Dear Pilgrim, is anxiety great within you?

Dear Pilgrim, is anxiety great within you (Ps 94:19)? Are thoughts crowding into your head, as troubles press in around you, refusing to give you any peace?

Ah, dear Pilgrim, precious Pilgrim, the tears in your eyes tell me that such is the weight upon you at present, you cannot even answer. My friend, precious friend – come, let us spend some time thinking about your walk with Him, that His consolation might bring you joy (Ps 94:19) as your eyes are lifted upwards.

Remember when He led you into a field all those years ago, and uncovered before your eyes the richest treasure of all, the treasure of the Kingdom of God – with joy you sold everything you had and bought that field (Mt 13:44)! You left that field a changed person. Where you had lived without hope before –  now joy had been birthed in your heart. Roots were laid down in the desert and the parched land of your heart, as joy began to blossom there. With joy you took your first draught from the wells of salvation. Ohhhh! How good the taste! Shouts of joy erupted from your soul!

As you grew in your understanding, waves of mourning swept over you, threatening to extinguish the flame of joy. As you have listened to His Words, you have wept over your own sin and the unrighteousness around you. You have mourned, precious Pilgrim. The gates of Zion lament and mourn (Isa 3:26). You have followed the path of wisdom and your heart has been in the house of mourning (Eccl 7:4). But you have taken comfort in these words: “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh 8:10). As His joy has filled you, so His comfort has flowed over.

For it is in His presence that you have come to know the fullness of joy (Ps 16:11). It is in His presence that He has filled you with a joy unspeakable, a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, as He has come alongside and shown you His own wounds. The One whose soul was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death as He took your sin upon His shoulders (Mt 26:38), He is the One who rejoiced over His lost sheep when He found you and joyfully put you on His shoulders (Luke 15:5).  The One who offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death during the days of His life on earth (Heb 5:7), He is the One who now rejoices over you with singing (Zeph 3:17). Where a crown of thorns was once cruelly set upon His head, He has now been anointed with the oil of joy (Heb 1:9) and it pours down His head, pours down His robes and in His presence, precious Pilgrim, it pours down upon you! Oh, Pilgrim, draw closer to Him! Share in the oil of joy with which He has been anointed! Allow that oil of joy to pour upon your head, to seep down your collar, to drip down the robe of righteousness you are wearing. Oil travels slowly, dear Pilgrim, so take your time in His presence, do not rush away until that oil of joy covers you completely.

His Word has become a feast for you – when His words come, you eat them, for they are your joy and your heart’s delight (Jer 15:16). You rejoice in following His statutes as one rejoices in great riches (Ps 119:14). Trouble and persecution come your way because of the word, yet because your roots stretch deep into Him, the enemy is unable to snatch your joy from you! For the One who endured the cross for the joy set before Him has so transformed your heart that deceit no longer dwells there, but rather you promote peace – and because of this, dear Pilgrim, you have joy (Pr 12:20)!

And Pilgrim, the joy He has given you has given me joy too! See how His Kingdom works! Your love has given me great joy and encouragement because you have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people (Phm 1:7)! My prayers for you are always filled with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now (Php 1:4-5)! I rejoice when I see you because you have put your hope in His Word (Ps 119:74)!

Oh Pilgrim, be encouraged, be strengthened, be heartened. It is His consolation that brings you joy at times of great anxiety. The One who comforts you – His Spirit, the Comforter – oh! He has not left us as orphans, praise God! Draw consolation from the Comforter, lean against the breast of Jesus, pour out your concerns to Him, then allow Him to turn you to His word, to the promise that your grief will turn to joy (John 16:20), that those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy (Ps 126:5), and be strengthened by Him alone.

Dear Pilgrim, would you be strong?

Dear Pilgrim, would you be strong? Would you be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power?

Then first, dear Pilgrim, you must tremble.

Tremble as He passes by as you stand in the cleft of the Rock, after you ask Him to reveal His glory to you. 

Worship the Lord in the splendour of His holiness and tremble (Ps 96:9)!

Tremble as you grasp the perfection He demands through His law (Ps 119:120).

