"The Lord is watching over (“under the eye of” Amplified Bible) your journey!” (Judges 18:6) Life is truly a spiritual journey….an adventure (trek) filled with uncertainty, excitement and even risk. Yet through every step of faith we take on this journey, we are invited to become a little more like our Trail Guide, Jesus Christ. Pastor Erwin Raphael McManus shares in his book Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul, “What Jesus offers us on this journey of transformation is not a free pass. There is no detour from which we can escape the real challenges and even painful realities of life.... At every turn (in life) there is an invitation to journey ahead on an adventure that will not leave you unchanged … The journey itself will change you forever – not only your priorities, but your passions. It alters not only your direction, but your desires. It transforms not only your actions, but your values. It makes you like Christ and unlike anyone else. It is nothing less than leaving the fake for the real.” In our life journey, we are all invited to walk a path marked out by the footprints of Jesus. 1 John 2:6 tells us, “Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.” The CEV translation of this text reads, “If we say we are His, we must follow the example of Christ.” Throughout time, Jesus has lovingly looked upon every heart / every soul which He has created in His image (Genesis 1:27) and personally invited them to draw along His side in this great pilgrimage through life en route to our final destination - home in heaven with Him. His standing invitation to all of us is simple, “Come, follow Me!” (Luke 18:22) While the journey He offers us is filled with His many promises, our personal quest must first begin with our willingness to relinquish and leave behind what would else wise hinder our journey: self! Jesus boldly declared, “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must turn from your selfish ways (“deny yourself”), take up your cross daily, and follow Me.” (NLT) This is the place where the true sifting (separation) 
takes place – whether we will freely choose to follow Him and become sojourners with the Savior or whether we will refuse to relinquish self and be left as spiritual nomads (wanderers who will be forever lost in the desert of hell). The enemy has successfully inundated this place of crossroad in our journey with innumerable choices; yet Jesus says there are but two: either follow Him or follow self! Many falsely believe that they can delay that choice until later in life (further down the trail), yet an absence of choice today is still a choice to journey with self in lieu of the Savior. So today, assess where you are in life’s journey. Are you one of Christ’s sojourners traveling on a journey of faith, becoming more and more like Him; or are have you resolved to be lost and aimlessly wandering in the desert of self? The watching world today desperately needs to know that Jesus Christ is REAL, and they will only know that if they see that the journey of faith which you and I are own with Jesus is truly REAL to us through our lives being ever transformed into His likeness (Romans 12:1-2, Ephesians 4:15)! …Selah!Today's Spirit-led video is by CCM artists Sierra and can be viewed by clicking on the on the song title, "The Journey" (this is our very special theme song for our church, Journey 2427, which we play at the close of each Elevate Worship service - G3!)
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