Time to pull out the big bait!

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

I love fishing but sadly, I haven't been able to do it in quite some time. Yeah, I know, one would think there'd be some good fishing spots here in Israel. However, from what I understand, they're not really available to the public. So sad. Nevertheless, fishing gives me a chance to get a break from the world and just relax and meditate -- and on a good day, maybe catch a fish or two.

I recently saw a fishing-related cartoon that really moved me. Pictured, were two Eskimos fishing through holes in the ice. One of them had his line in a hole the size you'd expect to see. But the guy sitting next to him had his line in an enormous hole, in the shape of a whale!

This guy was hungry! He didn't want some dinky little fish! He was fishing for whales! In the same way, if we want to do greater things for the Lord, we must have a greater hunger and a greater vision!!

Are you hungry for the bigger and better things of the Lord today? Let's enlarge our vision for Him! Let's expect an abundant harvest -- for truly the harvest is plentiful!

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Though the new cycle of Israel's feasts has concluded, I'd like to share one more observation about last week's high holy day, Yom Kippur. It is a day on which adults are afflicting themselves by fasting, abstaining from all pleasures, and repenting. But for the children, Yom Kippur is a very different holiday. This day is my son Obi's favorite holiday! Why? Because the kids are not fasting or recalling their sins or suffering at all – they are celebrating freedom!

“Don’t be anxious”…even though it's a perfectly natural response to mounting threats; sickness, finances, employment, uncertainty, emotional stress, family crises...Nevertheless, it says, "Don't be anxious about anything". Instead, pray!

A major earthquake struck Taiwan over the weekend, which triggered a tsunami warning as far away as Japan.

This reminded me of when we first moved to Israel, in 2003.

The word "verily", in this verse, is the Hebrew word “emunah” (em-oo-nah). It also means "faith" or "faithfully". When we trust in the Lord, and our trust is demonstrated by doing good, He declares that He will faithfully feed us. How will we be fed?

In the early 1800's a preacher gave a message to call men to join him on the mission field in Africa. In the audience were only a few women along with a boy. The pastor knew that few women were expected to volunteer to face harsh African jungle conditions. However, he gave the message; and no one responded. What he didn't realize was that he had touched the heart of a little boy whose name was David Livingstone. This boy would grow up to spend the rest of his life ministering to Africa's unreached tribes.

A.W. Tozer had an interesting commentary on this verse. He said: "Faith is seeing the invisible, but not the nonexistent."

When does God answer our prayers? And when do we receive what we ask of Him? And when are we confident He has heard our requests? Many of us wonder why our prayers seem to go unanswered.