Tremble at His Word, as you bow before Him, broken and contrite in spirit (Isa 66:2).

Tremble at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob (Ps 114:7)!

And then, dear Pilgrim, after He has stripped you bare of every last ounce of self, allow Him to comfort you. Hear Him as He says of those who tremble before Him: “These are the ones I look on with favour” (Isa 66:2). Favour, Pilgrim! He looks on you with favour!

Hear Him as He says: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isa 41:10).

It is His righteous right hand that will uphold you and strengthen you. You see yourself as a worm, dear Pilgrim, weak and powerless – and apart from Him, this is what you are (Isa 41:14). But now, He has redeemed you! And it is He who will uphold you with His righteous right hand.

Oh, Pilgrim, come with me to the tents of the righteous, come and listen to the tumultuous noise of celebration! Oh, lift your voice to the heavens and join with their shouts of joy and victory! Shout out with every fibre of your being:

“The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things (Ps 118:16)!

The Lord’s right hand is lifted high (Ps 118:16)!

His right hand is victorious in power (Ps 20:6)!

 His right hand has worked salvation for Him (Ps 98:1)!

His right hand is exalted (Ps 89:13)!

His right hand is majestic in power (Ex 15:6)!

His right hand is filled with righteousness (Ps 48:10)!"

Oh, Pilgrim, take heart, take confidence, be strengthened by this truth, that His right hand will hold you fast, whether you are lifted high on the mountains or find yourself in the deepest valleys (Ps 139:8-10).

So come, dear Pilgrim, and take refuge in His right hand. You will find that you are never shaken as He fills you with joy in His presence, with eternal pleasures at His right hand (Ps 16:8-11).  For these eternal pleasures, everlasting delights, this abounding joy – oh Pilgrim, do you see - they are to be found in the One who sits at His right hand – the One upon Whom we fix our eyes, Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith, His beloved Son!

He sat down at the right hand of God, and now He waits for His enemies to be made a footstool for His feet (Heb 10:12-13). Exalted to the right hand of God, He received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured His Spirit out on His people (Acts 2:33). For it is His mighty power in you, which is the same as the mighty strength He exerted when He raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms (Eph 1:19-20), that strengthens you.

So take hold of His weapons of righteousness in your right hand and in your left hand (2 Cor 6:7), put on the whole armour that He gives you, and you will stand, victorious, an overcomer in Him!

Be strong, and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord (Ps 31:24)!

Dear Pilgrim, are you passing through the gates?

Jerusalem, Old City, New Gate.
Photo by: Daniel Baranek. Reproduced with permission.

Dear Pilgrim, are you passing through the gates on your pilgrimage? Oh, look up at these gates as you pass on through, take note of them, for He is breaking open the way for you, leading the way for you.

Do you remember where you were when He first came and called you? You were at the gates of death (Psalm 9:13), precious Pilgrim, for you were dead in your transgressions. Oh, what dark gates these were. Gates in the depths of the earth. Gates at the roots of the mountains. Gates that were locked and kept you imprisoned.

Ah, but He came. He came, and He called you. And you cried out to Him in your distress…and He came and broke down those gates of bronze, He cut through the bars of iron and He set you free (Ps 107:16)! He lifted you up from those gates of death! Glory!

You were then faced with a choice of 2 gates – a wide gate, with many people walking through, or a small gate, leading to a narrow path, with few walking along (Mt 7:13-14). Oh, Pilgrim! What joy that you went through the narrow gate! He Himself is that gate (John 10:9)! Oh, glory to the King of Kings - for this road leads to life, and you are walking along it! You entered with thanksgiving – and He has made you righteous, for it is only the righteous who may enter through this gate (Ps 118:19-20).

He brought you to the city gate, where your Kinsman-Redeemer declared before witnesses that you would be His bride. And the witnesses declared a blessing of fruitfulness upon you (Ruth 4:11)! Ah, and how you love to come to the city gates, for it is here that you have listened to wisdom crying aloud and making her speech (Pr 1:20-21). You have listened, and you have kept your heart teachable. And as you have faithfully been walking in the good works that He prepared in advance for you to do, there have been blessed occasions when these works have brought you praise at the city gates (Pr 31:31)! But these occasions have been few and far between – for just as He suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through His own blood, so you too have gone outside, bearing the disgrace that He bore, sharing in His sufferings (Heb 13:12-13). For the city gates are not your destination.

