As we arrived at the Hotel, I met my room mate Nomubele from South Africa and pledges from Africa, USA, Brazil and Europe whom I had been speaking to via email and skype prior to this trip. I was very excited to finally meet them.
Something our guide Renait reinforced to us that caught my attention. None of us were in Israel by mistake. God had brought us all here to teach us many things. Knowing I was in the Holy Land because God had chosen me to go was a comfort for me as prior to the trip I had a battle against doubts about my worth and deserving to be there. In the evening as I was reading my Bible I came across this verse that was the icing of the cake for me, "I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead. Galatians 1:1.
In the afternoon after lunch and on our way to the Kibutz we visited Mount Carmel. It was here that Elijah challenged the 450 prophets of baal to call upon their god to send fire from heaven and consume their sacrifice. I learned something that really caught my attention.
Before Elijah sacrificed on Mount Carmel, he had to repair the altar for it was in ruins. We must do the same. We must repair whatever is broken in our lives, whether it is a broken relationship with a relative, family member, friend,person of authority or even in our relationship with God before we can offer to God any kind of sacrifice. The sacrifice is not only campaigns of faith but the daily sacrifices we are required to make against our will. Many times, we do not see the benefits of our sacrifices and the actions we take because there are things that need to be repaired first.
When meditating on this, I thought of the passage"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,eave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift". Matthew 5:23
Mount Carmel
I love this, especially the first part where you said you went through doubts about your worth but you realized that you were not chosen by people, you were chosen by God. I had been facing doubts lately about something and after meditating on the passage you quoted, I too realized that I was chosen by God to do what I was called to do so why should I doubt anymore? I can't wait to read the next part xxx
ReplyDeleteTotally agree....So happy to have met all of you in person after much emailing and skyping.. I will be doing the same thing (Blogging) we have so much to tell that we can summarize it all in one conversation, writing is so much better so other people can follow.
ReplyDeleteHonored to be here in your pics.
Hugs and Kisses