A Day in the Life (Some Comical Relief)

I tend to get myself into situations that are very… unique.

I have found along the way that the Lord is very creative and has a sense of humor.  He to laugh with you. This was a lesson that I learned just the other day.

In Israel, there are many places where you can go and sit on the roofs of buildings and overlook the city. It’s a really beautiful sight, and great for alone time if you can find a secure spot. I went to one of those spots nearby the other day, just in the need of some alone time with the Lord. It’s on-top of a study center nearby where we stay. I had a great quiet time, alone with the Lord. Reading my Bible, listening to some worship music, and enjoying that sweet time with Him. Little did I know, I was really alone.

Because apparently the whole time I had been there they weren’t even open.

When I had first gotten there, there wasn’t anyone around but the door had been open so I went in like normal. Come to find out later someone had just come in the morning and taken out the trash, leaving the door open. I just happened to arrive there at the time when the door was open. A couple pushes and pulls on the door had confirmed that I was indeed locked inside. I stood staring at the door for a few minutes, just thinking to myself how I even managed to get into such a situation.

So, there I was stuck and locked inside the study center… very much alone. After standing there for a few minutes I simply shrugged my shoulders, laughed and said, “Alright Lord, now what?” I walked around the building for close to 30 to 45 minutes, running through all the different ways I could get out. The windows all have bars on them, so that’s not an option. The door had to be opened with a key to get out, so also not an option. I don’t have a cell phone plan so I couldn’t call anyone. I was able to connect to internet and search Facebook but no one that could help me was online. I finally came to the conclusion that if nothing happened or no one came by in another fifteen minutes I would just send out a Facebook message for help. I made the decision that if worst came to worst I could always pull the fire alarm. Thankfully, before the fifteen minutes was up I looked out the window to see a friend of mine standing outside talking to the owner of the study center. I started banging on the window trying to get their attention but they didn’t hear me. So I ran up to roof, stood on the edge, leaned over and yelled.

That got their attention. The look on their faces was priceless.

The owner came and let me out, and told me that there is a pipe on the back of the building that I could use to climb down… for next time. After my rescue, I couldn’t help but laugh. Honestly, I don’t even know how something like that even happens.

At least I got to have a good laugh with the Lord that day, as well as the others I shared the story with.

After telling this to my mom, she laughed and said to me “adventure just has a way of following you doesn’t it?” It’s true, for it really didn’t even surprise me when it happened.  I have this picture of the Lord, looking down on me with amusement on His face always holding in the perimeters of His guiding hands. But bouncing back and forth between them like a ping pong ball. His hands are always there, shielding me. Sometimes they are there to give a little more direction. Sometimes they give me a little push to get going, or create a blockade so I don’t go further then I should. Sometimes they give me a gentle shove to my knees, to humble me. Sometimes they are there to simply scoop me up and hold me close. Nevertheless, they are always there.  I like to hope that maybe I can make the Lord smile and laugh sometimes too. I like to think of the Lord looking down at me with an amused smile, and soft chuckle with an “Oh, Danae what are you going to get yourself into today?” question. Watching as I bounce around in His guiding hands.

Big or small, it seems that every day there is something new He wants to do. He wants to reveal more of Himself to you, He wants to continue to break down chains and walls in your life, He wants to use you to show Himself to other people. He wants to answer your prayers in creative and powerful ways. He wants you to laugh and enjoy the life and freedom He has given you. It may not even be that there huge lesson for you, but simply wants to spend time with you… and to laugh with you.  He is jealous for time with you.

All I can say is that walking with Jesus everyday truly is an adventure.

“This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118: 23&24

The locked door

Humble Love

I have been blessed to grow up in a strong Christian home. I don’t know a life without Jesus. I look at this an immense blessing. I am forever thankful that both my parents love the Lord and love to serve Him. Even so, I realize how little I really know, being here in Israel. Growing up in the church, going to Sunday school every Sunday, I have heard Bible story after Bible story. Unfortunately, I realize there is the danger in taking that for granted. The Lord has been really working in my heart over the last few weeks. He is so patient with me and my stubborn, prideful heart. 

I realized that I had lost sight of the simplest, most important of lessons: Jesus Loves Me.

If you know me at all, you may know that I am very hard on myself and that I can be very self-condemning. I put very little value on myself and have battled a feeling of worthlessness. When this can appear like its humility, it’s not (C.S. Lewis defined humility as “not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less”). What it does is create a barrier between me and the Lord, for it denies all that He has done for me through His death on the cross. It’s taken a process of the Lord patiently guiding me through scriptures, and placing people in my life to speak words of wisdom for Him to reveal this to me.

This whole process started with a text message from my dad (man how thankful I am for him!), and verse in Titus 2:11-12 that begins: “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce un-godliness…” The key point here that my dad wisely pointed out to me, was to look at God’s grace as our teacher. His reminder to me was that life walking with Jesus is all about grace. To quote my dad: “God’s grace, His unmerited favor, teaches us life’s biggest lessons and touches us in the deepest recesses of our hearts.” I see now that this was what the Lord was trying to tell me, though it took a few times of me saying, “say that again God?” for me to get it.

We are here studying the life of Christ and in one of our sessions we got to the scripture in Matthew 11: 28-30 stating: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” I’m a runner, and a burden carrier. I often run myself into the ground trying to do a million things at one time, and often carry the burdens of other people on my own shoulders on top of my own. So the term rest, is a new concept for me. It sounds so nice to be able to rest. That’s what I always thought when I read this passage, what it’s like to truly rest. Okay, so the Lord is calling me to enter into His rest. Sounds nice right? But, I was stuck at HOW. I begin to go over and over in my head and my heart of what I needed to do so that I could enter into that rest.

