Visit to Israel

I haven’t blogged the last few weeks because Karen and I took a trip to Israel. We were in the country for a little over two weeks. What a trip it was!

Two years ago good friends of ours emigrated to Israel and they now live in the Negev about 45 minutes south of Beer Sheva (Abraham’s old home town).We stayed with them from time to time and also traveled with them to Jerusalem and throughout Galilee. In all, driving about 2,000 miles, we saw almost every aspect of the land.

It was really wonderful to get a first-hand look at all I’ve learned about Israel over years of reading about it in the Bible. It certainly gives one a good sense of perspective when coming across names and places in the Word.

It is also truly amazing what the Jews have done to make their land fruitful. Everywhere we went we saw both new development and crops blanketing the landscape. It leaves no doubt in one’s mind that God is up to something big, just as He predicted millennia ago through His prophets.

If you ever have a chance to go to the Holy Land, I encourage you to jump on the opportunity. You won’t be sorry you spent the time and the money–I guarantee it!

My Word

My child, I am your hiding place and your shield. Wait for My word. I sustain you according to My word, that you may live. Speak My word over your life and the lives of your loved ones. Believe My promises and claim victory over the enemy. I am your Rock. I am your Provider. I am your Peace. Rejoice and be glad today for My word is true and My way is life.

Psalm 119:114-116

The Way You Should Go

My child, I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. Don’t be self-sufficient or rely on your own abilities. I pour out My blessings and cause you to profit even while you sleep. Remain in peace and remain in Me. I am God, and there is no other. I am God and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purposes will be established and I will accomplish all My good pleasure.’

Isaiah 48:17   Psalm 127:2    Isaiah 46:9-10 

Oaks of Righteousness

My child, days are coming when your mourning will be over. My Spirit is in you and with you giving you a garland instead of ashes and oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting, so that you will be called the oak of righteousness the planting of the Lord, that I may be glorified.
Isaiah 60:20     Isaiah 61:3

Set Free from Law

In Romans 8:4 Paul talks about there being a “requirement of the Law,” meaning that the law obligates us to obey it in its entirety.(James 2:10) But God knows there is no possibility that we can ever obey His entire law. And since the punishment for failing to do so is spiritual death—separation from God—He had to provide a way to overcome this barrier. So, God’s solution was simply to take the law out of the way as it relates to our relationship with Him.

Paul further explains this truth in Romans 8:3-4: “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

The effect of having been set free from law—since punishment for breaking it is no longer imputed—is that we are in fact now no longer subject to the realm of the flesh, even though our flesh may continue to brutally oppress us.

Paul puts it this way in Romans 8:9-10: “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you…If Christ is in you, though your body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.” Consequently the outcome for us—unbelievable as it may seem—is that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.”(Romans 8:1-2)

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

Filled Up

My child, I strengthen you with My power through My Spirit in your inner man. I dwell in your heart so that you are able to comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth of My love that surpasses knowledge and you are filled up to all My fullness. I give you everything you need. Soak in My Presence today.

Ephesians 3:16-21

Salt and Light

My child, you are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Do not shrink back from what I am calling you to do. Live life abandoned to Me. I can only use you to glorify Me if you are wholly devoted and fully surrendered to me.

Matthew 5:13-16