Sunrise over the Sea of Galilee




5:30 a.m. beside the Sea of Galilee, Tiberias, Israel

It is 5:30 a.m., still dark as I settle down on the rocks beside the Sea of Galilee in Tiberias, Israel, on a cool Monday morning in March, 2000. I turn on my video camera and set it down on the rock beside me to record the sunrise and then I steady my 35mm camera for this first still shot of the pink glow beginning to peak over the eastern hills.



5:40 a.m. beside the Sea of Galilee

Then it hits me...He was here, He walked here, He may have sat on this very same rock on that early morning after His resurrection as He prepared a breakfast of fish and bread on a fire for His disciples. Right here. I am in awe. His Spirit Feet shod with flesh left footprints in this sand.

He is here now, with me. Emmanuel, God with us. His Spirit dwells in the innermost part of me, taking authority over my soul, the seat of my emotions, and my body, my fleshly desires and appetites. El Shaddai, my all-sufficient Heavenly Father, my Abba Daddy, speaking to me through His Word from Jeremiah 1:5, "Beth, before you were born, I knew you."

6:00 a.m. beside the Sea of Galilee

The video camera on the rock beside me hums, and I begin to sing, "My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine, for Thee all the follies of sin I resign, My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou"... and then suddenly, at the exact moment when the first golden round edge of the sun peeks over the distant hills, my voice can be faintly heard on the video recording singing the closing words of the hymn..."If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now."