{"id":123,"date":"2019-03-09T05:00:23","date_gmt":"2019-03-09T11:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/?p=123"},"modified":"2020-04-02T10:09:31","modified_gmt":"2020-04-02T15:09:31","slug":"steps-in-the-right-direction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/?p=123","title":{"rendered":"Steps in the Right Direction"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<audio id=\"wp_mep_1\" src=\"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/m4a\/Journey%20Notes%2004%20Steps%20in%20the%20Right%20Direction%20Accomp.m4a\"     controls=\"controls\" preload=\"none\"  >\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t<\/audio>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\njQuery(document).ready(function($) {\r\n\t$('#wp_mep_1').mediaelementplayer({\r\n\t\tm:1\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t,features: ['playpause','current','progress','duration','volume','tracks','fullscreen']\r\n\t\t,audioWidth:,audioHeight:\r\n\t});\r\n});\r\n<\/script>\r\n\n<p>We have already seen that the destination matters on a spiritual journey, but we must remember that each individual step matters, too.\u00a0 An example of this can be seen in the creation account of Genesis 1.\u00a0 It contains a wonderful phrase over and over again.\u00a0 &#8220;It was good.&#8221;\u00a0 The light was good.\u00a0 The land was good.\u00a0 The seas were good.\u00a0 The plants were good.\u00a0 Each part of creation was good.\u00a0 At the end, the whole of creation was very good.<\/p>\n<p>Each day was a step leading toward the completed creation.\u00a0 God could have accomplished all of creation in a single event, or could have inspired the author of Genesis to lump it all together and simply say, &#8220;First, God made everything.&#8221;\u00a0 Instead, though,\u00a0God shared the details.\u00a0 Each step was worth describing.\u00a0 Each step was worth enjoying.\u00a0 Each step pointed to the next one.\u00a0 And all of the steps led to completion.\u00a0 It was very good!<\/p>\n<p>The steps in creation have parallels in the life of the church.\u00a0 We can look at it very broadly (Christ sent the Holy Spirit and will return for the church, His bride), or we can enjoy and learn from the steps along the way, each one pointing to the next, and all of them leading to the joyful celebration in Revelation.<\/p>\n<p>Steps in the life of the church are marked by the moving of the Holy Spirit, which continues to move and to mold the church.\u00a0 For example, in one step the Spirit moved powerfully through the body of the church in Germany during the 1600s and the church experienced dramatic growth.\u00a0 Stepping forward, Gerhard Tersteegen grew up under the influence of this movement.\u00a0 Although he was a merchant by vocation, he was recognized as a gifted speaker and writer in the Reformed Church.\u00a0 Some of his writings achieved international acclaim during his lifetime.\u00a0 Another step:\u00a0many of his hymns were translated into English, including <em>Thou Hidden Love of God<\/em>, which was translated by John Wesley.\u00a0 Wesley was among the leading evangelists of the Great Awakening.\u00a0 The Great Awakening was another step reflecting the Holy Spirit as it continued to move powerfully in the life of the church.\u00a0 Step by step the Spirit moved.\u00a0 Step by step leaders were raised.\u00a0 Step by step.\u00a0 Step by step.<\/p>\n<p>The Holy Spirit still moves today.\u00a0 It moves the church forward step by step, and it moves each of God&#8217;s people forward step by step.\u00a0 Tersteegan understood the importance of making each step count.\u00a0 Think of the step you are taking on your pilgrim journey as you read these lines from <em>Thou Hidden Love of God<\/em>:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Is there a thing beneath the sun<br \/>\nthat strives with thee my heart to share?<br \/>\nAh, tear it thence and reign alone,<br \/>\nthe Lord of every motion there;<br \/>\nthen shall my heart from earth be free,<br \/>\nwhen it hath found repose in thee.<\/p>\n<p>Make sure that the step you are taking right now is good, just like each step of creation was good.\u00a0 And let all of your steps lead you to the foot of the cross.\u00a0 That will be very good.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Thou Hidden Love of God (United Methodist Hymnal #414)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mEuizTVQtjs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>God bless you.<\/p>\n<p>Follow the Path!<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #993366;\"><em><strong>CARadke<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>[Use with <em>It Was Good<\/em>, day 4 of <a title=\"Order your copy of A Labyrinth Pilgrimage today!\" href=\"https:\/\/www.createspace.com\/3366946\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>A Labyrinth Pilgrimage<\/em><\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We have already seen that the destination matters on a spiritual journey, but we must remember that each individual step matters, too.\u00a0 An example of this can be seen in the creation account of Genesis 1.\u00a0 It contains a wonderful &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/?p=123\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thoughts-about-the-journey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=123"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1129,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions\/1129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}