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#Dream Again #Hope Again #Vacation #On Hold

Writer's picture:  Cheryl J. Rountree Cheryl J. Rountree

Since we are in the last month of summer and in the COVID-19 Pandemic, I thought I would share a small clip of my vacation when I visited Israel in 2017. It will lift your spirit if you are feeling down. You are looking at the Mediterranean Sea at Caesarea Philippi. It was a Greco-Roman city located near the ancient city of Dan, in the northern part of Israel, by Mount Hermon and the Jordan River. Caesarea Philippi is the site of an ancient spring in northern Israel where Jesus took his disciples to reveal his identity as the Messiah, the Son of God.


Since the Coronavirus-19, many are not traveling for a vacation with their families. Vacation plans are on hold until another time in the future. We are one of these families. And since we could not travel, I must admit it was a "Debbie Downer." However, I took out my photo album and looked at my electronic photo disk and found many reasons to smile again. I have found that going back and looking at my old photos is a booter to the spirit. Planning for the future gives me hope for tomorrow. When I went to Israel, it changed my life and ways I could not explain. It was the trip of a lifetime. For me to ride on a boat on the Sea of Galilee was awesome. Jesus Christ, my Lord, and Savior, once walked on water and sailed its Sea with His Disciples. On that day in 2017, as His disciple today, I traveled the same Sea. The Lord Jesus has us, and He will get up through this storm. I pray this short clip of the Mediterranean Sea will lift your spirit. Dream Again. Hope Again.


MT 16:13-23

When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”  He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”


MK 8:27-33


Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 


And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 


He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.


Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”


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