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).

Here is my Silver medal with Team Canada getting their gold medal on the
podium in the background.  Lots of joy in the atmospherics in this pic!


Here I’m with the overall Gold medal winner of the Elite category (standing center)
who also represented Russia in the 2004 Athens Summer Olympic games.

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!)

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!  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!

In His love,

Scott and Dalit