Be ready for the battle...it is coming!

"So, guys, on this pilgrimage crossing the wilderness desert it will
require alertness, work, diligence, and hardcore truthfulness. It will
require direct obedience, loyal sacrifices and strict discipline. This is
all part of the process. God is growing us up; He is maturing us to serve
in His kingdom. Do not resist it, but do be ready for the battle, because
it is coming if you have not already experienced the battle. If you are
living fairly easy right now I must warn you…trouble is coming!"

Three things from God’s Word we need to understand
about the Christian life:

1. God’s ordinary path is to place His people into a state of suffering.
His people are usually always in some kind of awful trial.
Reference Philippians 1:29 and 1 Peter 4:12

2. When God brings to us His most wonderful mercies, first He takes
us to our lowest breaking point.

3. In God’s strange way, He works through trials, struggles,
suffering, and humiliation in our lives to turn these greatest afflictions
in our lives into the greatest of good in order to glorify Him.

"Gentlemen, let us play the man and understand God is going to use
us in the wilderness in some way."

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Let us play the man!

2 Samuel 10:12 “Be of good courage, and let us play the men
for our people, and for the cities of our God: and the Lord do that
which seems him good.”

"As men we must be ready in the wilderness to undertake the
defense of our family, our true religion and for God’s people. Do not
shrink back into a cave in pity of yourself and your circumstances. You
are the man, so, by the power God has granted you, do whatever it is
God has set before you to do. Times will come when you may not know
where to go or what to do, but pray, read your Bible, and do what
comes natural…take the next step obvious to you to take. You will
have to take steps without knowing where they lead, but are visible as
God reveals them to you. In the darkness of the night, you will have
to trust in God to light up the pathway for each step."

"Protecting our wife and children is of the greatest importance. Staying
firm in the Word of God is a must. Stand firm on the faith God has given
you. Be the man!"

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Fresh new mercies each morning!

"God is so good to His children that way. We are trampled upon,
tested to the limits beyond our human ability, even drawn out into a
wilderness, but no matter the destruction, bending, wounds, and such
we go through, God still sees us as precious to Him. However, we must
go through all this even in His mercifulness in order to be used by Him.
God’s mercies are never ending, they are provided to us fresh each
morning. He peers deep into our heart to see the struggling saint come
to his end with painful groans emerging from the breath of them
flowing to the ears of our almighty God. He then reaches down in our
most desperate situation, the driest time of our life and shows us
mercy. He knows the wilderness is tough. God knows the wilderness
is hard on us, He built every single fiber in us, He understands the
depths of our trials. Remember, Jesus went through forty days of
intense trial in the wilderness as a man, but He was and is God too. In
the middle of my plight, my argument with Him, my distain for this
pilgrimage through the wilderness that was thrust upon me, God
pardoned all my pride at the same time He was purging it from my soul."

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The dark evil abyss!

"God forces us through the hard times in order to develop this
incredible never ending desire for His glory. I know this sounds hard
to believe by today’s standard, but God has His own ways and
purposes and those plans will not work with our own selfish plans. Our
society says this life is all about us. Society will tell us we must get out
there and promote ourselves if we intend on getting anywhere is this
life. However, Scriptures teach us God does the promoting. He is the
One who sets up kings and leaders, and then He sets them down again.
So, self-promotion is out. Society along with most other religions
around the world with the exception of Christianity tells us peace, love
and tranquility can be found deep within “our own lives”. The false
theology is “we must look deep within our own selves to find
happiness”. Well, I can tell you the deeper you focus into the depths
of a human’s soul, and without any focus on Jesus Christ, you will find
nothing more than a darker more evil abyss."

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Bending in the direction of His will!

