The Walk…………….

Last night Sherelene and I sat in our beach condo, (rented, we don’t own one), listening to the ocean and feeling the evening breeze through the open door after a good thunder storm.  Then we settled in for her first, my fifth, watching of the movie, Do You Believe.  This morning I awoke to the first signs of a sunrise over the Atlantic and caught this couple walking along the beach from our balcony.

As I looked at the image on my computer screen, the Holy Spirit, inspired these thoughts.  What is a daily relationship with Jesus Christ?  It is a walk.  Sometimes a run or sprint, but mostly a slow, methodical walk.  There are flat smooth places, slight inclines, and sometimes steep climbs over rocky terrain, but it always varies and it seems He always give you some easy patches between the difficult ups and downs.  This week is one of those nice pleasant flat easy walks.

O.K. enough symbolism, what am I saying.  Committing to a moment to moment relationship with Jesus is not a walk in the park, not all of it.  There are times of testing, of training, of endurance and facing pain, there is also lots and lots of sheer joy and laughter.  It takes it all to grow in Him. Without challenges we would never grow stronger, and more reliant on Him.  God is not satisfied with your acknowledgment of His existence, He wants to have a  relationship with you, to talk and walk, and for you get to get to know each other better.  He wants us to trust Him, and He knows that the only way we can trust is to see He is trustworthy.  When we walk through difficult times we learn just how trustworthy He is.  When we suffer we find out just how much He loves us and how far He is willing to go for us.

It sounds like this walk is actually a hike or a trek, and sometimes it is.  The most incredible thing about this journey is that after a while you will know that He is right beside you and it will bring you such wonderful peace and joy.  You come to understand that if He is for you, no one can stand against you, at least not for very long.  You see God takes care of His children.  On the fifth watching of Do You Believe  I did the same thing I did in the first four watchings, I ended it with a prayer that God would sustain me in my walk with Him.  I want desperately to live for Him, to love others with His love, to offer forgiveness as He did for me, to survive and be victorious as the enemy attacks me.  I want to be an example of how good this walk can be.

Long ago the Lord started a process in me that continues to this very moment, the dying of self.  I know that to really serve Him I have to let all my self die away and live only for Him.  It is not an easy process, it is very hard not to want to defend yourself, to strike back at your attackers, but it is not His way.  I cannot serve Him, exhibit His love and forgiveness and seek retribution, and I won’t.  I will trust in Him to protect me, to surround me with His angels and to give me the strength to stand firm for Him.  If He was willing to die for my sins, I must be willing to turn way from my sins and seek His higher ground.  I am not powerful in my own strength, but I am more than an overcomer in His.

In truth, I don’t walk all the time, very often, He carries me!

Blessings,

the pilgrim

Photo with the Fuji X-T10 and 55-200 lens.