Thursday, September 15, 2016

The Holy Land

I have had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Holy Land. In my visits I have gone through three different stages as to how I look at Israel. I imagine most who visit Israel do so as well.
The first is the deer in the headlights. When I was first in Israel, I felt like I was in a spiritual Disneyland. Here were the actual places so many Bible events took place. This was the Holy Land! This is where Jesus walked! God's people and God's capital city were here! I know I looked like a deer in the headlights.

The second reaction is getting to know modern day Israel. Unfortunately Israel today is as worldly and ungodly as my own country, the US. As a nation they still do not see, they still do not hear. Israel has a terrible drug problem. Tel Aviv is called the pink city of the middle east. It is the pornography, homosexual capital of the middle east. Even though through Yad Vashem Israel promotes the theme to never forget, never again. Israel has forgotten. It is happening again. Israel is doing it to themselves. Israel has one of the highest abortion rates in the world. Abortion has killed more innocent Jewish babies and children than the holocaust. I no longer look at Israel as a deer in the headlights.

The third reaction is to see how God is on the move. God is on the move in Israel. God has not forgotten His people Israel even though most of them have forgotten Him. Israel is one of the, if not the only nation on earth that has a growing, thriving, Christian population. Although still small (15,000 or more) it is a significant remnant and is increasing every day. Which follows Bible prophecy. When I realized all this I still was stumped. How could God bless or work with or reenter into a covenant relationship with Israel like the Bible teaches with Israel being so godless?
Then My pastor preached on Ezekiel 36.
God is going to step in to bless Israel and reenter into a covenant with Israel not because of their righteousness but because of His Name's sake.
Therefore, say to the house of  Israel, "Thus says the Lord God, It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. And I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord," declares the Lord God, "when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight." (verses 22, 23)

God is going to bless Israel and bring forth this final seven year period ushering in the Kingdom of His great Son Jesus Christ in spite of Israel's faithlessness. God will not be denied.

Israel is the Holy Land.

The Word of God is a Seed





I was sitting on a bench under a tree. A seed berry happened to fall out of the tree and landed right in front of me. It just barely caught my attention as it bounced into the grass. I thought about it for a second and then picked it up. It was very small. I turned around and looked at the tree it had fallen from. It was huge. I was amazed how large the tree was in comparison to how tiny its’ seeds were. How could such a large tree come from such a small seed? 
This reminded me of Jesus’ Parable of the Mustard Seed: 

          “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed, 
            which a man took and sowed in his field; and 
            this is smaller than all other seeds, but when 
            it is full grown, it is larger than the garden 
            plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds 
            of the air come and nest in its branches.”                                       
                                                                                                                 —Matthew 13:31, 32  

Then God put on my heart, “Consider the seed I have given you.” The Bible says the Word of God is a seed (Luke 8:11). The seed which He has given us is the Bible. At the time of Noah and the Flood, the Bible was only five chapters long. At the time of Abraham, eleven chapters. At the time of Moses, it had grown to be one book. At the time of King David, it was about ten books long. During Jesus’ day, the Bible had grown to be the whole Old Testament. Today we have not only the Old Testament, but the New Testament as well. We also have two thousand years of church history where the Holy Spirit has been moving and speaking the Word of God to us for centuries. So consider the seed we have today!  
Later back home I was walking through our garden looking at all the blooms which had come up because of the rain we had just had. I especially noticed the rain lilies and how they were blooming so profusely. It was like God reminded me of what He had just shared with me in the park and He spoke to my heart, “Consider again the seed which I have given you and it hasn’t rained yet.” 
    
           Therefore be patient, brethren, until the 
            coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for 
            the precious produce of the soil, being 
            patient about it, until it gets the early 
            and late rains. You too be patient; 
            strengthen your hearts, for the coming 
            of the Lord is near.               (James 5:7, 8)

This applies to the church both individually and corporately. At the appointed time the rains will come and God will cause His seed, His Spirit, the Kingdom of Heaven, the Word of God to be birthed within us. It will grow to be a tree larger than all the other plants that have come before. It will be a greater harvest than the time of Noah, then the time of Abraham, then the time of David. Jesus Himself said we would do greater works than He did (John 14:12).    
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Habakuk 2:14).
Jesus is coming. The Kingdom of God is coming. His seed is about to bloom. We are about to be birthed. We will grow into a spiritual tree larger than all the other spiritual plants. We will fill the earth.  

         For the whole earth is groaning and travailing 
         with birth pangs for the manifestation of the 
         sons of God.              (Romans 8:19-22)