Radical Intimacy

Intimacy with God becomes "radical" when we become intentional with Him. Intentionality requires a plan. It is not just haphazard. It is not just grabbing a moment when you are "free" to be with Him. It is not just using a "read through the Bible in a year" plan. It is not just opening your Bible and reading a random passage and hoping that He will speak to you. You must have a plan.

When you get ready to go on vacation you don't just get in your car and hit the road. Weeks ahead you start planning. You get out a map and decide where you want to go. You get on the internet and search for the all the "tourist attractions" and decide what all you want to do when you get there. You get out the calendar and pick out the perfect time to go. You start thinking through your wardrobe and picking out what you are going to wear and what you want to pick up before you go. Days ahead you might even start preparing some goodies to take along on the trip. A couple of days before your trip you start packing your suitcase. By now, if you are going a long way, you have already called ahead and made hotel reservations along the way. There's alot to do to plan a vacation.

If we can spend all of that time and energy on planning our vacation, is it too difficult to understand that to "journey" with God we need a plan, too? If you want to have a meaningful quiet time with Him, it is going to take some planning on your part. This is what I am discovering in my own personal time with Him and it is what I want to share with you in these coming days.

Where do we begin? We can certainly follow Jesus' example. He often took breaks to fellowship with His Father. (Luke 5:15-16) He intentionally set aside a time. He set a goal to make it work. Finding the right place for our quiet time is different for each of us. I have enjoyed these last few weeks sitting in a small office in this "borrowed home" in front of a window that faces the back yard. I have raised the blinds and had a window view of God's world. Trees, blue sky, green grass, birds, squirrels, and even a couple rabbits have met with the Creator each day. You may have a place at your house where you can get off by yourself and meet with Him. This morning I was confronted with the idea that with all the traveling I am doing these days, finding that "perfect spot" won't be easy, but I am determined to do it.

That's the WHERE now what about the WHEN? The Bible does seem to emphasize the importance of the morning. (Mark 1:35) I know what you are thinking. "Oh, my. Getting up early is too difficult for me. " Hey, no one has had more struggle with that than I have. I am NOT a morning person and if you know me, you know that is true. However, I have to tell you that starting the day WITH Him, leans the whole day TOWARDS Him and makes me much more conscious of His presence and gives me much more wisdom in my decision making throughout the day. It really is amazing.

Now, I also know some of you have small children. It may mean getting up a little earlier so you can have some undistracted time. However, I remember reading a story about Dwight L. Moody's mom. She had LOTS of small ones (including little Dwight). But every morning - with kids running all around her, she would sit in a chair and pull her apron up over her head. All the kids knew that she was "spending time with the Lord" and left her alone! OR let's say you are up having your quiet time and oh, boy, here come your kids. Tell them what you are doing and begin teaching them to have their own quiet time with the Lord. How sweet would that be?

There's no set time as to how long our time with the Lord should be. For me, it is different every day. Some days I have more time to spend than others. I just make the most of the time I have.

Okay, you've got the WHERE and the WHEN, now let's think about the HOW?

Catherine Martin in her book "Six Secrets to a Powerful Quiet Time" suggests an easy way to remember how to spend time alone with Him. We will dive deep into each of these in days to come but here is the whole plan in a nutshell:

Prepare your heart
Read and study God's Word
Adore God in prayer
Yield yourself to God
Enjoy His Presence
Rest in His love

These are "disciplines" that will help us in our devotional time with Him. This is just the guide, but we each must personalize the plan as the Lord leads us in our adventure with Him. This is a flexible plan and can be used whether you have just a few minutes or an hour or more!

One of my favorite new Bible verses says, "The eyes of the Lord look throughout the earth to strongly support those whose hearts are committed to Him." II Chronicles 16:9

God is looking for someone whose heart is committed to Him. He wants to STRONGLY SUPPORT that person. Will you be that person He is looking for? Can I be that person? I'm praying that you will have a heart totally committed to Him. He WILL give you all the support you need to meet with Him every day! And to be honest, these last few days, I've noticed that I wake up before I even NEED to get up. I guess my spirit just can't wait to be with Him. He' s waiting for you. Will you meet with Him?

The Heart

The quiet time we spend with the Lord every day is the heart of our relationship with Him. That time is initiated by Him, led by Him, and enriched by Him. He has given us everything we need for intimacy with Him: His Word, prayer, the Holy Spirit, the companionship of Jesus, and the fellowship of good friends! Our quiet time with Him is the most important part of our day. Yet there are very few who have cultivated a consistent quiet time with the Lord on a regular basis. There just seems to be so many things that get in the way. Can you imagine how different our days would be if we spent time with Him before each of those days got started? We would be changed ourselves. No doubt about that.