"Something I experienced and it took some time to learn is the fact
God draws us into the desert. Once we are there He can be silent for
an intensity of time. This creates a desperate, lonely experience deep
within our heart. God’s silence can be what draws us to listen closer,
listen intently to God’s commands. Thirst in the midst of God’s silence
can create in us an overwhelming desire to be found in the favor of the
Most High God. My observation, looking back on our experience, is
the intricate design my creator put into this. God did not go off to help
someone else and forgot about me. He was their carefully tenderizing
my heart, sifting my mind, and creating in my soul an ultimate thirsting
desire for Him. He was carefully purging me of sinful tendencies,
bending me in the direction of His will."

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God is still making us!

"I came across a great statement an older believer once angrily
asked his pastor, “Why has God made me this way? The pastor
cracked a gentle smile and replied, “God has not made you-He
is still making you”. What a wise statement by the pastor. As
Believers we are all in the same process…it is in our pilgrimage through
the wilderness when God reveals who He really is and why we must
trust and obey Him. The pain and many times the humiliation we
encounter in the wilderness is when true godly character is formed.
This truth about God’s ways can escape us during these menacing
days, weeks, months or even years we find ourselves circling in the
wilderness. However, we can trust God is patiently and many times
gently molding us, while other times He is violently molding us into His
image and for His greater purposes."

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A dying thirst for God!

“As a deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for
You, O God, for the living God!” Psalm 42:1-2

"In light of this verse, we should ultimately be found to have a dying
thirst for God, His mercies, His grace, and His holiness to the point we
are panting for it until we have been filled by Him. This pilgrimage is
where the greatest desire for God grows deeper. In the wilderness we
walk alone many times only with God as our comforter, where the
refreshing water is unlimited so we can keep coming back to our Lord
for His new mercies and strength. In the wilderness it can be hot
during the day and extremely cold at night. This draws us to God for
our cooling or our warmth, and much of the time we find ourselves
exposed and vulnerable to the elements around us causing us to rely
on God for our complete shelter. Through these difficult times we must
find the desire for God to be intense. This is all by God’s design and
under His sovereign control. Each event was carefully orchestrated
together before a speck of dust was created into Adam’s body."

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God is our portion!

“May the Living God, who is the portion and rest of the saints,
make these our carnal minds so spiritual and our earthly hearts
so heavenly, loving Him and delighting in Him, and may be the
work of our lives.”

Matthew Henry, another great Puritan pastor of by gone years and
writer, who had an excellent handle on the desire of God said,

“The joy of the Lord will arm us against the assaults of our
spiritual enemy and put our mouths out of taste for those
pleasures with which the tempter baits his hook.”

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Step into His wonderful light!

"We will experience times filled with darkness, temptations to fear
and give up, attacks by our enemies, heavy burdensome tasks and
more. The seasons of refinement are not easy to endure, but each
Believer must experience a time like this in their life. Not all seasons
of life are the same, but the lessons to be learned are for God’s greater
honor and glory. Do what you can see is clearly before you and stop
worrying about what you can only see vaguely out in the future. We
do not need to be anxious about what tomorrow has for us, what lies
in the dusky darkness, but let God take care of the tomorrows while
we take one small step at a time as God lights each step of the way
for us. An old saying goes like this, “Step into the light.” As Believers
in Jesus Christ, we are to step into His wonderful light."

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God is merciful!

"God has been merciful to me in my battles with depression. I want
so much to succeed for Him and succeed for my family. However, the
pain can be unbearable at times by human standards. As days go slow
with no relief in sight, this seems to be when the battle gets very intense
and the depression starts to settle in my bones like hard concrete
deposits forming at my joints causing pain, heartache, and anxiety.
These are the moments I am reminded of by the Holy Spirit the “Lord
is my portion”…He is my sustainer and healer always. My God is my
Adonai Rofi, my healer. As I move along many times not
understanding the pilgrimage I find myself on, my comfort is in reading
God’s holy Word. His Word will remind us of the vastness of Himself,
the salvation that awaits all those who persevere to the end, the healing
that is bound up in Him and the love He has for His chosen people.
Throughout the day to the end of each day my place is to be completely
satisfied in my Lord no matter the circumstances surrounding me. God
is most glorified in my satisfaction in Him."

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The Word of God...an Antidote for healing!

