I’m sure we’ve all heard of The Pilgrim’s Progress, an allegory by the English writer John Bunyan, published in two parts in 1678 and 1684. Ref
BUT have you ever thought that you & I dear friend are on a Pilgrimage?
Recently these thoughts came to mind & I’ll share why in a moment.
First let’s grab our cuppa’s, a treat & get comfy for our time together.
Today, I’m having a mug of French Lady Grey tea with a slice of gf Apple & Coconut loaf.
What are you having my friend?
What is a Pilgrimage?
The definition of a Pilgrimage is rather simple it’s;
‘a journey to a place that is held sacred’.
What is the definition of a Pilgrim?
Most definitions have the following;
‘…a person who makes a journey, often a long and difficult one, to a special place, often for spiritual reasons’.
So if we look at these two definitions we can see that indeed we are all Pilgrims on a Pilgrimage heading for a sacred place, called Eternity.
You see the World would have us believe that our life only spans the years on Earth & there is nothing else once our life ends.
But this is not the truth my friend, as I shared in “I go to prepare a place for you…”
A personal Pilgrimage
My son in law recently took a trip to Israel & Jordan with some of his fellow college mates from Bible College for one of their last subjects for the Ministry.
This was a long held dream of his to go where Jesus, his Saviour had walked, taught, died on the cross & rose from death.
And as a family, we travelled with him from our armchairs on this pilgrimage. Getting regular updates via our family WhatsApp group with accompanying photos of his journey.
I thoroughly enjoyed travelling along with him in this manner, as he arrived at the Biblical destinations & experienced these sites first hand.
He also included particular scriptural references with the photos he sent & was experiencing which brought the Bible accounts alive.
But one thing that really stood out to me, especially after watching the presentation to his Church when he returned, was his most poignant lesson along the way which was not in the excitement of the tour, destinations or the people.
But in his personal quiet times alone with the Lord, especially at the Sea of Galilee, realising that it isn’t the special places of history known as the ‘Holy places’ that are important destinations but in our personal relationship & time with the Lord, wherever we dwell on Earth.
For the Holy place is now within believers, those of us who love the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour & have the Holy Spirit dwelling within.
It’s a Sobering Fact
I always feel this is a sobering fact, don’t you? We as believers are the Temple of the Holy Spirit as told in;
‘Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]?’
1 Corinthians 6:19 AMP
My daughter recently shared an App with us that her & hubby have been enjoying in their Devotional time together.
I’ve also started listening to the App & what struck me was that this Minister is recording & sharing his own personal Pilgrimage, as he travels along the way of a missionary who was instrumental in first taking the Good News of Jesus to the shores of the Celtic Coast some 1500 years ago.
Having Celtic heritage we’ve found this most interesting & inspiring.
But one thing that really has been pivotal is listening to this Devotional with ear phones in, & the purposefulness of having to pause from life, shutting out the noise of the World with it’s pressures & stressors to sit in the presence of my Heavenly Father to focus solely upon Him.
Something we often don’t succeed in doing, even in a quiet time of reading a Devotion & having prayer.
Noise, even white noise (we live on the main road into our village), noise of this world & the noise of our thoughts need to be purposely quietened.
‘..when you pray, go into your most private room, close the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.’
Matthew 6:6 AMP
How do you shut the world out for that special time with the Lord my friend?
And if you don’t know Him yet, please join me Here.
Until next time,
Jennifer
You’re also most welcome to join me in The Reading Nook
Or in Prayer
© 2023 Jennifer M. Ross, teawithjennifer.blog All Rights Reserved. Photo by Dastan Khdir on Pexels.com
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This is fantastic. You know I never thought of it like this and I’m happy you brought it to my attention to pause and reflect upon. I can just imagine your sons trip to the Holy Land, wow, I would be pausing to contemplate and worshiping all over the place.
I’m touched and happy you shared this with Sweet Tea & Friends this month.
Thank you Paula, we are all definitely Pilgrims on a Pilgrimage with the Lord 😊
Congratulations, your post will be featured on Monday at SSPS #272. I will also share it on FB Bloggers Share, Care & Inspire as well as Instagram: _esmesalon
Thanks for sharing and I hope to see you at the next Party on Monday
Thank you Esme that is a lovely surprise 🙂
Woow, I had a lovely air-fried hake with plantain and salad, plus a cup of hibiscus tea. And As I read this I feel like I have been blessed. We are on a journey, we are Pilgrims. Thing is our body is indeed a temple and it is our conditioning that allows disease and discomfort to take root in this temple. I am thankful for the explanation in this article shared at the #SSPS. ~Julie Sylvia
Sounds delicious Julie, I’m glad you enjoyed your time here 😊
What a wonderful experience for him! I can only imagine! As far as blocking everything out for time with the Lord, I get up earlier than my husband or any visitors. It’s nice in the quiet of the morning!
The morning is a wonderful time to spend with the Lord.😊
Jennifer, what an amazing experience for your son-in-law, and for the rest of you vicariously! I’d love to visit Israel some time. When I need to settle into the Word, I often put on some piano music. With the distractions in my life these days, I need something to ground my thoughts and heart, and this usually does it for me.
I love that you have a love of music to ground your thoughts Jeanne ☺️
It’s the secret presence of God that enables us to gain inner strength to once more step out into this World of ours and live the Christ-like Life. Great blog, Jennifer! Thank you.
Thank you Heather ☺️
Our Lord and Saviour provide and help us day by day. We need to be quiet and as you stated go where its quiet and we can really listen to Him and hear what he has in store for us day by day. I am so glad to read about your SIL and his journey and that you were able to do it armchair style with him.
Thank you from your SSPS Team for sharing your links with us at #269 SSPS Linky.
Thank you Esme 😊
I also use headphones for my devotions each morning. It really focuses me. I agree with you about holy places being everywhere. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.
Yes, the ear phones definitely shut out the noise of the world Elizabeth.
i smile as i read this this morning, Jennifer, because even as we speak our granddaughter is headed to Israel with a group of like-minded pilgrims who are passionate about their faith in Jesus.
He is able …
Wow! I love that Linda! ☺️ He is definitely able my friend…
Jennifer, I am so glad your son-in-law experienced the Holy Land. We were there in 2011, and it is still fresh in my mind. Our personal time alone with God, with all the noise shut out, insures our peace. Thank you for sharing, sweet friend!
Blessings,
Pam
Thank you Pam! ☺️
It was lovely to be able to travel along with him through technology.
Indeed time with the Lord insures our peace.
Bless you too sweet friend.