As I listen to these wonderful, uplifting songs about our coming Messiah it really lifts my heart and encourages my soul.  I just felt like there was really no point in waiting until Christmas to tell people about the unbelievable gift of Jesus.  After all, His coming to save us is a story we should be telling everyday anyway.  So…just in case there might be someone reading this that doesn’t know about the amazing gift of Jesus, here’s the story for you.

 Matthew 1:18-24 – 18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.  20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

You see folks; this is really where our story of hope begins.  Because God loved us so much he sent his Son, Jesus into this world to save us from our sins.  To save me from my sin; to save you from your sin. 

Here’s what happened next in this amazing story of grace.  

Luke 23:44-49 – 44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.  47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. 49 But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

 In order to save us from our sins it was necessary for Jesus to die on a cross.  I don’t know about you but I surely needed some saving.  The best news yet is that it didn’t end there.  Look what happened next.

Matthew 28:1-10 – 1After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” 8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.

Without the coming of Jesus we have no hope of being freed from sin and forever living with him in heaven.  I am so overwhelmingly grateful that Jesus left Heaven and came to earth for me, I hope you are too.

I know it’s a little early but hey…MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 “God blesses his people with extravagant grace so they might extend his extravagant glory to all peoples on the earth.”  David Platt

Wow!  God has blessed me with extravagant grace so that I might show ALL peoples His extravagant glory.  Really?!  Extravagant glory.  Does it have to be extravagant?  I looked up the definition of extravagant and that really scared me.

Extravagant – exceeding the bounds of reason, as actions, demands, opinions, or passions.  Dictionary.com

My thoughts go directly to a strong, God-filled Christ follower I know who has been so overwhelmed by the extravagant grace God has blessed her with that she is exceeding the bounds of reason and moving to probably one of the most dangerous places in the world today, Uganda.  She will be in Pader helping to care for orphaned child soldiers that have escaped the grasp of the LRA.  Her heart is so in love with God and it’s so obvious that she truly understands that she is following the call to live her life showing God’s extravagant glory. 

Now, I’m not saying that the only way to do that is to pack up all you own and move to Uganda but, I do believe we need to ask ourselves a question or two.  Have I been truly overwhelmed by God’s grace in my life?  If the answer is yes, I believe the above question needs to be followed by this next question.  How are you extending God’s extravagant glory?

When you rise in the morning is your day focused on what you are going to do to have more success attaining the American dream or are you solely focused on taking God’s glory everywhere possible with the day you’ve been given?  What about your attitude?  Does it express to people, I’m having a bad day, I haven’t had my coffee yet or, do you genuinely greet people with the love of God and focus on serving those you cross paths with?  When you pull out of the McDonald’s drive through and see your local homeless man on the corner do you drive by eating your sausage biscuit or do you turn around and go get him one?  When you see someone stranded on the side of the road do you drive by too busy to stop and help or do you stop and lend a hand and offer and encouraging word?  When your co-worker confides in you they are struggling in their marriage, or they are having a hard time paying their bills, do you pretend to listen and change the subject or do you spending some time investing in them to help them out of the struggle they are in?

Ezekiel 36 has some very shocking words from God to the people of Israel.

Ezekiel36:22-23, “Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. ²³ I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.

God saved the people of Israel from their sin by his grace not for their sake but for the sake of his holy name.  God saved us by His grace not for our sake but for the sake of his holy name.  We are not the end of the gospel message; God is.  The message of God’s grace isn’t supposed to stop with us.  We’re supposed to take that message of grace and turn it into examples of God’s extravagant glory.  Take the extravagant grace you’ve been given and live your life showing God’s extravagant glory!

  We then began walking the path Jesus walked the led Him to the Garden of Gethsemane.  On our way we stopped at a location they believe is the very first Jewish/Christian burial site.  All of the burials boxes here were very small and at first glance you would think them to be for children, but that’s not the case.  Jews don’t bury their bodies in coffins; they put them directly in the earth so they can be returned to the earth from which they came.  After the bodies have been buried for a year the family digs them up and places the bones in the burial box.  So, the boxes here were smaller because it was only bones that were placed inside.

