Psalms 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
In the wake of this historic arctic winter storm and its catastrophic damage, an article came out discussing how this will break all records in Texas as a result! In today's news, estimates point to a record over $20 billion dollars in insurance claims!
It reminded me of when we first arrived in Israel about fourteen years ago, my wife was almost eight months pregnant. We wanted to have everything concerning the birth worked out ahead of time because we knew we'd have so many other things to think about once we got here. So we made certain to pay for our Israeli health insurance coverage even before we arrived, just to be sure we would have no problems.
But something inconceivable happened -- the Israeli government went on strike before our payment information was entered into their records. When we tried to get prenatal care and sign up at the hospital, they had no record of our payment and thus, no way to help us (unless, of course, we were willing to pay an obscene amount of money, money we didn't have). Little did we know that the strike would continue on for four months!
To make a long story short, our baby was born on the kitchen floor of our little Jerusalem apartment. I can honestly say it was one of the most terrifying, yet profound experiences of our lives.
But this got me thinking about insurance. Why do we buy insurance? So that we can be insured that we will get the help or care we need, should we ever need it, right? SURE! Well, we even paid in advance to have that assurance, and we didn't get it when our time of need came!
We are living in crazy times. Times where anything goes -- and anything can happen. And there is really only one insurance company that has been found truly faithful to help us in our time of need through it all. No, it's not Red Cross, or Blue Cross... It's THE Cross! What's more, this insurance doesn't cost us a thing! You'd think more people would jump on this deal, wouldn't you? Yeshua (Jesus) already paid for it with His hard-earned blood sweat and tears, on the cross two thousand years ago.
Let's take the time today to spread this heavenly insurance available for FREE -- in this day and age ... people need it!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]I can’t begin to tell you. So many people I’ve shared the Gospel with have answered, “Well — I don’t need that, I’m a good person.” No, we’re not. We have a tendency to compare ourselves with our neighbor, thinking how nice or how giving we are compared to him or her. But none of us are good by God’s standards. Our good works are like filthy rags, according to Isaiah.
If you look at the ant you will find that they dwell in colonies. Each colony consists of approximately 60,000 – 90,000 ants — they really can’t prosper on their own. They need each other. How does a colony of that many ants to work together? The only reason it works is that they operate in unity. Each ant shares the same purpose, the same goal, and the same aim.
The third great awakening took place during the late 1850s into the beginning of the 1900s. It was during this era that the wave of revivals sweeping America began spreading throughout the world. The era saw the abolition of slavery, women’s right to vote, and the end of child labor in factories.
In Israel, cell phones are all the rage. You wouldn’t believe it but parents even buy cell phones for their kids and send them to school with them in their schoolbags. I’m talking about six and seven-year-old kids! While it is true that part of the reason for this cell phone craze stems from the fact that violence goes on here daily and people want to be able to contact one another in the event of an emergency, I would still say that it’s somewhat excessive.
Charles William Eliot, former president of Harvard University, had a birthmark on his face that bothered him greatly. As a young man, he was told that surgeons could do nothing to remove it. Someone described that moment as “the dark hour of his soul.” Eliot’s mother gave him this helpful advice: “My son, it is not possible for you to get rid of that hardship…But it is possible for you, with God’s help, to grow a mind and soul so big that people will forget to look at your face.”
Rockets are flying through the skies of Israel and many are landing on the ground. Emails are also flying through cyberspace as people all over the world express support through prayer for us and our nation. Words cannot express our gratitude for your care and concern. In times like these the best and the worst are brought out in people: either the peace, confidence, and strength which come from faith, or the fear and panic which overwhelms the souls of worldly men.
Since moving to Israel we’ve been thrust into a Middle Eastern culture of “extreme hospitality”. The above parable from Luke takes place in a similar cultural context, and it powerfully illustrates how God wants us to approach Him.