Sorry I haven't updated much today. Once again I am feeling a little down because of my own failure to do right. Yesterday I had the joy of the Lord, and Satan was quick to snatch it away again. It's so true, "the joy of the Lord is your strength", Nehemiah 8:10. And when I sin, I loose the joy, and there goes my strength just as Samson lost his. But as the Lord said, if we keep His commandments we shall abide in His love, and our joy will be full (John 15:11-12). If there is anything lacking in my life, it is that.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to the Middle East this weekend, on what is expected to be the final leg of her visit ahead of the international peace conference. She will be pressing the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams to finalize a joint-statement, which will be signed by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the peace conference later this month.

Quote: "U.S. officials expect Rice's third visit in six weeks to the region will result in a document filled with general principles to kick off negotiations on a Palestinian state, but with few hard-core specifics. "They are wisely reducing the bar on expectations. They are now dropping it so low it could hit them on the head. But that is wise," said Middle East expert Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution's Saban Center, a former CIA analyst. Rice is due to arrive in Jerusalem late on Saturday after attending an Iraq conference in Turkey, where she is set to hold a string of bilateral meetings on her peace efforts. On Sunday, Rice will address a conference in Jerusalem where she is expected to push both sides to make bold compromises and agree to meet commitments under a long-stalled 2003 "road map" peace plan, including a halt to Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and a Palestinian crackdown on militants.

As the saying goes, third time lucky. Unfortunately up until now those involved in this Middle East peace process have been experiencing anything but luck. The last time US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Israel, wildfires were sweeping across the state of California, destroying much property and causing billions of dollars worth of damage. That same week Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was diagnosed with prostrate cancer, his announcement to the public coming one week later. It's happened too many times to be a mere coincidence. As the nations gamble over the division of God's land, you can be sure that more catastrophes like these will occur, for the Scriptures prophesied this would happen.

Zechariah 12:3
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

Source Reuters