Pilgrim, there are gates which are blessed beyond all gates, and it is these gates that we are walking towards. For it is true, the Lord does love all the dwellings of Jacob. Yet it is the gates of Zion that He loves more than anywhere else (Ps 87:2). For it is here that He has installed His King on His holy mountain (Ps 2:6), at the very heart of God - Yahweh-Shammah (Eze 48:35)! It is all too easy on our pilgrimage to tarry at other gates on our ascent to Zion – gates where we can become too easily satisfied with what we have, not realising there is a greater freedom awaiting us. Gates where we can find ourselves falling into captivity, gates where the enemy would seek to waylay us that he might rob and steal us of the full inheritance awaiting us. But how He takes care of us! He opens our eyes to our captivity, and then we find ourselves being carried to the gate which is called Beautiful, asking Him for healing…and in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth we arise once more and go on our way, walking and leaping and praising God (Acts 3:2-8)!

Oh, as we journey through many gates, Pilgrim, this is where we must heed the call to lift up our heads (Ps 24:9)! Lift up our heads! Our King will pass through these gates ahead of us. Oh, Pilgrim, pass through, pass through the gates! Build up the highway, remove the stones, raise a banner for the nations (Isa 62:10)! For it is the gates of Zion that we are heading towards! Do you see them? The gates of Zion….gates that always stand open, they are never shut, day or night (Isa 60:11). These gates of Zion – they have a name - it is Praise (Isa 60:18)! Pilgrim, come, come with me, come and stand here in the gates of Daughter Zion, and let us rejoice in His salvation (Ps 9:14)! Let our praises to Him never cease, as we shout our grateful praise to Him, and say “Salvation comes from the LORD!” 

Dear Pilgrim, do you realize you are wearing a ring on your finger?

Dear Pilgrim, do you realize you are wearing a ring on your finger? Hold out your hand….do not feel embarrassed by showing your hand, dear Pilgrim, for it is no longer filthy but clean, because He has washed you...look…it is a ring of royalty! How beautiful it is! It is gleaming, shining, a magnificent jewel!

Do you remember how it came to be there? You recall how you came home to your Father, hoping that He might take you in as a servant in His house, when your eyes were opened to the reality that you were eating the food of pigs? You remember when you were still a long way off, He saw you coming, ran to embrace you and kissed you? You then said to Him "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against You and I am no longer worthy to be called Your son."  Do you remember His response? He called His servants to bring the best robe and put it on you, the robe of the Righteousness of His Son! Oh, mercy! But don't forget He called His servants to also put a ring on your finger (Luke 15:22).

Pilgrim, take the time to look at this ring. This is a ring that confers dignity and honour. It is a ring that attests to an inheritance. Do you see? The prodigal son squandered his earthly inheritance, throwing it away in Vanity Fayre. Yet the Father gives him a ring as a sign of another inheritance, an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, an inheritance in Christ.

For His Son has been appointed heir of all things (Heb 1:2). Just as Pharaoh took the signet ring off his own finger and gave it to Joseph as a sign that he was giving all authority to him, so too the Father has given all authority to the Son. The nations are His inheritance, the ends of the earth His possession (Psalm 2:8). When He returns, every knee will bow before Him and every tongue will confess that He is Lord.

But it is the people He redeemed with His own blood, the people of Mount Zion, who are His own inheritance (Ps 74:2), those in whom He will be glorified when He returns! For He has given us the glory that the Father has given Him (John 17:22). “Here am I, and the children God has given me” (Heb 2:13). We, who have been made children of God, are His treasured possession (Mal 3:17)! We will sparkle in His land like jewels in a crown when He returns (Zech 9:16)! We will shine like the brightness of the heavens, like the stars for ever and ever (Dan 12:3)!

