Blessings upon Blessings
The last two days have been extraordinary. I traveled to Joppa, then northward through King Herod’s palace, Nazareth, and then to the Sea of Galilee. Today we toured around the Sea of Galilee to the sight of the Sermon on the Mount, Capernaum, and then around the east side of the lake through the land of the Gentiles. Finally, we finished the day at the Jordan river where I had the privilege of baptizing and prophesying over eight people that I just met!
Beautiful Sites.
It has been quite amazing traveling to the biblical sights without a big crowd and with perfect weather. Sadly, most people are staying away from Israel right now due to the war in Gaza and on the border with Lebanon. Many of the sights had no one other than my tour guide and me. Some sights today had a few more people with some school field trips and an occasional tour bus. There was usually never more that 50 people at sights where there would normally be hundreds or even thousands.
Today we toured around the Sea of Galilee we kept running into the same group of people. Mind you we went to some places randomly not necessarily in any particular order because we had to back track to take a boat ride. We ran into these people three times at three different sites. So, it was a huge surprise when they ended up on the same boat on and we were the only ones on this boat. I went over and introduced myself.
Brothers and Sisters.
They were a group of about 15 people who had come from a large Church in Virginia on a tour of Israel. A Church like ours that is Word and Spirit. There were mainly women, the pastor, his wife and daughter. They asked me to share a short devotional with them and then pray while we were on the lake. It was a blessing to minister to them. I also visited with pastor Glen and his wife; we had a great time getting to know one another talking about our churches and families.
Blessings upon blessings.
God loves to bless His children beyond measure. There are times when we don’t recognize God’s blessing and then there are times when His blessings abound and multiply. Sailing across the Sea of Galilee I was abundantly aware of God’s blessing on my trip. He was speaking to me in the peaceful moments of a glassy lake and worship music surrounded by fellow believers. It was as if God had said, “peace be still” to the storm of the war going on around us speaking life into the anxious spaces of our minds. God’s presence was our peace, and nothing could steal the solitude of God’s grace as we floated where Jesus had walked. Exiting the boat, we went our own way and blessed one another.
God was not done.
I left with my tour guide, Isaac, and we stopped to have lunch with a good friend of his. Isaac has been such a blessing; he is a walking encyclopedia and is a joy to travel with. Everyone knows him and if he wanted to run for Prime Minister he might just win! After lunch we headed to the land of the man possessed with a legion of demons. It’s amazing to walk where Jesus did miracles. It built my faith in a way that I did not expect. We then drove towards the south end of the lake to the Jordan river. As we exited the car and walked to the river I heard, “pastor Matt!” It was the group from the church in Virginia. There were eight of them who were going get baptized. Pastor Glen asked me if I would help him baptize and prophesy over each person. Well, this was right up my alley! It was a great experience and blessing as we baptized and prophesied. God gave us a word for each person. One that really stuck out to me was for a young woman. The Lord showed me that she would have a precious family and a Godly husband. She told me that she had been specifically praying for that.
Blessings keep flowing.
At the end of all the baptizing and prophesying pastor Glen began to prophesy over me. It was a very personal prophesy for me and my family. I am so thankful for God’s kind heart towards his children. He gives us exactly what we need when we need it. Blessings upon Blessings.
