WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:17.960 I am having so much fun doing a virtual tour to Israel. 2 00:00:17.960 --> 00:00:22.480 We've put together a tour group for 10 days and we're going through all of the amazing 3 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:28.240 sites in the Holy Land and right now we are on day three up in the Galilee. 4 00:00:28.240 --> 00:00:29.240 You can join us. 5 00:00:29.240 --> 00:00:33.200 If it's not too late, jump in and join us on our journey. 6 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:39.520 I've been watching videos and enjoying the content that's in there for day three and 7 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:47.440 up in the Galilee there's a beautiful area north of Capernaum and there's some cities 8 00:00:47.440 --> 00:00:56.120 up there that Jesus would have spent 60 to 70% of his ministry at, Bethsaida and Chorazin. 9 00:00:56.120 --> 00:01:03.120 And you know when I went to Israel, Chorazin was probably one of those places that I remember 10 00:01:03.120 --> 00:01:10.520 the most and oddly enough it was because it was a city that Jesus cursed. 11 00:01:10.520 --> 00:01:16.920 Now I know a lot of people don't want to think about Jesus cursing anything but he did and 12 00:01:16.920 --> 00:01:18.280 here's why. 13 00:01:18.280 --> 00:01:24.060 See these people had watched him all this time in his ministry. 14 00:01:24.060 --> 00:01:29.240 They had seen the supernatural, they had seen the miracles, they had seen the feeding 15 00:01:29.240 --> 00:01:35.680 of the 5,000, they had seen the blind eyes open and the deaf ears open and they had heard 16 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:40.920 him preach and they had gotten heart of heart. 17 00:01:40.920 --> 00:01:47.280 They had taken a lot of what they had experienced for granted. 18 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:50.800 And in Luke 10, it's a kind of an interesting portion of scripture. 19 00:01:50.800 --> 00:01:55.780 It starts in about verse 8 and here Jesus is speaking to his disciples and he's telling 20 00:01:55.780 --> 00:02:01.660 them to go into all the world and preach the gospel and if they don't receive you, shake 21 00:02:01.660 --> 00:02:03.100 the dust off your feet. 22 00:02:03.100 --> 00:02:12.100 But when he gets down to the end of here, he is kind of warning the people, woe to you 23 00:02:12.100 --> 00:02:16.580 and Chorazin and that's actually starting in about verse 13. 24 00:02:16.580 --> 00:02:22.440 Woe to you Chorazin, woe to you Bethsaida, for the mighty works which were done in you 25 00:02:22.440 --> 00:02:31.000 had been done in Tyre or Sidon, they would have repented long ago sitting in sackcloth 26 00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:32.000 and ashes. 27 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:35.200 And what he's basically saying is you know those people over there that don't believe 28 00:02:35.200 --> 00:02:37.280 in God at all? 29 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:44.440 If they had seen what you had seen, they would have repented and they would have turned back 30 00:02:44.440 --> 00:02:47.140 from their sin. 31 00:02:47.140 --> 00:02:53.260 Sometimes when you're raised in a Christian environment or in a Christian home or a school 32 00:02:53.260 --> 00:02:57.460 or a church or whatever, you can kind of get to the point where you begin to take all of 33 00:02:57.460 --> 00:03:00.300 that for granted. 34 00:03:00.300 --> 00:03:05.640 And there are people out there all over the world who've never seen God do miracles. 35 00:03:05.640 --> 00:03:07.340 They never got to go on a missions trip. 36 00:03:07.340 --> 00:03:10.340 They never sat in a chapel where the Holy Spirit moved. 37 00:03:10.340 --> 00:03:16.200 They never sat in a church service where the presence of God was so tangible you could 38 00:03:16.200 --> 00:03:19.680 feel it and you knew it. 39 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:26.200 And he's telling them here, you've really cursed yourself. 40 00:03:26.200 --> 00:03:29.720 Now I know that's kind of hard to hear, but it's Luke 10, okay? 41 00:03:29.720 --> 00:03:32.720 Go check it out. 42 00:03:32.720 --> 00:03:37.720 I want to connect that today with something really good that can happen out of something 43 00:03:37.720 --> 00:03:40.200 really bad, okay? 44 00:03:40.220 --> 00:03:42.180 So don't think I'm stopping there. 45 00:03:42.180 --> 00:03:47.220 See, have you gone through some seasons in your life that have been hard? 46 00:03:47.220 --> 00:03:51.580 Have you experienced some things that have made you maybe doubt God and his goodness 47 00:03:51.580 --> 00:03:53.180 and his reality? 48 00:03:53.180 --> 00:03:59.780 Have you walked long enough with God now that you kind of question things? 49 00:03:59.780 --> 00:04:03.540 Well, first off, how do you get out of that rut? 50 00:04:03.540 --> 00:04:08.460 Well, number one, remember the miracles that he did for you. 51 00:04:08.460 --> 00:04:10.660 Remember the supernatural provision. 52 00:04:10.660 --> 00:04:15.420 Remember those moments when he was doing the abundant and beautiful thing. 53 00:04:15.420 --> 00:04:17.779 He wants to do those again. 54 00:04:17.779 --> 00:04:22.940 You know, at times, in order to really kind of set my own attitude straight, I've had 55 00:04:22.940 --> 00:04:26.020 to go back and rehearse my miracles. 56 00:04:26.020 --> 00:04:31.980 I've had to go back and remember the supernatural things that he did for me. 57 00:04:31.980 --> 00:04:36.140 And I want to encourage you to do that yourself. 58 00:04:36.140 --> 00:04:42.380 Because when you look back on his goodness and you look back on his provision, you know 59 00:04:42.380 --> 00:04:44.820 you can trust him. 60 00:04:44.820 --> 00:04:48.900 The next thing I want to share is out of Jeremiah 29, 11. 61 00:04:48.900 --> 00:04:53.980 You know that wonderful memory verse, Oh, I know the plans I have for you, says the 62 00:04:53.980 --> 00:04:54.980 Lord. 63 00:04:54.980 --> 00:04:57.900 The plans to bless you and give you a future and a hope. 64 00:04:57.900 --> 00:04:59.060 Now stop right there. 