Faith & Finances

Back in February 2018, God suddenly gave me very strong inspiration to book the King David Hotel in Jerusalem - one of the most expensive and prestigious hotels in all of Israel. It is obviously named after Israel's greatest King - King David, who lived in approximately 1000 B.C. Jesus Himself is descended from the line of David.

To me, this was a very unusual thing to do, because only a day earlier I had defaulted on repaying my credit card in full of approximately NZ$33,000 (US$24,000). (Click to View)

Nevertheless, it was very strong inspiration, and so I dutifully complied and booked the King David Hotel from the 14th to the 19th of May, 2018, to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel's independence in 1948!

The next day on February 6, 2018, God started giving me places to visit while I would be in Israel. I decided to write these down in an email and send it to myself as a way of recording the date and times that these places were given to me to visit.

Over the next five weeks or so, God gave me an additional 7 places to visit. The last place He gave me to visit was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on March the 12th. Then, suddenly, everything went quiet! I started to wonder whether something had happened that meant I wouldn't be going after all.

That was until May the 1st!

I was sitting in a chair watching TV when all of a sudden God gave me inspiration to visit the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem!

So I went and wrote it down in the email I was sending myself and noticed that it was March the 12th since the last location that He had given me to visit. That immediately got me wondering exactly how long it had been between March the 12th and May the 1st. So I went online and did a quick time duration calculation and discovered that it was EXACTLY 50 days!

I knew from my basic knowledge of Judaism that that was an important number to them, but I didn't know exactly where from, other than the 50 year Jubilee period whereby they forgive all debts and return possessions to their original owners in a Jubilee year.

So I again went online and did a quick search of the Bible and discovered that there is a very important feast called the "Feast of Firstfruits" from which the Jews were instructed to count 50 days before celebrating another feast called "The Feast of Weeks" or Shavuot. It is also known as "Pentecost" in Christianity. It is one of the seven feasts of Israel, given to the Jews through Moses in the Torah of the Old Testament - the first five books of the Bible.

Here is the exact reference:

"And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD." - Leviticus 23:15-16

And that's when I realised the significance of the last two locations that God had given me to visit!

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is considered by some to be the place where Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected. Likewise, the Garden Tomb is also considered to be a potential location for Jesus's burial and resurrection. Either way, it is from either of these two locations that Jesus became the firstfruits from the dead to God! All else came after Him!

The apostle Paul describes Jesus as the "firstfruits" of God:

"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept." - 1 Corinthians 15:20

So what was God trying to do here? He was trying to validate and authenticate the fact that He was indeed the inspiration behind this trip to Israel, despite the fact that I had no money and no way to pay for the trip to Israel!

This was simply a way and means to leave a 'sign' on the trip to authenticate the fact that it was Him behind it!

Four days later on May 5, He got me to cancel the trip!

And that's when I noticed something else. It was exactly 3 months to the day since He had given me the idea to book the trip in the first place! (Feb 5 - May 5, 2018).

So what does this all have to do with money and finances?

At the beginning of this testimony I told you that I had defaulted on my credit card, owing approximately NZ$33,000. My bank ended up closing all my accounts (cheque account/credit card, etc) on March the 8th, 2018 - my Birthday! They were actually supposed to be closed a month earlier on February 7, but due to extensions and other unknown delays, they weren't closed until March the 8th.

Luckily for me, a day later my brother said he could pay off the debt in full, but not until mid-April/May.

Then in late May I asked him how we was placed to be able to make a payment, and one way or another, I ended up receiving a payment from him of NZ$33,000 on June the 8th - exactly 3 months to the day since the bank had closed my accounts!

So here I could see the Hand of God at work again! Twice he had timed two events to be precisely three months apart - to the day! First the cancelled trip to Israel, and secondly the payment from my brother to pay off my credit card!

So even though the trip to Israel did not make sense at the time, by following and obeying the Spirit of God, He was able to prove Himself by leaving signs on the trip, to show that He was indeed the inspiration behind it! Likewise, though I did not know how I was going to be able to pay off my debt, God had a plan all along, and was able to weave it in to another story, to show that He has control over everything and not to worry!

In actual fact, I believe that God created this debt on purpose, in order to do His own will. It was not my choice to go into debt, but I felt that God created it in order to achieve His own purposes!

So now I will tell you how I got into debt in the first place. After belatedly selling my forex website business in 2013, I eventually ran out of money in January 2015. At that point I was fully intending to get a job to generate an income again, however, it seemed that God had other plans!

After maxing out my credit card limit of $30,000 the first time and having to borrow $30,000 off my Dad to repay my credit card, I hit my limit again in mid-2017. It may sound strange, but I think this was all part of God's plan! You see, the majority of that $33,000 debt owed the second time was largely the result of God prompting me to advertise this website on Google, even though I had no means to be able to pay it off.

So if you got to this website via a Google ad, that is why! God built up that debt on purpose in order to tell a story and fulfil his will. That's why I don't believe that it is a coincidence that I defaulted owing $33,000 on my credit card!

Footnote: On July 10, 2018, God prompted me to add a book called "The Holy Land for Christian Travelers" to this site, so I did, although I wasn't exactly sure why. The next day, I felt God prompting me to pick up and look through the book, although I wasn't exactly sure what I was supposed to be looking for. As I was about to put it down, I came across some itineraries for visiting Jerusalem and Israel.

Amazingly, all three itineraries started with a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, followed by a visit to the Garden Tomb! (View Pic) So there was my answer! This book that I had had for nearly 7 months but hadn't yet read, was another sign that backed up my story above!

Israel Photos:

Click to Enlarge Any Item:

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  King David Hotel, Jerusalem

  My Hotel in Jerusalem in 2010 & 2016

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  Church of the Holy Sepulchre

  Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

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  The Garden Tomb

  A potential location for the resurrection of Jesus Christ

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