In a few short weeks, we will embark on a trip of a lifetime to the Holy Land.  It’s been interesting to see the different reactions from people as they slowly learn of our trip.  So many want to know why we’ve chosen this place at this time.  Unity.  Unity was the catalyst behind the decision; the message that God teaches us in scripture – to love and be loved and be united to Him.  Just as God gave Eve to Adam, in the beginning, His story of love and unity is manifested in how we love and unite with one another. Our lives become the classroom.

Ignorance of scripture is ignorace of Christ – St. Jerome

After finishing up a study on scripture this past year, my husband surprised me with the offer to visit the Holy Land after an opportunity arose to join a local pilgrimage about a year ago.  We prayed about it for quite some time and I began doing a lot of research about the area.  In my research, I came across a video of a group who felt called to create a worship album in Jerusalem.  Their story is wonderful and you can find it here.

The group Heartcry of David felt called to prophetic worship in the land where our story began; a theme that resonated with my heart after this past year of bible study.  Their efforts to combine worship artists from both the Jewish and Christian faiths became what they call prophetic worship that taps into the heart of love and unity that God always intended for His people.

This idea of unity struck a cord within me and it pierced through my every thought as I listened to the noise of the world that surrounds me.  Television and social media scream at us day to day in a clear message of division.  How God’s heart must break to see His people so divided.  I return time and time again to scripture to find how often, throughout salvation history, God’s people chose to divide because of selfishness, power, and greed.  Yet, He continues to pour out His grace to teach us a better way to help in His plan.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

What will it take for our world to live in peace?  God’s message is one of love and unity and that love and unity must begin with us.  As the song below says, there is this aching that can’t be satisfied – this is where my heart is at, why I feel this deep desire to return to where our story began; to feel the ground below my feet where my Saviour walked.  I long to see through the eyes of my ancestors and hear God’s message in the hills and valleys where Christ preached.

I find myself drawn in, in an unusual way, that I have no control over; a pull from within to draw deeper into this mystery that God wants to reveal to His people.  This deep longing to be in the place where God united Jew and Gentile into this beautiful love story.  The way we understand the Creator may be different, but the Creator is still the same; the same God that we find different paths to.

When we pray we speak to God; but when we read, God speaks to us. ~ St. Jerome

After really studying scripture and understanding God’s word in a whole new light, there is a longing in this heart of mine to deepen this love that He intended for His people.  To spread a message of love and unity in our home, in our neighborhoods, in our communities, and in our world.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.