Tag Archives: path

Put it behind you

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FMF: Behind

I get behind in many things! I set myself tasks and then run out of time and find myself behind and having to play catch-up.

Today was a catch-up day – catching up on accounts, on Bible Reading plans, on returning messages and ticking off a few of those little admin tasks.

Maybe I set myself too many tasks, but usually I catch up eventually. Sometimes however, I plan too much and have to cut my losses and let go of the least important tasks, so I can move on.

There are some things though that are behind me and need to stay behind me.

There are mistakes I made, lies I believed, real and false guilt I’ve repented of and old habits which were in the past and need to stay in the past.

But sometimes the enemy of our souls reminds me of things from the past and puts them back in front of me, in my face, in my way.

The sins of the old self, which are now washed in the blood of Jesus, forgiven and forgotten by the Father., the evil one would stick them under my nose for me to trip over, cause confusion and block my path.

But no! I once took them to the cross and I need to leave them there at the cross. They are behind me.

I am a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come.

Though the evil one would remind me, pull me down and discourage me, rather than wallow in shame, I have learned to take those thoughts captive and tell that lying condemnation to: ‘Get behind me Satan!’

Matt 16:23

Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

BERJAYA
(painting of ‘Get behind me Satan’ by Ilya Repin 1895)

If it is behind me, it is not blocking my path and I can’t fall over it!

If it is behind me, I can move forward without restrictions.

If the obstacle is behind me, I can see the path, see the vision that God has given me and walk unhindered towards it.

Phil 3:13 – 14

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Lord, let us forget was is behind us and let us see clearly the path You have set for us and move forward, heavenward, in Your strength, in Your power and in Your freedom. In Jesus’ name, I pray.

Most Fridays, I join an online Christian writing community, Five Minute Friday. We are given a one-word prompt and write – unscripted, unedited, pure free-write – for 5 minutes. The prompt this week is BEHIND

I do read through my script afterwards to correct my mistakes; to check scripture references and to find an appropriate image to illustrate the topic.

To read other FMF posts on this subject click BELOW.

Join the link-up and read other posts here​

Camino, Verdad y Vida

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FMF: Path

BERJAYA

La Camino

How can I write about this in five minutes?

I’ve just been blessed with a wonderful holiday, staying with a dear friend that I’ve known for about 26 years.

She lived with me for several years, and yet I have never been to visit her home town, or the village where she enjoyed much of her childhood.

Until last week.

My husband and I went to stay with her and her parents in Logroño, La Rioja.

And we also enjoyed a weekend in her late grandparents’ village of Camprovín.

I can’t tell you all about it here, except that they were excellent hosts – kind, loving, fun and interesting – and we played the tourists, visiting many amazing places and relaxing with siestas and good food.

What really blessed me about the place, was the fact that the town is actually on the pilgrimage route of La Camino. The Camino de Santiago is a pilgrimage that people have followed at least since the 10th Century, moving between holy sites all the way to the shrine of St James, one of the apostles of Jesus.

The disciples followed Jesus.

We follow Him still.

Jesus walked His own pilgrimage to the cross.

Disciples too have to take up their cross to follow Him.

For centuries, pilgrims have followed the pilgrimage trail to Holy Sites.

In one beautiful church on the Camino (San Pablo), I was doubly blessed to find a striking representation of Jesus carrying His cross – in the depiction the eyes looked right into the viewer and I spent some time in meditation, before reading the beautiful prayer written on a plaque beside the model – it referred to Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life – in Spanish, as ‘Jesús es el Camino la Verdad y la Vida’.

BERJAYA

Jesus is the Camino, the path, the way – and we must follow only Him into truth and life, carrying the cross He gives us – but His yoke is easy and the burden light.

The following is a translation of the prayer next to the Statue on the Camino, translated into English:

PRAYER TO JESUS OF NAZARENE

Oh, Jesus of Nazareth, the way, the truth, and the life: We believe that you are the source of love, forgiveness, and compassion, since by suffering and dying on the cross you have shown that you love us intensely.

We humbly implore your mercy to grant us the grace to become like you in thought and action.

May we unite our sufferings with yours for the sanctification and salvation of our brothers and sisters.

With you, we come to understand that we are not alone, but that we are all part of the family of God’s children.

Grant, we implore you, that we may work to create a new world where love, peace, and brotherhood reign.

We ask this of you, who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit and are God forever and ever. Amen

This post is written as part of the Five Minute Friday Community. To read other responses to this week’s prompt: PATH, see the link below.

Join the fun and meet other writers here​

You do the hokey-kokey and you turn around – that’s what it’s all about!

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‘If things don’t turn out right, turn left’.

(This was on one of those clever fridge-magnet captions that make me smile!)

Turning is an active doing word. It is deliberate and intentional – (unless you have been wound-up and are simply spinning automatically, as maybe we all do from time to time!)

Where am I heading? What is my destination? My direction and destination is altered if I turn off the path.

If I am heading North, but turn even a few degrees East, eventually I will end up potentially far from my original destination!

If I reach a cross-roads, I have to know if my destination lies straight ahead, or left, or right.

If I am going in the wrong direction, I may waste a lot of time and energy before I find another opportunity to get back on track.

In the Christmas story, the wise men saw the star and they followed it faithfully. Their destination was to find the prophesied new King. The star was to lead them to the new King. They had their destination and their guide.

At the tender age of 12, I made the best turn in my life. I turned from following myself, my friends and the world-view and I turned to follow Jesus.

BERJAYA

It was a 180 degree turn.

In ignorance, as a young person, I had had my back to God and was walking away from Him; then, after hearing the gospel, I deliberately turned to face Him and to walk towards Him.

Throughout all the years that followed, I have never turned my whole face away from His deliberately, but I have deliberately closed my ears, parts of my heart, and ignored His instructions to me many times.

I have frequently gone off track and wasted a lot of time, mental and emotional energy and caused myself and others unnecessary pain.

I have made a great many wrong turns. Often I lost sight of my destination and my guide. I did not always follow the map. Sometimes I thought I knew better, or knew a short-cut.

Every time I have ‘turned-a-deaf-’un’ and walked in a direction that God had not planned for me, my spiritual life and my whole equilibrium and well-being has suffered. Not to mention all the suffering and heart-ache I caused to others!

Like the ‘prodigal son’ story, I have ended up in a mess, until finally ‘coming to my senses’, turning back and going home again.

This is repentance. A realisation of my own error. A sorrow for my error and the damage I have caused to others, and a turning 180 degrees and going back towards God.

God is merciful and gracious.

This turning, this repentance, is essential to healing of inner-root issues of the heart. It is the heart of what it is to live as a follower of Jesus.

God in His mercy and grace has NEVER turned His heart or face away from me. He has always sought me out, pursued me, watched for me and run to me the minute I turned back towards Him.

May I never turn away from Him again, but dwell forever now in His gaze.

If you need to realign even a small part of your heart or life towards Jesus, do it now and feel the delight in His embrace, as He places His ring on your finger and wraps His robe around you.