Why don't we do it then? Is it really something HE wants us to do? Look these up and see.

Psalm 46:10
Jeremiah 9:23-24
Matthew 11:29
John 7:17
Revelation 3:20

What will this intimacy with Him lead to? Knowing Him. What's so important about that?

Exodus 33:13 (It is something HE delights in - us getting to know Him!)

Catherine Martin say:

* He invites us to a pilgrimage of the heart (Psalm 84:5) to find our home in Him while jouneying in a foreign land until we reach our final destination - heaven.
* He invites us to personal, spiritual revival (John 7:37-38) to constant renewal, and to a restoration of God's purpose and plan for our lives.
* He invites us to share His heart (Psalm 46:10), to move in perfect step with Him as He leads us through life, and to enjoy intimate fellowship with Him.
* He invites us to influence the world (Luke 24:32) with a heart burning with a contagious love that spreads to those around us
* He invites us to an eternal perspective (2 Corinthians 4:18) seeing life from His point of view, looking beyond the temporal to the eternal.
* He invites us to radical discipleship (Matthew 4:19) paying the price in time and energy to sit at His feet and learn from Him.

I guess that pretty much leaves the ball in my court. So I think what all this is saying is that God wants to have an intimate relationship with me. He has given me everything I need to have it. He has told me what good will come of it. I JUST HAVE TO CHOOSE TO DO IT. I have to make that choice EVERY DAY. Yes, things will get in the way. I WILL HAVE TO CHOOSE TO NOT LET OTHER THINGS GET IN THE WAY. Yes, there will be deadlines to meet. I WILL HAVE TO CHOOSE TO PRIORITIZE MY TIME WITH HIM. Yes, I will be traveling. I MAY HAVE TO GET UP EARLIER. IT IS ALL A MATTER OF CHOICE!

Are you with me?

Renovation in Progress

I'm going to be brutally honest and vulnerable here. It may even shock some of you. I have needed a "Quiet Time" renovation for some time now. It's not that I haven't been spending time with Him or reading my Bible. It's just that I want MORE. I want a radical intimacy with Him that I know will take a strategic plan to happen. And while I have been here in Nashville, shopping around at Opry Mills, I may have stumbled on just the thing. It's a book by Catherine Martin called "Six Secrets to a Powerful Quiet Time". I have discovered some incredible truths there and I want to share some of my discoveries.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 says "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth: for I delight in these things."

There is NOTHING more important for you and I as Christ followers than to KNOW Him intimately. I don't know about you but I am "desperate for Him" as Michael W. Smith says. I want to dive deep in His love and in the knowledge of Him. And I want that for you, too. What greater adventure could there be? So hang on - and share in these truths with me from time to time.

If you haven't been having a quiet time with the Lord each day, you can start right now. How will you ever grow in your relationship with Him, if you are not spending time with Him? I love my husband and I LOVE to spend time with him. And because of all the time we have spent together I KNOW him, I know I can TRUST him, I know he has my best interests at heart...and he is just my husband! How much more God knows me already - He MADE me. He can see my heart. He can see my motives. He sees the ugly part of me that no one else sees and loves me anyway.

Hey, I have been a believer for almost 30 years and I still struggle with getting a consistent quiet time with Him. You are not alone. We are not perfect. But I am praying that we are hungry enough for Him - desperate enough for Him - to know Him...that we will journey together so that we might KNOW and UNDERSTAND (as much as our finite little minds can) that HE is the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justcie, and righteousness on earth. We will do this because He DELIGHTS in these things.

Ask God right now to prepare your heart for the journey- the pilgrimage of your heart to HIS!

Hang on! He is doing a mighty work in you right now!

On to other things...

Well, that about does it for our trip to Israel. As one of my daughters says - I've about beat that dead horse long enough! But I just wanted to share with you the pics and my thoughts about the whole trip PLUS some historical and biblical references. I would encourage you if you ever get the chance to go to Israel - DO IT! I'll tell you why. Yesterday morning I was reading in my daily Bible reading and got to the part in Matthew where Jesus fed the 5000! Wow. I could picture it. I had seen it. I had been there. And it all took on a whole new meaning - a new reality that I have never known before. It was an incredible feeling.

Now, I am writing this from Nashville (just to catch you up with where I am). Someone suggested that I put the application "Where I am Now" on my facebook page. Incredibly, there was such an application and I DID put it on. We have traveled so much already during 2008 and it isn't even June. But what a wonderful adventure with the Lord.

