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“Travel Carefully!!”

Travel Carefully

For those of us who live in certain places around the world, we have snow this time of the year.  I love the beauty of the snow. It covers all the imperfections.  Although the beauty is wonderful the roads are another story.  The roads can be icy and very slippery, especially when you get off the main road.  The main roads are kept clear by the graders and the salt that they put on the roads to melt the ice.  But even the main roads, at times, are treacherous.

One day I was on my way to work on more treacherous roads.  One vehicle in front of me slid and ended up in the oncoming traffic with an emergency vehicle heading his way.  At the same time, a pickup truck ended up in the ditch to my right.  He drove along the ditch for a while before he was able to make his way out of the ditch.  I am grateful that there was no serious accident and no one was hurt.

More than one road

This experience made me think of the Christian walk.  The beauty of the snow reminds me of the righteousness of Christ.  As we repent of our wrongdoings Christ righteousness covers us and makes us as “white as snow” (See Isaiah 1:18).

As we travel on the “main road” at times it can get slippery if we are not keeping it sprinkled with the salt of God’s Word.  There are times that we slip and slide and even go into the “oncoming traffic” going in the wrong direction but all we need to do is cry out to God in repentance and He will get us immediately back on the road.  At other times we may completely slide off the “road” into the ditch and we go along like everything is just fine.  But praise be to God He gets a hold of us and He makes a way of escape and we are able to get right out of the ditch. He doesn’t force us, He waits until we cry out to Him and then He helps pulls us up.

Trials and persecutions

As we travel this road we will have trials and persecutions along the way.  But as long as we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus He will see us through.  We don’t need to grumble or complain we just need to trust.  And as we trust in Him we will be able to rejoice.

Matthew 5: 10-12,  “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18,  “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

It can be so difficult to give thanks and have joy in our heart during times of trial and/or persecution.  But if we put our full trust in God He will give us joy.

Dear Father,

Thank You for Your Word that can keep us from “slipping”.  Help us to cling to those promises when the trials and/or persecutions come.  Thank You that we can trust You and that You will bring us through every difficulty.  Your love is unbounded for which I am grateful.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Come to Jesus today, He is calling You.  Trust Him with your life.  He will work out every circumstance for You good. (See Romans 8:28)

Love you all.

I love how God is revealed in nature and He can show us connections between nature and our Christian walk.  What has He showed you today?  I would love to hear your story.  Share your story below in the comments.

 

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“I’m Going West, How About You?”

Do you feel at times that you are not going anywhere?  You’re trying to accomplish something in your life but it seems that you’re not progressing.  You go to your job every day come home and that is the routine.  You feel as if you are in a trap and can’t get out.  You maybe don’t even enjoy your job but you have to keep the money coming in, even though you can’t seem to get ahead.  But then the question remains, what is the most important thing in this life and why am I here?

I love history.  If we forget how the Lord has led us in our past history, we have something to fear.  We can’t take God out of history. He must remain.  I was reading History with my daughter the other day.  And I was realizing how much people went through to move west.

I can first look at the pilgrims that came to the New World.  They gave up everything to come here.  They gave up wealth, family, friends, and possessions. They gave up everything.

As the population grew, there were many that were seeking a better land so they would sell all that they had and buy what was needed to travel west.  They would often travel in a group because it was safer.  I would say most of the people who went west if they could have seen the future of what could or would happen they would not have even started the journey.

It would be a slow journey.  Along the way, they would have to lessen their load, getting rid of more of their cherished things.  There would be accidents or illness and some would die.  There were many times of sadness as they journeyed on to a better land.

At times there was discouragement.  They had to keep the goal before them in mind so that they would keep going.  There were those who got discouraged and turned back.  They forgot their past history. They forgot why they were going west and what their goals were in life, when trials came.

There were enemies that they encountered along the way as well.  Some died and some were wounded, some recovered from their wounds and others did not.  But they kept going.

It made me think of our Christian walk.  We are all on a journey.  Our goal is heaven.  We all have our reasons of why we started this journey.  But I think we can all agree that we are looking for a better Land.  We started this Christian journey to reach the Promised Land, the Land that is flowing with milk and honey.  The Land where there will be no more pain, neither sorrow nor crying.  A Place where nothing but joy reigns.

Just like the pioneers had to sort through their things and only take those things that they thought were necessary with them, we also have some sorting to do.  Each of us when we gave our heart to God we realized things that we needed to allow God to take out of our lives.

And just like the pioneers had to let go of more things along the way, as Christians we need to do the same.  As we go through this journey and we draw closer to Christ and closer to His coming to take us to the Promised Land, we see things that we need to drop out of our lives.

I am grateful that the Lord does not show us everything at one time and that it is all a growing process.  Just like the pioneers, if we knew all the changes and things that would happen through our Christian walk most of us probably would not even start.  God is so gracious to us.

There will be times in our Christian walk that we will be discouraged.  There will be times that we will get wounded through the battles with enemies of God.  But what is going to be our response?  Are we going to rely and trust God or are we going to turn back?  There may even be times where we feel dead spiritually.  When we feel dead we really need to hang on to the promises God has for us.  Our feelings are not trustworthy but God is.  This is when traveling with other believers is so crucial.

As the pioneers made their journey they could look back over their lives and their journey, as they kept moving forward, and could see how they were led and actually be amazed that they made it through the difficulties.

It is the same with us as Christians.  As we look back through our lives, we can see how God has led us and what trials and hardships He has brought us through.  This is what will help us as we journey forward.  We can’t worry about tomorrow but just know that the Lord will walk with us through it all.

As the pioneers traveled together for greater safety, as Christians, we need to travel the road to the Promised Land with others that are traveling in the same direction.  Fellowship with like believers will not only bring safety but also accountability.  It is also helpful when we are going through trials and hardships to have those that can be an encouragement to us.  It is like taking a coal out of the burning fire, if it gets separated it doesn’t stay burning for very long, it slowly gets completely cold.  We will get cold if we are not in fellowship with other like-minded believers.

Dear Father,

The journey can be a struggle but I am so grateful that You are there for us as we journey.  Continue to guide us and stay close to us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

The journey is soon to come to an end.  We are getting very close to the Promised Land.  The dangers and trials are going to become more real and more intense.  Keep on the journey and in the end it will be worth it all.

Love you all!

Do you feel like a pioneer as you journey toward Heaven?  What has kept you going?