Do you believe in miracles?

Would you like to experience a miracle in your life?

Well if someone's offering you a miracle you're hardly likely to say no!  

But do you actively seek miracles, do you acknowledge miracles?  

Do you accept the existence of the supernatural?  

If the answer to those questions is no then how do you expect to receive a miracle in your life?

If you are someone who doesn't believe in the endless possibilities that living in harmony with the miracle that is our Saviour Jesus Christ can bring to you, then it is not impossible, but certainly less likely, that you will experience something miraculous in your life.

Or, even if you do have faith, perhaps you don't consider yourself to be walking in the Power of God. There are many reasons that Christians are unable to unleash the awesome power that has been bestowed on us as children of the Living God.  Doubt and unbelief would definitely be top of the list.  If you don't believe that something is possible then the chances are, it won't be, not for you anyway.  

Then again, perhaps you are someone who is constantly wowed by God and witnesses miracles every day, or perhaps you see miracles all around you as you admire the beauty of God's creation.

I only need to look out of my window into my Dad's green and lush garden to feel an overwhelming sense of joy and wonder at the magnificence of God's creation. He didn't just create you and me, which is in itself a great miracle, He created everything; the velvet grass, the swaying trees, the daisies that bounce in the breeze, the spider, the ant, the birds flying high in the sky.  If that isn't a miracle then I don't know what is....

Look in the mirror, watch yourself breathing in and out, listen to the sound of your heart beating.  You are real!  A living, breathing miracle, the proof that God exists.

The miracle of creation is not to be underestimated.  After all, could you do it?  I don't think so.

For generations man has tried to replicate life; robots, clones, cyborgs; you name it, they've tried it and the results are more than worrying.  But the keyword here is "replicate", to recreate creation or life, whatever you choose to call it, is impossible.  God has created something totally unique.  It cannot be recreated, it already exists.

At this point some of you may start mumbling about the creation theory and claiming to believe in Darwin's view that we descend from monkeys.  Well, before you go down that route I would like to defend Charles Darwin who has been seriously misrepresented throughout history for his research comparing us to primate monkeys.  

It is a fact that there are some obvious similar characteristics between homo sapiens (humans) and primate monkeys. One often overlooked similarity is the inability by both species to produce vitamin c due to a vital enzyme being "switched off" at some point in the early stages of existence.  Apart from guinea pigs, humans and apes are the only mammals not to produce their own source of vitamin c.

Although, due to a set of mainly physical characteristics, Darwin did include humans in the same classification group (Homininae) as apes who shared the same traits as us, he did not invent the classification.  The classification was used in existing scientific research pre-dating Darwin and it is important to note that classifications are merely a set of characteristics that are shared within a group. 

If, as we believe, God created all things, then as I said above when admiring the miracle of creation, He also created monkeys, whales, lions, crocodiles, birds, goats, horses and indeed all the other creatures that walk, slither, crawl or swim their way around our beautiful planet.

So, if we all come from God then we all share the same common ancestor, God is the Father of all creation.  If I and my cousin have the same grandfather this does not mean that we both were born of my aunt does it?  

A leaf and a branch look totally different and have very unique functions as parts of the tree and yet, they share a common trunk, a universal root; God is our trunk, our root and everything comes from Him.

And if you believe and trust in Him, scripture continually reassures us that we will receive our miracle.

