Encouragement, Operation Imminent Trumpet, Reconnaissance, Special Operations
OPERATION IMMINENT TRUMPET UPDATE: Olympic Victory Report (Part 3)
(Header image – Post-race praise and worship time in the Kinneret!)
Shalom Friends,
In these trying times people need to experience the pure and invigorating joy of victory gained by the supernatural hand of God. I greatly desire that this 3rd installment of my involvement in the Maccabiah Olympic Games here in Israel infuse you with this same pure and supernatural joy of a victory gained against overwhelming odds! It is transferable via this digital medium so get your hearts open and let the river flow to all the dry areas of your life even now!
Exactly one year ago I was precipitating into quickly becoming another statistic of a hard working middle-aged husband/father who was on the path to obesity and sickness. It was not due to being lazy and inactive but rather it was the slow descent of a lifestyle based on unhealthy choices that stem from the late night culture of entertainment and fellowship of our modern society. I knew that my overeating at night after conducting powerful revival meetings was not healthy the last 15 years, but really had no role model to follow as most of the anointed servants I was fellowshipping with were also tipping the scales towards obesity. I’m not sure I can exactly pinpoint the date when I made the decision to radically alter my culturally influenced lifestyle, however, I do remember the date that a Godly fear gripped my heart to attack evil and it’s greatest manifestation today is in the form of religious terrorism. Not just the brand of Islamic jihad but also the camouflaged religious caliber of fear that manifest in the kingship monarchy system (i.e. Saul’s pursuing the David’s).
It was somewhere in this mix of visiting Israel and working in sync with the special units in combating terrorism and also preaching the Judges pattern of leadership for war, that my heart became circumscribed to use my physical body as a weapon of war for the Master’s service (see Romans 6:11-23). My desire to get healthy and fit was not for selfish cosmetic looks, as is so forced upon us by our modern culture, but rather it was to fight evil and thus be a good soldier for the Messiah (see 2 Tim. 2:1-7)! I now truly believe that if you are wanting to lose weight to look cosmetically good then that is a carnal, selfish, and self-centered approach that will be short lived and unsuccessful in the long run. But if you instead focus on your temple as being a instrument of war in this hour, then you will have the blessing of God’s supernatural energy and joy to successfully lose the weight, keep it off, and thus enter the realm of making your body a slave as is revealed to us by Holy Ghost in I Cor. 9:24-27! This is where God’s approval for this endeavor is actualized and this is the place where the commanded blessing mysteriously is found that will keep you in the long run!
Speaking of the long run, let me now turn your attention this morning to the second Maccabiah Olympic race I was in which was the grueling Triathlon Competition on the shores of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). After winning the Silver medal three days earlier in the Cycling Time Trial event, my body was still a bit fatigued from the dehydration of that desert race (click here to read our last OIT update).
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I had that forewarning in my belly that this was going to be a complex upcoming Triathlon race and much pain was going to be involved due to the extreme heat. So I got up at 2:30 AM and just waited on the Lord for strength until His invisible shalom settled into my spirit and soul (see Isaiah 40:28-31). It was in this zone that I repented for my own personal sins and short comings of ambition for another medal, when God told me that in His eyes I had already won the gold in the spirit realm, but in His eternal plan He had already predestined for another man on the USA team to win the medal for his future procurement towards salvation. (I was later to find out that this man who eventually did win the gold medal in my category had come to Israel to race his last race after competing in sports the last 25 years and now was going to retire. How awesome and fitting it was for him to race his last race and retire with a gold medal! I kept encouraging him later that now he can make Aliyah!)
I wrestled with this a few minutes that I was not going to win another medal and then finally saw the beauty of how God was ordaining this race to teach me more about the important themes of endurance, humility, and teamwork. Let me briefly outline these three character fruits so we all can produce more fruit for our Master.
- Endurance- This was the most difficult race I have ever ran. It was not the distance but rather the intense heat and very fast, strong International competitors in my age category. In the last leg of this triathlon race I was in 3rd place after a very strong bike leg, when suddenly I began to get negative, irritable, and wanted to stop. Why? This is the first signs of dehydration and I no longer cared about anything except stopping and giving up! I needed water and fuel! Thank God there was a aid station right around the corner and was able to chug down cold H2O! (Personal Application- When you feel like you’re getting irritable or even wanting to give up, that is when you need to soak and drink in His river of life! Get under the spout where the Glory is coming out quickly and don’t succumb to spiritual dehydration and make the wrong decisions you will later regret!)
- Humility- We are exhorted in I Cor. 10 to not just run the race…but run the race to win! That is a good ambition but we have to let Abba direct us what race it is we are to run that He has predestined us to win and what race we are to yield and learn the motif of suffering and being last. This is a very complex subject and I encourage you to read I Cor. 4 to get a handle on this mystery. Winning is not everything as is taught in our humanistic culture. We need to be very discerning in this area of what race we are called to aggressively dig into and which one to yield to. (Personal Application- Be very sober not to fall into the trap of our modern culture to be overly aggressive only to win 1st place. Whether it be climbing the corporate job ladder or wrongly competing with the local church down the street for numbers. There is a fine line between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of this world per James 3:13-18! Preferring one another is the key to humility!)
- Teamwork- This is a much needed fruit today in our modern culture that is possessed with individualism. When we focus on the big “I” we become idiocy centered and idiots. When I finally resolved that my part in this race was to help someone else out, then I entered into a supernatural strength to finish this race. I was later told by the man on our USA team who won the gold medal that he feared my bike riding and was expecting at any moment for me to fly past him on the bike leg…that it was this healthy fear that helped motivate him to win today! Wow! That is really cool and I like this aspect of sports where you use your strengths to help the team. (Spiritual Application- Hopefully in this climate of turmoil and uncertainty that believers worldwide can pull together and complement each other as the differing parts of the Body. To bear one another’s weaknesses and for His glory is really the atmospherics I want to stay in after this brutal Olympic race experience! One for all and all for one!)
The Race-
I want to say a big mega “thank you” to all of you who prayed for me in this triathlon race as the heat was so brutal and the only thing that kept me going was to occasionally look over at the Sea of Galilee and ponder on all that happened here in the past Gospel accounts! I was able to finish in the top 10 of my category with a very respectable 8th place finish with no injuries or heat related problems. (Continue to pray however for several athletes who did fall into heat exhaustion and our team USA captain is still in the hospital for treatment and observation.)
Here are some pics that I hope will bless you!
The 1500 Meter Swim -
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The 40 Kilometer Bike –
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The 10 Kilometer Run –
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OK, dear friends that is all I have time for this morning and need to run and get ready for another exciting day in the Promised Land! We do need to finish out the amount needed for the Olympic work here and it is now down to $4,872.00. Send in your love gifts to these exciting operations with full hilarious giving joy! Thank you for helping to hold up our hands in this race of faith for the awakening here thru these multi-faceted and unique projects, and we have enclosed below our latest family photo for those of you who have been wondering how our children are doing adapting to a new life here!
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In His love,
Scott and Dalit
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19 Jul 2009 06:30 pm Admin 0 comments
