Psalm 139:9-10

 

If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

Psalm 139:9-10 ESV

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Join me this week in praying for those who are traveling this summer. Pray that people are careful and safe. Pray for patience, kindness, and tolerance. We've all been cooped up for a long time, and sometimes it's easy to let our emotions get the best of us. Please pray for peace and love.

I'll post daily reminders on:

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God goes before us

 

I've probably shared this before--stop me if you've heard it--but I read Exodus several times and angrily wondered how they could behave so badly when God is right there traveling with them, living among them. Surely they realized that He knew everything they did and heard everything they said. How could they have the audacity to complain when God provided everything they needed, when He saved them from slavery?

     I don't know how many times I read Exodus, and wondered all of those things before I realized,...nothing has changed. I'm no better than the Israelites. God is right here traveling with me, living within me. He knows everything I do, say, think, and feel. He provides me with everything I need and even saved me from a life of slavery to sin. Yet, I have the audacity to complain.

     Driving home from Michigan seemed to take forever. I just wanted to get home, but it was like the harder I pressed, the more obstacles appeared. There was construction, accidents, heavy downpours that made it impossible to see past the nose of my car. None of us felt well. We were exhausted and grumpy. Yet, as soon as we got home, it was as if all was well. 

     Can you imagine how the Israelites felt, traveling for 40 years and just wanting to get home? I empathize with them, especially knowing that the adults never made it to the Promised Land. However, it was because of their lack of faith in God, Who was visible before them the whole journey, Who parted the Red Sea, Who fed them and sustained them. I imagine they hurt God over and over again. 

When I think of how God sustains me and takes care of me, I am in awe of Him. I know I am blessed. He has revealed Himself to me, yet time after time, I don't reciprocate with the unwavering faith that He deserves. I will continue to work on this.

And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.

Exodus 13:21 ESV

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Join me this week in praying for those who are traveling this summer. Pray that people are careful and safe. Pray for patience, kindness, and tolerance. We've all been cooped up for a long time, and sometimes it's easy to let our emotions get the best of us. Please pray for peace and love.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @7DegreesOfMe
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

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Psalm 121:8

 

The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

Psalm 121:8 ESV

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Join me this week in praying for those who are traveling this summer. Pray that people are careful and safe. Pray for patience, kindness, and tolerance. We've all been cooped up for a long time, and sometimes it's easy to let our emotions get the best of us. Please pray for peace and love.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @7DegreesOfMe
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #bibleverse #bible #walk #vacation #travel #plans #journey #wisdom #guidance #prayer 

The best laid plans

 

As my vacation winds down (thank goodness), I battle with the question, "Was it a good vacation or a bad vacation?" I honestly don't know. The best answer is, "It was a vacation." For that, I'm thankful. 

The glass-half-full part of me looks at the fact that I got to spend quality time with my family. I got away from work for a week (except for a few minutes of emails). I got to visit a part of the U.S. where I've never been before, and it was beautiful (see the above photo). 

     The planner in me, however, has several complaints. The most frustrating of which was the weather. I tried to pack for all of the different seasons that can happen within one week in Michigan, which is really similar to the ever-unpredictable Ohio weather, but I missed the mark. 

     Yesterday it was 58 degrees out, with a windchill of 54. It rained and rained and then rained some more. The wind blew so hard that the umbrellas were useless. Of course, that was the day we had to take the ferry back to Mackinaw City, so we were drenched, and our luggage was moist and it just felt like we would never be warm or dry again. When we got to our room, we turned on the heat. I should add that the day we took the ferry to the island it also rained, but it was nowhere near as cold out.

     I've been so out of touch spiritually this week that these types of situations remind me that I should have been talking to God regularly about my plans instead of going off on my own without Him. It would have made a difference, I believe. All of this reminded me of the passage in James:

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 

As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

James 4:13-16 ESV

     Not to say that it's the equivalent of making a life-changing plan without Him, but still, things just tend to work out better when we involve our Father in our plans. I don't think one single plan has worked out the way I intended it to this week. Everything's fine, but maybe if I had prayed for guidance or wisdom, I would have packed a sweatshirt. 

