Greetings Beloved!

For some time I have desired to write about The Pilgrimage.

A few years ago the Lord began to transform the manner in which I perceive my purpose and identity.  I used to have a very theological viewpoint of Christianity.  I wouldn’t have said it, but much of my life in Christ was founded upon the doctrines and practices of Christianity, not deep communion with Christ.  I still have a very theological viewpoint, I suppose, but my life in Christ is no longer founded upon my ability to understand Christian doctrine.  My life in Christ is now founded upon knowing and being known by God.  As I am ‘growing up’, so to speak, in the knowledge of God, the Lord has ravished my heart for Zion.  I can say that the city, whose builder and maker is God, has become so very real to me.  There are days where it seems as though I can almost see it coming out from heaven… days where I can almost feel its breeze, breathing in the sweet air.  My heart is consumed by Zion, and I yearn to dwell there with my God.  I cannot wait for the day that He actually tears the veil between heaven and earth, and the City of God descends from heaven and becomes one with earth.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things unseen.  It is of this that the patriarchs were commended.  They pursued the yearning of their hearts, to dwell with God in His courts.  They understood that the city was not ethereal.  They understood that God dwells within its walls.  They also understood it is their destiny to dwell there with God.  Therefore, they became pilgrims and sojourners in the earth, and pursued the promise until the day they died.  God defined their lives with one word: Righteousness.  Though they did not receive the promise in their lifetime, they will yet rise from their graves and receive the fullness.

We are to do the same.  So let me ask, do we truly seek first His Kingdom as though it is a real kingdom, ruled by a real king, who will rule absolutely from a real throne?  In Christ, being a pilgrim means to ‘seek first His kingdom and His righteousness’. So let us, as the writer of Hebrews says, “Cast off every weight that hinders, the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…”  His grace is sufficient.

Do you live as a foreigner and an alien in your land?  I tell you, our Lord lived such, and if you allow Him to truly live in you, your life will reflect the very same.  Oh, it is so simple, so pure!  A pilgrim doesn’t always know where they are, but they do know who they are and where they are going.  Are you the beloved, bride of Christ to be?  Do you fervently work out your salvation with fear and trembling, preparing yourself to be with Him where He is, the heavenly Zion?  This is the pilgrimage of our faith.  Beloved, it is not about where we are, but where we are going!

May the Lord bless you with every spiritual blessing that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord!

-jm