The Charm of Home: About

I am Sherry, the author of this blog. I am a wife and mother to three boys, living a dreamy cottage lifestyle through my camera lens. I am a lover of Jesus, I like to take pretty pictures, and I especially love to have tea! This blog started out as a decorating blog, and then in 2016, I read the Bible. I have started to read it two other times before, but I never got past the first few books. But, in 2016, I read the whole thing (my success came from not starting at the beginning; I started in the books of Wisdom). After I read it, it was impossible not to share it. Jesus Christ has called me into a relationship, and this is a collaboration with Him. Guided daily by my Father, all glory and honor are his.

Come have a cup of tea, for in hospitality sometimes there is great fruit.

I believe Jesus is the the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14:6) Jesus is not a belief; he is a person/God. I follow him and his teaching, the Holy Bible. (Proverbs 8:33)

TESTIMONY:

* This post is not about me. I am revealing the Glory of God to you so that it might help someone.
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

Romans 8:28

God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.

1 Corinthians 12:6-7

Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested. Hebrews 2:18

Such wicked people are detestable to the Lord, but he offers his friendship to the godly.
Proverbs 3:32

How do you have a relationship with God/Jesus? That was a question I found myself asking sometime at the end of 2015. I asked that one night in my evening prayers, and then I just barely drifted off to sleep and was suddenly awakened by a breath of air being blown up my nose with the scent of a fir tree. I wasn't sure what it was, but the next day I looked for scripture that matched the description of a fir tree and found this.

Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.
Hosea 14:8

And that was what started my relationship with Jesus. But let me back up and tell you how this all started. How and why was I googling scripture looking for the mention of a fir tree? What would get me to the point that I picked up that dusty Bible and read it? It had been sitting on my bookshelf for years. I never opened it, and I never read it all the way through. What caused that transformation in me that I would do that? God decided it was time to test me, and test me he did. Before I tell you this testimony, I have to make you aware that if you are ready for a relationship with Christ, you will be a witness to his supernatural kingdom along with it. Jesus' kingdom is not of this world.

Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.” John 18:36

God/Jesus operates in the supernatural. We have all heard the stories. He appeared to Moses in a burning bush.

3 “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.”

4 When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

“Here I am!” Moses replied.

5 “Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. Exodus 3:3-5

He parted the Red Sea.

They forgot what he had done—
    the great wonders he had shown them,
12 the miracles he did for their ancestors
    on the plain of Zoan in the land of Egypt.
13 For he divided the sea and led them through,
    making the water stand up like walls!
Psalm 78:11-13

We, as a body of believers, seem to have forgotten the stories.

We have the heard the stories but do we believe them? Do you believe they are completely true? I had never answered that question before but, I can now and I will assure you they are 100% true! Every last word of the Bible is true.
I was watching some things that I shouldn't have been in 2014. Things that are very clearly warned against in the Bible and that you should not be a part of at all. I was watching this questionable broadcast and my Lord and Savior let an unclean spirit in to test me. He was refining my soul. (Refined By Love) He did the same thing to Jesus for 40 days in the wilderness. (The Enemy Is Prowling Like a Lion)
If the Father tested his own son don't you think he will test you? He will.
You will go through the crucible. What happens when you experience this?
I was given the gift of discernment without knowing what it was and what I should do with it. The very first spirit he gave me to discern was an unclean one. When you are given spiritual gifts you will be tested. With the gift of discernment you can feel the presence of the spirit. You can't see them, they are invisible.

for through him God created everything
    in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
    and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
    Everything was created through him and for him.

Colossians 1:16

And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose. Hebrews 2:4

And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11:14

I was spared by my Father; I didn't get overtaken by the unclean spirit. There were several things that I was aware of that the unclean spirit didn't like. He didn't like me reading the Bible. He also couldn't say he believed in God. When I finally realized what I had gotten myself into, I prayed for a good month to get rid of it. But I wasn't praying the right words. In this verse, Jesus teaches the disciples how to pray the right way.

23 At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name. 24 You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.

John 16:23-24

I found out how to pray by watching Darren Wilson's film Furious Love.

God allows this to go on. He is sitting on the sidelines, watching how you handle this. He has complete sovereignty over everything, and you have to understand that and know how significant it is.

Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.

Psalm 115:3

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Genesis 50:20

The only way to protect yourself from the prince of this world, is to follow the word of God.

30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me. ~Jesus

John 14:30

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[c] in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ~Jesus

John 14:15-18

23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

John 14:23-24

YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW THE BIBLE.
AS A BELIEVER YOU NEED TO READ IT.

So, I walk with God. When I write about this scripture, it is an experience I have also gone through. I pray every day and night. I go alone to my bedroom and pray to Jesus, and I know him. That is the fantastic part of this testimony: I can discern spirits, which means after the unclean spirit was cast out, I found Jesus, and the Holy Spirit can always answer yes to the question, "Do you believe that Jesus came in flesh and is of God?"

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

1 John 4:1-4

“O Israel,[c] stay away from idols!
I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you.
I am like a tree that is always green;
all your fruit comes from me.”

9 Let those who are wise understand these things.
    Let those with discernment listen carefully.
The paths of the Lord are true and right,
    and righteous people live by walking in them.
    But in those paths sinners stumble and fall. Hosea 14:8-9



My whiff of the fir tree was the Lord coming to awaken me to who I really was and mark me as a child of God with his seal (The Seal of God) to become a Citizen of Heaven, but first... I was tested. 

If you want to start reading the Bible, you don't need any plan; just start in the books of Wisdom and then go to the Gospels.