"Healing comes to us in different ways as I have said before. But
in our battles against the vicious bites of Satan, God does provide an
antidote called The Word we can retreat to and feast on in order to
survive for another day and another battle. This is available to us as
Believer’s in Jesus Christ. The ultimate results are the same; God uses
His Word in us to heal us in accordance with His will and purposes
resulting in the furthering of His kingdom and His greatest glory."

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God's Sovereign remedy for our ailments!

"My God has a sovereign remedy for any ailment we have. The
mental deception of depression can either consume a person or we
can embrace it and allow God to take His rightful place in our lives as
Lord and King over everything including a depressing downfall of
spirit. I understand whoever is willing to submit to God’s sovereign
provisions will be freely and effectually healed as God providentially
plans. These ailments are not permanent for most of our life, but go
on as long as we stay in our muck and mire before turning back to God.
I will warn anyone of us to be careful not to trust any healing not of
the blood of Christ. Be sure the healing is not just a man-made bandage
stuck over an open gushing wound.

In the words of Octavious Winslow in 1870:

“Take your case, as it is, to Him. Go to no minister, to no
church, to no rite, to no duty, but go at once to Jesus and His
blood and cry-believingly, importunately cry-‘Heal me, O Lord,
and I shall be healed’. Oh, what a loving, gentle, skillful healer
is Jesus! With not a frown of displeasure, with not a look of
coldness, with not a word of upbraiding, will He cure you. He
heals sin’s worse malady, cures man’s incurables, and never
loses a patient who seeks His saving touch. ‘Lord, be merciful
unto me-heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.’”

Whenever these bouts of illness storm your soul in a rage,
whatever the illness is, cry-out to the Lord to save you and heal you
and rescue you from the torment trying to defeat you to the depths of
your soul. Jesus will hear your cry as your repentance reveals a
sincere belief and trust that He is your Lord and Savior."

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When the darkness falls!

"Matthew Henry states:
“Let those who walk in darkness, and labor under
discouragements, take courage; God Himself will be a Light to
them.”

In those loneliest hours of our life, when darkness falls around us,
when all hope seems to be lost, our Lord will pierce through the
darkness with the purest Light of the Son of God. Jesus presents us
with hope for those long waiting periods for the dawn of day and He
conquers our darkened lonely fears with the Light of His Word."

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Defeat prepares us for Victory!

"God will win and overcome any resistance I have towards His direction, but it may send me in a spiraling depression for a season until I see things His way. I
have to remind myself over and over of Spurgeon’s words that “defeat
prepares us for victory”. Failure and defeats are an unpleasant part
of life. It is understandable we do not set out for failure and defeat, but
we have to come to terms with this reality. The reality is life is full of
failures and defeats in our marriages, our families, our children, our
jobs, our churches, our ministries, and on and on. The way in which we
respond to the failures and defeats will be the legacy we leave behind.
Also, how we react to these ills in our life will be the foundation we
build our legacy on."

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God is directing us from the backside of the desert!

"We must go through the valley in order to reach the foot of the
mountain in order to start the climb upwards again. Many times in our
pilgrimage through the wilderness, we think God is hiding from us or
has forgotten us altogether. But as we continue to wait and even move
forward slowly, we find that God was there guiding us from the
backside of the wilderness all the time. The providence of God is
directing us all the way, providing the strength to take each step
forward in our perseverance."

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The Salvation Message is Narrow!

"Jesus also tells the listeners John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth
and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” He
is the ONLY way to the Father in heaven. This goes against
everything a secular humanistic people are brought up to believe. How
can this be? “I thought all I needed to do was walk an isle in a
church, repeat a little prayer after the preacher and boom, I am
in the family”. I have heard many say they did not realize it would be
expected of them to stop many of the sinful pleasures that dishonor
God, be expected of them to serve Him in some capacity that is
authentic service for His glory. For many people this message is too
narrow minded and exclusive and cannot be true. To state this
message is not true is to deny the very Word’s of Jesus Himself."

