Footsteps to Zion

Mark 1:1-8 1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in the Prophets: “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.” 3 “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’” 4 John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 5 Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. 8 I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” This passage in Mark talks about John the Baptist, from whom we can learn how to live the call ...

The enemy of enlargement is the thought that "this is as far as I can go." Have you ever faced your limit? Maybe the limit of your strength. Or the limit of your patience. Or the limit of your capacity in some work. Or the limit of your capacity to press on in God. Or the limit of your capacity to obey God. There are those days that God allows us to see our limits. However, it's not so easy to accept. What makes it difficult is seeing the distance between what we are able to do and what we want to reach and more importantly, what we know God has called us to. “This is as far as I can go” is essentially a statement of resignation. It can evoke frustration, grief, and discouragement. Nonetheless, God allows us to go through this for a good purpose. He wants us to better understand our limited capacity as human beings so that we may be humbled. Because the truth is we have an inaccurate measure of ourselves. We often esteem ourselves better than we ought to. And so ...