This is a picture of the Jordan River. Not much to look at, but understand that all of the water for this end of the Jordan comes from the Sea of Galilee, which is the main source of drinking water both the Israelis and the Jordanians.
It’s also a picture of defeat and victory. A few thousand years ago, 12 men crossed into Canaan at this point to do some recon work for the Israeli leadership. Ten of these men lacked the faith in God and His promises to conquer this land and experience an unimaginable life. These ten men caused an entire nation to wander in the desert in defeat.
Fast forward 40 years. A group of men, priests, carried the Ark, stepped into the Jordan based upon God’s promises and saw God become very real to them. God caused the River to stop a few miles up stream allowing the entire nation this time to walk into Canaan – same place, different result.
We’ve all experienced defeat. We don’t have to define ourselves, however, by those defeats. Jesus came to snatch victory out of defeat. All He is asking us to do is to trust in Him and His promises – the truths at the point of the lies – and then walk with Him as we put those truths into action.
He is asking you to do exactly the same thing He asked the priests to do – step into the water and let Him do the rest. Using our biblical tools we can defeat our past defeats to experience an unimaginable life today.
Set “Free” Nowww

This is the view from what today is called Korsi. In Jesus’ day it was known as “the region of the Gardarenes.” This picture is taken from discovered tombs that were also found in the only area on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee big enough to graze a huge herd of pigs. Coincidence, huh?
Jesus left His “safe” base of operations in Capernaum and sailed across a huge lake to come deal with a very dangerous and lethal situation head-on – a couple of demon possessed guys, one of whom was chained hand and foot and kept under guard. Someone wanted to keep this guy from putting a serious hurt on others.
He could’ve let fear keep Him far far away from this guy. Yet, He went face to face with this very dangerous man and defeated the demons so the man could sit at Jesus’ feet, fully clothed and in his right mind. Jesus brought victory by dealing with the situation head on.
If we want to sit calmly at Jesus’ feet throughout each day, we too must deal with our sin, our challenges, our drugs of choice head on. We have nothing to fear because we’re sitting in the lap of our King (Eph. 2:6). Victory is ours by running towards the battle, not away from it.
If the Spirit is asking for an area of your life, now is the time to deal with it. Trust Him by using your biblical tools to let Him remove whatever it is that’s blocking you from experiencing more of Jesus. Peace comes not through surrender to our enemy, but by facing him head on and defeating him through the power of Jesus.
Set Free No“W”ww

This replica altar is at Tell Dan in the northern part of Israel. It was put here by King Jeroboam. God made him king over the northern 10 tribes of Israel after the civil war split the country in two. Out of his insecurity and lack of trust in his God, he sets up two idols, golden calves, one in the south at Bethel and one in the north here at Dan.
He was making it “easier” on his people. All Israelite males were to go to Jerusalem three times a year to worship God. He was afraid his subjects might never come back or might not want him as king upon returning home. What’s interesting about his thinking is that God made him king because of his predecessor’s, King Solomon, idolatry.
I guess King Jeroboam skipped that lesson in history class. God was none to pleased when Solomon did it, when the Israelites did it the first time and He wasn’t too pleased now.
We are to learn from our mistakes (i.e. fail forward) not repeat them. Taking our drugs of choice didn’t satisfy us the first time we took them. They will not satisfy us any time afterwards either as they were never designed to do so in the first place. Only living God’s way was. Our drugs of choice are the easy way to handle life, but they are never the best or satisfying way.
You are Secure as a child of God. You’ve been given Christ’s nature and the Spirit’s power to travel the tougher road to freedom, which brings peace and joy along with it. Don’t settle for the cheap imitations or the easy road. Keep listening to and doing what Jesus says, no matter how tough, and you’ll stay close to Him where the good stuff in life is found.
“S”et Free Nowww

Today we visited the Golan Heights, where we had a gorgeous view of the tallest mountain in Israel, Mt. Hermon. Yes, that’s snow you’re seeing. And yes there’s skiing in Israel.
When the snow melts on Hermon, it trickles down into three streams that flow into and make up the Jordan River. This river flows into the Sea of Galilee, which is the major source of drinking water for Israelis and Jordanians alike. After leaving here, the Jordan River picks up again where it empties into the Dead Sea. It’s called the Dead Sea because you can’t drink the water and it’s pretty much devoid of life. The reason for this is that the Dead Sea has no outlet; thus it becomes extremely salty.
Healthy children of God not only Entertain the truth, but they Exercise the truth by faith as well. If we want to become more like Jesus, we need the truth by which we can filter out the lies that already exist in our brains and to keep out the lies that want to get in. We must store up truth like the water in the Sea of Galilee. It can’t stop there though. We must exercise or practice those truths in our everyday lives. If not, we become like the Dead Sea. Lots of knowledge/water that’s totally unusable.
Your life will become stagnate if you don’t practice the truths you’ve been storing in your head. We need both input and output in order to get closer Jesus.
S“E”t Fre“E” Nowww

Why did God choose to put His name on a specific piece of real estate called the land Israel? We learned one reason today during our visit to the ancient city Megiddo. Megiddo was one of three cities that controlled the world’s trade routes that ran through Israel. An example of this is seen in the story of Joseph (Gen. 37) when his brothers sold him to a group of Midianite traders who eventually sold him in Egypt.
At that time in history, Israel was the only monotheistic nation on the planet. So when traders on their way home from around the globe would pass through Israel, they would hear about the one true God. God picked this spot to spread the word about Himself. When the Israelites were asked why they worshipped only one God or didn’t eat certain foods, they weren’t supposed to say, “Because we’re Jewish.” They were supposed to say, “We love and trust our God for all that He has done for and in us.” They were a nation of slaves. Their God freed them from slavery by destroying Egypt, the world superpower at the time.
This was why Israel’s idolatry was so devastating. When they worshipped idols, they not only hurt themselves, but they also gave the world the wrong image of God. As merchants would travel through Israel, they could feel right at home. They could worship their gods and keep right on going without ever coming into contact with the One True God. He was just one of an entire smorgasbord of gods.
As children of God, we don’t do what we do because it is the Christian thing to do. We do what we do because we love and trust Jesus, the One who set us free from slavery. We pick up our biblical tools through His power to stay free our idols (i.e. drugs of choice). As we love and trust Jesus in all that we think, say and do throughout our day people will not see their god in us, but Jesus. Who would rather have people see?