 Once we reached the Garden of Gethsemane I began to remember that this was the very place Jesus prayed in agony, sweat drops of blood asking God to let this cup pass from Him, however, He was willing to carry this out if it was what God wanted of Him.  I’ve been through some pretty difficult times in my life, dealt with a lot of pain through all my kidney problems, been grieved over tragic loss in my family, and horrible situations I’ve put myself in but never, never have I sweat drops of blood.  It’s hard to fathom how difficult this must have been for Jesus.  The oldest Olive trees in the world exist in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Some of the trees are dated back 3000 years.  Jesus was praying here among these trees.  It was quite a thrill to be standing among them knowing that Jesus was here and that this was the place He came to be close to God.  (giving thanks) The Garden was also where the soldiers came with Judas to arrest Jesus.  It’s where Judas planted “the kiss of betrayal” on Jesus.  It’s where Peter cut of the ear of the Roman soldier Malchus and Jesus stepped in and healed him.  How humbling to stand here knowing what Christ did for me.

 After we left the Garden we traveled into the city of Jerusalem.  It was like traveling back in time.  The streets were lined with shops selling anything and everything.  Some stores had spices set out in bowls where you could come in, pick out the spices you want and purchase them.  Other stores had meat just hanging in the doorways for your selection.  Some stores sold very beautiful jewelry, hand made bags, scarves, etc.  All the streets were extremely narrow and as we were walking along I saw it…The Via Dolorosa.  We followed the path Jesus took as He carried the very cross on which He would die for my sins.  (giving thanks) Today the road is lined with shops, back in the time of Jesus it would have been lined with houses.  Very humbling to stand on the road and think that my sins caused this journey to take place.  My sins led Jesus to carry His cross down this very road.  It also made me grateful that He loved me enough to walk it for me.  (giving thanks) We saw the location of the beating, we saw the spot He fell and received help from Simon in carrying His cross.  I found myself only able to say “Thank you Jesus” over and over again. 

 We visited two sites that are possible locations of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus.  One is called The Church of the Holy Seplecure.  It is completely covered by a church but they have a stone they believe held the cross of Jesus in place and a destroyed tomb they believe was the burial location of Jesus.  To me the biggest problem was that this location didn’t really line up with scripture.  Scripture says that Jesus was crucified on the place called “the skull” Golgotha outside of the city and placed in a tomb near where He died.  We visited another location directly on “the place of the skull”, Golgotha.  Everyone knows of this place, it’s always been called Golgotha and when you look at it, it looks like a skull.  Golgotha is located just outside the city, directly in line with the route taken by Jesus and there is a tomb that fits the description in the scriptures as well.  Scripture says it was a new tomb.  The tomb near Golgotha was new at the time of Jesus; in fact the side of the tomb that was still unfinished in Jesus time is still unfinished today.  It was never completed.  Most family tombs like this were laid out where the room used to prepare the body for burial was directly in front of the burial room.  So, they would prepare the body and then carry the body directly forward to bury them.  However, in scripture when Mary and Martha went to the tomb to prepare the body, it says they saw the angel of the Lord on the right.  This tomb was different then most tombs of its day.  When you were standing in the room used to prepare the body you would have to turn and go to the right to place the bodies in the tomb.  This is exactly how it would have been for them to bury Jesus.  While standing there I could envision the women coming to the tomb, seeing the stone gone, coming inside, standing in the very spot I was standing, looking to the right and seeing the angel of the Lord.  I cannot tell you with all certainty that this was the place; I wasn’t there when it happened.  But, I can tell you that my heart connected with God here in this place in a way it did not at the other location.  I choose to believe that THIS WAS THE PLACE! (giving thanks)      

