Motzei Shabbat

 Jerusalem!

Psalms 137:5-6If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her skill. Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, If I remember thee not; If I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

    

    Well, I'd say there's Zero chance of this happening to me! Why? I'm so glad you asked!

    A few days ago I felt like something different for breakfast so I decided on a bagel to remind myself of the Holy City - after all, it's been more than 5 years since I was there and spent days tasting all sorts of Israeli cuisine!

    I called Jack's Bagels - you can find them here:

https://www.jacksbagels.co.za/  - I ordered the Avo & Creamy Mushroom Bagel as well as the Avo Breakfast Bagel.

    Oh boy! Were they delicious! I had to separate their eating by 2 hours as my tummy couldn't take all that yumminess so close together.

    So, what has this got to do with Jerusalem? Well, while I was munching away, I found my thoughts flying off to Israel and I saw myself walking the streets of Jerusalem with our small tour group and finding cafes and restaurants that served all sorts of food that you can only find in Israel - unless you're Jewish and make these delicacies in your own kitchen - and, as I remembered eating bagels - Yes, I started to cry for missing the Holy City. I have learned - for my own self-preservation - to push down the longing for the Eternal City so as not to spend all my time crying. But on this particular morning the Bagel was too much of a reminder.

    Why do I miss Jerusalem so much? Well, the Presence of the Father lives there in a way that I have never experienced anywhere else at all, ever. And when I prayed at the Western Wall, it was as though I was approaching His Very Presence. There is Scripture to back this up too, from the time of the dedication of Solomon's Temple. God said His Presence would always be there.

    While I was in Jerusalem, my heart was the happiest it's ever been. I smiled from morning to night. I wish I could stay there. Of course, I would want the rest of the tour group with me too! We were the Fantastic Four!

     When all is said and done, my Father is a God Who keeps His Word. 

  I eagerly await the day when the Messiah will gather me and return me - along with multitudes of other believers - to Jerusalem, to sit at His feet and listen to Him teach us Torah, from out of Zion.

Bo, Yeshua, bo!