Footsteps to Zion

One of man’s biggest enemies is this thing called WORRYING . Whenever we hear bad things, the most instinctive thing to do is to worry. Even Isaac, the son of Abraham, faced several reasons to worry at one point in his life. The trials he encountered in Genesis 26 can be similar to what we face today. From Isaac’s experience, we can glean three basic things which men worry about. The first is famine . Genesis 26:1 says that “there was a famine in the land…” In those times, people depended mainly on their livestock and farms for a living. But because of the famine, they did not have any provision. For us today, a famine could speak of a challenging economic standing like losing a job, or not having enough to pay the bills. The second concern of Isaac was the possible threat to his own life . In Genesis 26:7, it says “…lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to behold”. This can speak of a concern on safety, security or health whether your own or ...

As people seeking the Lord, we need to know what's needed so that we may grow in our walk with God. Here, we are given two keys which may prove beneficial to our growth so that we may hit the mark that God has set for our lives (Phil. 3:14). Hunger Hunger is simply defined as a desire for food. This is a natural response of our body to satisfy itself and keep itself running. It can be easily triggered by our senses. Our hunger drives us to look for food. Hungry people tend to become irritable and in extreme cases can even be driven mad or die. An experiment was conducted in Minnesota in 1950 to determine the physical and mental effects starvation has on the body. It was done for 24 weeks, slowly starving the volunteers while checking their mental and physical condition throughout the experiment. The volunteers were then found to have become irritable, violent, depressed, socially withdrawn, decreased in comprehension and concentration, lethargic, and apathetic. Some even har...

A “ trial ” is a test, usually over a limited period of time, of the qualities or suitability of someone. Gold, a precious metal is refined as it goes through the fire. The fire removes dirt and unwanted particles from gold. Our lives are like gold , tried in the fire of difficulties.  How we respond to the trials determine if we shall come out as pure gold. There are three people in the Bible who offer us examples of the different kinds of responses to God appointed difficulties: King Saul’s Trial King Saul was the first king of Israel and he had to fight against the Philistines’ army. In 1 Samuel 13, their enemy was far greater than they were. King Saul had 3,000 men while the Philistines had 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen and people as many as the sand. As a result, fear swept through the men of King Saul. In 1 Samuel 13:7-8 it says, “…all the people who followed him were trembling, and the rest were scattered…” On top of this, the man of God, prophet Samuel delayed in ...

God once told a Christian, “I designed your life that you would bear fruit for Me... I come to My fruit trees looking for fruit. But the fruit that you were beginning to bear was out of reach and it wasn’t the kind of fruit that I was looking for” (Eskelund). When this Christian heard this gentle rebuke from God, he knew God spoke to him not out of anger, but out of love. God loved him so much that He didn’t want this Christian to stay fruitless forever and miss out on all that God had in store for him. This raises the question then: if God would look at our lives today, will He see any fruit? Some people might realize that they have no fruit yet - no souls won for God, no fruits of the Holy Spirit developed. While others may admit to having just some fruit, and already be satisfied with it. But God is not looking for just “some fruit” - He is looking for “ much fruit.” John 15:8 says that God is glorified when we bear “much fruit.” How then do we bear much fruit fo...

Rest is such a necessity yet is a rare find to many. Everybody wants it but not all know how and where to get it. There is a road that leads to rest that is available to all and it is a path that can be found in the Scripture. Each of us has our own cares and anxieties in life. There are times when we find ourselves so stressed out that we just want to give up. But instead of worrying, striving, and succumbing to defeat, the Apostle Peter encourages us in 1 Peter 5:6-7 to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt us in due time, casting all our care upon Him, for He cares for us. The Greek word used for “casting” in this verse is “ EPIRIPTÓ ” which means to throw upon or to place upon. It is used in the same context of the triumphal entry of Jesus when the disciples threw their clothes upon the colt (Luke 19:35).  It implies totally letting go and letting the other person receive and carry the burden. The word “cares,” on the other hand, is from the Gr...

Source: www.LumoProject.com All of us, in different ways, have been once lost and found; then lost and found again and again and again. Luke 15 has three parables that show man’s tendency to drift away from God. But they also show us the heart of God towards the lost because God is in the business of finding the lost. The Lost Sheep In Luke 15:1-7, Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep and the shepherd who is willing to leave the 99 sheep to search for one missing sheep. We are very much like sheep. We easily veer away from the Lord, the Shepherd of our souls. In Isaiah 53:6, God said that we all, like sheep, have gone astray. In 1757, a pastor and hymn writer named Robert Robinson penned the words of the hymn "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing." He was just 22 when he wrote the song yet at a young age he knew his own capacity to drift away from God (Source: Wikipedia). Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love; Here’s my heart, O tak...