Retracing My Steps in Israel: A Pilgrimage of the Heart~Part 6

Continuing Day 2...Onto Azekah, which is south of our last site-Beth Shemesh.

When you think Azekah, think David & Goliath!

This is the beginning of our climb to Azekah, an intense shorter but heart racing hike(if you weren't in the best shape, like me). This hill set the standard to how our following hikes were compared, such as, Masada is Azekah times 3 or something like that. I personally think Masada was Azekah times 10. (Stay tuned for Masada--that particular climb was the most significant for me spiritually while in Israel.) The picture does not paint the sweat and laborious breathing. Yvonne, drink your Gatorade and breath!

Made it! Mike Slayden (his back is seen in the picture as he teaches about the significance of this place. We are looking down at the Valley of Elah where David killed Goliath. I think Mike might be pointing to Bethlehem, where David, a boy of maybe 13 traveled from to bring food to his brothers and see how they were.)

This is a great view of the Valley of Elah. Picture the Philistines on the hill opposite the one we are on and the Israelites camping out on Azekah and in the Valley of Elah. Almost in the top center part of the picture, where the color is golden, is a creek bed where David may have retrieved his 5 smooth stones. It was surreal seeing the reality of the place. The story of David and Goliath that I learned 30 some years ago, wasn't just a story. It really happened! God's power is just as real!

1 Samuel 17 was wonderful to meditate on this morning-

Saul and the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

So much for a fearless leader.

Why do I become afraid?

Their fear was humanly legitimate-

Goliath was 9'9" tall

His armored weighed in at 124 lbs

The end of his spear was a whopping 15 lbs

(I can barely lift my 10lbs weights, let alone chuck it at someone.)

They had forgotten who their God was.

It was the Philistine god-Dagon.

He was and is Yahweh, our Covenant Making, Covenant Keeping God.

David-a boy

He came from Bethlehem to bring food to his brothers.

Fear is contagious and had infiltrated the Israelite camp.

Fresh on the scene, David's mind was fixed on God, not self.

The name of God and His renown was at the forefront of his mind.

Who defies the army of the Living God?

David tells Saul, "your servant will fight him (Goliath)."

Three times people say David can't do it...you are only a boy.

Didn't use traditional weapons for war, used what he was skilled with-

5 smooth stones

This shepherd had confidence in the power of God.

Do I have that type of confidence?

Do I know and believe and see this power of God?

So confident that he RAN toward Goliath to kill him.

David's experience as a shepherd, protecting his sheep and killing a lion and bear, had prepared him for this moment in time. He knew the Lord would use his skills and experience to bring victory! He didn't have to wear what all the other warriors did nor did he give into the pressure or honor of wearing Saul's armor.

David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with the sward and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied."

1 Samuel 17:45

Do I come against my enemy, Satan, the father of lies, in the name of the LORD Almighty?

Jehovah-saboath

The LORD of Hosts

The One who rules over all angelic hosts

His name brings deliverance

Victory

I am never alone in my battles

God is ruler over all the armies

Do I really believe God's -NAME- is powerful or doI live in such a way that it is just a name?

The fact that David ran toward his enemy was bolded in the text to me today. Do I run toward my enemy believing God has given me victory?

Retracing My Steps in Israel: A Pilgrimage of the Heart~Part 5

Good Morning Pilgrimagers (my name for those of us who are on a long journey with a purpose, all for the sake of seeing Jesus and worshipping Him)!

Today is going to be a little rest on the pilgrimage, a chance to "sit under an olive tree" and enjoy a few pictures in no particular order of my time in Israel.

I sense the Lord would have me go and be with a friend today and clean her house and cook with her, so I say, "Yes, Lord, I will follow You". As many of you know, I protect my Wednesday mornings with Jesus very carefully, but always want it to be led by Jesus Himself and today that means a diversion of my norm.

This picture was taken in honor of Melissa Danisi, who asked if I would snap a photo of an olive tree, because we are grafted in. Glory! As I sat under an olive tree and looked straight ahead of me on the Mt. of Olives, I had a perfect view of the Temple Mount! As I turned around and looked behind me, I captured this picture.

The above picture is me looking straight ahead from the tree I was sitting under, as I contemplated Jesus returning, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. O how I long for the Lord's return! Do you see the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount?

Day 2 of our trip, Jen, my precious friend and I were accidentally matchy matchy, so of course we needed a picture.

The Dead Sea-from our hotel room window watching the sunrise and sipping on french press coffee. Stacey, my roommate for the whole trip, made us coffee every morning. We were spoiled. This was a surreal moment when we sat there saying, "Can you believe we are really truly in Israel?"

Retracing My Steps in Israel: A Pilgrimage of the Heart~Part 4

Good Morning to day 2 of our trek through Israel!

Lord, do a work in my heart as I remember where I have been with You! Teach me, I am listening.

First stop--Beth Shemesh (means House of Sun)

A little background about this place:

Beth Shemesh is on the via maris, the trade route and crossroads of all commerce

It was a Danite Territory

A Levitical town

Samson was here

Israelites did not drive out the Canaanites here as the Lord had commanded

The Israelites didn't want the ark of the covenant, the very thing that represented the glory of God! We could see with our very own eyes the road the never before yoked cows had walked on by themselves to Beth Shemesh with the ark and offerings from the Philistines. Obviously the LORD had directed every single step of these oxen! It brought life to the pages of Scripture. The Israelites looked in the ark, knowing they were not to do this and God struck dead 70 men. They passed the ark off to Kiriath Jearim. (1 Samuel 6:1-21) A question that was asked to us: What does the Lord give me that I don't want because it might be inconvenient? (We could stay on this topic for awhile, but want to continue on for today. If you ever want to chat about this, I would love to!)