"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." Mark 11:24 Due to my own decidedly ungodly supernatural experiences of life prior to my Salvation, I was much more open to the idea of God as a supernatural entity than most people.  The existence of a divine power of healing and deliverance seemed perfectly possible to my mind, it just hadn't been a part of my life and I had no idea how to change this as I was in a very dark place spiritually. The first time I recognised God's miraculous healing power  in my life was on Tuesday 4th February 2014. I remember this day so well because it was the day that I was baptised by the Holy Spirit.   At the time I had no idea what this even meant, all I know was that whatever happened to me that evening was the most incredible feeling that I had ever experienced in my whole life.   Four days previously I had started to have very bad back pain when I stood up after sitting for any length of time.  On Tuesday 4th February I went to our church for the usual discussion group "Majlis" that I had started attending two weeks earlier.  After the discussion finished I could hardly stand because of the intense pain in my back.  Seeing my discomfort our Pastor, Basie, and my dear friend Zurika offered to pray for healing for my back.  I agreed and felt a huge sense of calm immediately. When they started to pray I felt the sensation of something breaking over my head and pouring through my hair.   As they continued praying I felt an indescribable feeling like hot ice filling me, moving slowly through every fibre of my being, from my head to my toes.  It was like every single bit of pain vanished from my body, I literally felt like I had a new body.  And that wasn't even the best bit.  I felt the most utopic feeling of sheer joy, something I had never felt in my entire life. It was as if the troubles of my life had just simply disappeared.   Since that time I have witnessed many more miraculous events in my life as well as recognising how I had been saved by God's power several times throughout my life as I found myself in death defying situations.  But let's save those for another day! Probably one of the most remarkable and to some folk, most unbelievable miracle would be the miracle of raising the dead to life.  Even as a believer you may be thinking that it was all very well for Jesus and the apostles to do this but we don't have this power nowadays.  Well, you would be very much mistaken. Here is an astounding article that I read about a heart surgeon raising someone from the dead. "We quickly rushed the gentleman down to the intensive care unit, and the hospital was by now buzzing about the fact that a dead man had been brought back to life. After a couple of days he woke up. He had an amazing story to tell after I had asked him, 'Where have you been and where were you on that day that you had that massive heart attack? You were gone and we prayed you back to life in Jesus name.'"  Dan Wooding/TN (July 18, 2007) (MIAMI, FL) The audience of 120 doctors from 50 countries sat in stunned silence as a renowned heart doctor produced evidence of how, after he had prayed for a patient who had died and was being prepared for the morgue, was brought back to life after prayer. Dr. Chauncey W. Crandall IV, who serves at the Palm Beach Cardiovascular Clinic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, made his dramatic presentation on Friday, July 13th at the 4th Annual World Christian Doctors Network Conference in Miami, Florida.  He produced dramatic evidence that was shown on the screen and then, afterwards, agreed to tell the story to Assist News Service in an interview with Dan Wooding.  The following is the interview as conducted by Dan:  Dr. Crandall began by saying that the dramatic incident took place almost a year ago in West Palm Beach, Florida. "We had a fifty-three year old man who came to the emergency room with a massive heart attack and actually his heart had stopped," he said. "The medical people had worked on him for over forty minutes in the emergency room and then declared him dead.  "They called me in to evaluate the patient towards the end of his treatment where they had unsuccessfully tried to revive him. The nurse was preparing his body to be taken down to the morgue when the Holy Spirit told me to 'turn around and pray for that man.' When the Holy Spirit talks to you, you have to respond. It's sometimes a quiet voice and this was a quiet voice and to honor the Lord I did turn around and I went to the side of that stretcher where his body was being prepared.  "There was no life in the man. His face and feet and arms were completely black with death and I sat next to his body and I prayed, 'Lord, Father; how am I going to pray for this man? He's dead. What can I do?' All of a sudden, these words came out of my mouth, 'Father, God, I cry out for the soul of this man if he does not know You as his Lord and Savior, please raise him from the dead right now in Jesus name.  "It was amazing as a couple minutes later, we were looking at the monitor and all of a sudden a heart beat showed up. It was a perfect beat; a normal beat; and then after a couple more minutes, he started moving and then his fingers were moving and then his toes began moving and then he started mumbling words.  "There was a nurse in the room, she wasn't a Believer, and she screamed out and said 'Doctor Crandall, what have you done to this patient?' And I said, 'All I've done is cry out for his soul in Jesus name.'  "We quickly rushed the gentleman down to the intensive care unit, and the hospital was by now buzzing about the fact that a dead man had been brought back to life. After a couple of days he woke up. He had an amazing story to tell after I had asked him, 'Where have you been and where were you on that day that you had that massive heart attack? You were gone and we prayed you back to life in Jesus name.'  "He said, 'Doctor Crandall, it's the most amazing thing. I was in a dark room and there was no light. It was complete darkness and I felt I was in a casket and I kept repeating that I was so disappointed.' He said the disappointment came from the fact that none of his family, friends or colleagues, had come to visit him. Then he told me, 'All of a sudden, these men came in and they wrapped me up and they threw me in the trash.'  "Dan, he was in hell that day and as he told me that story, I cried out, 'Lord, this gentleman needs to accept You as Lord and Savior.' I then explained the salvation message to this man as he sat in that bed and I held his hand and I cried out, 'Father God, in the name of Jesus, I pray that this man accepts you as his Lord and Savior right here in the intensive care unit.' He held out his hand and accepted Christ as his Savior with tears rolling down from his eyes and now he's a child of God.  "I told him, 'You never have to be thrown in the trash into total darkness now. The life of Christ is in you and the light of the kingdom of Heaven is on you now."  I asked Dr. Crandall if there had been any brain damage to the patient.  "No there was no brain damage at all; his brain was completely normal," he said. "I was most concerned about his hands because his fingers were completely black and he had some numbness in his fingers and his feet, but now that is totally resolved."  I asked Dr. Crandall if he could give the name of the man and he said he couldn't as the patient had requested that it would not be revealed.  "All I can say is that he was fifty-three years old and he was a car mechanic," he said. "He had a family who were Believers, but he left them twenty years ago because he didn't believe in the Lord. His family continued to pray for twenty years for his salvation, and his ex-wife was on her hands and knees praying for the salvation of her ex-husband, who came to know the Lord that day."  I then asked the doctor if he had seen other similar miracles in his practice.  "I've been witness to three cases of people being raised from the dead," he said. "One other case was when another patient came to the hospital with a massive heart attack. It was on the very day that I received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and I'd been praying for weeks that I would receive this mighty baptism that the Lord can give us. We were working on this patient that came in again with a massive heart attack and who didn't survive in the operating room.  "All of a sudden, that Baptism of the Holy Spirit hit me and I started speaking in a spiritual language and crying over this patient who, in the operating room theater, had passed away. And then, within five or ten minutes, the heartbeat came back and life came back to this patient. Once again, the nurses who are not Believers looked at me as if to say, 'There goes Doctor Crandall on another case'."  I concluded the interview by asking Dr. Crandall what he would like to say to doctors who do not believe in supernatural healing.  "I would just like to say to my colleagues and physicians out there, that the Lord is real. We've seen many miracles and we pray for our patients daily. There is not one week that goes by that we don't see a mighty miracle in our office. The people need this; they need the power of Christ in their life and they need the power of Christ for healing.  "I would just encourage my fellow doctors to get involved in a church, meet with a minister, and attend a healing service run by people that believe in the power of Jesus Christ. We love our colleagues in medicine 'we pray for them'." http://prorege-forum.com How amazing!!  What an amazing testimony of faith for the medical profession.  Please share this with as many doctors as you can so that more souls can be raised to life. Dear Lord, We know that through you all things are possible.  You are a God of endless possibilities, miraculous healing and abiding love for your children. We confess our doubt and unbelief in the power vested in us through Jesus' perfect sacrifice on the cross and ask that you remove such thoughts and renew our minds.  We pray that you will give us the mind of Christ so that we can walk in your power, so that we can overcome the world as you have overcome it. Forgive us for not trusting you in all things, for only you have the power to save, only you have the power to deliver us from our enemies and to heal the sick, but you have given this same power to me through our Saviour Jesus Christ who died on the cross so that you will live in me and I in you. Thank you Lord for the miraculous work you have done in my life.  For your outstretched arm which snatched me from the jaws of death so many times.  For carrying me through even though I did not recognise you, for raising me up even when I turned my back on you. I give you all the glory Lord, for the miracle which is my life which I surrender to you in Jesus name. I pray for all those in the medical profession who have the opportunity to heal the sick and raise the dead to life.  Send your Holy Spirit on them so that they are convicted of your supernatural power and can begin to work miracles in your Holy Name. I pray for our spiritual leaders, elders, worship leaders and pastors who play such a crucial role in bringing us into God's presence and praying for the Holy Spirit to fill us with all power, hope and love, to show us the way, the truth and the life, to convict us of our sin and to give us a heart for worship and a spirit of faith. In Jesus' Name, Amen

