THE JOURNEY

Greetings fellow sojourners... "How blessed is the man whose strength is in You. In whose heart are the highways to Zion! Passing through the valley of Baca they make it a spring; The early rain also covers it with blessings. They go from strength to strength Every one of them before God in Zion." (Psalm 84:5-7 NASB) "Blessed--happy, fortunate [to be envied]--is the man whose strength is in You; in whose heart are the highways to Zion. Passing through the valley of weeping they make it a place of springs; the early rain also fills [the pools\ with blessings. They go from strength to strength--increasing in victorious power; each of them appears before God in Zion." (Psalm 84:5-7 The Amplified Bible) In 2001 I made a journey to Kenya Africa with a group of people led by Bruce Coble. We were hosted by Don and Nancy Richards...at a Youth With a Mission Discipleship Training School. I had the honor of teaching a class over the time we were there and to encourage Don and Nancy and the staff. One thing Bruce encouraged us in...that the gift that we brought was not money, teaching or encouragement alone...but a big part of the gift...was the JOURNEY itself. The time, money, and sacrifice that it took to get there meant a lot to the people. We were able to minister in a building where...that when we returned a few years later...was not there any longer. What happened? TERMITES! Now being an ex-Orkin pest control service technician...I knew the power of termites...and I had seen the size of the termite hills... gigantic. What I found interesting was what was left of the wood...from the previous journey...was used to build a bridge (which you see in the photos). As we are on our journey...there will be hardships...setbacks...interruptions to what we thought was our itinerary. But if we remain faithful... and go with the flow of the Holy Spirit... we will be exactly where we need to be on our JOURNEY. As we yield to God...we will be blessed, happy, fortunate and envied...because our strength is not found in our concepts of how the journey should be...but our strength is in HIM. Our hearts are SET on the destination. But along the way...we must learn the JOY OF THE JOURNEY (as the Michael Card song says). In our hearts are the HIGHWAYS TO ZION...our destination...BUT...as we pass through the valley of weeping...the weeping can turn into a PLACE OF SPRINGS...POOLS OF BLESSINGS. We can be refreshed...going from strength to strength...increasing in victorious power...when at long last...we will appear before our God in Zion. We have what is known as ETERNITY IN OUR HEARTS (Ecclesiastes 3:11)...which caps off the thought that there is an appointed time for everything...a time for every event under heaven. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-11) When you are walking in a love, calling and purpose of God...you can know that on your journey...ALL THINGS (the good, the bad, and the ugly) work together for good to those who LOVE God...and are CALLED...according to HIS PURPOSE (not our purpose). We can be confident that in the places of bitterness and tears...there will be strength. "He gives STRENGTH to the WEARY...and to him who lacks MIGHT...He INCREASES POWER. Though youths grow weary and tired...and vigorous young men stumble badly...YET those who wait for the Lord...will GAIN NEW STRENGTH...they will MOUNT UP with wings of eagles...they will RUN and NOT GET TIRED...they will WALK and NOT BECOME WEARY." (Isaiah 4-:29-31) FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY As the song by Dogwood says..."keep on walkin'...you don't know how far you've come...keep on walkin'...for all you know it may be done...and the Father...might be standing up right now...to give the call...to end it all...KEEP ON WALKIN'." Love and Travelled Kisses Rodney "Blessed On The Journey" Boyd