cursed

I overheard a conversation a couple of weeks ago. I'm a nosy person and I have a tendency of just inserting myself into conversations without invitation. Ken Gillming, a VP at the school I attend, was talking to some students about the differences in the way men and women think. I have no idea the origin of this conversation, but he was saying that men have to think and feel separately. Women are able to do both simultaneously. Now, this does not make us better it just means we are a mess. This goes along with what I was saying in my last blog about the heart. Our emotions and our thoughts are woven together. It is difficult to separate our thoughts from our feelings. Someone once said, “men are like waffles and women are like spaghetti.” So true. Men compartmentalize in little boxes, and women are all mixed together—one thought connected to another.

Gillming then brought up Genesis 3 and the curse God put on Adam and Eve in the garden. Oh, that wretched curse! It's brought me nothing but heartache and trouble. Verse 16 says, “and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” He offered a new point of view on this passage. As women, we've been cursed to desire our husbands. We've automatically put all of our desire and focus on the men in our life. We depend on them to fulfill us, complete us. We try so hard to find our security in them.

Now if you are anything like me and single, every man I'm interested in becomes a husband candidate. Therefore, I have a tendency of acting out the curse on every one of these men. This is where my last blog comes into play. I have allowed my heart to become unguarded and vulnerable.

We have to learn to control our emotions and not be driven by them. We have to fight against the curse. That's our sin nature. We have to go against our nature and return our focus on God. Our security should be found in Christ and Christ alone. Our desires and focus should be towards God not man. Men will let you down, but God will not. When you find complete fulfillment in God, then that frees up the men to be what God has called them to be and not what we want them to be. Takes a lot of pressure off their shoulders if they don't have to worry about being your everything.

I'm thinkin' maybe there should be a book about this. Hmmm...I'm going to have a lot of writing to do this summer :)

heart

For the last two years I have been leading girls' devotions on Monday nights with a friend of mine, Tamara. We are nearing the end of our time with these girls, and I am starting to get really sad. Tamara has been amazing to work along side. She is such a godly woman. Such an encouragement. This past Monday, we began talking about the heart and how vulnerable it can be. As women, we can be so careless with our hearts and we don't always consider the consequences and how devastating heartbreak truly can be. I try so hard not to be vulnerable, but I can't help it. I still haven't learned my lesson, even at 29. The heart is vulnerable, it needs to be guarded. This is especially true for women.

When I was growing up, my family would poke fun at me because I couldn't fight. There was a time when I was mad at one of my sisters (I can't remember which one), it was over a stupid Britney Spears CD. So ridiculous to think about now, but at the time I was livid. I was seeing red. I ran after the sister, grabbed the CD and hit her on her shoulder. Now anyone who actually knows how to fight knows that a lousy hit to the shoulder is pathetic. She actually started laughing at me. I was horrified that I had “attempted” to hurt my sister, so I started crying. I was the one who inflicted pain (not really, but I tried), and I started crying. When my family poked fun at me I would tell them its because I'm a lover, not a fighter. I'm sensitive. I can't help it. My heart reigns supreme.

Now in any Bible study setting with young girls, college or high school ages, there are always the discussions about sexual purity and abstaining until marriage, but not much is said about the heart. Not many understand that the emotional needs of the woman are just as important to her as the physical needs of a man are to him. It's a wonderful thing if a woman saves her virginity for her husband, but its an even greater feat if she saves her heart for him as well.

We are emotional creatures. We have emotional needs and we will allow anyone and everyone to fulfill those needs. Sometimes, its just seeking advice, a listening ear, or a shoulder to cry on. But in seeking these things from men, we are allowing them to meet our emotional needs. When they do this we open our hearts and become vulnerable to them. Sometimes our hearts get carried away. Sometimes we end up feeling things that don't really exist. We've fabricated it in our minds because we think with our hearts.