Put your Zest to the Test

Have you ever tasted a lemon?

Did that question bring to mind a sudden oozing of the taste buds.  I know it did for me!

Lemons have an unmistakable zesty zap that cannot fail to leave a memorable impression on anyone who tastes them.  When a toddler first tastes that zingy flavour their expression is priceless.  

Isn't it fabulous to be able to make such a lasting impression.  Though some of us may not relish the idea of our second bite of the lemon, the unmistakeable flavour could not be described as unpleasant, just a little too intense for the more mild mannered of us who prefer to live the teeniest bit closer to our comfort zones. 

I always think that the word lemon has been so misused throughout the history of Western society and still is today.  If I was to describe myself as "a real lemon", the image conjured up by many would be that of someone defective or useless.  

I rather prefer to imagine the taste of a lemon; that highly recognisable and clearly distinguishable flavour that sets your taste buds reeling.  I like to think that I have that zesty nip to my own personality and hope that when I interact with someone, whatever walk of life they are from, that I will touch their life in a special and memorable way.  

Today whilst out and about with my Dad and son Xavier we came across a wonderful little cafe that had been open only a few weeks.  In the ever expanding community of Hawkinge in Kent, nestled at the end of a new attractively built commercial and residential development was a delightful nook called "Zesteas".  

That splendid citrus sensation immediately came to mind as I read the swirly sign, and on entering the small yet spacious cafe I wasn't to be disappointed.  There was a definite freshness and desire to inspire.  With food and drinks prepared to order by the friendly proprietor and his smiling assistant who both chatted to us and made us feel quite at home, we enjoyed mouth watering panninis, creamy cappuccinos and a specially prepared slice of delectable cheese on toast for my son.

Happy with our zest!

So, zesty by name and zesty by nature, this sparkling gem of deliciousness, friendliness and  cost effectiveness in the hub that is Hawkinge was certainly somewhere that will stay in my heart, as are the people that I had the privilege to meet there.  Hopefully my own special brand of lemon zest will also keep me in their minds, maybe they will even read this blog.


Dear Lord, 

God of the earth and the heavens, who reigns over us and who abides in us and we in Him, through the love of Christ who died for our sins.  Our gracious God who is merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, who poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us as a comforter, a helper and an advocate, who engraved each of us on the palms of His hands.

Lord I thank you for giving me the ability to inspire others, through my writing, my music, my teaching and my vision.  I give you all the glory Lord, for what you have done for me and for your inspiration in my life.

I pray that you will never allow pride to overtake me and that although I need and seek out your approval and the approval of those who care about me that I will not become over inflated like the yeast of the Pharisees and that all I do will be done in your name and to honour and glorify you my Lord, my God, my precious Saviour.

I thank you for the words of encouragement you have given me about my life and my calling, through your Word, through visions, dreams and prophecy and for your guiding light as a lamp to my feet.

I pray that I will faithfully obey your voice Lord, being careful to follow all your ways and the inspiration that you have put in my heart, for I know that you will set the faithful high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon me if I obey your voice oh Lord. For your word says "Blessed we shall be in the city, and blessed we shall be in the field." (Deuteronomy 28:3) We shall be blessed over all people.

Lord I thank you for revealing the true nature of leadership to me through the book of Nehemiah who clearly demonstrated the three main principles so important for successfully managing large scale projects; co-ordination, co-operation and commendation. 

I thank you Lord for showing me the great things done by ordinary men and women in the bible who had a passion for doing your work.  For revealing to me how I can use the gifts and talents that you have bestowed on me to glorify your Kingdom and rebuild like Nehemiah.  

