Blessed Is The Man Whose Strength Is In You

…whose heart is set on pilgrimage. Psalm 84:5

Next week I will be going on a prayer retreat near our home—a spiritual pilgrimage. Someone asked if I really needed to do that—it hasn’t been that long since I went on my last prayer retreat. The answer is in this verse: “My strength is in You.” I am going away to be alone with the Lord and find strength in Him. That’s a good thing to do!

The entire verse says: “Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage.” (Psalm 84:5 NKJV)

People think that a pilgrimage has to mean traveling to an exotic sacred destination. Of course it’s wonderful when we can take a journey to the Holy Land or other special Christian destination or site. But the location is not the point in this verse and not the point of a pilgrimage.

The point of a pilgrimage is to do as this verse says, to find strength in the Lord. That is, to draw close to Him, seek Him, wait on Him, and just be with Him. 

That can be done at a park, a camp, a beach, in the mountains, in a cabin, on a boat and so on.

The location is not the point. The journey is not the point. Spending time with our Lord is the point.

So what’s the benefit of a pilgrimage—going somewhere? A pilgrimage helps in several ways:

• We get away from normal distractions of life; therefore, we can focus.

• We spend extended time with our Lord

• We seek Him in a more natural environment that He made, rather than our normal man-made artificial environment. This helps us to be drawn to our Creator.We do what Jesus did: “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” (Luke 5:16 NIV)

When I go on my prayer retreat pilgrimage next week, I will likely do some prayer walks something like this picture. But I won’t be just hiking—I’ll be praying.

Most of the major decisions I have made in my adult life have come during such prayer times in prayer retreat type pilgrimages. 

Usually these retreats have been local, but at least one major decision I made was on a pilgrimage to Greece. It was in the ancient city of Corinth in Greece that I felt God’s leading me to leave my first church plant after 13 years and start another new church.

That’s just one example.

Jesus set the example in prayer retreat pilgrimages as seen above. You’ll remember that Jesus spent an entire 40 days on an extended prayer retreat pilgrimage in the wilderness. (see Matthew 4:1-11)

In Matthew 14:23 we read that, “After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone.” (NIV)

That’s what I’ll be doing. Going away to be alone with the Lord. That’s what I recommend to you.

For more help on this topic of prayer retreat pilgrimages see my articles:

• 7 Steps to a Productive Vision Retreat

• So You Think You Can’t Take a Prayer Retreat?

• Who Needs a Vision Retreat?

To learn how to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and be saved for all eternity click HERE. 

To develop your relationship with God, get my free eBook “10 Prayers to Unlock Heaven on Earth” click HERE.

Have You Opened Your Spiritual Gifts?

The joys of humbly assessing and using your spiritual gifts

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Before I opened my spiritual gifts, I have a vivid memory from a summer during college. A neighbor friend who knew I was attending Moody Bible Institute, watched me and heard some of my stories. One day he proclaimed, “I know what you’re going to do—you’re going to become a preacher.” Like Peter denying Jesus 3x before the cock crowed, I quickly said, “Naw, not me. I can’t imagine speaking in front of people.”

Incredible as it may seem, I very much like speaking in front of large groups of people. That’s the kind of change that happens when we open and develop our spiritual gifts. 

It was just a year or so later that I answered God’s call to ministry and preaching. Seems like my neighbor, who I am not sure was a Christian, knew me better than I knew myself!

And guess what—nowadays I absolutely love to preach! (BTW, if you’d like to have me speak for your group, please see my personal Speaking Page.)

What changed my heart? I opened my spiritual gifts.

You see, they really are gifts. Not just assignments, or curses, or jobs to do, but gifts!

I’d like to share with you 3 reasons it’s wonderful to humbly assess and use your spiritual gifts:

01. Spiritual gifts bring us joy

“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.” (1 Corinthians 12:1 ESV)

The Greek word translated “spiritual gifts” in this verse and others is CHARISMA. At its root is the Greek word CHARA which means “Grace: that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness.”

God wants us to be informed about and open our spiritual gifts so we can find “joy, pleasure, and delight.”

