Before Jesus healed Bartimaeus the
blind beggar, he cried out repeatedly, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me,”
even though he was told to be quiet by the crowd. The man’s confidence in Jesus
– his faith in the Rabbi’s healing power – was what Jesus claimed restored his
sight.
Patti
and I have too been crying out, trying not to let the critics influence us, trying
not to “worry”, believing – even without knowing how or from where – the
resources to allow us to travel to Israel would come. And of course, out of the
unseen, God provides. We received an unexpected check from a land investment
sale and it was enough to cover the remainder of our ticket costs.
Praise You,
God from whom all blessings flow! Now we only need be concerned with saving
funds for travel while in the Holy Land. And isn’t that odd, I’ve already moved
on to the next “worry” whose outcome I can’t see. You’re right, Lord, I
shouldn’t worry about tomorrow. You have
shown, over and over again, that You will provide exactly what we need when we
need it, if we just will have faith – even a little faith will do the trick.
Lord, I
confess that there are many things I can’t see.
How do we afford to pay our bills during the journey, how is our
presence in Your land going to glorify You? What is our purpose in this venture
and what if we totally misread Your desire? How much must we pay in baggage fees?? LOL
Lord, I know, I know, don’t worry about tomorrow…
So now
Lord, help me to look forward to Your blessings – a great one I know awaits us
when we encounter the people of Israel.
Let me be influenced and impassioned by the faith displayed in the
people of the land that You first promised. Let Patti and I, and all of those
who plan to experience this journey with us, be transformed by Your Spirit. Use
us as Your tools, in whatever way pleases You, so that Your purpose for us is
fulfilled.
Patti
and I started studying and compiling notes on references to the places we’ll be
visiting – Bethlehem, The Herodian, Samaria, Mt. Gerizim, Sebastia, Shiloh,
Scythopolis, Tiberius, Caesarea Maritime, Tel Meggido, Nazareth, Sepphoris, The
Sea of Galilee, the Valley of the Winds & Doves, Capernaum, Jerusalem (with ALL its historical wonders),
Bethany, Tabgha, Qumran, The Dead Sea…to make things more interesting, we are also
going to bring needed supplies to a struggling school and are trying to squeeze
in a visit to an incredible ministry called HaYovel (translated: The Jubilee) www.hayovel.com that serves the
people of Israel – Lord give us strength to take this all in!
There is so much so see and absorb
– we want to offer a morning devotional with anyone on the tour (and anyone
traveling with us via the blogsite), preparing for each day…how do we
prepare for such wonders of Spiritual history? The key word is Spirit and we
ask Lord for Your guidance as we experience Your ancient plan.
Adonai,
keep us alert to Your desire as we draw nearer to You and to Your land. Amen
PS Any of you who have questions about our journey or
suggestions/prayers for our time in the Holy Land (and beyond), please contact
us @ markc91754@comcast.net. Blessings & Shalom!
