Pilgrims or Tourists?

 

*Image - Wikipedia

One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. Psalm 27:4

The following devotional by Rev. Ms. Francis Taylor was published in the KJV Devotional and made so much sense that we just had to share it with our readers. 

"We hope that one day we will dwell in the house of the Lord! This is the promise and this is our goal. We can also consider that the world we live in, the place that God created is also God's house. 

The first place we encounter God is in our own homes with our families, the first church where God can be known and worshiped; the place where faith is learned. The earth with its beauty and strength is also where we encounter God. 

The problem is we don't always recognize him, and until we recognize this as coming from God, we don't praise him. 

I love the image of a pilgrimage. There was once a minister at the church where I worshiped who talked about how we can go through life as a pilgrim or a tourist. He defined a tourist is one who goes through life wanting everything to be just as they want and like it. A pilgrim enters into the circumstances of the life in which one finds himself. 

A pilgrim is a traveler who is on a journey usually to a holy place. This can be a physical place as to Jerusalem for the Jews, Mecca fothe Muslims and various shrines such as Lourdes or Fatima for Christians. However, it can also be a spiritual journey, a search for holiness. 

The pilgrim is searching for the presence of God in his or her life in order that his presence will overflow into the fullness of his presence in Heaven. The pilgrim looks outward and works to bring the Kingdom present even in this Weeping valley. The tourist is only thinking of his own needs and comfort without any thought to the needs of the people he meets or the world he is supposed to care for. 

The pilgrim finds joy; the tourist sometimes only finds disappointment. 

We have a choice, are we pilgrims or tourists?"

Do you walk a rough road?

 

*Adapted from a KJV Devotional

Deuteronomy 5:24 And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.

Man’s eye is not single, he has ever a side glance towards his own honor, has too high an estimate of his own powers, and so is not qualified to behold the glory of the Lord. and this is the reason why he brings his people ofttimes into straits and difficulties, that, being made conscious of their own folly and weakness, they may be fitted to behold the majesty of God when he comes forth to work their deliverance. We learn the power of God , when we feel the littleness of man.

Thank God, then, if you have been led by a rough road: it is this which has given you your experience of God’s greatness and lovingkindness.

(Based on the KJV devotional)

Does the Ends justify the Means? Pastor Rajiv's Mid Week Message

 

The Thorn in the Flesh

Have you ever been pricked by a thorn while trying to imbibe the perfume of a rose? My guess is everyone has. The thorns are part of the stalk of the rose flower.

Similarly, when we try to imbibe the perfume of God's word and try to practice it, we also get pricked by the thorns which are a part of our life. They could be derision, opposition and even persecution thorns. Essentially, they will be things which our ex-friend, Satan, will throw at us to keep up his friendship with us, usually things which we are most scared of. Being a friend of our past life, Satan knows us as well as God does, so he knows our weaknesses. He will keep throwing things to prick us, as we try and break that friendship and move away from him.

And those thorns are not going to go away anytime soon.

According to the Webster dictionary the phrase is an idiom meaning: a person or thing that repeatedly annoys someone or something or causes problems.

Paul had a constant thorn, which he prayed for removal three times but was given the grace to face it. The thorn itself was not removed. That did not stop Paul and that should not stop us. But first we must learn to recognize the thorns, pray for removal or strength to overcome and then go on our way to practice our spiritual freedom.

So today, let us challenge ourselves to think: what are the thorns in our life? What do we need to do to get rid of them?

Well, to begin with, by making a commitment to change the priorities in our life. This may require a big change in our schedules, in our attitudes and work life. We will need God's help in this as we try and break the shackles. 

When we invest ourselves in what pleases our senses rather than the Word of God, we automatically are drawn to the world and create idols for ourselves, like money, businesses, jobs, homes, entertainment, alcohol, drugs and so on.   It could be something as seemingly harmless as shopping or more serious stuff. Remember a movie called " Confessions of a Shopaholic?"

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus said, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” This means we must put God and His kingdom FIRST. 

He must be our highest desire and priority. 

Living on the Edge

Some people know the true meaning of the words "God provides", because they have lived with nothing in hand, no idea from where they will meet their daily expense and yet they are able to. Quietly and without fanfare, through some God given providence.  

While Gods provision is true for all, these people have lived on the edge of collapse, with nothing in sight except hope for Gods provision, unlike other people who have wealth or jobs or plans which they depend on, not realizing that even those were provided by God.

One is not better than the other. We all go through hard times, possibly living on the edge. We may feel let down or that life is unfair, but there is another perspective: it brings about true dependence on God. Such times remind us of the journey of Israel as they walked to the Promised Land. They were not allowed to store manna as an exercise in trusting Gods daily provision.

Why?

Ms. Francis Taylor explains it beautifully - 

"We take these troubling events and turn them into powerful witness statements! The Holy Spirit leads us to opportunities where we can share our stories and comfort people who are experiencing the same turmoil". 

Selah (Pause and think).

We welcome all who may like to share their stories to encourage others. 

Religion or Relationship: Pastor Rajiv's Mid Week Message

 

Choices: The Professionals Bible

  

We are not Robots. We all have the ultimate freedom - the freedom of choice.

“Thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee” (Moses 3:17).

As did Adam, we are also free to choose between good and bad and live our life the way we choose to. These choices reflect both in our professional and personal lives. I can choose to make good decisions or bad decisions for both. 

God has given us this gift of free will, the freedom to choose. Why? Because He would have us as His children, not as His slaves or robots. God created humanity in the image of Himself and called them to partner with Him in expanding his creation. But partnership requires trust, so God trusted us and gave humanity the freedom to choose. 

So, we can either choose to work and live with God, following His wisdom or we can choose to live our life, according to our minds and heart. Sadly, humans often make the choice to trust their own wisdom over God’s, and our own understanding while making choices.  Like Uriah Heep said (in Choices) " we all make our choices, Like a blind man feels his way.....". Come to think of it, that is exactly what we do, because we do not have a vision of the future nor can we change the past. 

But those who do consult God in their business or personal life, do eventually end up with the right choice. So how do we do that? 

Ask yourself these two questions as you consider decision-making - 

• When did you last seek God’s wisdom regarding any choice you were faced with AND gave God time to revert to you? 

• How often could you or perhaps should you, seek God’s wisdom? 

If we do that, we are not only growing in wisdom through biblical values or advice, we are also creating wisdom-building moments in our business and into our life. This is the key to our growth as a leader at home or at work. 

Now how do we do that? The question is - Do I really trust God with this problem or this choice? Or are we doubtful we may not like His answer. 

Today, the choice we have is not between a good decision or a bad one. The Choice always is this:  a Bad decision or God's wisdom. 

The moot question is do we really believe Him and trust Him in ALL aspects of our life? A lot of us will be surprised by an honest answer. 

And if we do believe and trust Him, then let's believe in this verse as well and make that choice.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight"