June 27–The Dead Sea.

Happy Thursday! I have been looking at all the pictures of the flooding the the four-states the last few days and it is crazy and awful. It’s hard to believe that there could be so very much water. And it seems to be everywhere—ponds, rivers, lakes are all over their banks. It’s a mess—the exact opposite of the desert. Please pray for families and communities that have lost so very much. 

When we were in the Jordan Valley, the land was green and lush but as we approached the Dead Sea, just south of Jericho, it was really different. It’s desolate in the land of Sodom and Gomorrah—where God destroyed all the plant life.  

“Then GOD rained brimstone and fire down on Sodom and Gomorrah—a river of lava from GOD out of the sky!—and destroyed these cities and the entire plain and everyone who lived in the cities and everything that grew from the ground.” Genesis‬ ‭19:24-25‬ ‭MSG‬‬

The Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth, doesn’t support any life. It’s 1,300 feet below sea level. Water from the Jordan River runs into it but nothing leaves except by evaporation. Isn’t that a picture of how God takes care of us? The Jordon River, a representation of life as it winds past the land, through all sorts of good places and bad, and ends in the Dead Sea. From there, the water is taken up to the sky to be “living” once again. It’s a perfect picture of life after death. 

When I was swimming in the Sea, it was the strangest feeling—you can’t sink. No matter how hard you might try, you can’t! It’s hard to keep your feet under you. You just start to sit down and lean back—kind of like in the perfect recliner. There is so much salt and minerals dissolved, (9 times as much as the ocean) that it is much heavier than we are. In fact, it is only 63% water. It was almost a comforting feeling as I laid my head back—I felt cradled—as if God himself had wrapped me up. I think that’s how death feels for the Christian—warm and cradled. 

And that would be the exact opposite of how Lot felt when he tried to live in Sodom. He was conflicted and tormented, which is what happens when we try to have a foot in both worlds. The ending of that for us is just like it was for Lot—great sorrow. We have to determine which path we are going to travel to our ultimate goal as not look to the left nlor right.  

“God decreed destruction for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. A mound of ashes was all that was left—grim warning to anyone bent on an ungodly life. But that good man Lot, driven nearly out of his mind by the sexual filth and perversity, was rescued. Surrounded by moral rot day after day after day, that righteous man was in constant torment.” 2 Peter‬ ‭2:6-8‬ ‭MSG‬‬

Lord God Almighty, thank you for your lessons in pictures for us. You have told us and shown us the lessons you’d have for us to learn and given us examples of the way to live and what comes of it when we choose our own way. Thank you for our life now and for our life to come. You are the beginning and the end. We pray Father for those friends and loved ones who are battling illness of every kind. We ask for you healing touch and to wrap them in your love. Bless us this day Lord and forgive us where we have failed you and tried to live both ways. Teach us your ways and help us as we leave behind those things that separate us from you. We love you and praise you Lord. Amen and amen. 

Love you dear one,

Pam