man. He looks at success and maturity differently than the world. The Kingdom of God is not meat or drink but Righteousness (right standing with God), Peace (Shalom, spirit, soul and body wholeness) and Joy (God's joy). Mat 6:19-34
Rom 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
In these times, don't look to man for your answers; look to God. The government surely can't fix anything and you can't fix it. Submit your cares unto God and get His instructions. He will take care of you.
One more thing I want to leave you with. Tom and I were in Texas on a “God assignment”. We were sleeping in our RV. There were hailstorms coming into the area. We had prayed before we had gone to bed and while sleeping, I was suddenly awoke by my angel. He woke me, and I heard shhhhh, listen. What I heard next was so incredibly awesome! For years, regularly I decree psalm 91:1. “we abide under the shadow of His wing” So, while laying there quietly, I heard audibly, a giant wing open above us. It was living scripture in action! I had to wake Tom up to tell him. It was amazing! God does these kind of things all the time for us and for you! If you trust and believe Him.
I hope this has been a blessing to you. If you haven't read any of our books they can be found on Amazon.com in Kindle and Paper back. Often I have books on Kindle for free if you check. It is my hope and desire that the truths in these books would impact many lives for the Kingdom of God.
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I hope to hear from you. If you would like to invite Me or Tom to speak and minister at your church or small group please contact us.
If you would like prayer, also please let us know. We see lots of immediate answers to prayer.
We are still waiting on the house God has for us, if you think God wants you to be a part of that please let us know. So many people have empty house just sitting. Maybe that's you. Only if God tells you.
God bless you.
Cherie Sheridan
http://www.ontrackrestorationproject.info