Here’s the kicker: Hebrews 4:16, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

What the Lord desires for us is to come to Him (Hebrews 7:24-28), to His throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16), that grace would guide us (Titus 2:11-12), not to rob ourselves of what He has for us (Matthew 21:12-13), to enter into the rest that He desires for us (Hebrews 4:11), to lay our burdens down at His feet (Matthew 11:28-30), and to quiet our souls before Him (Psalm 131).

Jesus has filled the gap between us and God. We can come to Him as we are. We can come to His throne of grace, lay down our burdens at His feet, and REST in Him. I finally realized that I didn’t need to do anything. I simply needed to come. For that is how great His love is for us. Jesus went willingly to the cross, to death, because He loves us. Even if you don’t love Him, He still loves you. John 17 is what I think to be the most powerful portion of scripture in the Bible. It has brought me to tears, and humbled me realizing how much the Lord loves me. John 17 is called the “The High Priestly Prayer,” for it is the prayer that Jesus prays right before His arrest and crucifixion. Guess who for? For you, and for me. I pray that when you read over this scripture that you insert your own name into it, reading it in a way that Jesus is talking about you. Because He is.

 Let the Lord tell you how much He loves you.

John 17

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,

since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.

And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

"I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.

Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.

For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.

I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.

All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.

And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

"I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,

that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,

I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me.

I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them."  (ESV)

It’s a humbling experience to be loved by God. This is what I have come to realize over the last few days. Letting all else aside, and coming the His throne of grace requires you to get on your knees. And when you are there, let the Lord pour His love out on you. He will draw near to you when you draw near to Him. He has so many great and marvelous things to show you. You simply need to be willing to come to Him.

Today, we had the opportunity to spend the morning at the Garden Tomb for a sunrise Easter service. What a once and a life time experience. I am so thankful to be here. What a blessing to sit there, and to bask in the love of the Lord and to rest in His grace. 

At the Garden Tomb

The Empty Tomb

Provision and Blessings!

I’m only on my first 48 hours of being in Jerusalem and I already feel as if I am blog posts behind. There is just so much to tell!

I am so thankful to be here right now. My travels went smoothly, my health is good, and my heart is at peace/excitement. I know that this has much to be with all the prayers being poured out! It continues to amaze me how the Lord not only provides for my needs but pours out blessings as well. The support and prayers from friends, family, and my church has been overwhelming. Each prayer, generous gift, and encouraging word is so very much appreciated. I see each as not only a blessing but also confirmation that that being here in Jerusalem is exactly what the Lord wants. My heart is literally exploding from all the support and love. I am truly grateful for the Lord’s provision on this journey and the many people He has used to do so. The day before leaving, I was asking the Lord for some extra money to take care of some things. Literally, as I was getting ready I was talking with the Lord about it and walked out into our living room to my mom saying that someone had left a note for me. The note was from a sweet lady and her family (that I had never met before) with some encouraging words and promise to pray… as well as some money. I had been asking the Lord for a small, specific amount of money and the note had about twice as much. This brought tears to my eyes, the Lord was providing and blessing me all in one. He truly can do, like it says in the book of Ephesians, “far more abundantly than all that we ask or think!”

Already, my feet are sore from walking about both the old and new parts of Jerusalem.  I have seen already the Western Wall (aka Wailing Wall), and the Mount of Olives. How crazy is that. In some ways it still feels like a dream (that also may be due to the effects of jetlag), and the full impact of it all hasn’t fully hit me yet. I am stoked to start classes next week and tour all the sights and learn all that comes with it. It is a surreal feeling, “walking where Jesus walked.”

During my travels, sitting in the airport on a layover in Newark my Psalm for that morning was Psalm 87, which says:

On the holy mount stands the city He founded;

The Lord loves the gates of Zion

more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.

Glorious things of you are spoken  O city of God.

Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon;

Behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush –

“This one was born there,” they say.

And of Zion it shall be said,

“This one and that one were born in her;”

For the Most High will establish her.

The Lord records as he registers the people,

“This one was born there.”

Singers and dancers alike say,

“All my springs are in you.”

What a blessing this Psalm was, to read as I began my journey to place and people of Zion! Verse 7, “All my springs are in you,” in the NKJV the word springs is actually “fountains.” I read in my study Bible that the word fountains means also a “source of blessing and pleasure because the Lord’s presence there.” There is truly nothing better than being in the presence of the Lord. I am so expectant of the Lord meeting me here, and the other twenty-one students here with me!

Today we get kind of a down day. Which is nice, recovering from jetlag and getting all settled in. It is also the Sabbath, so most shops and places are closed today. Tonight we are attending a Messianic church service, which I am thrilled for! Tomorrow there is talk of hiking up to the Mount of Olives to see the sunrise, what an experience that will be.

The Countdown Begins

Seventeen days from today and I will be on my way to spend three months in Jerusalem, Israel. Some days I still feel like it is so far away, and others it seems to be creeping up way to fast. 

When I was thinking about starting this blog, I went through many different ideas for titles, played around with all the templates and colors. Basically trying to make it all look cool. But really, that's not what it is all about. My desire for this blog is that it will be able to be a place where I can share the things that I am learning, and that whoever reads it will be able to learn along with me. 

Spending three months studying abroad in Israel is an opportunity that I highly doubt will be coming my way again. I am so excited and thankful that the Lord has opened up this door for me, I really can barely express it to you. 

Job 23:11 says, "My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and have not turned aside."

My goal for these next three months is to hold fast to the steps of the Lord, and to walk along with Him as I journey in Israel. Prayers are appreciated as I head out on this adventure into an entirely different culture, far away from my family and friends. I am sure that along with all the amazing stories and sights that I will share, there will also be some challenges along the way (not to mention the interesting and humorous situations I often find myself in). I look forward to sharing them all! :)

Photo of Jerusalem, Israel