In a book I was reading this week, it said we are in a battle. Men struggle with their eyes, with lust. We struggle with our thoughts as well, just in a different way. It starts with our hearts and moves from there. Regardless, it is a battle. Take a lesson from me and what I didn't do when I was younger...fight. Don't fight with a lousy shoulder hit, but stand up and fight this battle. Guard your heart with all diligence. Protect its purity. Consider the consequences of tossing your heart around as if it held no value. Only give it to those who truly deserve it. Those who understand its value and want to protect it just as you have.

Proverbs 4:23 “Keep your heart with all diligence...”

passion

Sunday at church my pastor went through the events of Passion week. Having just come back from Israel a month ago, it gave me a fresh look on these events. He discussed the Gethsemane experience which is mentioned in all four gospel accounts (John 14:1-18:12; Mark 14:26, 32-52; Matthew 26:30, 36-56; and Luke 22:39-53). He pointed out how Jesus' humanity was showed at this moment. Jesus was 100% God and 100% man, and at this moment that was revealed. The Bible says He sweat drops of blood as He prayed “Let this cup pass from me.” This was not because He was afraid of what was to happen. He did not fear the upcoming torture and death. No, it was the stress caused from becoming sin. He became sin so that we could have life. He didn't just take on the sin of the worst sinners. He took on every sin that had ever been committed or ever will be committed. He took on my sin. He did it because He loves us, because He is passionate towards us.

Today in chapel, they played a clip from the Passion of the Christ. It was like being forced to watch a horror show. You want to look away. You want to run away from it, from the truth. No one wants to think about what actually happened on the day that Jesus became sin. No one wants to take the blame for that. The truth is though, that it was my sin that did that.

Sometimes in my head I romanticize the cross. It's like I'm saying in my head, “He died for me. Yay!” I choose not to think about the reality of His death and all that happened to Him on that day. When the clip from the movie first started, it began at the part where He comes through the gate with the cross. The man, Joseph, was already helping Him at this point in the movie. Jesus had been brutally beaten and scourged to the point of death (Mark 15:16-23; Matthew 27:27-34; Luke 23:26-33; John 19:16-17). I was reminded again of all He suffered through. Last Sunday at church when we were going through this, someone pointed out that He held His life in. It was as if at any moment during all that happened to Him that day He could have died, but He held off His death to endure more. In the book of Isaiah, it says that He would be marred more than any man. He was unrecognizable. He could have just given up and died and He didn't (Mark 15:24-46; Matthew 27:35-60; Luke 23:33-56; John 19:18-42).

Throughout the rest of the clip we watched, I just kept thinking about all the things I gloss over in my life. I justify the things I do. I don't consider all He did for me. My sin is an offense to Him and what He went through that day. What's really sad is the fact that I only dwell on these things at Easter. Why do we get so caught up in our lives that we forget what He's done?

The last thing my pastor said on Sunday before closing in prayer was “When all seems lost, all is gained.” I can't live my life feeling guilty about what I have done or chosen not to do in the past. What Christ did on the cross gives me the grace to make it right today and the next day. May we face the truth of what He did for us on the cross and not take it for granted any longer. There is so much to gain.

new stuff

There are always questions we dread being asked. One of mine is “how's the love life?” but in the last few months its been “what's your plans after graduation?” I have been so busy recently, I have had trouble concentrating on getting dressed in the morning much less actually making any life plans. As I mentioned in my earliest blogs, I've had a few options I was considering. My sister Mishayla in Boise was one of those options. She's been one of those people who has continually been asking “so what's your plans after graduation?” But I love her, so I forgive her. I always responded with “I'll think about it in April.” I had so many projects and the trip and so much else on my plate that the moment was complicated enough. I could not waste time considering June. Well, April came and so did my sister's question “what are your plans...?”

I've been praying about it, of course, but in more of a general way. So now was the time to sit down and weigh out my options and see what it was that God really wanted me to do. It was time to face the music. So it has finally been decided. I have purchased a one-way ticket to Boise, ID. Not quite sure what I have gotten myself into, but we'll see...

