Jumping Right In!

I have had a friend tell me over and over that I need to blog so I can share all the things that I talk about with her. My friend seems to think others need to know all the spiritual rantings and epiphanies I seem to keep telling her!

So I threw away the old posts since I've never done anything with this blog to this point and here I am trying to decide what to write about today.

When one goes swimming you know it's always better to either jump into the pool (or gulf or lake) instead of inching into it. Nothing to be timid about, just jump.

So instead of trying to tell you where I come from or what my views are or easing in with interesting safe little tidbits of info, I'm going to jump right in with what I am focusing on right now in my life.

Israel. God's chosen people. (See I told you I'm going to jump right in!)

Israel is all in the news right now. Oh... wait... no... that's right, they aren't.  The big news stations aren't talking about Israel, aren't telling about what's going on in Israel. Aren't giving the truth about Israel. They are talking about the enemy of Israel, who is trying to annihilate Israel from the planet, lifting up Israel's enemy (Hamas) as the good guy and Israel as the bad guy.
Also they aren't talking about the even bigger problem of ISIS or ISIL succeeding right now in taking over Syria and Iraq which is one of the biggest or the biggest contributor of oil for the world.

Israel lies in a little piece of land in the Middle East. The Gaza strip (which is smaller) has been in the hands of the Palestinians. There has always been in Gaza someone or a group of someones who have wanted Israel done away with, the Jewish people done away with. Over the years the enemy ALWAYS starts the problems. Israel is ALWAYS on the defensive. (Sounds like our lives as Christ-followers, huh!? An enemy attacking us when all we want is peace in our lives...)

So why am I so involved with and up in arms about Israel? If you follow me on FaceBook you see my status updates and lately they have been all about Israel (or our leadership's lack of support for Israel).
Why does it matter, you ask?  I'll be glad to tell you because as a Christ-follower you NEED to know and understand.

Simply put: 
     There is a curse upon those who curse Israel and there is a blessing upon those who bless Israel.
That's the "bottom line" (as our pastor calls it). 
Another bottom line is this: 
     If it wasn't for the Jewish people and the nation of Israel, you wouldn't be able to be a          Christ-follower. 

First bottom line:

Genesis 12 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.  2  I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.  3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 

God doesn't take back His promises. If He says way back in the day He will make Israel a blessing to others, He means it, whether it's happened yet or not.  And if He says He will curse those who curse Israel, He means it. It has happened down through the ages. Israel's enemies have always been dealt with one way or another. Today's relationships with Israel will be no exception.

As a nation, the United States has always had a president that knew the importance of siding with Israel. Whether they were all devote Christians or not, they didn't mock God and dismiss the warning.  Billy Graham had been instrumental to have many many many president's ears and minds to keep them understanding the relationship the US needed to have with Israel. (I always wondered what was going to happen when he was no longer able to be God's voice of reason. And we are seeing the fruit of that happening now.)

Right now our leadership (and I say that lightly and I say this sadly) is not supporting or backing Israel. 

How does that make you feel?  It scares me to a large degree. It makes me angry also. And it makes me wonder just how does God view the United States of America? Is He only going to look at us as a unit and what our leaders decide He will allow all of us to suffer those consequences? Will even the true Christ-followers and those who love and pray for Israel be cursed along with our leadership and those who follow our leadership?

Or will God hear the cries of His true church here in the US and because there are so many of us that DO support and back Israel He will bless us and maybe even continue to bless our nation because of our prayers and faithfulness. Will He maybe not hold the sins of some against the whole?  It doesn't hurt to pray and seek and diligently make our petitions known and accept the sins of the whole and ask for His forgiveness.

This is just one of the reasons we as Christ-followers need to know and understand how God feels about Israel and what our stance with Israel should be today.

I pray for Israel. I pray blessings upon Israel. I pray God will defend her (as He has been doing so far) and God will destroy her enemies (as He has been doing so far). I pray the Jewish people will see visions of their Messiah Jesus and that He has come and is their true Messiah and turn to Him in salvation. I pray God will divert the enemies missiles (as He has been doing) and I pray God will bring chaos and confusion to the enemy so they turn on each other and kill each other (as some of the missiles have done). I pray God will send Jesus to receive His bride - the church - soon so we can forever be with the Lord and see Him face to face.

We need to be praying in one accord as Christ-followers for there is power in prayer and power in unity. 

So I think this is enough for today. The second bottom line I will talk about tomorrow. 

Until He comes...