Here in Your presence

"You are the reason I breathe,
You are the one that I'm living for,
Jesus my Savior and friend,
I'm giving all I am,
to follow you."

The words to the song "You Are" I've sang over and over, but singing it today at Caesarea Philippi it brought a new sense of meaning to me.

In Matthew 16:13 Jesus was at Caesarea Philippi and asked His disciples "who do men say I am?"...I've thought about that a lot today. Not who men say, but who do I say He is. My wife posted a quote by Tozer the other day on her facebook. It said; "what comes to your mind about God (Jesus), is the most important thing about YOU." I lead worship week in and week out, and I sing a lot of songs that proclaim who He is. But most of the time (unless I'm singing a song I wrote) I'm proclaiming who other's say Jesus is and I started thinking about this yesterday. Off the platform and even by myself, who do I say Jesus is by the way I live my life? Do I grumble about the obscene amount of money I owe to the federal gov't, or calmly do I trust that he is Jehovah Jirah, my provider? Do I get frustrated at illness and pain, or hold on to the hope of my healer? Sadly what my life responses say are not who I think Jesus is in my life, but mostly it just shows that I'm human and I need His grace each day.

Today we visited Tel Dan and I was amazed at how much beauty and lush vegetation surrounds this beautiful gushing spring. Even more impressive is the powerful river that flows out of it would rival any river in CO. Tel Dan also is home to many other biblical stories including golden calf worship lead by king of Israel Jeraboam. Also we saw a city gate that dates back 3800 years ago to the time of Abraham. In that gate is an archway over the door. So did the Romans invent the arch?...probably not.

Tel Dan is located in the northern most parts of Israel. We stood in several places today where we could see into the backyards of the unfriendly neighbors Lebanon and Syria. Scars of rusty tanks, mine fields and structures for precaution are constant reminders that there is no peace between the nations anytime soon in the future. It's funny when I've thought about Israel in the past I think of it as a peaceful Holy land filled with people who love and worship our God. This simply isn't the case. Christians aren't even a large percentage of this country. Arab and Jews are the main groups within the country. It amazes me to see people who live where the bible took place not believe in Jesus Christ. The presence of armed soldiers and the UN makes me appreciate the freedom we have so much more.

After the brief tour through that area we ended at my favorite stop so far, Caperum. Not only where Jesus taught, but his main ministry area. Most healing and teachings took place there. As I consider the healing I've prayed for, over and over, for Tracy in the past year I couldn't help but be emotional walking that same ground where the paralyzed walked, and sick were healed. So powerful.

All these places are so amazing, but I'd love to spend more time in these places...30 minutes a stop is to short.

Awed and inspired,

Justin