No Shortcuts

 

Have you ever really studied a map that shows the journey the Israelites traveled from 

their exodus in Egypt all the way to the river Jordan and finally into the promised land? It’s 

not a straight line – it is a north, south, east, and west route. Their journey took them all 

through the wilderness before they finally reached their destination. Seems to me there us a 

principle here: With God, there are no shortcuts.

It took only one day to get the Israelites out of Egypt, it took 40 years to get Egypt out 

of the Israelites. In other words, after years and years, generation after generation of 

paganism, idolatry, and the worship of false gods, it required a long time to get all of that 

out of their hearts, and to teach them monotheism (the worship of only one God). That 

being Jehovah God, the Almighty (Deuteronomy 6:4).

It takes time to develop a close personal relationship with the Lord. There are no 

shortcuts. We cannot skip time alone with Him, time in His Word, and time in prayer. I have 

led many lost people to Jesus and after they received Christ, I’ve always asked them if they 

had a Bible. Most of them would say, “yes”, then I would write on one of the blank pages in 

their Bible a few basic things to help them grow in their Christian life.

1. Read your Bible (that is how God speaks to you)

2. Pray (that is how you speak to God)

3. Find a Bible preaching (God calls us to BELONG to a fellowship of other believers. 

That’s God’s plan and it helps you grow)

4. Give (this is God’s plan to bless us as we learn to share of our time, talents, and our 

resources, to further the Kingdom of God)

5. Witness (learn to share your testimony with others, God will use your story to speak to 

them about Jesus)

 Now you might be thinking this is basic stuff. Every Christian does these things, right? 

The truth is many do not, they think there is a shortcut to a deep personal relationship with 

God, but we can’t skip the basics and get where we need to be with the Lord. How long has 

it been since you sat down and read a page or two of God’s Word? How long has it been 

since you spent time alone with God and prayed?

See what I mean? I fear too many of us are trying to walk with God and yet we are 

skipping the basic things that draw us closer to Him. Remember, there are no “No Shortcuts” 

to intimacy with the Master. God still requires us to take the long route to the promised land.


The Pastor's Pocket

Pastor Bruce Freeman

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thank You

Image
Hello everyone, Pastor Bruce here with an important announcement regarding our daily devotionals known as “The Pastor’s Pocket.” After today, these will be discontinued.   I am so thankful to each of you who have enjoyed reading these devotionals and I trust the Lord has encouraged you through each one. I challenge you, as Peter does, to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).   It is my desire that you will continue in your own personal study of the word of God. Learn the Word, Love the Word, Live the Word!   There may come a time when I can write these again, but for now, I will devote my time to other areas of ministry and ways to serve Him! “To HIM be all the glory both now and forever. AMEN!”   The Pastor’s Pocket Pastor Bruce Freeman
Read more

From Christmas to Calvary

Image
Matthew 16:21, “From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.”   From His birth to His death, Jesus suffered. In the scripture verse for today, Christ is preparing His disciples for the suffering. He was about to endure the final stages of His ministry on earth. He describes how He will suffer, how He will die, and then be raised on the third day. All of this was the Father’s plan for our redemption, our salvation. For that plan to be carried out, Jesus had to enter the world. His entrance came through a lowly manger in Bethlehem.   The sufferings of Christ begin with His birth. Jesus left the glories of heaven and subjected Himself to the limitations of time and space. He confined Himself to a body for the first time. If baby Jesus bit His tongue, He experienced pain. He got thirsty for the first time. He experienced h
Read more

Not Home Yet

Image
 As Christians, we’re destined for something much better than what this world has to offer!  As the old song says, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through, my treasure is laid up somewhere beyond the blue…And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.” The Bible tells us our time on earth is brief (Psalm 103:15 / James 4:4).  If we’ve trusted Jesus as our Savior, our eternal home is heaven.  Therefore we are seen as pilgrims just passing through here.  We are aliens, strangers to this present, evil world system. Isn’t it silly? We spend so much time trying to “have it all” here and now, when in reality we already have it all “in Christ”.  Abundant life that Jesus told us about doesn’t have anything to do with having an abundance of things.  It has to do with the quality of life we possess with all the spiritual riches that come from knowing Christ. God warns us not to love this world.  We must never get too attached to “stuff”.  The fact is; we will suffer rejection, ex
Read more