Furthermore dear Pilgrim – take heed – since you are His child, the Father has not only sent the Spirit of His Son into your heart (Gal 4:6), but He has also made you an heir (Gal 4:7). For Christ Himself is the Signet Ring – the sign and seal of the Father – the radiance of God’s glory, the exact representation of His being.  And so the Spirit is the seal, the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession. Though we were responsible for the Heir being killed, that His inheritance might be stripped of Him if that were possible (Mt 21:38), yet in Christ we are seated with princes and inherit a throne of honour (1 Sam 2:8)! A throne of honour! Oh, Pilgrim! What a gospel!

This throne of honour….these words I am about to share with you, precious Pilgrim, I can hardly take them in myself. Truly, as He enlightens the eyes of our heart to know the hope to which He has called us, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, this can be overwhelming. Listen, Pilgrim, to the words from His own lips: “To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with My Father on His throne" (Rev 3:21). Pilgrim, I would be content to lie face down forever at His feet in His Kingdom….now I discover that He will give authority over the nations to the one who is victorious and does His will to the end, just as He received authority from His Father (Rev 2:26).

Look again at the ring on your finger. This ring makes you an heir of God and a co-heir with Christ. This ring points to your inheritance. It points to Christ, to the seal of His Spirit in your heart. Fix your eyes on Christ. He endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. We are co-heirs with Christ if we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory (Rom 8:16-17). If we endure we will also reign with Him (2 Tim 2:12). For the King of Kings wore a crown of thorns to point to His Kingship, and no servant is above his Master. Yet as you endure, precious Pilgrim, remember His abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness that will enable you to reign in life (Rom 5:17)! It is this that will enable you to be victorious, to continue to the end, to persevere, to overcome! 

And remember, precious Pilgrim, that the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son (Gal 4:30). Ask Him to enable you to walk in freedom through the grace He has given, that you may reign in life even as you share in His sufferings. Do not allow the thief to steal your inheritance from you! He would see you stripped of your rightful inheritance on the mountain of the Lord (Ex 15:17), he wants to prevent you from possessing the mountains (Isa 65:9). Resist the devil and he will flee, Pilgrim.  You will then find that the boundary lines have fallen for you in pleasant places, that you have a delightful inheritance. And you will walk into an inheritance that is exceedingly and immeasurably beyond your comprehension.

Then I saw 'a new heaven and a new earth', for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 

(Rev 21:1-7)

Dear Pilgrim, does Christ dwell in your heart through faith?

Dear Pilgrim, does Christ dwell in your heart through faith? Are you asking Him to strengthen you out of His glorious riches with power through His Spirit in your inner being, that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith (Eph 3:17)? I ask that He will do this for you and for me, Pilgrim friend, for we need Him there as we walk this pilgrim path!

You may be thinking to yourself how can Christ dwell in my heart, when the heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (Jer 17:9)? How can Christ dwell in my heart, when out of the heart come evil thoughts – murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander (Matt 15:19)? Maybe you are thinking, as I did for so many years, that you will not be blessed by seeing God for your heart is not pure (Mt 5:8). If so, the cry of your heart is the cry of the Pilgrim throughout the ages: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me" (Ps 51:10)!

Oh Pilgrim, lift your head! Come, lift your eyes to the hills, to the mountains, from where our help comes, and come with me to the Word. What does He say?

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; 

I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

(Eze 36:26)

Do you see, Pilgrim? That deceitful, wicked heart – He has removed it! The heart out of which come evil thoughts – He has removed it and given us a new heart! To those who hear the Word of Christ and respond by believing the gospel - the glorious gospel news that whilst we were still sinners, Christ died for us, being delivered over to death for our sins and raised to life for our justification - He purifies their heart by faith (Acts 15:9)! A new heart! Blessed be His Name!

Oh, but there is more, Pilgrim. Not only does He purify our hearts – He blesses those with a pure heart that they may see God. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ (2 Cor 4:6). The glory of God! Oh, Pilgrim, have you seen this? Have you been emboldened as was Moses to ask of Him "Show me Your glory?" Pilgrim, this is a request He will honour...and when He does...you will be undone. When His light shines in your heart to give you the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ...you will not be able to stand in His presence. Glory! Bow down! Oh, Lord, it is overwhelming….