I can't imagine this adventure (at my age) without Him. He is my Rock. From Him comes all of my strength. This is the day that He has made and I WILL rejoice and be glad in it!

Thanks for coming along the journey with me.

Walking Where Jesus Walked

My most memorable day was the day we walked where Jesus actually walked. Few structures combine the ancient with the new as successfully as the Church of St. Peter. It was built in 1931 to commemorate Peter's denial of Christ. Beneath the church are a number of carved out chambers. The House of Caiaphas was on this very site and these chambers are where Jesus was imprisoned and tortured. You can even see the pillar where Jesus was probably tied and beaten! But it is the steps up to Caiaphas' house where I felt JESUS WAS HERE! These steps are the very ones that He would have walked up to enter the gates. Peter stood in this area and denied Christ three times.

I sat on the stone steps and contemplated all that my Lord has done for me! My my....

The Sea of Galilee

The Sea of Galilee (also called Lake Kinneret and Lake Tiberius) is Israel's largest freshwater lake. It is 33 miles in circumference, 13 miles long, and 8 miles wide. At 209 meteres below sea level, it is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth and the second-lowest lake in the world after the Dead Sea, a saltwater lake.

The Sea of Galille is situated deep in the Jordan Great Rift Valley. It is fed partly by underground spirngs although the main source is teh Jordan River, which flows through it from north to south. Due to it low-lying postiion in the rift valley, surrounded by hills, the sea is prone to sudden violent storms; hence the New Testament story about Jesus calming the storm. Indeed, the main feature of the lake seems to be its ever-changing character. It is still noted for its rich fish stocks.

We had lunch by the Sea of Galillee - yes, FISH! And it was good.

But the most exciting thing was that we just happened to connect with a boat that believers ran and were able to go out on the Sea of Galillee and have a worship service. My goodness!

The Garden Tomb

One of my most memorable times in Jerusalem was the time I spent in the "Garden Tomb". The Garden Tomb is believed by many to be the garden and tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, and therefore a possible site of the resurrection of Jesus. The Garden is owned and administered by The Garden Tomb Association, a Charitable Trust based in the United Kingdom.

In Jerusalem for a visit in 1884, General Charles Gordon spied a prominent rocky crag which looked to him like it could be the "place of the skull" mentioned in the Bible as where Jesus was crucified.

Around the corner Gordon identified an ancient tomb and putting the two together he located the hill of crucifixion and the nearby burial place.

The slope has eroded badly in the last hundred years, but I could still see the eye sockets and the nose bridge.

While officially the Garden Tomb Association only maintains this as a possible site for Christ's burial, some tour guides of the site are convinced of the authenticity. They note the large cistern nearby, which proves the area must have been a garden in Jesus' day. They maintain that there are marks of Christian veneration at the tomb which also prove its sanctity throughout the ages.



This is the place believed by many to be the resting place of Jesus. Some archaeologists question the authenticity of this tomb because typological features suggest that it is a tomb originally hewn in the time of the Old Testament and not a "new tomb" as specifically stated in Scripture.

The Wailing Wall

Today I want to talk a little bit more about the Wailing Wall. On Friday evening in the Old City of Jerusalem voices can be heard singing out as other voices join in devotions. The Sabbath, a holy day for the Jewish faith is beginning. The Jewish people gather before their most sacred shrine, "The Wailing Wall". This wall is the western wall of an ancient courtyard and for that reason it is also referred to as "The Western Wall." The Romans destroyed the Jewish Temple in 70 AD after the Jewish people revolted against Roman rule.

The wall is the only remaining structure of the ancient Temple of Jerusalem. Inside the courtyard King Solomon's glorious temple once stood. The temple was destroyed and rebuilt several times until only part of the western wall remained. The wall is just outside of the Temple Mount and is considered to be Judaism's holiest site.

Some of the ruins of the original temple can still be seen today. People built their houses all around the temple. On the top of the temple mount the priest would stand and blow their Shofar to call the people to prayer. Then, the Jews were exiled from their homes and it was years before they could return to Jerusalem to stay, but the temple was never rebuilt.

The reason people pray at the wall is because it is believed to be the closest point to the Holy of Holies, the holiest room of the old temple. A Muslim mosque now occupies this site. This old tradition of praying at the wall began around 200-300 AD when Rabbis claimed that God's presence still tarried at the location of the Holy of Holies. Sad to say, the wall has been an object of bickering between Muslims and Jews for centuries. When Jews began moving back into the territory in the 1800s the tenseness increased between the two religions.