Perhaps you also shudder at the thought of speaking in front of crowds. Does that mean you are called to preach? No!

But if you are being called to preach, God will do a work in your heart to where you do love to preach.

Recently I sent a gift to some friends. It was a DVD of a movie called “Monumental.” Later I got a message of gratitude—my friends said they were just sitting down to watch the movie.

I delighted to think of them having the joy of watching the DVD. That’s why I gave that gift to them—to bring them joy.

And that’s why God gives us spiritual gifts—to bring us joy.

02. Because they are gifts, our spiritual gifts should help us stay humble.

“Because of the kindness that God has shown me, I ask you not to think of yourselves more highly than you should. Instead, your thoughts should lead you to use good judgment based on what God has given each of you as believers.” (Romans 12:3b GW)

If I earn something, I might have some excuse to feel prideful.

But if I’m given something as a gift, how can I be proud?

Do you get the picture? Gifts are not a basis for pride but for gratitude.

When in college, I had a so-so guitar. But a friend had a fancy Ovation guitar. She didn’t use it much and one day offered to give it to me so it could be used by the Lord through me. I accepted it and made a commitment to accept any invitation to use it for ministry. For years I led worship using that guitar.

I was quite pleased to use that guitar until it was stolen from our church in a burglary. But then the insurance purchased an even better guitar as a replacement!

If I was prideful about owning those guitars, that would have been stupid. They were gifts.

Likewise, if we are prideful of our spiritual gifts, that is stupid. They are gifts that we don’t deserve. We must humbly use them without pride.

03. When we open and use our spiritual gifts, we see ministries impacted and lives changed.

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” (1 Peter 4:10 ESV)

God wants us to open and use our spiritual gifts to impact His work on earth!

Whatever gift you have received, it is important and God wants to use it to impact people. 

My Executive Assistant Patty helps me keep track of people’s birthdays so I can send a birthday greeting card. She has the gifts of administration and helps. When someone thanks us for remembering their birthday, it gives her joy to see the fruit of her labors.

It doesn’t matter what your gift is, you will see impact and that will bring joy!

• You might have the gift of shepherding and find joy in caring for people.

• You might have the gift of evangelism and love seeing people come to faith in Jesus.

• If you have the gift of leadership, you’ll love leading a group to effectiveness and productivity.

It’s the same with any of the spiritual gifts.

For two sites with listings of spiritual gifts and helpful explanations click HERE or  HERE. Both these sites also have a spiritual gifts inventory to help you discover your spiritual gifts.

In conclusion, if you are a Christian, God has given you a gift that you should use to bless others and thereby be blessed (1 Peter 4:10). 

Don’t be timid, but don’t be prideful either. Just discover, open and use your gift to humbly serve the Lord and bless others. In doing so you will find joy. 

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3 Wonderful Joys Of A God-sized Vision

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When I graduated from seminary in 1981, Carolyn and I immediately launched out to start a new church. We started with virtually nothing: no people, no building, no equipment, no programs and almost no money. Our parents seemed to understand—as a rookie pastor, it was “the only job I could come up with.” Yet it was for us the beginning of a God-sized vision.

I’ve trained church planters on every inhabited continent. This was on a visit to Ivory Coast in 2002.

After 13 years of blood, sweat and tears, that church was well-established. We knew it was time for a new God-sized vision. Instead of seeking a more comfortable role in ministry, we did the same thing again. We started a new church with even less resources than the first time.  

Now our parents questioned our sanity. We were leaving a secure position to start again with nothing and trust God to build a church. But we had a God-sized vision and trusted Him to see us through.

What happened? God was faithful once again. The church reached people for Jesus We never lacked. In fact, God provided abundantly!

But just 3 years later we started fresh again. This time, we joined a new and unique God-sized vision: the vision of Dynamic Church Planting International (DCPI) to equip leaders to plant one million churches.

A million church vision was certainly something that could only happen if God was in it!

For 18 years we have labored with DCPI to fulfill that great vision. And the vision has grown—it is now a vision to equip leaders to plant 5 million churches!