I thank you for giving me that zest that sets me apart and gives me the courage to step outside my comfort zone just as Nehemiah did when he left his position as cupbearer to the King to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

I pray that more people will test their zest and leap into the unknown in order to find a real heart to do great things for God.  

In Jesus' name I pray,

Amen.

You Raise Me Up

This has to be one of my all time favorite songs. 

The lyrics are great; the tune is so uplifting that you feel like you could soar through the sky like an eagle at any moment and it’s also such a fabulous song to sing in harmony with your friends.

Although it doesn’t have any definitive biblical reference, it is difficult to think of this song as a secular piece.  The very nature of its message inspires faith and it certainly wouldn't be out of place in a worship setting.

Over the past few months I have rehearsed, performed and directed this song countless times with various different groups, so thanks to Rolf Loveland and Brendan Graham for writing such a wonderfully uplifting number.

Our joint school and academy choir performed a particularly rousing version in the Cultural Hall in Bahrain last month with some wonderful dancers performing alongside us, trained by my fabulous colleague Louise Chapman, dancer, teacher and choreographer extraodinaire who I was privileged to work with over the past year and a half.  

Another performance I remember rather well was with two of my dear friends and work colleagues Brad Longfellow and Leah Churchill who sang with me in our own 3 part a capella version.  

It’s the kind of song that you can get lost in, metaphorically and literally, as we found out to our peril at one crucial moment during our performance……  happily we were among friends, our fabulous family at Rivers of Joy, Bahrain, who hardly would have noticed any mistakes because they just love us so much for the joy we were bringing everyone by arranging this concert.

The event entitled "Sing Out for Joy" was very dear to my heart as it was to be the first arts event that I had organised to glorify our awesome God.  The evening opened with the newly formed Rivers of Joy Gospel Choir (now called Inspire Gospel Choir) who gave a rousing performance of three gospel numbers, a traditional Appalachian hymn and an original piece composed especially for the choir which was featured in one previous blog post "A Highway in the Desert". The evening continued with some deeply meaningful and powerful performances in a diverse cross cultural mix of styles which really demonstrated the melting pot of internationalism which is our church family in Bahrain. 

I thank our every loving God with all my heart for placing me among such amazing people who have nurtured me so patiently and built me up through scripture and prayer so that I can walk in God's perfect will in faith and devotion.

I am also deeply thankful to the worship team at Rivers of Joy who do such a wonderful job of bringing us into God's presence each week.  For it is through worship that I have really been able to draw close to God. 

For around two months after I was saved I couldn't even get through a service without tears spilling down my cheeks during worship.  And taking communion was even more emotional, if that is possible.  Certainly God had moved me in a profound way, He had blessed me by sending the Holy Spirit on me several times during worship and I would find myself once more becoming increasingly familiar with the colour of the carpet.  But jokes aside, it was a really amazing experience that healed me in a way that only God can heal.  

Don't underestimate the power of words, especially God's words, the power of music, and in particular the power of the Name of Jesus.  To be able to call upon the Name of Jesus is a wonderful thing, but to get to the point where I could do that was a very steep and narrow path which would have previously seemed an impossible climb.

But, by the grace of God I made it, I reached the top of the mountain and all glory to Him who made all things possible. He well and truly "raised me up".

Sometimes our spirits can definitely be raised up by the lyrics of a song.  In my teaching I constantly look for songs that will inspire my students to feel good about themselves.  I was very lucky, whilst working at the British School of Bahrain to be able to teach the students their new school song written by Bahraini composer Seroos who had certainly written lyrics that would build up both the students and the school.

With constant references to feeling great, being united and in particular the repeated incantation "we are wonderful, wonderful", the students couldn't avoid being effected by the impact of singing such words again and again, as I drilled them on their almost wonderful diction, tuning and phrasing.  This was just one of the many songs we sang to bring a positive vibe to the classroom.  Another technique I would use would be to speak certain words of the songs to the students as they left the class so that the positivity would carry over into the remainder of the day.  Telling students to believe the words they are singing can have a very powerful result.  

Over the past few months God has given me a real passion for the book of Nehemiah.  

