We do our best to avoid the wilderness, but the man Jesus considered the greatest embraced an entire life in the wilderness.
Are we too driven by non-biblical definitions of success to follow the ancient paths? If you are satisfied with influence, popularity, comfort, and success, you can avoid the wilderness. However, there are simply some encounters with God that are found only in the wilderness.
Crowds are seducing, but the wilderness is where the fire burns, the burning bush appears, and God speaks.
Many people use the words “wilderness season” only to describe a period of time that feels difficult or unproductive, so it has become common to call people to endure the wilderness and look forward to a time of greater fulfillment outside the wilderness. However, it is time to issue a new it is time to challenge a generation to embrace an entire life in the wilderness.
The call to the wilderness is not a call to isolation. It is not a call to abandon our families or shirk our responsibilities, and for most, it is not a call to leave the place where the Lord has placed them. The call to the wilderness is an invitation to choose a life before the Lord that is not possible as long as we continue to give place and time to competing distractions and alternative affections.
Jesus considered John the Baptist among the greatest of all human beings, but how many have carefully examined John’s life to discover Jesus’ definition of greatness? While many people avoid the wilderness, John’s life will force you to answer a
We in the church love to talk about John the Baptist and Elijah but we avoid the lifestyle that accompanies those messengers.
Samuel Whitfield demonstrates clearly the path we should follow in these last days to be messengers like John. He makes a clear case why the one-man show days are over, and how community and team ministry is the norm
“If God offered you an inheritance and the fulfillment of His promises to you at the cost of relationship, would you take it or refuse it for the sake of knowing him?”
This was one of those books that found me at the right time. Convicting and challenging - it required me to ask a lot of hard questions of myself.
A fork in the road book. articulates our modern condition so well. Rather than dictating a how-to, it asked a lot of good questions. The style of writing could seem repetitive intially but once you get used to it, it feels like layers of questions needed to get to the core essence.
Generally when I think of "The Wilderness", I think about a place that I don't want to be and am trying to escape. This book changed my perspective on that. Now I think of it as a place where I don't have as many distractions to take my focus away from Jesus.
Examining the life of John the Baptist, Whitefield points to how he chose to live his life - set apart for Jesus, and challenges us to live with similar principles. To live in a manner of total devotion to Christ, even if it looks foolish to the world - to choose the wilderness of relying more on God.