But Pilgrim, there is still more. For He writes His law on our hearts (Jer 31:33). Not just in our minds, bringing an intellectual assent – no, He writes on the fleshly tablets of our human hearts. His finger writes not with ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God (2 Cor 3:3). Pilgrim, this is a fiery work, painful – as He writes, you will undergo a baptism of fire. For those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Gal 5:24).

Pilgrim, dare you believe me when I say there is yet more? Remember we are feasting in the abundance of the house of the Lord! For He has anointed us! He has set His seal of ownership upon us (2 Cor 1:21-22)! He has adopted us as sons! And because we are His sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father’ (Gal 4:6). The Spirit is calling out! The Spirit is one who testifies, He cannot stay silent! The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children (Rom 8:16). And the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father will testify of Jesus (John 15:26). He will glorify Jesus as He takes what is His, what is His Father’s, and declares it to us (John 16:14-15). Those of us who believe in the Son of God have this testimony in us (1 John 5:10)! Oh Pilgrim, this is not the testimony of any man - this is the testimony of God Himself concerning His Son! And this testimony is in us! In us - us who could only bring to Him our wicked, deceitful hearts....and He gives us a new heart into which He sends the Spirit of His Son calling out 'Abba, Father', testifying of Jesus, declaring to us all that is His. What a truth. What a glorious truth. The riches of our inheritance! Can you believe this? It is true! The hope of glory!

Oh, Pilgrim, when there is such a bounteous feast of abundance here, how can we respond in any way other than walking by the Spirit, that we may not grieve Him? How can we respond in any way other than by daily crucifying the flesh, and boasting in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to us, and us to the world (Gal 6:14)? Oh, Pilgrim, let us encourage one another to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord! And as we continue on our path, we have this hope - that we will see God revealed in all His Glory on that day when He returns! And as we await our blessed hope, let us walk with Him on the road to Emmaus, and may our hearts burn within us as He talks with us and opens the Scriptures for us!

And this is how we know that He lives in us:

we know it by the Spirit He gave us.

(1 John 3:24)

Dear Pilgrim, will you come to the table?

I am honoured to be able to share with you today this guest post by a dear friend of mine, Becky Pliego. Be blessed as you read, Dear Pilgrim, and may you come to the table!

Is your soul longing to be satisfied? Is your flesh fainting? And your eyes weary of crying?

Then I am happy to be here today to encourage you to turn your eyes, your soul, and your whole, undivided self to God’s Sanctuary in prayer, and there, before Him, open your Bible and eat.

The table is set, all is good, rich food awaits, it is a blessed banquet, one that satisfies the deepest longings, and God wants you to come and eat before Him. He has called you, even now He is calling you! Come and eat!

I can almost hear you ask, “But how do I come to the table?” “Where can I wash my hands from my unclean deeds, my feet from going astray, my mouth from unclean words, my mind from darkened thoughts, my heart from filthy intentions?” I say, don’t let them keep you from coming to the banquet! Have you so quickly forgotten that there is forgiveness in Jesus? Have you not read that our Father doesn’t despise but welcomes a broken and contrite spirit (Psalm 51)? Have you forgotten that the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18)?

Eat these words today, dear Pilgrim; “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9).  Here is where the banquet starts: Jesus doing all the washing of feet and hands and hearts.

The devil does not want us to come to the table, he wants to deceive us into believing that we can make our own bread out of rocks (like the time he tempted Jesus, remember?). But that bread, the fake one, the one we desperately eat in the dark will never satisfy. Remember this, dear Pilgrim, the food in exile, the food of self-righteousness, the bread made out of rocks, will never, never, satisfy us. It only feeds the idols of our hearts but never our soul. All bread made with our own efforts will always leave us empty, it never nourishes us, it will always kill us.

Now come and eat, there is no need to hunger when He has laid down His very own life so that we can feast at His table and be satisfied. Do you have a Bible, a place to pray? Then you have the banquet at your disposal. Be merry and be satisfied! His Word is sweeter than honey, taste it and see how good the Lord is to His children! Oh, dear Pilgrim, do not be delayed anymore! Do not resist His voice when He calls you to feast at His table! Today is the day! This is the appointed time!