Has it been worth the risk? Absolutely! The ministry impact keeps growing. Last year (2015) DCPI trained over 25,000 church planters on every inhabited continent of the world! Those leaders will plant churches that will reach tens of thousands who will follow Christ.

We human beings are funny. On the one hand, we long for significance. We want to be part of something bigger than we are, something that will make a difference in the long term, a God-sized vision.

But on the other hand, we want security, comfort, and an easy road.

Recently I heard it said that “Human beings are much more likely to avoid pain than to pursue gain.”

Can you relate? I can. I want to be part of something big, but if it involves risk, I think long and hard about it.

So here is my thesis for this article: Real faith and confidence in the Lord means embracing a God-sized vision and it’s a very joyful thing to do.

By embracing a God-sized vision, I don’t mean we sit on the sidelines cheering those who have stepped out in faith. I mean that we ourselves step out in faith to make it happen: we put our necks on the line, we risk failure, risk our resources, risk our “reputation,” even risk our safety.

Why do it? Here are 3 wonderful joys of embracing a God-sized vision:

01. Living by faith gives us a chance to see God do miracles.

Do you remember the story of Jesus (and Peter) walking on water? It’s found in Matthew 14:

“Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. ‘It’s a ghost,’ they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’ ‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’ ‘Come,’ he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.” (Matthew 14:25-29 NIV)

Q & A:

Question 1: How many people walked on water besides Jesus?

Answer 1: Only one, Peter.

Question 2: How many disciples could have walked on water if they would have stepped out in faith?

Answer 2: Probably all of them.

Question 3: Why didn’t the others walk on water?

Answer 3: No one besides Peter stepped out in faith!

Question 4: Where might we be if we had stepped out in faith?

Answer 4: The past is behind us. The future is unknown. The only thing we have control of is the present.

What will we do right now to embrace a God-sized vision?

Maybe you’re afraid of water. Maybe you’re afraid to step out in faith into the deep. That’s understandable. But as someone has said, “If you’re going to walk on water, you’ve got to get out of the boat.”

When we get out of the boat, we see God do miracles in the fulfillment of a God-sized vision!

02. You get rescued when you sink.

You might be thinking, “Yes Mark. But don’t forget that Peter sank. And I don’t want to sink and drown!”

I hear you. I don’t want to either. But remember that Jesus rescued Peter when he began to sink:

“Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.” (Matthew 14:29b-31a NIV)

Isn’t it interesting that fear caused Peter to sink.

Peter had good reason to fear—he was walking on water on a stormy sea! But the Lord rescued Peter as he rescues all who step out in faith.

Not only did the Lord rescue Peter, He also rebuked him: “‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’” (Matthew 14:31b NIV)

When we step out in faith to reach a God-sized vision, we must not allow fear to overwhelm us. That is when we’ll begin to sink!

But even if we begin to fear and sink, Jesus is always there to rescue us.

We might start to sink. We might suffer. We might agonize. We might even die. But even if we die, Jesus rescues us from the penalty of our sins and we have eternal life. We cannot lose when we pursue a God-sized vision that He has put in our hearts!

03. When the God-sized vision is fulfilled, we know God did it because we certainly couldn’t! 

“And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’” (Matthew 14:32-33 NIV)

Do you think Peter’s faith was increased by this walking-on-water incident? Surely part of the reason Peter became the leader of the early church was that he stepped out in faith to walk on water.

Likewise, when we embrace a God-sized vision and step out in faith, we’ll grow as leaders and Christ-followers.

And when we see a God-sized vision fulfilled, we’ll stand back and say, “Wow, God came through. We know He did this because we surely couldn’t.”

Then we’ll worship God for all He has done!

Question: Is there a God-sized vision you are pursuing now?

I’m not saying you have to be the point leader for the vision. God may more likely have called you to a team of people pursuing a great goal.

Have you answered the call?

If you don’t know the God-sized vision He might have for you, one of the best ways to know it is to go on a Vision or Prayer Retreat. To learn the why’s and how’s of such a retreat, see my articles on:

• Who Needs a Vision Retreat?

• 7 Steps to a Productive Vision Retreat

• So You Think You Can’t Take a Prayer Retreat?