The Lord has had me meditating and processing Living Water and Cisterns at Beth Shemesh because we got to go in a cistern while we are at this location! A real one! What on earth is a cistern? I had always pictured it being a pit, like a well in the ground, deep with walls of dirt. This particular one (many are like this in Israel) could hold 54,000 gallons of water and we walked down under the ground to get to it. This was hewn out of stone. Fascinating, a father and son found this cistern in 1997, which is rather recent considering it has been there for thousands of years.

"My people have committed two sins; They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water." Jeremiah 2:13

(Take some time to read the verse again and again, don't just skim through it, let the Word wash over you, then check out the pictures of the actual cistern and mayim chayim-living water.)

We are carefully hiking down into the cistern. It held all 60+ of us with ease. That is huge, bigger than our pool, just to give some perspective.

Just for a moment we have jumped to another location, only so we can contrast mayim chayim and cisterns. We didn't go to this site until later in our trip. Can you see the difference? I want to go jump in this right now! This water bursting forth is smack dab in the middle of the desert!

(Blue is an appropriate color when talking about water, so hence the blue font. :) Originally I went with orange font but that got changed fast when I put 2 and 2 together!)

The Lord uses comparisons to help me see how desperately I need Him and not my manmade second rate ways to "collect water", feel free to add to my list:

Cistern

Manmade

Dries up

Stagnant & Bitter (sat for months)

Dark & Covered

Breaks

Doesn't make you feel fresh

Meets a need to live

Used for evil

Place for prisoners

Living Water (mayim chayim)

Made by the Creator

Endless supply

Fresh

Constant flow bursting forth

Powerful

Draws people

Beautiful to the eye

Always provides

Cleanses the body

Satisfies thirst

Out in the open

After contemplating a bit more on the drastic difference between the two, what is it that I gravitate to?

They both supply water, but which is lasting and satisfying?

Am I content drinking rainwater that has been sitting for months in a manmade pit, stagnant with no movement or am I willing to walk through the desert to find the boundless supply of fresh, powerful, satisfying, cleansing water?

Let's revisit Jeremiah 2:13: "My people have committed two sins (evil); They have forsaken (abandoned) Me, the spring of Living Water, and have dug (to cut a rock, hewn) their own cisterns (wells), broken (burst) cisterns that cannot hold water."

The Lord=Spring of Living Water

Cisterns=manmade things we create to satisfy our desires, that never measure up to the real deal

Why would I want anything less than Jesus, the Giver of Living Water, the Only one who can satisfy, refresh, and quench?

How have I turned my back on Jesus Christ and created temporal things that substitute what is true satisfaction, like the Israelites did?

I didn't grasp how powerful Living Water is until I saw it with my own eyes as it pounded on the heads of those who stood under it. The Spirit, who lives in us is Living Water, He is all powerful and as we believe Him, the same power that raised Christ from the dead is ours to use for His glory. Do I live daily, moment by moment in His power? O, I want to! He is everything to me. O how I need Him to grace me with faith to believe that He will give me everything I need for every second of the day!

The thing I catch myself trying to have satisfy me other than Christ is Brian. Years ago I memorized Ps. 90:14 because I would look to Brian for approval and affirmation and encouragement and...so the Lord began to teach me and say to my heart, "Yvonne, I am the Only One who can satisfy completely, that's how I designed it. Look to me." I didn't stop there, I looked up Scripture, studied it, meditated on it, and hid it in my heart because I had a feeling I would have to recall truth to mind more than once or twice.

Satisfy us in the morning

with Your unfailing love

that we may sing for joy

and be glad all our days.

Psalm 90:14

Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters...

Why spend money on what is not bread

and your labor on what does not satisfy.

Listen, listen to Me

and your soul will delight in the

richest of fare.

Isaiah 55:1-3

What a joy to journey together with Christ, the Giver of Living Water!

Some of you have said the comment section hasn't been allowing you to post, I think that is fixed now if you desire. I love to read where the Lord has you as you walk with Him and how He is encouraging your heart through the Word and challenging you as well.

I love you deeply.

Retracing My Steps in Israel: A Pilgrimage of the Heart~Part 3

Today is going to be a day of pictures.

The Lord has me camping out in Jeremiah 2:13 and the two evils Israel committed. As I process more of what the Lord is teaching me concerning Living Water and Cisterns, I will devote next week to writing about just that.

For now, enjoy People & the Promised Land with no clear order or purpose...simply fun:

I am the vine, you are the branches...this picture really truly is taken in Israel. I can imagine in my mind Jesus teaching on this and using every day examples as he and the disciples walked along the way! ABIDE!

Shawna & I dripping in sweat and loving every second of it!

Ronen, our fabulous Jewish tour guide! That man has his masters in middle eastern culture or something of the sort. Brilliant. I learned so much under his teaching. Ronen means JOY!

Back to the first evening in Israel...just can't get over the awe of it!

O how I love Jesus! Thankful for His life and for putting on skin, so we could put Him on! O how we worship the King!