I was telling someone the other day, I'm not an adventurous person by any stretch of the imagination. The only things I am adventurous with are shopping and moving. For some reason, I can't fathom white water rafting or bungee jumping, but picking up and moving to a place I've never been and know approximately four people is a great adventure. I love it. There is so much unknown and if you know anything about me, I typically hate the unknown. This is me being adventurous. Can't call me boring ha. Well, at this particular moment :/

So I'm so excited and I've already started packing because I can't help myself. I can't wait to start over someplace new and meet new people and experience new things. I can't wait to start on some fun ventures with Shay. We have so many things in mind. I can't tell you about them yet, but they are very exciting!

I'm down to 35 days and counting until graduation. I have so much to do, but I'm trying to absorb it all before I go.

Israel: day three and on...

For those of you (mom) who are actually following the progression of my trip, I apologize for the pause in between day two and three. I'll try to summarize the rest of my trip in this blog so I can move on to the new things happening in my life.

On the thirteenth of March, I traveled to the top of Temple Mount. Most people are aware that it is now under Muslim control and the location of the Dome of the Rock. You can be arrested if caught praying at this site in any other fashion other than towards Mecca. You are not allowed to bring any religious paraphernalia such as Bibles and so forth. However, we were a little rebellious. Ryan had the Bible on his iphone. We stood in the place the altar once stood, and prayed. This was once the location of so much blood shed, where people came to sacrifice a lamb for the remission of their sins. It was such an amazing experience, standing there and thinking about the past and realizing just how good we have it. Christ was the ultimate blood sacrifice. That blood shed is no longer needed. We now have been saved by His grace. How sweet it is!

After leaving the Temple Mount, Craig, our guide, took us to an antiquities recovery center. Apparently, several years ago the Muslims decided to do a little remodeling at the top of Temple Mount. They used bulldozers to remove tons of dirt and dumped it into the Kidron valley. Archeologists everywhere were suffering from mild heart attacks. All of that dirt contains centuries of history and they bulldozed it! Anyways, this group fought for the right to sift through this dirt to see what they could discover. They allowed us to come in and learn about what they were doing, but also to do some sifting of our own. They taught us what to look for and how to recognize items of importance and put us to work. Keep in mind that everything has now been greatly disturbed so we were finding things that were centuries old mixed with modern day beer bottle glass. I began having a little mental pity party when everything I “found” turned out to be pavement, normal rock, or modern bath tiles. I was not very good at this stuff, but I kept at it even though it seemed everyone around me was finding some pretty cool stuff. Then all of the sudden!! with my bad vision and all I noticed something!! I cleaned it off and examined it closely. I had found a Byzantine coin. This era of coins can be dated anywhere from year 300 to 1300ish—a thousand year time frame. A little difficult to pinpoint, however, extremely old! They cataloged it with my name and everything. I even received a “junior archeologist” certificate. Ha. My mom would be so proud. This is a picture of my sifting partner and friend, Megan. She was an excellent partner :) I don't have a good picture of the coin since it was so small. Sorry.

We arrived at the Sea of Galilee that night. I didn't actually see the Sea until the next morning, but it was so beautiful and peaceful. We traveled a little more north to the site of ancient Dan. It was in the middle of a beautiful nature trail where the beginnings of the Jordan river were located. Now, since I cannot for the life of me remember what the people of Dan were called, I'm going to go with Danites. We all know that's wrong, but moving on. The Danites chose this location because it meant an easy life. It was beautiful. It was green. It was near water. However, it was far from Jerusalem. Taking a trip to the temple in Jerusalem was too difficult for them so the king created another altar in Dan in order to make life even easier for the Danites. The Jews were not allowed to worship anywhere but the temple, but they easily forgot that. They cared more for comfort and making the people happy instead of doing what God had asked of them. A lot of lessons to be learned from that.

