Pilgrimage, Retreat, and Rest - Purity 1353

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of a blazing sunset under a blanket of clouds and over the 4-lane asphalt expanse of I-90 West, east of Fuller Road in Albany, New York, comes to us from yours truly as I paused to capture that blazing orb while driving to destinations unknown, back on June 10th, 2023. Well, it's Thursday, and I shared today's asphalt pathway photo as a visual encouragement to stay on, or to merge on, to the pathway of Christian discipleship, and to invite you to explore the possibilities of taking a road trip with the Holy Spirit and the spirit of adventure as I prepare to take a 5, um, a 5-hour pilgrimage and weekend retreat to High Point Camp in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania for a Wild at Heart themed Band of Brothers boot camp with my brother in Christ and 2-time defending mullet champ friend Scott Salvador. Not only will we be taking the nearly 5-hour drive to Birdsboro today, but I will also be taking an uncharacteristic break the blog and podcast for the weekend, and frankly, I'm perhaps more uneasy about that prospect than over the uncertainties and socially awkward possibilities, um, that a Christian men's retreat has in store. Last night at Celebrate Freedom, the lesson was on daily inventory, where the spiritual disciplines of keeping short accounts with the Lord and journaling were encouraged. And where I testified to how it is one that I initially struggled with. My early journals, uh, would undoubtedly read like the diaries of a madman, but eventually developed into the blog, which acts as a vehicle for evangelism, an ongoing testimony and confessional, and a weapon of spiritual warfare. When you are daily reporting on your walking along the path of Christian discipleship, you discover that you're actually living a Christian life. You have answered Jesus' call to pick up your cross and are following him. You are walking in the Spirit. And when you take your directions from God's still, quiet voice, you inevitably will be called to go. Sometimes the call to go into the world is to go into the world to make disciples or to do good works. On a mission trip, perhaps. Other times the Lord will call you to just get away with Him for a time of exploration or restoration. Sometimes those trips are solo, and other times you will have company. Regardless of all these different variables, I believe that if you are earnestly seeking the Lord's will for your life, the call for pilgrimage, retreat, or rest will certainly come. You're following the Lord, you shouldn't be surprised that he will call you out. That's what he does. If we're asking the Lord to send me, we shouldn't be surprised by or shy away from his call to be sent. In Wild at Heart, John Eldredge writes that adventure, with all its requisite danger and wildness, is a deeply, uh, deeply spiritual longing written in the soul of a man. While I don't necessarily believe that God is calling us to go on some big game hunt or to climb a mountain to prove ourselves, I do believe that he puts that longing for adventure in our hearts as a means of hunting us down and to give us the courage to live with and for him. If you think following God is about fishing, mountain climbing, or hunting, I would say that you missed the point. Sure, there are mountain moments in Bible verses about hunting and fishing trips in the Gospels, but the point wasn't, wasn't satisfying our flesh with adventures in the great outdoors or in feeding on meat. Even though the Lord told Peter to rise, kill, and eat in a heavenly vision, which didn't take away the categories of unclean meat, the call was to be fishers of men. And to hunt for new converts among the Gentiles. And even though God called Abraham— Abram— away from his family into the wilderness, that call wasn't primarily about seeing the land as much as it was about becoming God's people. Similarly, God calls us to go, to grow individually and to expand His kingdom by sharing His word, doing good works, and showing His love. So expect the call, and when it comes, answer it. Scott's invitation for this weekend adventure came out of the blue, totally unexpected. And while I'm not sure what our road trip in the next few days will have in store for us, I could hear that now familiar call in my spirit that this was, quote unquote, the next thing, the Lord's invitation to come and see. There was little doubt in my heart or my mind that I was going to answer the call. Last week, in a moment of prayer where I was somewhat desperately seeking the Lord's direction for what to do now since I have completed my prayer ministry training, another Freedom in Christ course, and have launched my new Christian life coaching business, I received a very clear one-word instruction from God in my spirit. To rest. So I'm letting go and letting God and allowing him to direct me for the next few days. I'm unplugging my communications to the world. I'm just going to let him speak. I'm not even driving on this trip. I'm riding shotgun, and I'll keep a lookout in my heart, my mind, my soul, and my spirit for whatever the Lord wants to show me. Undoubtedly, I I will speak of God's goodness to the people I meet and encourage them to follow Him in bigger and deeper ways if I get the chance. But for the most part, I'm going to retreat from the world and rest in the Lord's presence and see what He wants to show me and to listen to what He wants to say. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verse comes from the section on death and eternal life. Today's verse is Revelation 3:12, and the Word of God says, "The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven." and my own new name. Today's verses are— well, today's verse is the fourth of five passages of scripture that fall under the 29th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on death and eternal life. And that 29th point is: Jesus gives wonderful promises to all who overcome, who conquer, who fight against sin and in their love for Christ Persevere. Today's verse encourages us to conquer, or overcomes as the New King James Version puts it, because our endurance and our victory will be rewarded with an eternal place in God's temple, and we will be forever identified with and by God and live in His new eternal creation. Don't worry about saving the earth. Save yourself by putting your faith in Jesus and overcoming the things of this world. And the things that would separate you from your, your kingdom mission and purpose. Overcome. Be an overcomer through your faith in Jesus and rejoice that your life and your destiny is fully assured, promised, and blessed by God himself. As always, we invite you to go to mtforchrist.com where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk Today we continue sharing from According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Alford. And in his writings, he prompts us to read a chapter of the New Testament. And today's chapter is Acts 24. And from Acts 24, he shares a portion of verse 14, which says, according to the way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers. And Stephen Alford writes, it is interesting to note how many times the term 'the Way' occurs in this book. It was an appellation that was given to all followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Though given, no doubt, in disdain, it was nevertheless a very applicable designation, for all such believers were the followers of the one who said I am the way. It is also interesting that from the very beginning unbelievers and those who, though religious, would not accept the teachings of Christ called the way a sect or heresy. Is it any wonder that the truth and the way of Christ are challenged and opposed today? Note how boldly Paul asserts: According to the way, so I worship God. Acts 24:14. And Alfred ends by praying, Lord, keep me true to the way. Amen. Amen. And Lord, keep us all true to the way as we seek to, seek to follow you into this life of abundance. An adventure and lead us in the way we should go. Um, I want to follow your ways. I want to do the things you would have me do. And, um, I heard your call to rest and I heard your call to go, and we're going to do both this weekend. And I'm looking forward to it, Lord. And so today I don't work. I'll be working on getting my bag prepared, working on saying goodbye to my laptop, and deciding exactly what, you know, what to bring and what to do. So then I'll wait for Scott to call and, you know, arrange for our our departure for Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, and wait and see what the Lord has to do. We'll be studying John Eldredge's book Wild at Heart, as far as I know, and be provided for. So I'm looking forward to it. I don't know what it's like, and that's sort of the thrill, the thrill of it. We don't really have a whole lot of detail about exactly what we will be doing, but we are ready for it because we really feel that we are being called by the Lord here to learn and to grow through the experience of going away, you know, with a dedicated purpose to be in the Lord's presence amongst other believers. Believers, you know. So that's what we do. It's going to be fellowship and presumably worship and study, and, and who knows, maybe some fun, uh, hopefully some fun, uh, along the way as well. And I'm looking forward to it. So that's all I got to say about that. My prayers are for everyone who has to work today. I pray for you to get through today and tomorrow and enjoy the weekend. Um, let's, let's, let's pray that out. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, thank you for this amazing life that you've given me, that, uh, where the adventure never ends. And Lord, we thank you for bringing us into your kingdom and and showing us this amazing life. Lord, we just pray for anyone who's listening that they would fully enter into this, the amazing life that you have for them, and to count their blessings and thank you for the good things they have, and to lean on you to help them, help them through the things that are not so good. Um, Lord, we, um, We pray for you to bless those people and bless us today. Um, open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead us in the way we should go, because all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom and go where you tell us to go. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.