As you may have seen on May 14th, the worldwide news covered President Donald J. Trump keeping his promise to move the United States Embassy to its rightful location in Jerusalem. The City of David is the compass that God uses when describing any other location on earth; it is the epicenter of the universe. Every meaningful thing that’s going to happen in the future is coming from Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is where Jesus Christ of Nazareth rode in and presented Himself as the Messiah. He died on the outskirts of that city, then rose again. Jerusalem is where He is coming back! Jerusalem is where He’s going to put His foot on the Mount of Olives and split it in half. Jerusalem is where He will walk across the Kidron Valley and set up His throne on the Temple Mount where He will sit and rule for a thousand years of perfect peace. Yes, Jerusalem is a place of great importance in Scripture.
This is exactly what I was explaining to President Donald J. Trump when I had the privilege of being invited to the White House for dinner. I told him that he would be forever engraved in our history books if he did indeed fulfill his promise to move the embassy. I gave him many
Scriptural reasons as to why Jerusalem is Israel’s rightful capital, and gave him our full support regarding this move and his friendship with Israel. What a wonderful thing to have a president who honors the apple of God’s eye!
On May 14, 2018, President Trump fulfilled his promise, a thing so many others before him failed to accomplish.
On that supernatural and historic day, Diana and I were guests of Ambassador David Friedman along with a delegation of 40 members of Congress, Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Jason Greenblatt and other distinguished guests who had gathered from all corners of the globe. What a great honor to be able to give the benediction on a day where you could literally feel the presence of God in the atmosphere! That day will remain etched in our memories as nothing short of a divine miracle!
I remember as a young child in 1948, just eight years old, sitting around the table with my father and listening to the radio as Israel was proclaimed a nation. It is an immense blessing on Israel’s 70th anniversary to not only be standing in Israel and watching history unfold, but to actually be able to participate in it!
Thank you, God, for using us to share Your love around the world in a tangible way. Thank You for sending over four million people to support this great cause via Christians United for Israel (cufi.org). In the beginning, there was little-to-no support for us as we raised the banner of love for our Jewish friends. But now, YOU, oh God, are raising up an army beside us to stand and say, “ISRAEL, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!”
Never in my mind’s eye as a child would I have been able to imagine the great things God had in store for this ministry, but I thank God for every hard knock along the way, because it made us grow stronger. It made us understand how to better face the giants and fight with righteous indignation.
Thank you for supporting, praying and walking with us on this journey. Without YOU, we could not have accomplished so much on a global scale.
Over the years, as a ministry, we have supported Israel with our words, actions and resources, and we will continue to be a true and loyal friend to Israel and all our Jewish friends around the world. We have had the pleasure of relocating some back to Israel, while also being able to provide assistance to those in need, from the elderly to the young orphans. The needs are great, but you have responded with overwhelming love and for that I am forever grateful.
On the same day that I was giving the benediction at the new embassy in Jerusalem, my son, Pastor Matt, flew to Washington, D.C. to accept an honor on my behalf. In celebration of Israel’s 70th anniversary, the state honored 70 people who were the greatest contributors since her inception, those who have been invaluable in the strengthening and blessing of the Israeli nation. You may recognize some of the other recipients such as Albert Einstein, Frank Sinatra, and Reinhold Niebuhr.
The Jewish News Service said, “CUFI has become the largest pro-Israel Christian group in the United States, and one of Israel’s most significant and vital sources of support in America.” We are grateful for the journey that has positioned us to bless Israel and the Jewish people. Thank You, God!
It was a great honor to be asked to pray the benediction over the American Embassy. Allow me to share it with you:
“Our Most Gracious, Heavenly Father; God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God who calls the stars by name and measures space with the span of His hand; the God who is the King of the universe,
We gather here today to thank You for the joy of living and seeing this glorious and historic day. We thank You for the state of Israel, the lone torch of freedom in the Middle East, who lives and prospers because of Your everlasting love for the Jewish people.
It was You, oh Lord, who gathered the exiles from the nations and brought them home again. It was You who made statehood possible. It was You who gave a miraculous victory in 1967, when Jerusalem was reopened to worshippers of all faith.
Jerusalem is the City of God. Jerusalem is the heartbeat of Israel. Jerusalem is where Abraham placed his son on the altar of the Temple Mount and became the father of many nations. Jerusalem is where Jeremiah and Isaiah penned principles of righteousness that became the moral foundations of western civilization. Jerusalem is where Messiah will come and establish a Kingdom that will never end.
We thank You, oh Lord, for President Donald Trump’s courage in acknowledging to the world a truth established 3,000 years ago: that Jerusalem is, and always shall be, the eternal capital of the Jewish people. And because of the courage of our president, we gather here today to consecrate the ground upon which the United States Embassy will stand reminding the dictators of the world that America and Israel are forever united.
We thank You for our ambassador, David Friedman, and pray Your anointing upon him as he opens the doors of the U.S. Embassy to receive the nations of the world.
Let the word go forth from Jerusalem today that ISRAEL LIVES! Shout it from the housetops that ISRAEL LIVES! Let every Islamic terrorist hear this message, “ISRAEL LIVES!” Let it be heard in the halls of the United Nations, “ISRAEL LIVES!” Let it echo down the marble halls of the presidential palace in Iran, “ISRAEL LIVES!” Let it be known to all men that ISRAEL LIVES! Because He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.
As King David prayed 3,000 years ago, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem and all its inhabitants. Let the name of the Lord be glorified today. For the Defender of Israel today, tomorrow and forever is here!
Can we all shout “HALLELUJAH” AMEN!
