MOVING FORWARD - pastor mike landry

            Can you imagine having your devotional time sitting on a trail in Israel that you know Jesus walked on numerous occasions with His disciples?  Well that’s what we did this morning.  We started the day by taking the group to the Valley of Doves.  This is the path that Jesus had to have taken each time He walked from Capernaum to Nazareth and Cana.  It was an amazing time for all of us as we took about 30 minutes alone on the path to simply seek God and listen to what He wanted to say to us.

            Next we boarded the bus to Caesarea Philippi.  This happens to be the place where Jesus commended Peter for His answer that He was the Christ when asked, “Who do you think I am?”  It’s also the place where the “Gates of Hades” is located.  Jesus used this occasion to teach the disciples that He was greater than any of the false gods that the Romans and other residents were trusting in.  The “Gates of Hades” were said to be worthless and powerless when dealing with the power of the Gospel.  (check out Matthew 16 for more).

           Then we went to Dan where the children of Israel offered sacrifices at the High Place in disobedience to God.  The ruins are fantastic and so well preserved.  We were overwhelmed by the seriousness of worshipping God in the way He prescribes…not the way we want to or feel like doing.

            Lunch was in a restaurant overlooking the Sea of Galilee.  The food was again delicious.  Most people ordered “St Peter’s Fish” as their entry.  I’m sure it was a relative of the fish that Peter used to fish for back in his day.

            After lunch I was able to baptize 9 people in the Jordan River. What a great time that was.  It was the first time for one of our crew to be baptized while 8 others wanted to use this opportunity to rededicate their lives to living for the King of Kings.

            And that’s not all.  Next we hopped on board a small boat and took off toward the center of the Sea of Galilee.  The skies were so clear that we were able to see the coastline all around the Sea.  This proved to be another spectacular experience.  It was hard to believe that we were sailing on the sea that Jesus, and Peter walked on.  We were trying to get our minds around the truth that Jesus was able to still the waters and stop the wind.  We serve an amazing God.  Dr. Rick Shepherd, from the Florida Baptist Convention, capped off our time on the boat with a message from God’s Word about the nature and power of Jesus Christ demonstrated by His actions on the water.

            Our folks have now eaten dinner and have collapsed in bed.  It was a great day but tomorrow looks to be even better.  Tomorrow we visit the Mount of Beatitudes, Tabgha, Capernaum, Beth Shan, and head for Jerusalem.  Talk to you again tomorrow.  Please keep praying for us.