On Tuesday the fifteenth, we visited Capernaum. This was one of my favorite locations. Much of Jesus' ministry was located in Capernaum. We saw the synagogue that was at the center of it all. What was neat about it was the synagogue was rebuilt on top of the original foundation so when I walked through the remains of the synagogue, I was walking on the same foundation that Jesus once stood on. Wow! Craig read the story of Jarius in the New Testament how he needed Jesus to come and heal his daughter. But Jesus stopped on the way to Jarius' house when He felt the lady touch the hem of His garment. Most of you know this story so I won't belabor it. However, it had such new significance to me sitting there in this location. She had such faith in that moment. She didn't need to talk to Him. She didn't even need to touch Him. She knew that if she could only touch something that was touching Him she would be healed. Oh how I struggle in my faith at times. She is such an example to all of us.

We also took a boat out onto the Sea of Galilee and read a passage of Scripture out there. I'm at a loss for words here. It doesn't happen often. I cannot possibly explain how unbelievable it was to be in the center of the Sea of Galilee and see all the locations of so many miracles and so many vital parts to His ministry.

We did so many things, and I'm skipping a lot. It would take so many blogs to tell you all of it so I've just summarized the highlights. The last thing we did before leaving Israel was visit the house of a Bedouin, ok well a former Bedouin, which means desert dweller. He was a friend of Craig's and his wife had made us dinner. They served the best food I have ever had in my life. I asked for the recipe but Craig said they use Islamic spices and if I eat too much I'll convert :( I couldn't get the recipe from him. They served chicken and rice and this soup similar to a chicken noodle. The bread was similar to a pita but grilled with lots of herbs in it. It was unbelievable. I ate so much and wasn't sure if I would be able to clean my plate (I wasn't sure about the customs and if they would be offended or not). Then the man comes out and starts offering seconds. I said no I'm full. Well he didn't listen. He piled my plate FULL of more rice. He did the same for everyone. I lost track of how many times he came back out with more food, but he continued to force feed us until we were rolling around his house.

He told us his story about how he had received Christ a few years ago. His wife and family did not know. He was able to speak openly with us because his wife didn't speak English. In his cultural, if you convert then you die. There was also the possibility of losing his wife and children if they found out. So he was a closet Christian in a Muslim family. It was awesome hearing his testimony and details of his former Bedouin lifestyle. It was a great end to my trip.

Israel: day two

We did so much in Israel. Although I am only telling about one day at a time, these blogs are going to be long. There is just so much to cover.

We started the day off early at the south side of the Mount of Olives near the church at Bethpage. Again, we read through the passage starting in Luke 19:28 that talks about Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem. This is the location we He began his ascent into the city on a colt. 

"And as He rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. And He was drawing near--already on the way down the Mount of Olives--the whole multitude of His disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all His mighty works that they had seen saying, Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" Lk. 19:36-38 ESV

Someone noted at this point (I believe it was Duke, if not I'm sorry), the fact of the unridden colt. In verse 30, Jesus tells some of His disciples to go find a young donkey that had never before been ridden.  Now many point out that Jesus rode into the city on a donkey and not a regal horse like that of a king. However I've never heard any one point out this before...since this donkey had never been ridden, wouldn't you expect it to go a little crazy? or maybe refuse to go at all? Do you think its possible, the donkey was aware of just Who was riding it? Just an interesting point made there on the side of Mount of Olives. 

From there, we headed to the western side of the Mt. of Olives and stopped at a place with an amazing view of the Eastern gate or Golden gate. Jewish tradition states that the Messiah will come through that gate and resurrect the dead. Because of this, the Muslim's have sealed up the gate. Also, the Jewish cemeteries are located on this side of the mount so that they are resurrected first. The entire face of the mount is covered with pale stone boxes. This box is called ossuary, or bone box. They have small stones, referred to as stones of remembrance, placed on them. They are equivalent to our putting flowers at a gravesite.

