Send the fire today!

After our visit to Caesarea, we moved onto Mount Carmel, a possible place where Elijah went head to head with the prophets of Baal and called fire from heaven down. It was a stunning place. There was a beautiful garden of peace and tranquillity and as we stopped in a quiet part of the gardens, I heard an Indian priest address a group of pilgrims. He called them to rise up and follow the God, who in that place, sent fire down from heaven. He called them to be true disciples of Jesus. At this my heart stirred, and I had to stop myself from shouting AMEN!



As the group moved on and our guides spoke to us, they read from 1 Kings 18 and reminded us of the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. They also shared from James 5:16

“16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”



As we sat in the place where God so miraculously answered Elijah’s prayer, I prayed for a miracle in my life and circumstance. As I prayed, I prayed the line of this song:

“God of Elijah hear my cry, SEND THE FIRE!”

I felt a fire in my belly and I could have sat there all day with my hands raised in worship to the God of miracles!


After our visit to Mount Carmel we passed Nazareth and continued to Mount Tabor where it is believed that the transfiguration took place. After a rather frightening minibus ride (18 hairpin bends!!) we reached the top to find a sanctuary. We sat in a ruined part of the old monastery, and there we considered the transfiguration. We looked at Luke 9:28-36 and we focused on V33 where peter says:

“As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here.”

We also considered how a meeting with Jesus leads to transformation. When we glimpse him, his goodness leaves us changed. At that place, God’s presence was tangible, the peace it brought and the beauty of God was indescribable – I wanted to stay in that place forever (Much like Peter wanted to!)


But as we left, I felt a little bit of that peace settle upon me, I felt a little bit of Jesus’ transfiguration shine rest upon my soul and I thanked God that this meeting with Jesus WILL leave me transformed. 

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