Journey of Faith

The journey of faith takes us through three distinct phases. There is birth and baptism, which set the individual on the road to find God. This leads to the discovery of Jesus, because the Father put everything in the hands of the Son, and we quickly realize that we have to eventually deal with the heir to the Vineyard or the Kingdom. Here a decision has to be made, to follow or not to follow. Soon one finds out that this is not easy. Regardless of when the hour that the Master calls one to task, the recompense is slow in coming or it may seem inadequate. Sometimes one feels cheated. Is this all there is? We all seek the kingdom in this life, but the Kingdom was never to be of this world.

Then there follows the second leg of the journey, the forty years in the wilderness and the three temptations of Satan. Jesus did these in forty days. We all fail at least one of these temptations. We sell out for a piece of bread, we bow down to fame or we despair at our plight in life and jump down to our death. For each one of us the temptations are a little different, but they all fall in three categories: money, fame and power. These are the three temptations of the world; these are the weapons of Satan.

Finally, there is the last leg of the journey, the most difficult one: to accept one's frailties, to admit one's mistakes and turn around and head back home, not back to where one came from at birth, but in a new direction that leads to Christ or the Messiah. This last phase is arduous, but it can be also very exhilarating. One discovers all that we missed, passed by without paying attention to: the times people helped us, those moments when we made the wrong decisions that hurt other people and ourselves, and the joys of forgiving and being forgiven. This last phase requires sacrifice and the acceptance of redemption.

Thus the journey of faith begins with re-birth and ends with the revelation of our Lord and God Eashoa the Messiah.

Most people, however, lose their way early on. They seek God and when they can't find Him, they give up and go after their livelihood, finding respite in what the world has to offer. Those who find God via Jesus are the lucky ones, but even they too often end up seeking the Father beyond Jesus, as if one graduates to a higher level and now can deal directly with the boss. However, the journey of faith should lead back to Jesus, because there is no other Way; you can't bypass Jesus on the way to God via righteousness or any other ceremony or ritual. The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are One. There's only one Way and you have to find yours back through the journey of faith that everyone must travel.

Even nations have to travel this way. The Hebrew people began with God's promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Children of Israel traveled to Egypt to seek their daily staple, they found fame through Joseph and almost lost hope at the hands of the next Pharaoh who didn't know or recognize Joseph. Then they spent forty years in the wilderness where they were taught to rely only on the Lord. Finally they corrected their ways and sought redemption through the Messiah prophesied by the Scriptures. The journey led back to Eashoa the Messiah, not through the righteousness of the Law. The journey of every nation that seeks God leads back to our Lord. We must analyze our journey and discover our destiny if we are to find the Way back to faith.

The Scriptures outlines this journey. We must read it with discernment. That's why my translation is important because it clarifies the teachings of the Scriptures. There is so much that has been lost in other translations. For example, the baby Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but first Mary and Joseph had to flee to Egypt. Now, God wasn't afraid of Herod, so Jesus didn't have to flee, but it was so the prophesy of the Scriptures would be fulfilled that Jesus was to trace the journey of faith of his ancestors and go to Egypt. Then he was to return to Judea, grow up there, be tempted by the devil while fasting in the wilderness for forty days, and then follow his mission of sacrifice and redemption for all humanity. These are always the three phases of the journey of faith.