Forgive me for using an old Bob Seger lyric, but it’s descriptive of what our lives are like when we try to live without spiritual guidance.  As in the above lithograph of John Bunyan’s Christian, every day we face choices across the entire landscape of our existence, and if we rely on nothing but reason and intellect and emotion and all the other extant influences of the natural world we will constantly find ourselves making bad decisions and heading down dangerous roads.

Despite our prideful self-delusions of control, the truth of the matter is that life is replete with mysteries, the depth of which none of us, in himself, has the slightest clue how to fathom.  The natural man, in his unbelief, relies on all the wrong information and as a result comes up with all the wrong answers.  Even the Christian person faces the challenge of understanding God’s will for his life, and struggles daily to find the path God has laid out for him.  This path only becomes clearer with spiritual growth, and unfortunately spiritual growth is a neglected concept in the church and in the mindset of many believers.

We are all working on mysteries.  But the justified have access to every clue necessary to finding the path.  The trick is to attune ourselves to those clues, so that we might access them when faced with decisions.

I’m facing two of those decisions, right now.  In this space I want to discuss one of them, in the hopes that by sharing the process with you we will both learn something and at the same time I will move forward toward clarity for myself.  This is the essence of the Pilgrim journey.

Some weeks ago I discovered that the Angel Food ministries program of food distribution to the needy and the working poor had gone out of business.  I’ve had some experience with this program in my churches, and I know that it has been a Godsend to many families.  Upon learning that the program had closed, I was immediately prompted to see if there were any replacement programs in our area.

Pilgrim Point One:  Promptings

It doesn’t qualify you as a candidate for therapy if you admit that you hear voices in your head.  Everyone hears those little voices.  All the psychological implications and explanations are beyond the scope of this post, but suffice it to say that our conscience is constantly chattering at us.  The trick is to know when that prompt is coming from your carnal spirit, a demonic spirit, or the Holy Spirit.

Thereof we may write a volume of books.  To attempt simplicity is a fool’s errand.  But we can say this much, in beginning the task. If we are not in close fellowship with God, that is, if we have unconfessed sin in our lives or are in some other way spiritually compromised, our capacity for properly discerning the promptings of the Spirit and properly identifying the whispered poison of the adversary is very much diminished.  We must strive to remain steeped in the means of grace and daily in communication with God, so that when the promptings of the Spirit come (and they will come) we recognize them and cultivate the habit of following them.

So as I evaluate and potentially pursue this ministry of providing food to the needy, I must examine my spiritual condition every day (we shall discuss Ignatius’ Daily Examen of Consciousness as an aid to this process.)  Remaining in close fellowship with God is the pre-requisite to understanding the Promptings of the Spirit. I invite you to join me and I solicit your prayers as we continue upon this Pilgrim journey.

“But when the Comforter (parakletos) is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.”   John 15:26

 I am a serious combat aircraft aficionado.  There is something inspiring about a powerful machine climbing into hostile skies, to engage a dangerous enemy in defense of a noble cause.  One can find so many stories of heroic men in these magnificent craft, changing the course of history by being in the right place at the right time, and doing the right thing against all odds.

Last night I was watching a Military Channel documentary about one such story.  As I listened, I was struck by an obvious spiritual parallel.

My favorite aircraft by a large margin is the P-51 Mustang.  It’s the most beautiful mechanical device I’ve ever seen, and the role it played in the Second World War was nothing short of miraculous.

In late 1943, the Allies were focusing on the task of bombing Nazi Germany into submission. There was a major problem, however.  While the bombers of the day could fly all the way from airfields in Britain to Berlin and back, their escort fighters could not.  This lack of range created a scenario where the bombers would overfly France with escort protection, but once into Germany the escorts had to turn around, leaving the bomber crews at the mercy of the Luftwaffe.  The losses suffered by American and British bombing squadrons during that portion of the war numbered in the tens of thousands, and the entire undertaking is viewed by historians as a failure.

The North American P-51 Mustang changed all that, and in doing so changed the course of the war.  Designed for dogfighting at long range and sporting six .50 caliber machine guns, the Mustang was able to stay with the bombers all the way to Germany and back.  Hermann Goerring was quoted as saying that the day he saw those magnificent fighters over Berlin, he knew the war was lost.  This coming from a man who had been a fighter ace himself.

Now listen, Pilgrim.  Here is the definitive image.  The big, slow, vulnerable bombers would lumber into German airspace, where the highly efficient killing machines of the Luftwaffe awaited.  But at the critical moment, the P-51 would appear, coming alongside the fighters and giving comfort and protection. 

Koine Greek is such a powerful vehicle for understanding scripture precisely because it always paints a picture. The koine Greek word parakletos, which is used in John 15:26 to refer to the Holy Spirit, paints the picture of a comforter who comes alongside, lending his strength for the battle and providing guidance on the journey home.  Much like the P-51 coming alongside and saving the lives of those airmen, the Comforter comes to our spirits in time of need (or, more importantly, when he is summoned) and gives us strength, succor and protection.

Pilgrim, we must cultivate our capacity to communicate with and utilize the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Without the Comforter’s salutary supernatural presence we are at the mercy of the Adversary.  This power and intercession is available to us at all times and in all places.

We can be confident beyond all doubt that when Satan looks up into the life of the Christian person and sees the Comforter coming alongside, he is at that moment certain that the war is lost.