When I started reading the book I was deeply moved by the story of how Nehemiah found favour with the King and returned to Jerusalem in order to rebuild the city walls.  

As I was reading I was struck by the detail of Nehemiah's writing.  How he knew each of the builders by name. This seemed like an incredible feat and it really struck a chord with me.  In my day to day teaching I was, on one hand, building up the students through the positive message of my chosen songs but on the other hand I was making very little effort to learn their names.  I used the excuse that I had groups of fifty students at any one time which meant that name learning was time consuming and tedious resulting in a thorough neglect of this area on my part.  The very next day I went from making no effort whatsoever to successfully learning two hundred student names in one day alone.  

I noticed an immediate difference with the attitudes of the students.  Now that I knew their names I was also able to praise them much more effectively for their good work and this raised the creative and productive output of the group enormously.  They suddenly took ownership of their performance.  I had, without realising it, succeeded in raising them up in every sense of the word.

I can imagine Nehemiah praising his building teams in a similar way, there was such a fervour to finish the wall with everyone pulling their weight, which must have been in no small way because of Nehemiah's leadership strategy.  

Nehemiah had a vast knowledge of who was responsible for what and this clearly demonstrates the care he would have taken over commending his workers and organising the rebuilding programme.

To raise someone up in commendation is a sure and certain way to promote enthusiasm for the task at hand and develop a happy working atmosphere.  

Dear Lord, our Father in heaven,

God of all that is seen and unseen, of all that is and was and is to come.  

We thank you that you know us all by name, that you know every hair on our heads.  That you loved us and knew us before we were born.  You formed our inner parts, you wove us in our mother's womb, we thank you that we are beautiful and wonderfully made.

We thank you for noticing everything that we do, that you know our works and deeds and how we honour, praise and worship you with our whole hearts, with the very fibre of our being.

We thank you for our purpose in this world and for making plain our path, for trusting us with all the riches of heaven.  

We pray for all the children in the world who don't have the opportunity to be inspired by teachers that really care about their spiritual welfare as well as their education.  We pray for those children that don't even have the opportunity to attend school.  

We thank you Lord that we have been blessed with a good education and that you will use us as teachers and followers of your Word so that the Good News of your gracious and abundant love, your perfect sacrifice on the cross will be spread throughout the nations.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Fight the Good Fight!

In life we must choose our battles wisely.

This is something that I have started to learn only in the last few years.

In fact, only since I became a mother and my priorities took a natural shift to encompass the love of my own firstborn son.

Before motherhood, not only did I fail to choose my battles wisely, it appeared to those in my  social circle that I actively sought conflict in my life.  Looking back I guess I saw myself as a bit of a "crusader", always trying to defend the oppressed, and I think that many of my "crusades" were undertaken in an attempt to make myself right with God.

For this was always something that I had desperately and yet unknowingly needed; to be right with God.  

At this time in my life I have come to an interesting crossroads where I must again make choices about how and whether to fight certain battles.  Sometimes, even when we have been greatly wronged, we have to consider whether it is going to be a productive use of our time and mental energy to tackle this one head on.  Perhaps in some circumstances we need to just turn the other cheek, or perhaps turn the battle over to someone who is more qualified to fight for us.  

Over the past few months I have slowly learned that if I surrender all things to God that he really does work out everything for good.  Many who know me well will remember me as a very angry person, always exacting revenge and stopping at nothing to achieve my goals.  

One very useful lesson I learned is that revenge does not make you happy.  Not ever!  

If you have been treated unjustly then trust in the Lord as he is your vindicator, if you need someone else to fight your battles then turn them over to him, as it says in 1John 2:1 "we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous".  Let God be your lawyer, and if you have a battle ahead of you that you really aren't qualified to fight then hand it over to the lawyers, that's what they are there for.