 I laid my hands on the mountain of Golgotha and cried as I thanked God for dying for me.  I stood in the tomb of Jesus, weeping, thanking Him that what I was standing in was an empty tomb!  Jesus was not there, He is risen, just as He said!  (giving thanks) Totally unbelievable, words fall woefully short at a moment like this.  Even now I can barely write about it without crying.  I’m certain that the woman seated next to me on the plane as I sit here and journal about this experience is wondering what in the world is wrong with the blubbering idiot sitting next to her.  But, when Jesus gets a hold of you, you really don’t care much about what people around you think.  What a totally amazing experience.  One that will never be forgotten. (giving thanks)

 We finished up our time shopping in the old city of Jerusalem.  It was interesting to say the least bargaining with all the store owners as I worked to find just the right gifts to bring home to my family.

 I have to tell you it has been an amazing trip.  A trip that has been educational but more than that, it’s been sort of a pilgrimage.  God has shown me in an up close and personal way how to connect with His word through understanding the locations and the people better.  He has also connected in a new and fresh way with my heart.  He has refreshed in me His Spirit and strengthened the fire that burns in my heart for Him.  I hope that journaling this experience will be in some small way a window for you to see what I saw, and a way for you to understand that the sacrifice He made wasn’t just for me but it was for you too!

  Shalom 

After parking my camel and escaping the 5000 flies I was surrounded by we loaded back up in the bus and made our way to Masada.  Masada was a fortress of King Herod.  There was at one time during King Herod’s reign a group of Jews that wanted to overthrow the Roman government, they were known as zealots.  They had taken ownership of this fortress and were hiding out there.  The Romans eventually came for them and instead of being captured and made slaves to the Romans they decided as a group to die and remain free.  Together the men agreed to cast lots.  Ten names were chosen to oversee the deaths of everyone in their camp.  The husbands then went to their homes, killed their children and wives, these ten men killed the husband.  They then burned everything and everyone except for the food in the storage area.  They left the food behind to make a statement, “you didn’t kill us, you didn’t make us slaves, we made the choice today to die free.”  After all of this the ten remaining turned their swords on each other and fell on their partner’s sword.  Not really sure how I feel about this story, but the fortress was amazing.

  Once done at Masada we headed toward the Dead Sea. As we approached the Dead Sea it was to our left.  What an enormous body of water.  It was much larger than I thought it would be.  I learned that there are two reasons for it being called the Dead Sea.  Reason #1 – Nothing can live in the Dead Sea because the salt content is so high.  Reason #2 – The source of it’s water starts at the Sea of Galilee, feeds the Jordan River, which empties into the Dead Sea where it dead ends.  We enjoyed lunch together as a group at the Spa by the Sea then I made my way down to the shore.  It was necessary to wear shoes the entire time, even while in the water.  The shoreline wasn’t covered with soft sand like we are used to seeing when at the beach.  It was more a mixture of dried up mud (bottom of the sea) with layers of salt everywhere.  Where the water met the shoreline the salt would just pile up and form together, it looked sort of like rock candy looks, or large clumps of rock salt.  As I walked out into the water it was like walking on a white marble floor.  Almost the entire bottom was a 3” thick floor of salt.  At some places there would be openings.  I stepped into one and sunk down to my knee.  I had to pull my leg out then reach down with my hand and dig out my shoe that had been left behind.  I’m sure the scene I was creating gave everyone on the shore a good laugh.  I was about a hundred yards out into the Sea and decided to try floating.  (You know they say it is impossible to sink in the Dead Sea.  They were right!  I picked my feet up off the bottom and immediately began floating on my back like a bobber on a fishing line.  It was amazing.  I was floating on the surface of the water without a raft.  No way was I going to sink.  I could had stayed there for hours and never even moved.  It was a pretty neat experience.  You could even make yourself sit as though you were in a chair and your body would stay that way and float.  I spent 30 – 45 minutes just enjoying the water and my new ability to float, and then it was time to head out.  

