Read Genesis 22:1-19.

Mystery journey

I ended last week’s devotional by setting out how I cried out to God in the wake of receiving a life-threatening diagnosis. I sensed the Lord speak the strangest of answers to my prayer: “Go to Jerusalem.” Once I understood this was not only an instruction but also an invitation, in just a few days I found myself in a budget hotel on the Mount of Olives, within walking distance of the Old City. The one single view from my bedroom window was the magnificent Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount.

My first outing into the Old City took me to the Pool of Bethesda, where Jesus healed the man who had been lame for 38 years. I sensed Him questioning me as He had that man: “Do you want to be well?” My answer was “Yes, Lord”. The only water to be found on the site was down very many steps to a pre-Roman level.

From then on, and without pre-planning, my whole week was spent exploring underground Jerusalem ...

At that point I believe I heard the Holy Spirit say to me: “There IS living water but you will need to dig down deep into Me to find it”. Dig down deep? Were there levels in me and depths in God that I had not yet reached? Absolutely! It seems that at some point I had stopped ‘digging’ and I needed to restart excavating my relationship with Him. From then on, and without pre-planning, my whole week was spent exploring underground Jerusalem; its ancient passages, tunnels and channels, as the Lord repeatedly hammered home to me the same message.

Shalom

It was at the Western Wall of the Temple Mount that Father met with me personally. I had just finished praying the blessing of peace over Jerusalem (Psalm 122) when immediately I felt the Lord place His hand on my head and say: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid.” He spoke peace into my spirit and immediately the negativity and limitation that had previously occupied my thoughts and influenced my behaviour completely evaporated. I was well!

Our English Bibles always translate the word ‘shalom’ as ‘peace’. But in Hebrew it means so much more; completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety, soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony and the absence of agitation or discord. As I prayed shalom over Jerusalem, He blessed ME with His shalom instead!

Through this experience I came to know God personally as my Adonai Shalom (Lord of Health & Wholeness). Would I have received this healing without going to Jerusalem? Possibly, but whenever we hear God’s Word, He expects us to obey it. It is not just knowing the Word of God that digs the foundation of the house on the rock, but putting it into practice.

As I prayed shalom over Jerusalem, He blessed ME with His shalom instead!

Foundation digging

It was only through obedience that God’s covenant partner Abraham came to know Him as his provision. His encounter with God was on a rock; in fact, the very rock I looked out on from my Jerusalem bedroom window; the one covered today by the great Dome of the Rock, on the Temple Mount, also known as Mount Moriah.

As a result of my encounter on that very same rock, I am different. My foundation is stronger; I am more secure in the depth of His love towards me, deeper in love with Him and eager to keep on mining the depths of as-yet-untapped riches in Him. But I still have to live with the ongoing effects of a life-limiting disease that from time to time manifests itself in my physical body …
For many of us, our storms don’t just go away; they are part of everyday life. God means us to so deepen our relationship with Him that, despite the storms we face, we are able to live as overcomers, over and through them, not under and subject to them.

The covenant blood of Jesus is our one true foundation. We are the carriers of His life to our world today, but we must take great care what and how we build on His foundation. Anything other than following His ways will leave what is ‘built’ open to the ravages of the elements.

The covenant blood of Jesus is our one true foundation.

Perhaps this is your opportunity to do some foundation ‘digging’!

Additional reading: Psalm 107:28-30; John 16:33; 2 Corinthians 1:3-11.

Prayer Time:

Read again the previous Through the Storm devotional Our Covenant Partner. Read slowly through the nine steps to covenant-making. As you do so, ask the Holy Spirit to highlight which of the nine steps He wants you to focus on today. If you have time, then perhaps consider doing more than one or take one a day over the next week or so.

Prayerfully reflect on your chosen step. Consider the answers to the following questions:

• What is this step teaching you about God’s love and character?
• What is it showing you about how He sees you?
• What has He shown you about the value He places on your relationship with Him?

Use a concordance or your favourite Bible programme or app to explore this aspect more. E.g.:

• Can you find at least one scripture where this truth is reiterated somewhere else in the Old Testament?
• Can you find at least one scripture where this truth is restated by Jesus, Paul or one of the other New Testament writers?

The other devotionals in this series can be found here.