Good Morning,

I'm sitting in the sun this morning basking in the warmth while all the time it's freezing cold outside. We've relocated to southern Idaho and are now taking the new challenges of a church here in the dessert. I want to encourage you today to hear the Lord's words to us. They come out of Joshua (Yoshua) 1:5b-9 "As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you or forsake you. Be strong and outrageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. . . Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified do not be discouraged for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." We belong to Him and He is directing our paths. I'm not so sure about America right now with the current leadership and trends. I'm wishing for something different. I'm praying for something different! Please Lord, don't let us continue like this. But, He gives me hope - in the prayer He spoke on the mount of Beatitudes - "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil!" Let us take the land that He gave us to reestablish His Holiness and righteousness. We don't have to vote with the majority on this. . we just have to live it!

It's a little early in the year to predict anything, but I can project, right? I've started the year with family and friends, and a cold! So, I project that this year will have some very positive associations and necessary recovery time! How about that?
But, seriously, I believe this year will be one of learning more about spiritual warfare and living closer to the heart of the Father. Recently I have been studying and teaching out of Romans and 1 John simultaneously. Romans 3, which should have been a fast chapter, become a very intense one while studying the life of faith. I guess I should say the testings of faith. Abraham (who is known as the father of our faith) had at least 10 testings that he had to go through. After studying that, I think I might be more inclined to ask for the rule book and just go by that. If given a list, (the Law), I could probably come closer to fulfilling that rather than have to go through the trials and testings that faith brings.
Somehow in our gentile, Christian lives, we forget that living and walking by faith is really not simple or necessarily easy. It is a conscious and determined mindset that is secured only by a relationship with the Father rather than the education of a doctrine or theology. If you don't know the Lord's heart and trust Him as He leads you, you will not understand what it means to rest in Him. Faith is not only believing, it is purposefully living out what He has shown you and directs for your life. No one else has to agree or understand, but you have a responsibility as a disciple to draw close to Him and learn from His heart what He directs for you. Faith really becomes the joy of the relationship as you know the heart of your Beloved, and I want to share something that I'm finding with Him.
He is showing me that it is my great honor and gift to give to those who I meet His gracious love for them. I know this sounds like old stuff, but what I am finding is that the world has only felt the disapproval and condemnation of Christians. They have never been exposed to the gracious favor of the Father! While the message of redemption is directed at "sinners" there is little grace and favor shown. He reminds me over and again that Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to love it and give His life for us, while we were still "sinners!"
This will be my News Years goal - I want to share the amazing favor and love of God to those who He allows me to live by, serve by, work with and share my life with. I will not say anything until I can love them like He does!
Happy New Year to you!

Wow, I've been home now for 3 weeks and looking back at our recent trip to Israel I realize more and more that I miss it!
I love sharing with family and friends when they get to travel with us. The fun spots like the Mediterranean Sea, the fish dinner at the Sea of Galilee and all the sites that bring this land to life!
I get horrendously teased for knowing where the good places are to shop, but really, don't you think that somebody ought to be there for you if you're going for the first time? It has been my pleasure to search out and research those most important places to find things like, date honey, good books, jewelry, Ahava creams, prayer shawls, and other important items that you need to find before you come home!

You have to have some of those great things to help you remember that you've been there and sometimes you need a gift or two. But, really, it isn't all about shopping with me. I do love the insights that happen when you least expect them. It seems that every day holds a new and breathtaking encounter with the Lord.
The Sea of Galilee with its' tranquility and quiet majesty. I know why Jesus loved this area. He could walk and think and pray with the beauty of His Father being displayed everywhere. The Mount of Beatitudes is extraordinary beautiful. The view overlooking the Sea is clearly one of my favorite places.
But this last trip took me on another journey - to the places people worship. I watched in Bethlehem, in Jerusalem and at several places where people gather to worship and I wondered - does it make any difference in their lives? Did they meet the Lord and did He speak to their hearts? Worship looked old and decaying at some sites, and others were so ornamented and glossy that it reeked of arrogance and pride. And what about the people? I wondered that if we are so caught up with the places that we forgot that Jesus came to save people, what are we worshiping?

Just some thoughts from one who watches. . .

My journey into this realm of exploring our Jewish roots began about 15 years ago after I had taken a trip to Israel with my husband, Dave. I had been mildly interested in the things of the “Holy Land” simply because I had studied the Bible most of my life and had taught Sunday school classes and Bible studies for years. I love to study, so it seemed like a natural progression to finally get to see the place that I’d read about for so long. On that first trip I found my faith profoundly challenged. It was one thing to talk about Jesus and the stories in the Bible, but now I was looking at the places and they were no longer just an image that I’d concocted. I found myself looking at the Sea of Galilee and thinking – “Jesus walked here?” It is a real lake with real water and now I had to ask myself “Do I still believe it?” It became a moment of testing my faith and a transition from infancy to maturity. I remember looking out over the water at sunrise and seeing what I could imagine Jesus seeing and I listened to the sounds of the morning, realizing that I was taking a new step in becoming the disciple that I knew He wanted me to become. I am impacted by the society and culture that I’m in and I care deeply for the pain I see all around us. As a nurse, too, I am probably more keenly aware of pain at every level and I often jest that as a mother, a pastor’s wife and a nurse if I can’t heal you one way, I have at least two other ways to try! I’ll either feed you, pray for you or get the drugs! Jesus saw a hurting world, too, and I know that His heart was just as broken for hurting people as mine can be – more actually!

I want to share one of my first insights into this new world. It is very familiar passage to those of us who call ourselves believers in Jesus. It is Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is talking to his disciples and giving them a serious talk about life as a disciple. When He said we are the “salt of the earth” I didn’t realize that for Jewish ears, they knew exactly what He was saying. You see, every Sabbath table had a little dish of salt on it to represent the salt covenant mentioned in Leviticus 2:13. Salt was a covenant that actually was saying to them “If you have a pure heart of love for the Lord, you will become like salt, preserving and protecting the world, but if you have a wrong spirit or heart, you will also become like salt, corroding and corrupting the world.” Flash! – New picture! And how true. As Christians, we also have that same impact on the world. A pure heart to preserve and protect or an impure heart, corroding and destroying!  Now, what do you think about this?