We walked down the side of the Mount of Olives towards the Kidron Valley and the Eastern gate. Melton always suggests when its raining to wear plastic bags over your socks so that when the cold water seeps into your shoes, your socks stay nice and dry. Since I am such a great listener, this is exactly what I did. However, the rain had long since stopped and I was stuck making this swish-swish sound as I walked down the steep hill. The bags also caused less traction inside my shoe only adding to the difficulty of such a steep incline. I thought my toes were going to pop out of the front of my sneakers.

At the bottom of the mount is the garden of Gethsemane. The olive trees created shade and random alcoves throughout. We sat down in a small group in the corner and read the story of Jesus in the garden from both John 18 and Luke 22. Being in that garden and knowing what had happened there was sobering. To know this was where He prayed to His Father, “not My will, but Yours, be done.”

Our guide, Craig, pointed out that Jesus was showing typical behavior that night and that was why Judas was able to find Him so easily. Judas led six hundred Roman soldiers and officials came through the eastern gate to the garden to take one man, Jesus. Of course He knew exactly what was happening and met them.

This part is like a comical moment within a highly serious time. One of Jesus' disciples picked up a sword and slices of the ear of a soldier. The disciples were obviously not good swordsmen, yet they were willing to try to protect their Savior. Jesus just picks up the ear and replaces it and heals the ear. It's as if He's saying, “boys behave, I've gotta go do what I came to do.”

As we were reading these passages from the Bible, another group was in the background singing the song “Amazing Love.” --I'm forgiven because You were forsaken. I'm accepted, You were condemned. I am alive and well, Your spirit is within me, because You died and rose again. Amazing love, how can it be that You, my King, should die for me? Amazing love, I know it's true. It's my joy to honor You. In all I do, I honor You.

After this we traveled down through the Kidron and back up the other side. It sounds so easy when I say it like that, but it was not. There were moments when I could not figure out for the life of me why anyone would ever want to go up into Jerusalem if it was so difficult. It's still beyond me. We drove to Jericho after that. Jericho, which is now considered Palastine territory, was interesting to get to, going through security checkpoints and so forth. Jerusalem is only 12 miles away from Jericho, but in that distance you go from 3800 ft above sea level to 850 ft. below sea level.We went to the excavation site there where the ancient walls of Jericho are being dug up. There is one area where they've been able to reveal the remains of the walls that had fallen so long ago. This story takes place in Joshua 6:1-27 when the Israelites walked circles around it for seven days. The seventh day, they shouted and the walls tumbled down. The entire city was destroyed except for the home of Rahab the harlot, who was used by God to aid the Israelites. She was later used again in such a major way...she was the mother of Boaz, who was the great grandfather of King David...and Jesus later comes from the line of David! Talk about lucky girl!

From Jericho, we went to the Dead Sea. I know I keep talking about sea levels, but hey it was interesting to me. The Dead Sea is the lowest elevation on the earth's surface on dry land, and I “swam” in it! Such a weird experience. I was expecting sand beneath my feet, but it was a slippery black mud. I thought I was going to slip and then end up splashing which would result in getting this salty water into someone's eyes, so I sat down. 

It felt like I was sitting on a raft or one of those fun noodles people have in their pools. I kept wanting to swim but its not possible. I couldn't get my feet down. Every time I attempted it, I would just spin over, my feet still up. I felt like a turtle that was turned over at that point. It was so ridiculous, but yet so much fun. The mud is known for its minerals and so we were all covering ourselves with it. Can't get a better mud mask for sure. 

After the Dead Sea, we headed past Jerusalem to the Sorek Valley. This is the location of Samson and Delilah. This can be found in Judges 13-16, which we read parts of while overlooking the area. It was so amazing to see where Samson was from and how far he had traveled to find his women and trouble in the Philistine camp.

