Rest in Messiah

Today I had the honor of being involved in something great: a Jew and an Arab, worshipping Christ together.


It doesn't get much better than that!!

I am a Jewish believer in Jesus. I've been to Israel, and I can tell you that the tension in the air there is palpable -- all the time. Jews, Arabs, Christians, Jewish Christians... They've all got their issues with one another and they are all in "survival mode" at any given time. Fear and hatred can permeate life over there -- as evidenced by the extensive security checks at every public place, the racist bumper stickers, and the hushed but serious warnings against going into certain areas.


Don't get me wrong, Israel is a beautiful place! I love it, and I frankly get "homesick" for it on a regular basis! But the remnants and reminders of war are everywhere. The threat of war is everywhere. And the strife -- well, it's everywhere.


I would be lying if I said it didn't affect me, when I was there. I couldn't help but feel a sense of solidarity with my Jewish people, and a loyalty to the nation of Israel. I would be lying if I said I didn't absorb some of the anger and hatred that was in the air. I would be lying if I said that I didn't feel uncomfortable at all going to a Middle Eastern restaurant back here in America, which was owned and operated by Muslims.

But what I realized, shortly after coming back from Israel, is that while my sense of allegiance to my people was not a bad thing in and of itself, my loyalty was FIRST to Christ. I may physically have a Jewish lineage, but my spiritual lineage is Divine. I have been born again, and that not of man, but of God!


It is true that God chose to reveal Himself through the Jewish people, and it is true that our Messiah is Jewish! But ultimately, His purpose is to draw ALL people to Himself, making Jew and Gentile one. The message of God's redemptive plan through Y'shua (Jesus) transcends all people, all cultures, all languages, and all races. The solidarity I feel with my Jewish people may be a normal human response to racial persecution -- but it is, in fact, human. It is carnal. It is not of the Heavenly Kingdom, of which I am a princess (since it belongs to my Heavenly Father!).


Many Jewish people who don't accept Jesus as Messiah argue, "The Messiah was supposed to bring peace. Where is the peace?" Once on an interview on national television, the Executive Director of an organization that brings the Gospel to Jewish people responded, "Peace begins in our hearts. It begins with our relationship to God. If we have peace with God, then we can have peace with each other."


As a Jewish person, it would be very easy for me to buy into the devil's lies about Arabs -- or about any other race of people, really. It would be easy to subscribe to the messages of hatred and resentment that try to permeate my thoughts, at times. And I am sure that my Arab friend, who sang with me in Arabic today in Chapel as I sang in Hebrew, can identify. But I am thankful that he and I have peace with God and each other through Jesus -- and because of that, God Himself enables us to reject the racism that has been a part of our cultures for generations!

In a time of such tension and unrest in the Middle East, what a beautiful picture of peace and rest in Messiah: a Jew and an Arab, worshipping Christ together.

AMEN!

God bless you,
SWCgirl