Shalom and Bogetof ( Hebrew for Good Morning ),

The Lord, He is good and worthy of praise. When we came home, we had many friends who told us that there were various newsflashes over CNN on the violence in Israel while we were there and our response to them was that the situation was so peaceful we even had photographs taken with some of the Israeli soldiers who could be found in a number of places guarding the check-points, patrolling the streets and some just having short coffee-breaks.

And how was Israel as some of you had asked? It was definitely a place that should not be missed. Imagine walking along some of the paths that Jesus had gone before some 2000 years earlier and visited some of the buildings ( albeit in ruins ) where the Lord had been before. Altogether it was a very precious trip for us and we will always cherish the experience and look forward to another visit soon.

I wonder how many of us had visited either Buckingham Palace in London or Windsor Castle in Windsor, UK? If you had, you would have seen the QE2 royal standard flying high on the top of one of the towers and that would be a sign telling everyone that Her Majesty was staying there. If the flag were not hoisted, then it would mean that she would have been staying elsewhere.

In the Book of Exodus 17 8 - 16, we read of a very interesting account of how the Lord God came to fight alongside the Children of Israel against the Amalekites enroute to the Promised Land of Canaan.
8 Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
9 And Moses said to Joshua, "Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand."
10 So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11 And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
12 But Moses' hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
13 So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven."
15 And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-Lord-Is-My-Banner:
16 for he said, "Because the Lord has sworn; the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation."

Each time Moses' hands were uplifted, the army of Israel won over the Amalekites and each time he grew tired and he dropped his arms, the enemy had the upperhand. Whenever Moses worshipped the Lord, God was there with the Children of Israel and helped in the slaughter of the enemies. Moses called the place Jehovah Nissi ( The-Lord-Is-My-Banner ).

In all armies ( including the armies of today ), each fighting unit has been given a "Color" and whenever this fighting unit goes out to battle, the "Color" goes along with the troops and is usually in the front leading the way and as such it is important that this color be displayed high as it is a rallying point. It gives the soldiers a morale boost and spurs them on.

Do you know that each believer in Christ has a "flag" flying in his heart. When we invite Jesus into our hearts, He comes in and reside there and as the King, He too has a Royal Standard. When we put our trust in Him, His Presence gives us joy.
1 We are no longer condemned since Jesus took our condemnation on the Cross,
2 God does not remember our sins - He had taken our sins and placed them on Jesus at the Cross and there is now no more record of our sins,
3 We are now able to come directly into His Presence,
4 We are now positioned to receive His blessings since we are now children of the Father and
5 We are now joint-heirs with Jesus Christ.

Knowing our position in Christ, we can then smile at our circumstances and be full of joy because nothing can separate us from the Father's love for us. That is why Paul in Galatians 5: 22 - 23 wrote, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."

You too can have this joy in your heart. It is not difficult at all; all that is needed is to ask Him into your heart and let Him love you and then you will begin to find joy welling up in your heart. You will be able to smile at all the storms in life because you are in a better place firmly rooted in His foundation. Why not spend some moments and worship Yeshua Ha Mashiach ( Jesus, the Anointed Saviour ).

If you have not yet received Jesus into your heart, why not take a few moments to pray this prayer and invite Him into your life.
"Our Heavenly Father,
Thank You for Your great love for us in that You sent us Your Only Son, Jesus Christ, to come into this world and to die for our sins. Thank You that He took all our curses on His Body and in exchange we can now receive Your blessings. I invite You into my heart, Lord Jesus. Make Your Royal Residence there and fill me with Your joy.
Thank You Lord that I am now Your child and a joint-heir with Christ in Your Kingdom.
Thank You that I am greatly blessed, highly favored, deeply loved, completely protected and forever forgiven because of what our Lord Jesus did for us on the Cross.
Thank You in the most precious Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Now if you had prayed that prayer for the first time in your life, please get in touch with one of your Christian friends and ask him /her how you can get to know the Lord Jesus better. I am very sure they will be delighted to share with you more and point you to a local church where you can grow together as a body, as a family of God's Children.

The Lord blesses you and keeps you,
The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and all your loved ones,
The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you His shalom peace. Numbers 6: 24 - 26

Shalom,
Andrew L W Lee