By Becky Pliego ©

About the Author: BECKY PLIEGO is a happy wife and homeschool mom of four children; three of whom are already in college, and one is still at home receiving all of Becky's attention and teaching focus.
Becky loves to read big and small books about theology, food, and how life is lived as a story woven in God's heart.
Her favorite place to be is always around her table full of hungry people to feed, with a big stack of pumpkin pancakes to pass around.
Becky can be found at Daily On My Way To Heaven.

Dear Pilgrim, are you hungry?

Dear Pilgrim, are you hungry?

The Lord our God is the perfect host. There is a feast forever on offer from the abundance of His house! He created a Garden for man, overflowing and teeming with good food from the trees, watered as they were by the rivers of the Spirit, the rivers of delight. How it was His desire that we should eat and be satisfied, that we would delight in the overflowing abundance of all He freely offered.

Yet man turned his back on the feast of faith - and ever since the ground has been subject to a curse, such that only through painful toil can man now eat food from it. Thorns and thistles now point to the glory from which man has fallen. All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. With a heart set on earthly things, even the riches of the promised inheritance from the Lord are sold for a pot of stew. Yet still man’s appetite is not satisfied.

For food that spoils can never satisfy. But there is another food – and this food endures for eternal life. It was in the desert as men gave in to their cravings that this was revealed, as they tested the living God by asking “Can God really spread a table in the wilderness?” Is the arm of the Lord too short? Can He not instruct His ravens to bring bread and meat to His servants? So the merciful Father opened the doors of the heavens, He rained down manna from heaven, and man ate the bread of angels.

Dear Pilgrim, are you hungry? There is One who has food to eat that we know nothing about. His food is to do the will of His Father and to finish His work. As the Bread of Affliction hung upon the cross, He purchased salvation for you and for me by giving His flesh for the life of the world. As the Living Bread was raised to life, He gives us eternal life and promises to raise us up at the last day.

Dear Pilgrim, are you feeding on Him? For man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart.  Are you feeding on Him? When His Word comes, will you eat it? For His Word is our joy and our heart’s delight. His Word is as sweet as honey. Will you open your mouth and eat what He gives you? For He will fill the hungry with good things, but the rich He will send away empty.

Dear Pilgrim, do you see the table He has prepared for you? This table is in the presence of your enemies – but precious Pilgrim, there is no need to fear. Be strong! For the Bread of the Presence is always at His table. Oh, let Him lead you to the banquet hall! Pilgrim, take your seat. Ah, I hear your protest to Him: “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”  But remember, even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table. Oh, Pilgrim, is it possible to grasp the full glory of the inheritance into which He has brought us – that we are to eat at the King’s table like one of the King’s sons? Is it possible? Can this be true? Oh, Pilgrim, yes, this is true! Sit no longer in the shadows, grateful simply to be in His company, longing for a glance to come your way from His table, yet not daring to hope that He might notice you – come, take your seat at His table, eat and drink with Him! Look at Him full in the face! Speak to Him, and delight in the sound of His voice speaking to you.

And precious Pilgrim, you who have been watching for Him, waiting for Him, you who have been wise and have taken oil in your lamp to keep it burning…can this be? Look, He has dressed Himself to serve…He makes you recline at His table….He is coming to wait on you! The One before whom every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord, to the glory of the Father….He is coming to wait on you! This is our God! Oh, Pilgrim…when He reveals these truths in His Word…..the abundance, the love He lavishes on us….sometimes it is almost too much to take in. The riches of His glorious inheritance…let us fall to our knees in worship. Who is like our God?

Oh, Pilgrim, come, come with me to Mount Zion! This is where the feast is laid out before us! Come, come with me, let us feast in the abundance of His house! Oh come, come with me! And let us go to the street corners and invite anyone we can find who has ears to listen to come and feast with us at this banquet!

On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare

    a feast of rich food for all peoples,

a banquet of aged wine –

    the best of meats and the finest of wines.

(Isa 25:6)