Peace Like A RIver - Part 2

  

 “He who overcomes,  I will make him a pillar in the temple Of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore and I will write on him the name of MY God, and the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name”   “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne” (Rev. 3:12/21).

Hey Gang, I just reread the last morning message and see that I left you dangling, so let me un-dangle you this morning.  I said I have been blessed in my life to find two places where I feel God’s peace deep in my soul.   The first I mentioned was at the African Missionary Mission referred to as Media, which means halfway between the mission and heaven.  Today we had lunch with twenty one missionaries – wow, I haven’t seen so many smiley faces at one place since I threatened the boys that if they did not smile and even laugh I would restrict them from going home that weekend.

The second experience where I felt God’s peace in my soul was 1984, the first and every time we were privileged to go to Israel.  From Chicago to Israel was an all-night flight so when we neared the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, the sun had just come up, and the entire city and valley was a bright gold.  It is one of those pictures that is indelibly imprinted on the inside of my forehead.    At that moment the pilot turned on the radio with live and very exciting Jewish National music.

In the fifteen minutes between the seeing Israel for the first time and hearing the music I could feel the excitement rising within my soul.  I had dreamed of making this trip for most of my life but never dreamed that I would be able to pull it off until after I had completed my tenure on earth and moved into the New Jerusalem.  And here I was, standing on the tarmac of the airport in Tele Aviv, Israel!     

After going through the needed checking into the country, checking out our luggage, finding the tour bus that would be our means of transportation for the next ten days, we headed for Jerusalem.  Now I have been pumped before in my life but never like I was that night.  We were blessed to be on one of the top floors of the Hilton Hotel that sets on top of a hill overlooking the city of Jerusalem.   In Israel the drivers drive with one foot on the accelerator, one on the brake and both hands on the horn.  The noise was deafening but oh so beautiful. 

Soooo, still today many ask if we are not nervous to go to Israel; my response is yes, we have to go through New York or Chicago.  I can also attest to the fact that, on our ten trips to Israel, we have never found one person we traveled with who said, “I am afraid to be here:” On that very first trip I learned what the Bible meant when it said, “There is a peace that passes our human understanding when we place our trust in Abba Father.”