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Satisfied in Him!

"At times it gets lonely, desolate, jobless, food-less, painful, and
emotionally draining. I have been jerked from a deep sleep many
mornings in a sweat with fear of the unknown followed by days of
deep debilitating depression. I hope to show in future writings what
God taught me in my travels through the spiritual & financial
wilderness. The training ground found in the wilderness yielded such
rich spiritual food directly from the hand of God no silver spoon found
in this lush plentiful land of the world are worthy to deliver it to my
mouth. I have a favorite saying I have internalized and adapted from
John Piper, “God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in
Him in the deepest parts of my pilgrimage through the wilderness.” I
must be found totally satisfied in His glory, His presence, His Being
even in the middle of the most traumatic depressing wilderness I could
ever imagine."

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In need of a Savior!

"As I have stated before, the gospel of Jesus Christ is not an easy
pill to swallow for most people. Sure on the surface it may seem easy,
but when the Holy Spirit prepares to give a person a brand new heart
the gospel becomes more difficult as the reality of sin starts to bring
about humiliation to their soul and shame of a sinful life towards God
no matter how big or small begins to break down the defenses of such
a “good” person. The work of the Holy Spirit here brings the lost
person to see themselves exactly as they are, in need of a Savior to
forgive them of their sins. The lost state of being, before any
regeneration of the soul or before a new spiritual birth, finds us very
satisfied and comfortable in our sinfulness. We love our sinfulness
although most would not call it sin. At this point in life, the lost person
does not even recognize he is an enemy of God and follower of Satan.
This statement may offend someone right now reading this. Please,
understand we only have two sides to be on. You are either on God’s
side and a born again Believer and follower of Christ or you are not."

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Defeat Depression with prayer & Bible meditation!

"By taking on a new prayer life and life of intense meditation of the
Scriptures a new contentment should abound. The strength to be
content will grow within your soul like a water well that was once dry
as old bones, but now has a new spring of water filling it full to the top
and never goes dry again. Jesus Christ, The Word, is that spring of
water and you will not find it in this humanistic society and by
humanistic counselors. Christ is the deliverer of the strength in every
situation. Philippians 4:19 further explains, “My God will meet all your
needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” We have a
need for old fashioned, hard core Bible study, meditation, and prayer.
If you are not a Believer, this may seem foreign to you, but be sure to
read the chapter on Salvation before giving up."

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Salvation is of God, by God, & for God's Purpose!

"Let me take this moment to be very frank and honest with you at
this very point. Salvation is of God, by God and for God’s greater
pleasure. It serves the purposes and good pleasure of our Sovereign
God to preserve a certain people for all eternity to worship and glorify
Him. All throughout the Bible the gospel is recorded. Weaved
throughout each story, like a quilt, is God’s love story for His people.
God in His infinite wisdom designed the human race to serve His
greater pleasure and worship and glory Himself. His greatest joy is in
Himself. From this design, God chose a certain people to fulfill this
greater joy. As a people born into the family of sin starting with Adam,
we are at birth the enemy of God, totally depraved and unable to save
or revive ourselves apart from the new birth initiated by the Holy Spirit
doing the inner workings of each He has chosen to be with Him in all
eternity. God designed from before time that His Son, Jesus, would be
at the center of this love story and require His sacrificial death in a
horrible event that took place on the cross at Calvary. His love for His
people had no end as observed through His Son Jesus from a virgin
birth to the spreading of this good news of the salvation of God and the
fulfillment of God’s law in His own life on earth."

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The Despairing May Always Be Despairing!

"There is no guarantee when in despair everyone will emerge from
it. Some in the past have died in their despair. For whatever reason,
God’s purposes did not arrange for that particular individual to ever
live another day on this earth living in complete joy and happiness apart
from the depression or despair of their life."