Jews come to the wall from all over the world. No one knows when it became a Jewish tradition of offering prayers there, but it is believed that this portion of the Temple was not destroyed because the Shekhinah (divine presence) continues to reside there. Thus, praying there is like praying directly to God through the wall. In addition to spoken prayers, it is also common for prayers to be written on slips are paper which are slipped into the cracks. The men wear either a hat or shawl to show respect. At the wall you can hear some of them wailing or crying for the loss of their great temple. This is why the wall became known as "the Wailing Wall." There are three things they are mourning for:
* the destruction of the city and the temple
* the loss of the 10 commandment tablets and the ark of the covenant
* as they wait for the arrival of the Messiah

Many events take place at the wall such as religious gatherings and celebrations. Today the area is under Jewish control since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War when Jerusalem captured Jordan.

Before you can enter the courtyard you have to go through a security check. There is a fence separating the men from the women. Sometimes they will do quick body frisks and even open your bags. While you are there, you are expected to act in a manner of reverence. (After all it is considered a place of worship!) One should dress properly (no spaghetti straps or even short sleeves!) While I was walking toward the wall I saw a lady to the side with shawls that you could borrow - she would even put on on you if she thought you were not dressed properly!

For Muslims, it is not only part of the huge platform which forms the foundation of the Dome of the Rock, but it is also believed to be the gate through which Muhammad was carried by a mythical creature known as the Buraq when he arrived at Jerusalem for his ascent to heaven. But more on the Dome of the Rock later....

The Via Dolorosa

The Via Dolorosa or "Way of Suffering" is a street in the old city of Jerusalem. Traditionally, it is held to be the route followed by Jesus from the Praetorium (the Roman Judgment Hall) to Calvary, which was the scene of the Crucifixion. Over the centuries, millions of pilgrims have come here to walk the way that Jesus took to his death. Each Friday at 3pm priests lead a procession for pilgrims along Via Dolorosa (starting in the Monastery of the Flagellation at the tower of Antonia, not far from the Lion's Gate). Large wooden crosses are carried by some of those in the procession and prayers are said at each of the 14 Stations. It begins in the Muslim Quarter and winds its way to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Christian Quarter.

You can enter the Sanctuaries of the Flagellation and the Condemnation, where Jesus was scourged and judged. In the sanctuaries are some of the original paving stones of the Lithostrotos. As you leave the sanctuary to follow the Via Dolorosa, each Station of the Cross is marked by a small sign or a number engraved in the stone over a door. Paving stones have been set in a semicircular pattern to mark those stations directly on the street. Other stations are behind closed doors.

Here is a list of the "Stations".
1. Jesus is condemned to death.
2. Jesus receives the cross (at the foot of Antonia).
3. Jesus falls for the first time.
4. Jesus meets his mother.
5. Simon the Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross.
6. Veronica wipes Jesus' face.
7. Jesus falls the second time (at the bazaar crossroads.)
8. Jesus consoles the women of Jerusalem.
9. Jesus falls the third time.

The five remaining stations are inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

10 Jesus is stripped of his garments.
11. Jesus is nailed to the cross.
12. Jesus dies on the cross.
13. Jesus is taken down from the cross and laid in the arms of Mary.
14. Jesus is laid in the chamber of the sepulcher and from there is resurrected.

Out of the fourteen traditional Stations of the Cross, only eight have scriptural foundation: Stations 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9 being unattested in any of the gospels; and Station 13 being a misrepresentation of the gospel account (it represents Jesus' body being taken down off the cross and laid in the arms of Mary, while all four gospels state the Joseph of Arimathea alone took Jesus down from the cross and buried him.)

How I guess I related all this was the movie "The Passion of the Christ" by Mel Gibson that came out a few years ago. Gibson is a Catholic and the movie especially moves through the Stations of the Cross. So now, go back and watch that movie and see if you can discover the "stations".

The Pool of Bethesda

The Pool of Bethesda was located on the eastern side of the city near the Fortress of Antonia. The name Bethesda means "house of mercy." The water source was a nearby spring. The Pool had five porches and according to the Bible there was a tradition that an angel moved the waters at certain times and healed the sick. It was here that Jesus healed the man who was lame for 38 years. Being at this site was really the first time I felt like I actually was where Jesus had been - at least in the general vicinity. We know he healed the paralytic man and we know that it was at this pool He did that!

