Your reward
The Lord told me in 1985, "Go to Israel and it's not negotiable." I prepared to go with no assurance that I would ever return. But I did have to think about what would happen if I did not go. I finally decided "For the wages which sin pays is death, but the [bountiful] free gift of God is eternal life through (in union with) Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23 Amplified)
For me sin would be not to go and the wages of sin is death would be a boring life. I wouldn't be struck with lightning but my life might be boring if I missed what God had for me. So I went.
Beside the people that came to Christ during that time, God took my dream list, which now might be called my bucket list, and I was able to do each item on that list and more. I had wanted to live on a kibbutz. I lived on two kibbutzim. One works 4-8 hours a day 6 days a week in exchange for room and board doing whatever job is next to your name the night before! I wanted to learn Hebrew. I took Hebrew classes 3 hours a day 6 days a week for 10 months at these same kibbutzim.
I wanted to take a Mediterranean swimming vacation. My first kibbutz was near the Mediterranean, after my second kibbutz I learned to scuba dive (in Hebrew) in the Red Sea. I spent a month on the Mediterranean in Greece. I had wanted to go on an archaeological dig. I did this on the Mediterranean for a month in Israel.
I remember making our way through the rock pools in southern Israel, climbing up and down ropes, swimming across cold pools holding cameras above water. I rode camels in the wilderness and was entertained Bedouin style at a camp. I sympathize with the accidental border crossings as in the north of Israel I hiked where there were signs in Hebrew and English warning that this was the border, this was the frontier. I knew not to cross. It was not on my list but I got to go to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve. I also got to be at the Garden Tomb Easter morning. 13 years before I had purchased Bibles in Jerusalem to take into then Communist countries. I now got to be a tourist in some of those places, traveling by bus from Amsterdam to Athens. I got to go parasailing on a Greek Island which was on my list. I got to dance and break dishes in a gazebo setting by the Mediterranean. I slept 3 days on the deck of a ferry between Greece and Israel several times. Possibly the most fun time was a boat trip to a Greek island. On the way back I was listening to Greek music with head phones. Someone motioned to put the cassette into the boom box. I did so and there was an instant party, an instant joy of the moment. Dolphins jumped long the boat; there was much dancing with a full moon. The captain could not locate the port. I could somehow and we got back safely. The last day of my 18 month adventure I was on a small boat coming back from Moorea to Tahiti in the South Pacific with my hair flying in the wind with the moon in the sky. God sure has his ways. When I think back, God delighted me. Some people came to Christ in Israel in 1985 and 1986. This was almost 25 years ago. Assuming multiplication of faith in Christ to other people, there must be some wonderful increase though the start was small. Plus I got to be kind to God's people and he said he would reward that.
You may think I must have had access to money in order to do all of this. It was actually the opposite. I prayed while in Greece, "Lord, which country is it better to have no money in, Greece or Israel?" The Lord told me to go back to Israel a week earlier than planned. Nellie, a delightful young lady from India, offered to purchase for me a one month bus pass for Israel and pay my room and board if I would be her guide for 8 days. Nellie committed her life to Christ and left from the Tel Aviv "bus station" for Haifa to take a ship back north to fly back to India. Right at the moment I hugged her goodbye, I heard my name called. The Lord said to me, "If you use the bathroom now, you will miss your bus." I got on the bus where I heard my name called. The person who called me allowed me to bunk at an apartment in Tel Aviv for as long as I needed. And this is the way it was, start to finish.
I don't look back on this time as the best time of my life. I look back that God did something foundational for the rest of my life. I have some health restrictions that would make a similar trip more challenging. I still may go but now I am going via the Internet and via cell phone networks.
God can be splendidly wonderful to you. Get into his zone (Garden). He knows all about life to the fullest. He wants it for you. His reward never stops. He lives forever and we can live forever with him. I don't know yet the rewards heaven has to offer. But I know I will know and experience them! I think people will come up and say thanks for helping me to know and live for Christ. I think I will say, "Who are you and what did I do?" And I'll hear about some inconvenient obedience I've forgotten about or some time my car broke down and was stuck somewhere and met someone.
Next section: (Tract Links and Contact Us)
http://forsuchatime.mobi/contact_us_7.html
The Lord told me in 1985, "Go to Israel and it's not negotiable." I prepared to go with no assurance that I would ever return. But I did have to think about what would happen if I did not go. I finally decided "For the wages which sin pays is death, but the [bountiful] free gift of God is eternal life through (in union with) Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23 Amplified)
For me sin would be not to go and the wages of sin is death would be a boring life. I wouldn't be struck with lightning but my life might be boring if I missed what God had for me. So I went.
Beside the people that came to Christ during that time, God took my dream list, which now might be called my bucket list, and I was able to do each item on that list and more. I had wanted to live on a kibbutz. I lived on two kibbutzim. One works 4-8 hours a day 6 days a week in exchange for room and board doing whatever job is next to your name the night before! I wanted to learn Hebrew. I took Hebrew classes 3 hours a day 6 days a week for 10 months at these same kibbutzim.
I wanted to take a Mediterranean swimming vacation. My first kibbutz was near the Mediterranean, after my second kibbutz I learned to scuba dive (in Hebrew) in the Red Sea. I spent a month on the Mediterranean in Greece. I had wanted to go on an archaeological dig. I did this on the Mediterranean for a month in Israel.
I remember making our way through the rock pools in southern Israel, climbing up and down ropes, swimming across cold pools holding cameras above water. I rode camels in the wilderness and was entertained Bedouin style at a camp. I sympathize with the accidental border crossings as in the north of Israel I hiked where there were signs in Hebrew and English warning that this was the border, this was the frontier. I knew not to cross. It was not on my list but I got to go to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve. I also got to be at the Garden Tomb Easter morning. 13 years before I had purchased Bibles in Jerusalem to take into then Communist countries. I now got to be a tourist in some of those places, traveling by bus from Amsterdam to Athens. I got to go parasailing on a Greek Island which was on my list. I got to dance and break dishes in a gazebo setting by the Mediterranean. I slept 3 days on the deck of a ferry between Greece and Israel several times. Possibly the most fun time was a boat trip to a Greek island. On the way back I was listening to Greek music with head phones. Someone motioned to put the cassette into the boom box. I did so and there was an instant party, an instant joy of the moment. Dolphins jumped long the boat; there was much dancing with a full moon. The captain could not locate the port. I could somehow and we got back safely. The last day of my 18 month adventure I was on a small boat coming back from Moorea to Tahiti in the South Pacific with my hair flying in the wind with the moon in the sky. God sure has his ways. When I think back, God delighted me. Some people came to Christ in Israel in 1985 and 1986. This was almost 25 years ago. Assuming multiplication of faith in Christ to other people, there must be some wonderful increase though the start was small. Plus I got to be kind to God's people and he said he would reward that.
You may think I must have had access to money in order to do all of this. It was actually the opposite. I prayed while in Greece, "Lord, which country is it better to have no money in, Greece or Israel?" The Lord told me to go back to Israel a week earlier than planned. Nellie, a delightful young lady from India, offered to purchase for me a one month bus pass for Israel and pay my room and board if I would be her guide for 8 days. Nellie committed her life to Christ and left from the Tel Aviv "bus station" for Haifa to take a ship back north to fly back to India. Right at the moment I hugged her goodbye, I heard my name called. The Lord said to me, "If you use the bathroom now, you will miss your bus." I got on the bus where I heard my name called. The person who called me allowed me to bunk at an apartment in Tel Aviv for as long as I needed. And this is the way it was, start to finish.
I don't look back on this time as the best time of my life. I look back that God did something foundational for the rest of my life. I have some health restrictions that would make a similar trip more challenging. I still may go but now I am going via the Internet and via cell phone networks.
God can be splendidly wonderful to you. Get into his zone (Garden). He knows all about life to the fullest. He wants it for you. His reward never stops. He lives forever and we can live forever with him. I don't know yet the rewards heaven has to offer. But I know I will know and experience them! I think people will come up and say thanks for helping me to know and live for Christ. I think I will say, "Who are you and what did I do?" And I'll hear about some inconvenient obedience I've forgotten about or some time my car broke down and was stuck somewhere and met someone.
Next section: (Tract Links and Contact Us)
http://forsuchatime.mobi/contact_us_7.html