"John Newton, author of the hymn “Amazing Grace” ministered to
a poet named William Cowper until the day Mr. Cowper died.
Cowper, author of many great hymns was a man of great spiritual and
physical despair most of his life. Some might say Cowper could not
have been a Believer, but history tells us he was. John Newton who
was a pastor from the mid 1700’s took to liking William Cowper. He
constantly tried to encourage Cowper, prayed for Cowper, and simply
was walking along side Cowper. Even when Newton moved further
away to another pastorate he would continue to write and visit Cowper
and encourage him."

"John Piper wrote that Newton “did not despair of the
despairing”. Cowper died on April 24th, 1800 with his final words in
response to some refreshments offered him, “What can it signify?”
He never uttered another word. He was to die in complete despair of
this life. Cowper did find some comfort in Newton’s visits as a true
friend and confidant. Newton showed Cowper grace, mercy, and
sympathy which he needed in order to possibly take the edge off his
dying despair."

"Folks, we can use John Newton as a great example to us in these
days of despair not only in our lives, but in the lives of so many people
around us. Our treatment for those in the greatest despair of life needs
to be found lined with sweet-grace, gentle-mercy, and deep-sympathy."

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Fight Off the Selfish Pity Party!

"Confession time is in order here. I still have times when life just
piles on top of me more than I can handle. It weighs me down to my
knees to the point of crying out before God. There is no way I can see
God if I am on the ground just trying to stand up much less look up. It
is at this moment I have to come to grips with obedience to God and
letting Him have all these cares that weigh so heavily on me. I must
fight off the petty selfish pity party moment and the temptation to
blame God for my ills. How can we fight off the temptation to be
selfish, arrogant and proud while keeping God as our vision? By
immersing ourselves in the Word of God! We need to be growing
deeper in His Word, digging out nuggets of gold. Surface study,
surface teaching and surface preaching keeps Believers from doing
great things for God."

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Deny Yourself & Follow Jesus!

"Prayer time in the wilderness was a turning point of my life. With
no vision to go ahead of me, because of the storm clouds of life blinding
me, I finally started to turn my thoughts away from myself, my family,
our stormy situation and focused my mind on the holy, majestic, and
sovereign God. God wanted more from me than just a verbal
acknowledgement of belief in Christ. God was pulling me away from
myself, bringing me face to face with who I am in order to deny myself
of any rights and place them all on Him. It was here at this moment
I realized God had the right to do with me whatever He willed and that
is exactly what He was doing with me…whatever He willed!"

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Strange Humiliating Situations

An exerpt from the book:

"God places us in humiliating situations in strange ways, but it is
necessary in order for us to understand the importance of total denial
of our self and total obedience to His commands. Self-denial is
described in many ways, but most vivid is we are to murder everything
about ourselves which gets in the way of obedience to God. Whatever
we do, say or think that draws our desires from doing what God wants
us to do should be spiritually mortified. The wilderness experiences of
professional trapper, Hugh Glass and God’s commander on the
ground in Egypt, Moses, came at what they would tell you a “strange
time”. As Believers, however, we must embrace the wilderness
experiences as a purposeful part of God’s sovereign plan. God’s plan
is to use us in the advancement of His kingdom and His greater glory.
We must yield ourselves to this season of life when we feel lonely,
traumatized, in horrific pain, bleeding from our exposed flesh, so
hungry our ribs are showing or thirsty. The strength, direction, and
ability to learn are planted deep within us by God Himself and when
needed, He will draw out of that well."

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The wilderness can be a horrifying place to be lost in. This is especially true when you discover God is the One who placed you there. In this book, A Pilgrimage Through the Wilderness, you will figure out God has a providential reason for you being in a spiritual wilderness in this season of your life.

When God wants to use someone for His tremendous purpose, He will always send you through a wilderness indescribable. You must go through your own pilgrimage in order to receive the lessons God has planned for you.

While traveling through the wilderness anyone must rely heavily upon God's Sovereignty to light up each step on your pathway. The wilderness is not easy, many times horrific, and always difficult. You will experience periods of time when you fear God has left you for dead in this wasteland, but after it is all said and done, you will discover God was always directing your every move from the backside of the desert.

Order your copy here APTTW

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