Eyes for Faith

[bs_row class="row"]
[bs_col class="col-sm-8"]

By Wally Jenkins
For the second day in a row I rolled out of bed before 5:30 AM. I must still be adjusting to the time change, or the excitement for the excursions of the day gets me out of bed. I started the day on the rooftop of the hotel with John, Austin, and Will taking pictures of the sun rising over the Mountains of Moab and the Salt Sea.

After a breakfast rivaling IHOP’s finest, we went out to the edge of the Salt Sea for our morning devotional. Cierra shared many unique facts on the Salt Sea. She then asked us to imagine coming out of the mountains in the desert and seeing this large beautiful body of water. Then came the bad news that one cup of water from the Salt Sea would kill you. Upon hearing this, we reflected on the areas of our life we choose that are “killing” our FAITH.

Our first site for today was Ein Gedi. These mountains are best known for being the spot where David fled from Saul. Throughout our strenuous hike, Andrew inserted many breaks to walk us through the story of David’s fleeing. We took a look at the FAITH of David throughout 1 Samuel 15-24. As anointed King, with the opportunity to eliminate his problem, in the middle of the heated desert, and to the opposition of his own men’s advice, David chooses to spare Saul’s life and wait on God. Andrew then challenged us with the questions: Do we have the FAITH to wait on God, or do we take matters into our own hands and make ourselves God?

As God provided David with relief at Ein Gedi, he would do the same for us! When we had climbed over and down the mountain, we reached the Pool of David. It was a burrowed into the bottom corner of the mountain with a waterfall dropping into a pool. Fresh water is life to those in the desert. Matt walked us through the scriptures of Psalm 63, John 7, and Ezekiel 47, to see that water is life. With the reminder that last night as we floated in the Dead Sea we could not splash, drink, or submerge ourselves in the Dead Sea, Matt plummeted into the water. After finishing the teaching he invited us all to join him in the splashing, drinking, and submerging of ourselves into the living water. What a sweet memory for our group to fully indulge into opportunity of FAITH that we have in Jesus – the Source of living water.

Lunch held in store for us the Israeli version of Chick-Fil-A; “Schnetzel.” After feasting, we toured the city of Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. We learned much about the Essenes, the people group who wrote the scrolls around 200 B.C. Matt’s explanation of their dedication to the authenticity, preservation, and holiness of the text encouraged us to examine our daily relationship with the word of God.

We are headed north towards the Sea of Galilee where we will be spending the next few nights. We made it through another day of hiking with gorgeous weather and no major injuries. We are thankful for the things the Lord is showing us each day in order that our FAITH may grow.

[/bs_col]
[bs_col class="col-sm-4"]

[/bs_col]
[/bs_row]

[bs_row class="row"]
[bs_col class="col-sm-3"]

[/bs_col]
[bs_col class="col-sm-3"]

[/bs_col]
[bs_col class="col-sm-3"]

[/bs_col]
[/bs_row]

[bs_row class="row"]
[bs_col class="col-sm-3"]

[/bs_col]
[bs_col class="col-sm-3"]

[/bs_col]
[bs_col class="col-sm-3"]

[/bs_col]
[/bs_row]