Celebration Israel 31 July – 6 August 2016

Update 7 April, 2016

Returning to the Garden

Celebration for the Nations this year will take place on the highest part of Mount Carmel. From there Elijah called for rain in his generation. On this mountain, thousands of years ago, the nation of Israel turned their hearts back to the Lord God.

Many who have been working in the north of Israel for years sense there is a stirring in the spiritual realms. The Lord is moving as His people are gathering to cry out to Him and worship Him. The Lord is calling us in Celebration for the Nations to be a part of this!

Carmel, in Hebrew means 'fruitful field' which can also be translated 'garden'. As I have prayed over the emphasis the Lord has for this year, I felt that He is inviting us to return to the Garden.

In the Garden of Eden there was no separation between God and man, and no barrier between man and woman. There was perfect love, no fear, no pain. Today our world is full of pain and fear because we have been separated from the Lord through our sin.

The Lord is a place as well as a person. He has told us, 'abide (live) in me, and I abide in you' (John 15:4). In His own body He broke down the dividing wall of hostility between us so that He could create 'in himself one new man' (Ephesians 2:14-15). He dealt with our sin as His body was torn on the Cross. From His sacrifice, the Garden City, the new Jerusalem was created. We are all a part of that wonderful garden.

We have a choice. We live in this world of pain and division, but we need not belong to it. Jesus invites us to live in Him. Every time we forgive someone who does not deserve our forgiveness, or serve someone who, naturally speaking, we would not care for, we show that we are living in Jesus. Our own love is so very selfish, but we can draw on His life, His love. This is worship. This is honouring Jesus.

Let's live in Jesus day by day, knowing that He has made for us a beautiful Garden City to enjoy with Him forever. The River of Life flows through that Garden, just as it did in Eden at the Beginning. In it will be people from every tribe and nation, Jews and Arabs, Korean and Japanese, Welsh and English, Indian and Pakistani.

Come with Him into the garden as we prepare our hearts for this year's Celebration.

Shalom, Gail