A Great Spiritual Metaphor

Moments With God on Route 66

Each day I take a little time to read from the book "Moments With God On Route 66." 

I love what is written on the back cover:

God has given us His own Route 66 that stretches from your front door to the doorway of heaven--66 books of the Bible.  And since 2007, Pastor David Jeremiah has been airing one-minute insights into God's Route 66 on radio stations across the nation.  In Moments With God on Route 66 you will find 230 of the best of the nearly 1,400 Route 66 spots aired through 2012.  Just like the Bible, there is something in these short devotionals for everyone, seekers and saints alike.

So take a short drive on God's Route 66 every day.  You'll find His divine highway will keep you focused and moving faithfully toward your heavenly home!

Today, I read one that is worthy of copying, printing out, framing, and hanging on a wall so that I will be reminded of the wisdom shared therein each and every day!  It is entitled, "Full Trot."

Full Trot

There is an Italian proverb that is a great spiritual metaphor.  It says, "He who knows the road can ride at a full trot."  When a horse and rider are on a road they've been down a hundred times, they can go at full speed.  They can ride with confidence.

But in life, we are confronted with roads we've never been down before.  And that can be intimidating.  But guess who sees every bump and pothole in every road?  God does.  That's what it means to walk by faith and not by sight--to have confidence in God and not in ourselves.

Move ahead with confidence on the road to new life.

Discover God's knowledge of the road ahead ...on Route 66.

It is amazing to me that people who have never read or studied the Bible just do not know what wisdom from God that they could discover within it's pages!  They just don't know what they are missing! As Dr. Jeremiah wrote, we can "Discover God's knowledge of the road ahead" through reading and studying the Bible!


The terms "by" and "faith" are written 65 times in the New Testament and the exact phrase, "by faith" is written in the New Testament 39 times!!

Notice that the "by faith" verses in the book of Hebrews (click on link above to view) describes many of the important events that occurred in the Old Testament!

Every single "by faith" verse is excellent, of course, because they all come from the Word of God!  Some of my personal favorites with the words "by faith" highlighted in red include:


Gal 3:24   Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Gal 3:8   And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.”[fn]

Gal 5:5   For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

Phl 3:9   and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; *

Rom 5:1   Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have[fn] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Gal 2:16   “knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

Gal 2:20   “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
 
One of the most recognized verses has the action verb "walk" in front of it:

2Cr 5:7    For we walk by faith, not by sight.

At the same time, this 2 Corinthians verse informs us not to walk by sight alone.

Prophecy in the Bible has provided believers with just enough information to allow us to hold onto the faith, and walk with absolute confidence!  Jesus Christ fulfilled most of the 300+ prophecies that pointed to the coming Messiah in the Old Testament during his first coming and mission of salvation on earth.  Upon the culmination of history, Christ will fulfill the final prophecies at his second coming.

With a track record like Christ's why should anyone ever doubt that he would not fulfill all the end times prophecies?

This is exactly why we can move ahead with confidence via walking by faith on the road to new life!

*  Phl 3:7    But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.

   Phl 3:8   Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ

   Phl 3:9    and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;

   Phl 3:10   that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,

   Phl 3:11   if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

  Phl 3:12    Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

  Phl 3:13   Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,

  Phl 3:14   I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

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Hat tips:

Moments With God on Route 66
Blue Letter Bible