Be careful that your battle doesn't start a war and remember also God's words in Romans 12:19 "vengeance is mine.I will repay".  Do not be tempted to wreak havoc on your enemies but do as the Lord instructs "if your enemy is hungry, feed him, if your enemy is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head". Romans 12:20

Whether you believe in the Word of God or not, this metaphoric wrong footing of your enemies, so to speak, has to be good advice.  Do not be tempted to fight fire with fire for in such cases everything will be destroyed.  Instead be the one to put out the fire, quench the flames with the purest of all substances, water.

So, why am I writing about battles, fighting, wars, enemies at a time when I claim to be so happy?

I am happy. I am happy because I have peace. Yes I have battles, I have troubles. I ask for wisdom daily on how to approach these battles.  Should I risk starting a war just to get what is rightly mine?  This is something I must continue to pray about.  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight". Proverbs 3:5-6  

Yesterday a friend of mine posted something highly political on my Facebook wall.  I dislike engaging in such open public discussion on my page and was tempted to remove it.  However, this in itself would be a public statement to everyone that would have already seen it on my wall.  

So, after praying about it I made the decision to respond to his post "I hate Israel...... do you?"  A very provocative statement which was accompanied by the following equally provocative photo.....

Amazingly the Israeli/Palestinian situation had been in my prayers consistently for a few days as God had put it in my heart through many channels.  I have a very dear friend who is staying only 50 miles from the trouble zone and even as I write this I pray constantly for her safety and for God to give her wisdom about her calling to this part of the world.

In response to the question "I hate Israel... do you?" I responded as follows:

"Actually no I dont hate Israel. I dont hate anyone. 

God has called all Christians to love Israel and to protect them. 

However he has also called us to live in peace and to fight the good fight. 

The people of Israel are doing neither of those things. 

Sometimes we need protection from ourselves and I think in this case, by supporting the military action of Israel, America are failing to protect Israel from themselves."

His response was to speak of the killings of innocents and to personalise the atrocities by referring to my son:

Lydia being human answer me honestly..is it good ..what's happening in Palastine?
What's wrong with them? Are they blind? 
They don't know there are innocent kids? Just imagine if ur son is there?

His response seemed to imply that he had misunderstood my initial comment so I replied as follows:

Of course its not good. Read my comment. I believe both Israel and America are seriously misguided in their approach here. God tells us to love our enemies. The killing of innocents makes me weep it doesnt make me hate.

He went on with a few more pointed remarks about the atrocities towards children so rather than be drawn further I replied 

I have spoken enough on this matter. I never support any form of cruelty. Anyone who believes that war and killing will bring them closer to God needs our prayers not our hatred. God says "vengeance is mine", so it is for God, not us, to bring retribution for these atrocities.

His next point I think was intended to question the merit of our great God's wisdom.  He said:

GOD SAYs. i will give food to all living things..so we should not work hard for earning for food?

To which I replied:

This means that if we cannot provide food for ourselves we should not worry because God will provide. However God will only do this for those who believe and trust in him.

The conversation then finished with his final question which was to ask me if I was from Israel.  By this I assume he was really asking if I was Jewish as he is perfectly aware that I'm originally from the UK.

I am not sure if my words made any impact on him but my hope is that by responding to his post I did more good than harm and that I may have at least been able to share a little of what God had put in my heart about the mutual plights of Palestine and Israel.

Since finding my faith and immersing myself in God's word, the troubles of this part of the world have raised many questions for me.  The answers for which I believe only lie with God and can be, in part, understood through reading His Word. 

For those of you reading this who are unfamiliar with what we call "The Word of God", in other words, the bible, then I will just give you a little background information on the area of the world referred to as Israel.

It is believed by Jews and many Christians that the land in question was handed down to the Israelites (the children of Israel) by divine promise.

Many times throughout the Old Testament there is reference to the "land that I promised to your forefathers".

So the question is, who has the rights to this land?