65 00:04:59.060 --> 00:05:00.060 Do you know? 66 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:07.040 that that scripture was given to the Jewish people at a time when they were 67 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:14.680 in exile? It was. That scripture was not given to them at a time when everything 68 00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:19.760 was so wonderful and hunky-dory. No, they they were in exile. And it's really 69 00:05:19.760 --> 00:05:24.600 interesting when you go back and you look at that, and I kind of went over the 70 00:05:24.600 --> 00:05:28.520 chapter today thinking about that because I'm in my devotional time I'm 71 00:05:28.520 --> 00:05:36.080 thinking about Jeremiah. And in this whole thing here, in this whole chapter 72 00:05:36.080 --> 00:05:43.120 here, the prophet is telling them, don't look at where you're at. Maybe you're not 73 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:46.960 where you want to be. Maybe you're not back in the Holy Land. Maybe you're not 74 00:05:46.960 --> 00:05:51.400 in Jerusalem. Maybe you were taken captive and taken as a slave and hauled 75 00:05:51.400 --> 00:05:56.200 off to someplace where you don't want to be. Maybe you're in a situation that you 76 00:05:56.200 --> 00:06:05.560 don't really like right now. But you know what? God will often use those places as 77 00:06:05.560 --> 00:06:11.600 the biggest blessing. He will use those places as the biggest breakthrough. 78 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:19.140 Because what God did in their heart in exile was more important to him than 79 00:06:19.140 --> 00:06:25.000 anything else. He's telling them, trust me, I know you don't like what this king 80 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:28.320 has done. I know you don't like the situation that you're in right now. I 81 00:06:28.320 --> 00:06:36.520 know this is bad. But put your feet down. Plant your vineyards. Put in your garden. 82 00:06:36.520 --> 00:06:42.280 Build your home. Marry. Have children. Build a life where you are right now. 83 00:06:42.280 --> 00:06:47.320 Because where you are right now, I'm gonna do something beautiful in your 84 00:06:47.320 --> 00:06:54.240 heart. Right there. Don't think about the future. Oh well, if this would only happen 85 00:06:54.240 --> 00:07:00.440 I would be happy. Really? You need to be happy right now. Well, if this hadn't 86 00:07:00.440 --> 00:07:07.160 happened to me, well, you know what? You can take a bad situation and you can 87 00:07:07.160 --> 00:07:13.920 turn it for good really based on your attitude. The exiles here were in, they 88 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:19.040 were in bondage. They didn't want to be there. This isn't where they wanted to be. 89 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:22.160 And they had a lot of prophets telling them, oh, you know, giving them these 90 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:27.800 really wonderful hunky-dory words. When in reality, the Prophet Jeremiah is 91 00:07:27.800 --> 00:07:34.040 saying, hey listen, pray to the Lord for it because if it prospers, you will 92 00:07:34.040 --> 00:07:39.400 prosper. He's trying to tell them, I'm gonna do a good work in your heart. I'm 93 00:07:39.400 --> 00:07:46.600 gonna take where you are right now and I am going to bless you. I'm gonna do a 94 00:07:46.760 --> 00:07:52.800 work in your life while you're in exile. And then it goes down here, for this is 95 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:56.840 what the Lord says, when 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you 96 00:07:56.840 --> 00:08:01.560 and I'll fulfill my faith, my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 97 00:08:01.560 --> 00:08:05.920 He's got a promise here. He's gonna bring him back. He's gonna take him back. And 98 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:10.880 then the verse, for I know the plans I have for you, says, declares the Lord. 99 00:08:10.880 --> 00:08:15.560 Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a 100 00:08:15.560 --> 00:08:21.360 future. And he drops down even further, go down to verse 13. You will seek me and 101 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:25.760 find me when you seek me with all your heart. And I will be found by you, declares 102 00:08:25.760 --> 00:08:30.400 the Lord. And I will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the 103 00:08:30.400 --> 00:08:34.200 nations and the places where I have banished you, declares the Lord. I will 104 00:08:34.200 --> 00:08:40.640 bring you back to the place from where I carried you into exile. He is 105 00:08:40.640 --> 00:08:46.360 reassuring them in their tough place, in their hard place, in their difficult 106 00:08:46.360 --> 00:08:53.320 situation, that he's in control, that he can be trusted, and that he is good. Go 107 00:08:53.320 --> 00:08:58.640 back. Remember, remember the miracles that he brought you through. Remember the 108 00:08:58.640 --> 00:09:04.320 supernatural moments that he moved in your life. The moments of provision, the 109 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:09.800 moments of breakthrough. And rehearse those, and then look where you're at 110 00:09:09.800 --> 00:09:16.840 right now, and you might be surprised to see just how good he's been. He's a good 111 00:09:16.840 --> 00:09:23.920 God, and he can be trusted. Thank you for taking the time to listen today. You can 112 00:09:23.920 --> 00:09:30.600 go to www.RestoringWord.com. Go to BibleTouring.com to join us on the tour. 113 00:09:30.600 --> 00:09:35.320 There's more information on Facebook. And guess what? The tour that I had put 114 00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:42.880 together with Noseworthy Travel is still up and going. Pray about it. Maybe someday 115 00:09:42.880 --> 00:09:49.640 you'll come with me to Israel. I would love to have you join me. Have a good day.