GALILEE OR DEAD SEA
Suggested Reading: Psalms 81-83
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
The Dead Sea, also called the Salt Sea, borders Jordan to the east and Israel and Palestine to the west. Its surface and shores are 423 metres (1,388 ft) below sea level...Earth's lowest elevation on land. The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean basin for thousands of years. Biblically, it was a place of refuge for King David. It was one of the world's first health resorts (for Herod the Great), and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from balms for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilizers. People also use the salt and the minerals from the Dead Sea to create cosmetics. As the Jordan River flows south, it picks up salts and other chemicals which eventually kill all life by the time the waters reach the Dead Sea. There is no escape from the Sea except by evaporation, which concentrates the deadly chemicals even more. Likewise, throughout the years in the flow of Israel's history, the people absorbed the sins of the surrounding nations and death spiritually was the result (Psalm 83).
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verse: Psalm 81:13
Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!
Psalm 82:5b tells us, “All the foundations of the earth are unstable.” The Bible is not a textbook on natural science, but when a statement is made on the subject, it is correct. The people could not have known about the great tectonic plates that move continents, causing earthquakes and opening up huge chasms such as the Jordan Valley. Geologists have calculated the increase of the salt in the Dead Sea, and a formula has been developed. If the formula is reversed to figure out the decrease of salt, it is possible to guess at the time when no waters flowed down to the lowest place on earth, and no salt was washed into that sea, which has no outward flow. This was not millions of years ago, but in the time from the flood of Noah to the fire and brimstone of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 7:11-24 & Genesis 19:24-29).
Our key verse tells us that God longs for His people to return to Him. If they had maintained their relationship with God consistently, they would have enjoyed the river of constant blessings instead of curses, defeat and death over and over again.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, I pray for consistency every day to draw from Your river of life as Your presence and purpose flows through time. Please grant me sufficient grace that I may not pick up the corrosive death-producing culture of this world. I yield my stubborn will to the current that flows from my daily meditation on Your Word and on the Person and work of Jesus Christ! In His Name I pray, Amen!!!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
I love the description of the “pure river of water of life,” which the Apostle John shared with us from his vision of the “Throne of God (Revelation 22:1-2). That river flows through Jesus Himself (John 4:7-14) and also John 7:37-39, where I’ve just read that Jesus cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scriptures have said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” There are several places in the Hebrew Scriptures to which Jesus referred. I’ve just looked up one of those and read Isaiah 43:19-21.
The upper Jordan flows from the pure sources at the base of Mount Herman in the north down to the fresh, life-filled Sea of Galilee. Then the water proceeds to descend down through that deep scar in the earth’s surface, known as the Rift Valley, into a place where no life can exist. I’ve tried to swim in the Dead Sea. It was very awkward, given the water’s unusual buoyancy (10 times more salty than the ocean). When I tried to swim, the tendency was for my head to sink under the surface and my feet to rise as I floated. At another time, after a long horseback ride along the upper Jordan, with my muscles aching and sore, my sons, who assist me in this blog, and I plunged into the waters for the most refreshing swim of our lives. The difference between the pure waters flowing from the mountains toward the Sea of Galilee and the eventual destiny of those waters (the Dead Sea) was enormous! Life and death is in those waters. I must stay constantly in the Living Waters, not picking up the death-producing contamination of this world as I travel through it.
Yours for choosing LIFE!!! HAPPY CANADIAN THANKSGIVING!!!
David
P.S. Pray for Ron and Moira as they host the Fall membership campaign over the next two weeks on the 100 Huntley Street daily telecast.
The shorelines of the Dead Sea are covered in some areas by massive salt deposits, as seen in this photo.
Happy thanks giving ( Canadian) god bless you all!!!!!!
(Looking for a scripture which say’s it’s ok to wear pants with an elastic waist band today!) Happy CDN Thanksgiving, to all!!
🙂
Gobble, gobble. Oh, Happy Day!
Well I don’t know David, I think they used to gird themselves with sackcloth in OT days as an excuse when they had too much to eat! Light fitting pants with an elastic waist band is probably a fine modern alternative! Besides, I think sackcloth would be incredibly itchy.
Deuteronomy 8:9-10 comes close, lol!! “It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking….When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.”
Praise the Lord!
You’re funny David!! Wear the pants and enjoy
your Thanksgiving dinner.
David M. Thank you for the memory of the
Dead Sea. Yes, it is impossible to swim in.
Reynold, your pics are beautiful!! Thank you!!,
Jer. 2:13. My people have committed two
sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of
Living water, and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
What a sad truth.
John 7:38. He who believes in Me, as the
scripture has said, out of his heart will flow
rivers of living water.