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Join me this week in praying for those who are traveling this summer. Pray that people are careful and safe. Pray for patience, kindness, and tolerance. We've all been cooped up for a long time, and sometimes it's easy to let our emotions get the best of us. Please pray for peace and love.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @7DegreesOfMe
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

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#7thHourPrayerPower #bibleverse #bible #walk #vacation #travel #plans #journey #wisdom #guidance #prayer 

I'm walking here

 

We've now traveled by car, boat, and horse carriage (and by foot). I think my favorite mode of transportation is the carriage. It's so great to be able to take a leisurely stroll downtown to the cloppity-clop sound of horse hoofs and I wonder why in the world would we give this up for cars? But, then I see porters riding bicycles with luggage piled high on a basket; I smell the aroma of horse poop. I keep checking my watch to see if we're going to make it to our destination in time because the horses in front of us aren't in a hurry and we don't have a horn to honk. In other words, reality sinks in and I realize that that lifestyle doesn't fit in with the everyday hustle and bustle of normal city life, unfortunately.

     Plus, there are dangers to consider. We were making a right turn and a man on a bike was passing us on the righthand side of the carriage. We heard the horrible squeal of the bike brakes as the man stopped just inches from the horses who in turn stopped at the noise. Our driver apologized to the man who maneuvered around the horses as he went on his way.

     After we passed him, our driver told us the man on the bike was the Chief of Police, and she jokingly said that he should've known better than to pass on the right. It made me think of the movie "Midnight Cowboy" where Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight are crossing the street and a taxi about runs them over (not in the script) and Dustin Hoffman, without skipping a beat smacks the car hood and yells at the driver, "I'm walkin' here." It became one of the best-known quotes in cinematic history (IMO). This vacation is really exhausting so if I'm not making any sense, that's why.)

I believe that God will protect us as we travel.

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.

Psalm 91:11 ESV 

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Join me this week in praying for those who are traveling this summer. Pray that people are careful and safe. Pray for patience, kindness, and tolerance. We've all been cooped up for a long time, and sometimes it's easy to let our emotions get the best of us. Please pray for peace and love.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @7DegreesOfMe
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

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My steps under me

 

Yesterday we traveled by ferry to Mackinac Island. There are no motor vehicles here, so the only modes of transportation are walking, horse-drawn carriages, or cycling. So, our concept of what's within walking distance has changed overnight. It's amazing what you can do when you have to. We've done so much walking today that I'm exhausted. We're having a great time, don't get me wrong, it's just some vacations are more strenuous than others. Hopefully, I'm working off the fudge I've been munching on.

     When I searched about how far Jesus traveled during His lifetime, I came across Arthur Blessitt's website, where he did an extensive study on this very subject. I hope you'll take the time to read it. Click here.

An excerpt from that:

  Grand Total Miles Jesus walked on trips! 21,525 Miles (34,640 km)

  An average of 20 miles (32 km) a day on all His journeys would mean that Jesus spent at least 1,076 days and nights on the road in his life! This is a total of Two Years, 346 days on the road in his life! All these miles He walked by the age of 33.

  The distance around the world at the equator is 24,901.55 miles (40074 km).

  This means that Jesus ‘walked’ ‘Almost’ the distance around the world!

You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.

Psalm 18:36 ESV

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Join me this week in praying for those who are traveling this summer. Pray that people are careful and safe. Pray for patience, kindness, and tolerance. We've all been cooped up for a long time, and sometimes it's easy to let our emotions get the best of us. Please pray for peace and love.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @7DegreesOfMe
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

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Take up the cross

 

I'm traveling with my family this week in the Mackinaw City area of Michigan. The hotel gave us this little map of the city that probably isn't to scale, but I looked at it and determined that the restaurant we were going to was within "walking distance." After striking out, it was clear that not all of the blocks were shown on the map, and the restaurant was actually further away than I thought, which led me to ponder, what is "walking distance"?
     Clearly, it's different for each person depending on age, health, and amount of activity one is used to. As a group of people who have stationary jobs and lifestyles, our tolerable walking distance was a few blocks less than the distance of this restaurant to our hotel.
     That got me to wondering, how far did Jesus walk during his ministry and/or life? I'll share that information tomorrow. It also led me to a man named Arthur Blessitt (photo above from the 1960s maybe). He's the Guinness Book of World Record's holder for longest pilgrimage. He has walked all over the world with a 12-foot cross, walking more than 43,240 miles across 324 nations over the course of the last 47 years. What a ministry! What a walking distance!

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

Luke 9:23 NKJV

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Join me this week in praying for those who are traveling this summer. Pray that people are careful and safe. Pray for patience, kindness, and tolerance. We've all been cooped up for a long time, and sometimes it's easy to let our emotions get the best of us. Please pray for peace and love.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @7DegreesOfMe
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #bibleverse #bible #walk #cross #pilgrimage #calling #GuinnessBookOfRecords