Home from Israel, and it was another incredible trip. Let me just say that traveling like this is NOT for the faint of heart. Long flights. Long nights (and days). Cramped seats on planes. Lots of lines at airports. Not much sleep on those flights are at the airports.
Is it worth it? And the awaited answer is an overwhelming YES. Here is a perspective that I got from one of the pastors on the trip…
What I expected and what I received from this opportunity are quite different. I was not expecting the complete alteration of my perspective of things. I didn’t expect to gain such a vastly different view of what Israel is like today. I expected to walk the area with some semblance of fear (because, you know, we are told it is such a war torn scary place to be). Instead, I walked the streets meeting with people of differing walks of faith. Not an ounce of fear presented itself. I felt the greatest peace, second only to the peace I have in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ… I walked away with a much deeper sense of who our God is and who we are to be in His Kingdom… I am eternally grateful.
That recaps the trip pretty well. This time in the Holy Land was similar to when I was there last December, yet it added to the places I have been and the understanding of Scripture. It was great, and I am excited to be planning to help lead a tour there in June. More details on that later.
There were a couple places we visited that I want to give you some thoughts on as this new week begins. I pray you too get a renewed sense that God is for you and loves you and wants to use you to help others know Him.
John 5:1-10 NLT
Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. 2 Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. 3 Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” 7 “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” 8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” 9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, 10 so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”
This is the first time I have visited the pool of Bethesda. And these verses began to roll around my head, and I saw a little bit of the scene unfold. I can’t imagine the pain and shame this man had, and this man was healed by Jesus.
Jesus asked Him what seems like a weird question. “Would you like to get well?” You see, the beggars were asking for money. Did he even think that he could get well or even live with joy instead of contact strain? We have much of the same question coming from Jesus to us. Do we want Him to care for our struggle?
John 19:41-42 NLT
But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. 42 “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes.
From two different places these verses came to mind. The first was the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed before being arrested. The second was the Mount of Olives. Both places look toward the old city of Jerusalem. Today you can see the temple mount, the souther part of Jerusalem.
I feel the urgency and compassion of Jesus. He loved the people of this city just like He loves you and others today. Jesus wept. Not just when Lazarus died, but here Jesus cried over the people who need real and lasting peace.
Those two places and stories came alive for me once again as I walked where Jesus walked. It is God’s desire that we interact with His word and His truth. Let what He can do be real of you and for your family and for those you have influence over.
As I close for today my question is like Jesus asked the man at Bethesda. Do you want to get well? I am talking spiritually and physically. Let God be your god. Let His love wrap around you today!
Lamentations 3:22 NLT
The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.
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