What a beautiful truth because we know that
everything the Living Water touches brings
life.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We have so
much to be thankful for each day that God
gives us breath. His creation around us is
gorgeous right now, dressed in all it’s Fall
finery.
Blessings in abundance.
Faith
Linda, Good call…Deut. 8:9-10
It’s good to laugh and have fun.
F
Thank you Lord for your great abundance in our land , God Bless everyone today
This is the day the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it .
PRAISE GOD
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE ?????
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
In Our Thanksgiving
In our thanksgiving, let us be grateful for one another,
For having shared the gift of friendship, over time.
As we plant the seeds, of memories we have gathered,
And place them in our garden, so sublime.
In our thanksgiving, let us realize the greatness,
Of the nation we are blessed, to call our home.
Where we can walk together, freely and securely,
As we feel the joys of living, on our own.
In our thanksgiving, let us celebrate the pleasures,
In the gift of life, God gave us to embrace.
And in so doing, let us live our full potential,
To give back to all mankind, a sense of grace.
In our thanksgiving, let us embody all the goodness,
That is in every breath of life, to which we see.
In the beauty of nature, and greatness of the people,
In the peacefulness, of what the world can be.
B.K. Busch
c. 2005
Amen Linda
Thank you Patricia for showing me where the song by Madissa “God Speaking to you”
yesterday you reminded me of something I use to do was soaking in the spirit
I also love Julie True as well
Thank you David for your memories and Renold for your pictures
Lianne Hogg
What a wonderful day to rejoice in the Lord–staying in the living waters. Thanks for the informative message, today, David, and most splendid photos, Reynold! They will make such delightful paintings! Yes, You, whose name alone is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth, and we, your children, give thanks and praise You! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Let us drink from the abundance of THE LIVING WATER that Christ our Saviour gives us and as David prayed stay constantly in the living water and not be contaminated by this world and what it offers.
Praise GOD from whom all blessings flow.
HAPPY Canadian THANKSGIVING to all.
The calculations of the age of the dead sea based on salt accumulation is like calculating the age of the universe or life on earth: wild guesses. Some general facts knock Darwin off his alter, such as the absence of evidence! However, Paul said not to be tempted by the rudiments of the world. It just go around in circles (apparently).
Happy Thanksgiving Day all Canadians! We are truly blessed to live in a land of plenty, and when we all share there’s enough for everyone. Thank you Reynold for the wonderful photos you take, todays is just amazing! Thanks David for the great lesson today, and thanks to Ron and Ann for getting up so early to make the Blog ready for 6a.m. each morning. You are all so appreciated! Most of all thanks to God, who planned this whole thing out to bless us! Love you Lots!
Dear David M.and precious fellow bloggers.
How very blessed and greateful I am to you Lord on this day of thanksgiving .We live in a country that so many newcomers consider a haven because of the freedom that prevails .As christians Lord tet us be by YOUR GRACE THROUGH THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT THE SHINING LIGHT FOR ALL THOSE THAT YOU PUT IN OUR PATH IN JESUS NAME AMEN
Happy Canadian thanksgiving every one
XXXX Carole and Ray.
Thank you David for your daily blog . Sometimes it’s hard to understand some of the scriptures and you help so much. The pictures make it great to visualize so many years ago.
Thank you to Ron & Reynold for their help..
God bless you and your family!!!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
Happy THANKS GIVING DAY to you all I’m so thankful the Lord has bestowed
such bounty on us Bless His Holly Name….R…
Happy Thanksgiving to all my blog buddies.!!! We give thanks to the Lord for His Goodness and give thanks for our family and friends. I am truly blessed and what a beautiful time of year. Today is my husband’s and my 41st wedding anniversary. It has been a long time since Thanksgiving Day and our anniversary landed on the same day. What a blessing. We are just getting ready to sit down for our Thanksgiving meal. Thank you Jesus!!!
Have a Happy Anniversary & Happy Thanksgiving Ruby. May God Bless you and your husband on this your special day!
how great to know that we can drink of that Blessed River of Life daily
Thank you Jesus, Lord of my Life!!!
Having a heart full of gratitude for all that our Load has done for us through his work of grace on our behalf! I was really blessed recently while reading Psalm 66:12. Inspite of testing and trials describes in this verse, it ends with this testimony, “But You brought us to a place of abundance” (NIV). The word, ‘abundance’ speaks for itself. But I couldn’t resist looking up some synonyms like “plenty, loads, lavish, more than enough, immeasurble, inexhaustible, overflowing” – how blessed we are to have “enough and to spare”. “Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loadeth us with benefits” (Ps.68:19a) KJV. On the basis of all this, Happy Thank “Thanks” and “Giving” now and throughout the year to one and all! Samuel