A Pilgrimage Through the Wilderness: life

Showing posts with label life. Show all posts

>> Monday, April 19, 2010

"It is our calling to contend for the faith no matter where we are in
this life. Jesus made it through the wilderness of temptation, the cross
of pain, death, and humiliation on the strength of His heavenly Father.
Whenever it seems our life is falling apart around us we should
remember from the past just who God is."

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in
trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters
roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.” –
Psalm 46:1-3

>> Saturday, March 13, 2010

“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."

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.”

>> Monday, March 8, 2010

"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."

Defeat Depression with prayer & Bible meditation!

>> Saturday, March 6, 2010

"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."

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

>> Thursday, March 4, 2010

"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."

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."

Fight Off the Selfish Pity Party!

>> Wednesday, March 3, 2010

"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."

Strange Humiliating Situations

>> Tuesday, March 2, 2010

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."

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