We got a little Crusader history at this site. The Crusades were a series of military conflicts of a religious character waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal threats. Crusades were fought against Muslims, pagan Slavs, Russian and Greek Orthodox Christians, Mongols, Cathars, Hussites, and political enemies of the popes. Crusaders took vows and were granted an indulgence for past sins. The Crusades originally had the goal of recapturing Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim rule and were originally launched in response to a call for help against the expansion of Muslim Turks.

The Crusaders defeated Jerusalem in 1099. However, the feudal lords that "ruled" Jerusalem after the Crusaders defeated it, started dividing the unity. Not far away, Saladin the Great, a very powerful Muslim military leader heard of the "disunity" and found the weakness a good time to conquer Jerusalem. He captured 40,000 Crusaders in the process but did not kill them. He gave them three choices:
* take what they would and leave
* stay and pay tribute to him
* embrace Islam

Very interesting!

The Dead Sea

Twelve miles from Jerusalem is the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is a salt lke between Israel and Jordan. It is 1378 feet below sea level and its shores are the lowest point on the surface of the Earth on dry land. The Dead Sea is 1083 feet deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world! It is also the world's second saltiest body of water, after Lake Asal in Kjibouti, with 30% salinity! It is almost 9 times saltier than the ocean. It is 42 miles long and 11 miles wide at its widest point. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley and its main tributary is the Jordan River!

The Dead Sea has attracted visitors for years. Biblically, it was a place of refuge for King David. It was one of the world's first health resorts (for Herod the Great), and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products from balms for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilizers!

Well, I have to tell you that it was HOT at the Dead Sea and I did NOT go in. But Rick did, and yes, he floated!

We did buy some bath salts derived from the Dead Sea and I can hardly wait to use them!

Lori

P.S. Sorry you have not heard from me in a few days. I have been on the road!

Bethlehem

The trip to Bethlehem was very interesting. Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank, approximately 5 miles south of Jerusalem. It has a population of 30,000. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Govern ate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism. The town in inhabited by one of the oldest Christian communities int he world. Not only is it believed to be the place where Jesus was born, it is believed to be the birthplace of David and the place where he was crowned as king of Israel.

The city was sacked by the Samaritans in 529 AD, conquered by the Arab Aliphate in 637, captured and fortified by the Crusaders in 1099, and its walls were destroyed and rebuilt during the rule of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans lost the city to the British during WWI and it was to be included in an international zone under the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. Jordan occupied the city in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and it was occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War Israel has retained control over the entrances and exits to Bethlehem, though day to day administration has been under the Palestinian National Authority since 1995. Needless to say, it has exchanged hands MANY times.

Modern Bethlehem has a Muslim majority but is also home to one of the largest Palestinian Christian communities. It's the home of the Church of the Nativity.

The particular day we tried to enter Bethlehem, we couldn't get in the main entrances. Because we had a Palestinian driver and tour guide, however, they knew a "back door" for us to enter.

The Church of the Nativity in the heart of Bethlehem marks one of Christianity's most sacred sites. Situated on Manger Square, the church is built over a grotto where the Virgin Mary is said to have given birth to Jesus. The church's large fortress-like exterior stands as a testament to its turbulent history. For centuries, it was one of the most fought over holy places. It was seized and defended by a succession of armies - including Muslim and Crusaders forces.It is controlled jointly by three Christian denominations - the Armenian Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. (However, a Muslim traditionally holds the key to the church and is responsible for doing so each day. The key is passed down within that Muslim family.) The Grotto of the Nativity contains the manger that is believed to be the place where the baby Jesus was laid after he was born. The grotto is encased in white marble. The site of the birth is marked by a 14-point star on a marble stone.

When we arrived at the site, there was THE LONGEST line you could imagine, so we stood there for over an hour working our way towards the "holy site".

The entrance to the church is a low doorway that has its own legends. One story is that the door was installed by the Muslims during their rule to remind Christians that they were guests in the country and must bow to their hosts. An alternative explanation is that the height of the door was designed to prevent unbelievers from entering the church on horseback. Yet another version holds that it was to protect the Christians from their hostile neighbors.

The church is divided into five naves by four rows of Corinthian pillars with pictures of the apostles on them. The names are written in Greek and Latin and many visitors have carved their own signatures over the centuries. The floor of the nave has a hole that allows you to see what remains of the Byzantine mosaics that covered the original church floor.

The Altar of the Nativity sits below a silver and gold chandelier. Stairways on either side of the main altar lead to a grotto. A fourteen-point silver star embedded in white marble indicates the birthplace of Christ. Fifteen lamps burn around the spot. Nearby is the Chapel of the Manger, where Mary placed the baby Jesus.