*All Scripture herein is quoted from the One New Mine Bible.
On Friday, May 3, 2019, as I was having my appointed time with the
Lord, He opened my eyes to a new view of our walk in Christ. He has
shown me that Salvation is a journey and not a destination. So walk
with me as I share with you this Journey to the Cross and Beyond.
All
of mankind has been in bondage in a spiritual Egypt of the soul since
the fall of Adam and Eve in God’s Garden. Each of us is shackled
by those things which keep us from knowing, serving, and loving Our
God. Yet, deep in our heart of hearts, there is a small remembrance of
God, even if we have never heard of Him or His boundless Love and
Grace.
One
day, as we are going about our normal lives, we may find we are in
need of someone to rescue us, so we begin seeking as we hope for
release from our sorrow and despair. We hear of God’s mighty acts
and matchless love. This brings us to a crossroads, a choice to make
a change in our lives, and we begin to trust. He has taken us from
Egypt and started us down the pathway to Calvary.
But
our faith in Him is weak and we may wander from His path into the
Desert of Sin. This is a barren land, lifeless and dry. It contains
many pitfalls and fills our hearts with dread and fear. Thus
wandering therein we drag around the chains of our past, even though
God has broken the locks asunder in order to release us from them.
But there is a mountain on the horizon … it is Sinai.
Gradually
we come to the foot of that mount and learn of our sin as God’s law
opens our eyes. Having found some rest and relief in this new
knowledge, we long to continue our Journey to The Promised Land, that
Eternal Garden of God. So off we trod once more.
On
this journey there are many hills and valleys and a few places which
seem barren and lifeless. As we travel we find that time spent in the
valleys are times of spiritual growth, for the watering of God’s
Holy Spirit floods through our souls. As we leave the valley, we
ascend to the mountain heights. Once above the trees, beyond the
rivers of life, we find hardships on the way to the summit; rocks and
downed trees which block the path and pits that we must find a way
across or around, each with their lessons to learn. The tallest of
these mounts we all must climb; for it is Golgotha, the place of
Jesus’ cross. It is here that we make the most important choice of
our lives. That choice is to leave behind the sins of our past
and all of the burdens that we carry, everything that hinders our
walk with Jesus, at the foot of His cross and continue on in His life
everlasting.
Once
we have laid down those sins and burdens, we pick up Jesus’ cross.
We never walk alone, nor do we carry His cross by ourselves; for He
walks beside us, carrying the biggest share of the load. We can read
this in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come
to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am gentle and lowly in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and
my burden is light.”
Though
we are not physically in God’s Eternal Promised Land, we are
allowed entrance to it within our spirit. We can experience its
reality therein whenever we choose. This is done when we lift our
voices in praise and worship the Lord, as the Psalmist noted in Psalm
100:4, “Enter His gates with
thanksgiving and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; and
bless His name!” For when we are saved, He begins within us
and we in Him. There He will remain in residence unless we choose to
walk away from Him and in the wilderness; leaving Him outside our
hearts and lives. For He has promised in Hebrews 13:5 b, “I
will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Since
I allowed Jesus into my life, I have wandered from Him many times.
Yet after each season of wandering, I have once again climbed
Calvary, repented of my sin, laid my burdens at Jesus' feet and taken
again my place beside Him, carrying is cross, yes sharing His yoke,
once more. Allowing Him to share all of my thoughts and fears. He
once again gave me His rest and renewed His Spirit within me.
Today
I long to stay on His Heavenly Highway, though I often make time
along the way to climb Mount Zion, entering into His Heavenly
Temple/Throne Room to give Him praise. This is the place in which
King David danced in worship before the Lord in his complete praise
and adoration of Him as the Ark of the Covenant was brought into
Jerusalem and into its new tabernacle on Mount Zion (2 Samuel chapter
6).
To
recap, we each start out in bondage to our sin. We learn of our sin
at the foot of Mount Sinai where we learn of God, His law and our
sin. After we climb Mount Calvary lay down our sin at the foot of His
cross and enter into His rest, His spiritual Promised Land, also
called Heaven. ON our journey we experience trials and tribulations
which produces growth within our Spirit. And Jesus is our victory in
each and every one. We are allowed entrance into His Throne Room at any time by our songs of praise and thanksgiving. While there we are
refreshed in body, soul, and spirit by His living water … the Wine
of His Holy Spirit.
So,
it isn’t a choice between Sinai or Calvary. No, both mountains are
necessary in our Christian Walk. It is a choice for Love and Life, of
Worshiping and Service or Death/Eternal separation from God. By to
love God, we are also choosing to keep His law as is written in John
14:15, “If you love me, you will
keep My commandments.” And again in verse 21, “Whoever has
my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who
loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love Him and manifest
Myself to him.”
His
commandments, which are deeper than the Torah that Moses brought down
from Mount Sinai, are these:
And
one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another,
and seeing that He has answered them well, asked Him, “Which
commandment is the most important of all? Jesus answered, “The most
important is, “Hear, Oh Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.” The
second is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There
is no commandment greater than these. Mark 12:28-31
This
conversation also appears in Matthew 22:34-40, verse 40 reads, “On
these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” So by
keeping these two commandments that Jesus declared were the greatest,
we are keeping the spirit of the entire Law of Moses.
I
have chosen to love Him, to keep His commandments, and to serve Him
all of my days and in everything that I do …
Have
you?
Thank
You, Lord for sharing this insight with me. Thank You for allowing me
to share it with others. And Thank You for saving my soul!
Amen!
