The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Matthew 28:5‭-‬6 NASB http://bible.com/100/mat.28.5-6.NASB He is not here. On this statement the crux the Christian faith stands. We serve, obey, worship, follow, a living God who died for our sins and rose again from the dead in victory. The victory is complete, the debt we owe is paid for. Through His sacrifice on the cross, we can find forgiveness in Him, which is necessary, but it’s His…

Do you want to get well? This is such an odd question to ask someone. Typically most people want to feel well and to get better if they have something that ails them. Yet Jesus asks this very question in John chapter 5. There we find the story of the man sitting by the pool of Bethesda. He has been there for 38 years waiting for an angel to store the waters so that he can be the first one in and be healed. Jesus finds him there and ask him, do you want to get well? Here is the actual site of the pool in Jerusalem. We know this…

In Genesis 21, we see an amazing peace treaty. Abraham and Abimelech agreed to have peace when Abraham gave 7 lambs to Abimelech in exchange for the right to claim a well as his property. This was a great step toward peace in this land in those days. The offer was accepted and they had peace. This is the site that tradition holds is the well that Abraham dug. God sent Jesus to be the sacrificial lamb for us. With our sin, we are at war with God. Through Jesus Christ we have a way to be made right and at peace with God. The question becomes whether we will…

What do we think of God’s Word? Do we treat and respect it as being a message to us from God? The Bible says: All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16‭-‬17 NASB http://bible.com/100/2ti.3.16-17.NASB Here is Qumran, the site where the Bedouin shepherds found scriptures hidden in caves, the earliest known portions of scriptures that we have. They found hundreds and hundreds of the scrolls and portions of scrolls hidden in caves here. At the time, they only saw the scrolls as a…

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:16 NASB http://bible.com/100/mat.16.16.NASB Tradition holds that Peter made this statement somewhere near this site, the Springs of Banaius. This is one of the springs that feeds into the Jordan river in northern Israel. This verse has come to be called Peter’s great confession of faith. Peter declares who Christ is to Him. Jesus had asked them what others were thinking about Him and saying about Him. We can be the same, focusing on what others are saying or thinking, but in the end, it really only matters what we think about Jesus. Do we believe what…

We’re going to take a quick break from Proverbs for the next several days as I am currently traveling in Israel. I wanted to use this time as a chance to share with you based on where I am in this beautiful country. Jesus himself spent 33 years as a man walking in this wonderful country as He sought to teach us about what it means to be God’s Messiah and the sacrifice for the sin of the world. This evening as I was standing on the beach of the Mediterranean Sea, even though it was dark already, I could hear the waves rolling in, over and over again. I…