A little further up the road we were driving up this abandoned dirt road. When we parked, I thought we were there, but apparently we still had a little hike to make. Oh, I literally thought I was going to die! I could not hear anything but my own heartbeat and breathing! I know I'm being dramatic, but it really was a traumatic moment for me. I collapsed onto a stone bench not even taking in my surroundings for the moment. When I finally did, I saw a beautiful overlook of another valley surrounded by multiple hills. It was explained to me that behind one hill was where the Philistine army took up camp. One of the other hills was where the Israelites took up camp. Then in the middle was the valley where Goliath stood and mocked the God of the Israelites. A young boy by the name of David decided if no one else was going to defend the name of God, then it was up to him. He went to a little creek in the valley and gathered some stones. With his sling shot, he threw a stone that sunk into Goliath's forehead. He killed the giant, allowing the Israelites the opportunity to conquer the Philistines that day. Craig took us down to the creek to get our own stones. I won't show you a picture of the creek because you would be disappointed. It was pretty much dried up at the time, so it resembled more of a large, muddy puddle.

That was the end of another long day filled with so many memories and moments that will forever change how I read the Bible!

Israel: day one

We flew from Venice to Riga, Latvia then from there to Tel Aviv. By the time we went through customs and so forth and drove to Jerusalem it was already two in the morning. I faintly remember getting into the vehicle Melton referred to as a refrigerator on wheels because of its rectangular shape.

I also hazily remember Melton talking about  traveling UP to Jerusalem. When the Bible mentions traveling up to Jerusalem it isn't referring to heading north. No matter which direction you are coming from you are always heading up to Jerusalem because of its height above sea level. The old city of Jerusalem is 3800 ft above sea level and the rest of Jerusalem ranges but averages around 2500 ft above sea level.

I stumbled my way into the hotel and fell onto my bed, most likely asleep before actually hitting it. The next morning, I awoke and took in my surroundings. I was sharing a room with Jess and Jill. There was only one large bed and a small mattress on the floor. I had opted for the floor so my vantage point from the floor was a bit unusual at first. I clambered up, stiff from the long hours on a plane combined with the "mattress" I had slept on. There was one large window that took up the length of one wall and two glass doors, one on either side of the room leading out to two separate balconies. Gossamer-like curtains similar to the color of autumn leaves hung from ceiling to floor on all sides of the room. I walked over to the largest set and pulled them aside to see what hid behind them. Now, I always have had the ability to get the room with the worst possible view. Its usually a dumpster or a wall or someone else's room. However, this time God gave me the best view possible. Behind the curtains was a large window seat about the size of my "mattress". That either means the seat was large or my mattress was small. Take your pick. I digress...So here is my first real view of Israel. The old city of Jerusalem lay before me. My window faced Mt. Zion and all of its beauty. I wish my pictures could do it justice.

Our guides were kind enough to let us sleep in a little before tackling the day. The breakfast was so unique. Apparently a salad for breakfast is typical. They had a full salad bar, with fruit, an array of cheeses, and bread. I did find a hard boiled egg and had some fruit and cheese for breakfast. They had a orange juice machine that our group quickly became fascinated with. You stuck a whole orange in it and it proceeded to peel and squeeze it for you before distributing a fresh glass of juice for you. We probably emptied at least five whole trees worth of oranges before we left that hotel.

When I said "tackle the day", I truly meant it. Our guide was intense and since we only had five days, we were not to waste a moment. After breakfast, we walked down through the Valley of Hinnom and back up the side of Mt. Zion. [Can I just say, at this point I was already a little winded. It was quite the hike and we hadn't even reached our first location.]We walked through a slightly wooded, untraveled area where I could see broken shards of old pottery scattered amongst the dirt and rocks. Our first stop was the Upper Room. This was the site the Crusaders claimed the Last Supper took place. It really is impossible to know exactly, but it was an upper room in a believable location just outside the walls of the old city. The Crusader's had done a little redecorating then Muslims had added their own touch with a little nook in the wall pointing towards Mecca. We sat in that room surrounded by tourists viewing the area just as we were. We huddled close and read John 13:8-14, the passage where Jesus washes the feet of His disciples in the Upper Room.

"Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet." Jn. 13:13-14 KJV


We then walked towards the walls outside the old city. From this point, I got my first view of the Mt. of Olives. Craig, our guide also pointed out Mt. of Offense where the high places and altars were located and the Hill of Evil Counsel. I can't remember which gate we actually entered the city through, but it was interesting to see the holes above the gate where they would pour hot oil upon enemies who got too close. You could also see the evidence of bullets from the last attack on Jerusalem.

We went into the area where they are excavating around the Temple Mount. The Western wall, or the wailing wall, is a sacred site for Judaism and used for prayer, but only so much of it is actually used. The rest of it is part of the excavation site. I was able to see and touch both sections. At the base of the wall, was a road. Archaeologists had moved some of the large stones so the damage underneath could be seen but then they left many of the others. What I was seeing was remnants of the destruction of the Temple which happened around 70 AD, a fulfilled prophecy. You could see the places where market stalls used to be lined up. Jesus would have walked on these very stones at one point.

You could see the massive size of the Herodian stones. These are the stones that Herod used for the retaining wall when he built the second Temple. Then you could see where they ended and where new stones had been placed to repair the wall. You could see the genius in its construction. As Craig pointed out to us, if you stood at the corner you could see that each stone that was placed on top of another was place in one inch so the wall gradually tapered in so as to best function as a retaining wall and not collapse. When I talk about massive stones, I'm far from talking about pebbles. Some of these brick shaped stones weighed well over 100 tons each, yet they were perfectly shaped and stacked.

We sat there in this location and read Luke 19:41-44, the end of Jesus' triumphant entry. It's the repeating of the prophecy given in Daniel 9:24-27.

"But as He came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, He began to weep. How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not accept your opportunity for salvation." Luke 19:41:44 NLT


Part of the excavation was closed off so we were only able to see the steps where the Jews ascended into the Temple. This was where the Jews quoted the Psalms of Ascent as the took each step (Psalms 120-134). It was a powerful view of their preparation for entering the Temple. They would sing the Psalms and meditate or dwell on them as they entered. This, as you imagine, took some time. They made sure before they entered the Temple that they were prepared to worship. A stark contrast to my puny preparations on Sunday morning, if I even remember prepare at all to come before Him.

We did walk along the Via Dolorosa, but our guide pointed out many reasons why he believed this was not actually the road Jesus would have walked to the cross. One of the reasons being, the Via Dolorosa begins at the fortress. Pilate would not have stayed in the fortress. He would have been a guest at the palace or he would have been at the citadel, not the fortress for the Roman guards. He showed us the rest of the traditional "holy sites" along the Via Dolorosa, but many of them are just places that churches have claimed are the exact locations. There really is no way of knowing many exact locations. It was a great tour of the old city though.

We were able to visit the pools of Bethesda mentioned in John 5 and the story of the healing of the lame man. This man had been sick for thirty-eight years. The pools were said to be healing pools and the first one in when it bubbled up was healed. However, he was lame and could not get in first. He sat there for years waiting to be able to get in first only to have someone else beat him to it. When Jesus came to him, He didn't put him in the water, but instead said "Get up and walk." Which is exactly what he did.

We eventually made our way down to the garden tomb. This was a really neat experience. It is run by a British non-profit organization. We had this small, English man lead us through. He showed us the cliff face that resembles a skull and the possible location of Golgotha which means place of the skull. There was also a 1st century tomb found in the same location. However, the man said "We cannot know for certain if this is the actual location." It is outside the walls of Jerusalem and a logical location, but I loved what he said about it. "Does it really matter? He isn't here! He arose from the grave!"

I still get choked up thinking about how awesome of an experience to see the empty tomb and be reminded of all He did for me. It doesn't really matter if we ever find the exact location. It doesn't matter which hill He died on, what matters is that He did die. He died for my sins as well as yours. He died for the sins of our ancestors and for the future generations. He died so that our sins could be wiped away, so that we could be made new creations in Christ.

"...though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.." Isaiah 1:18 KJV


He died, but then three days later He conquered death. He arose from the dead. He has victory over death and over ours sins. What an amazing thing!

That was only day one of my trip to Israel...