In my research on this subject, which has been quite extensive because I don't pretend to be an expert in scripture by any means, I discovered an interesting article on CBN.com which brings our attention to some interesting historical points and some often overlooked verses from the bible which for me go some way to explaining why we have this disastrous situation between the Palestinians and the Israelis today:

The answer is not as simple as you might think. It is often said or implied, for example, that the Palestinians have no claim to the land since they have only been there since the seventh century AD. This assumes, however, that they entered Palestine during the Arab conquests (c. 636/7), and ignores the known facts of history. When the Arabs swept out of Arabia and conquered the Middle East, Palestine was not vacant. It was inhabited by an ethnic "meld" made up mainly of the descendants of the peoples whom the Hebrews had only partially displaced, and a few Jews. The terms "Palestine" and "Palestinian" actually derive from the word "Philistine," the most powerful non-Jewish ethnic group in the land in the Old Testament era (Philistines were already there in Abraham's day; see e.g. Gen. 20:1-17; 21:22-34). It was only after many of them had Islamized, and some had intermarried with Arabs, that they adopted the Arabic language and came to be called Arabs (that is why "Arab" is more a linguistic than an ethnic designation). Intermarriage had also taken place during the Greek, Roman and Byzantine occupations. So the Palestinians are a mixed race. And if length of settlement is the criterion, then certainly they have a case. 

What do the Scriptures say, however? It is interesting that those who insist it belongs to the Jews fix on God's promises to Abraham in Genesis, and on the prophecies about Israel in the latter days. Intentionally or not, they skip over what Judges 1 to 3 have to say on the subject. In all my years, I have never heard one sermon linking this passage to the subject, and have often wondered why. To set the stage, look at Joshua 13:1-5 where God tells Joshua, shortly before his death, which areas are yet to be possessed, from the "region of the Philistines" in the south to "Lebo Hamath" in the north. Judges opens, however, with the statement that Israel had failed to drive these people out. Because of this, the Angel of the Lord tells them, "I will no longer drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides. ... I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord" (2:3, 22; 3:4). This explains why the Philistines especially were a thorn in the side of the Children of Israel then, and why the Palestinians are in exactly the same position today. 

The Word of God clearly teaches then that although God had promised the land to the seed of Abraham, and although it will one day be the seat of the coming Messianic Kingdom, the Palestinians will remain in the land as long as it suits His purposes. Clearly, Israel has failed miserably in keeping the way of the Lord, and God continues to use the Palestinians to test them. It is recognized that good Christians differ considerably over important issues concerning prophecy and eschatology, including the role God has reserved for Israel in the future. These questions do not however do not affect the clear teaching of this passage.

http://www.cbn.com

I am not qualified to say more than I have said on this matter but I hope that I have given a true and fair representation from both a historic and a Christian point of view, all of which are supported by prayer and research.  So to that end, let's close in prayer.

Dear Lord, 

God of heaven and earth, only you can know the truth.  For Jesus says "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me".  

I pray for your grace and mercy on the people of Israel and Palestine, that you will call them to peace and deliver them from the grip of war that has wreaked havoc over this part of the world for centuries.  

I pray your supernatural protection over the innocent children and citizens who suffer in such conflict throughout the world.  I pray for wisdom to those in authority, in government, in all positions of power and responsibility so that they are able to rule with a spirit of peace and justice rather than of revenge and discrimination.  

I pray for everyone who is going through a time of conflict whether it be in the home or the workplace, in legal dealings or matters of government.  My Lord Jesus, you call us to live in peace, as members of one body and I pray that we will always show respect and love for one another as you command, and that just as we love our neighbour we will also love our enemies.

I pray that we will trust you in all things and that we will not seek revenge but surrender all our battles to you and that we will remember your words in 1 Samuel 24:15 "May the Lord Judge between you and me, for my hand will not strike you, my mouth will not curse you and my thoughts will not think evil of you.  God is my vindicator".

Let us live by the grace of God and also through our words and our deeds for though we are made righteous by the precious blood of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ we are also called to show our faith through our works.  

Let us be a light to the world, a town on a hill that cannot be hidden.  I pray that my light will shine before others to reveal my good deeds in order to honour and glorify you my Father in heaven. I pray that you will send your Holy Spirit on me to give me a heart of loving kindness, gentle forbearance, faithfulness and goodness and the peace which reigns in my heart today will be with me always.  

In Jesus' name I pray,

Amen.