We loaded back up on the bus and headed back to Jerusalem.  It was really a fun day today.  How amazing it is to be in the Holy Lands.  This truly is God’s country!  (giving thanks)

The tomb of King David

  Next we visited the tomb of King David.  Yes, THE King David,  The ancestor of Jesus, the one anointed to be King by Samuel, the one who killed Goliath, an outstanding musician, the one who slept with Bathsheba, the one Samuel called “a man after God’s own heart.”  I was reminded while here that God can use anybody, despite the mistakes we make God can use anybody that is willing to be used.  David wasn’t perfect, but he WAS willing and God used him in mighty ways.  I pray that God will use me in just a fraction of the way He used David.  I am also very thankful that God will look past my faults and see in me the man He knows I can be.  (giving thanks)    After everyone else left the tomb area I stood there with my hand on the tomb thinking, “I want to be a man after God’s own heart.”  I want to have a heart that desires nothing more that what God’s heart desires.  I asked God to take away the earthly desires I struggle with and place in me a heart that see what God sees, that wants what God wants.  How can you stand in a place like this and NOT be stirred in your spirit?  (giving thanks)

We then visited the house of the High Priest Caiaphas.  After Jesus had been arrested this is the location he was brought.  We visit the abandoned cistern used as a jail.  We saw how Jesus would have been lowered down into the cell through a hole.  I was standing in the very spot Jesus spent His last night on earth.  We then walked the path from the house of Caiaphas that Jesus was led down as he was taken to Pilate.  These were some of the steps that forever changed the world.  It was kind of a foreshadowing, because in just a few days we’ll finish the steps by following His route to cross.  However, as I was standing there tears began to fill my eyes because I was reminded again that He walked this very path for ME.    He loved me that much!  (giving thanks)  We took a break from tracing the footsteps of Jesus during this afternoon to take a look at what horrible things occurred during the holocaust.  We visited the Holocaust memorial as well as the children’s holocaust memorial.  Very sad afternoon!  Over 6 million Jesus were killed and over 1.4 million of them were children.  You could not help but have a broken heart for what happened.  Sad…very, very sad.  The Holocaust memorial was built in such a way that as you walked through the entire place it felt as if it was caving in on you.  The architect wanted to give a sense of the oppression felt at that time, but at the end, as you were about to exit the memorial it opened up to a great expansive balcony over looking a new city meant to show that there is still hope in Israel.  The children’s memorials was about 4 or 5 stories tall and as you walked through they read name after name of the children who died there and there is a candle lit for each soul.  Very beautiful memory created for such a sad time.

We also visited the Israel Museum where the Dead Sea Scrolls are located.  The most interesting part to me was learning that they really do prove the Bible to be accurate.  You can read from the original scroll of Isaiah, well that is if you speak Hebrew, but you know what I mean.  It matches word for word the text found in our scripture today!  It was cool to see the words of God in its original print.

We then headed to the last stop of the day and to me the best of the day.  We went to Bethlehem and visited the birth place of Jesus.  I had a moment to place my hand on the very place Jesus was born.  You can honestly feel the presence of God there as you enter.  The Savior of the world was right where I was standing!!! (giving thanks)  I knelt down in the location of the stable.  We stood together as a group and sang the Christmas Carol “Away in a Manger”.  I can tell you I’ll always remember how I was feeling while standing there every time I hear that song.  It felt as if Jesus was standing with us while we were worshipping Him.  My heart was pounding and the tears from my eyes were running down my cheeks.  I did not want to leave.  Humbling, so very humbling.  Thank you God for the gift of Jesus.  (giving thanks)        

Kneeling in the location of the Stable where Jesus was born

  I seem to find myself daily saying thank you God for providing me with the opportunity to take this trip.  It still just amazes me that I am here, and each day just gets better and better.  Much more is planned for tomorrow so…good night.