By Stacy Rebert

I pray that this blesses Israel and encourages the Gentiles in some way.  Much love and blessings to both of you and your whole family and congregation!

Through the Eyes of a Stranger
I am a stranger.
But I can see.
I stand on the outside, but I see clearly into the inside.
I can't see with my own eyes, but I have been blessed to see through the eyes of Wisdom.
She has graced me with sight and understanding.
 
The view into the inside is painful and full of sorrow.
I see lies.
I see disorder.
I see injustice.

I see death.
Through all this, I feel unimaginable pain.
I feel the pain of a stranger...
Of looking in from the outside.
Of recognizing my inward parts and their origin.
Of recognizing the raw truth of who I am and receiving it.
I feel an intimate pain of the true people...
A people who are the target of all that is wrong.
A people born into misidentity, deprivation, and a disconnect from their God.
A people rich with an inheritance they know not,
Who sleep so soundly throughout their existence of poverty and bondage.
A people for whom their own land mourns as it lies in desolation.
A people who have a deep void for their God and recognize it not.
A people of dry bones with no life.

This view into the inside is truly painful and full of sorrow.
But there is another view into the inside...

Where in the midst of pain and sorrow, there is joy unexplainable.
I see truth.
I see order.
I see justice,
And I see life.
An indescribable joy resides in this view.
An overflowing burst of joy in simply knowing the truth.
I feel a hope and peace now for myself...
I know the truth of who I am and who I was created to be.
I know where I personally fit into the plan of the Most High God.
I know the peace of my own future.
And I feel great hope for the true people who have now taken part of my heart...
They are the chosen ones of the Great One that I know and serve.
They are not strangers but the true residents of all the land.
They are in the process of complete restoration...
Of their identity,
Of their connection to their God,
Of their rightful place in the earth,
And a restoration of and rejoining to their own land.
They are rising and coming to life, and their life will bring light to all others!

This view into the inside is one of justice, joy, and renewal.
 
I am still a stranger,
But I can see!!
I stand on the outside, but I can see clearly into the inside!
I rejoice this day that my eyes receive the images and my ears comprehend the words of the Most High God of Israel.
I rejoice this day, with all of you -- the true people of the Word; I rejoice!!