99 Musings of a Dogeared Pilgrim

Daily Readings for Encouragement along the Way

John Cox

• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN:
  9781666796056
• Print ISBN:
  9781666737011
  9781666796049
• Topic: Theology & Religion

99 Musings is for men and women who desire to know God and follow Jesus with authenticity and integrity. The first disciples were far from perfect, and yet God called them, loved them, equipped them, picked them up when they struggled, and blessed them. As was true for them so it is possible for us today. The Musings seek to inspire, encourage, sometimes challenge, and, most importantly, remind the reader of God's faithfulness, even when circumstance don't make sense. Written in contemporary language, each Musing is relevant and easily applied to today's world. This is not a book of spiritual idealism and abstraction but rather a work that tries to make sense of the teachings of Jesus, the promises of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit. It is about a kind and loving God who is a Father. He wants to walk alongside us in our lives with his presence and power. He delights in us where we are, and he is not interested in our being perfect, trying harder, keeping rules, or performing. His focus is on friendship and relationship from which all else flows--and that is the heart of these Musings.

1 | Burnt Toast and Marmalade

I love burnt toast. Scrape the worst parts off, add a little marmalade, and what was ruined becomes a treat to savor. Life can be like that with God. When times are hard or circumstances don’t turn out as we’d hoped, with some patience and creativity new possibilities emerge.

In the moments when all we see is smoke and blackened toast—the defiled remnant of what had once been fresh bread in our hungry hands—what then? The burnt toast could be shattered dreams, the death of a loved one, career failure, a broken relationship, sudden injury, faith on life support. So many reasons to question and wonder where the hope is, and what is the way forward. How can we regain the passion to believe after this?

My life has touched those places of heat and smoke and smoldering dreams. Only an extra pair of hands much larger than mine has enabled a transformation from cremation to resurrection. It has been a journey of plummeting into steep valleys, then soaring to exhilarating heights with a stomach full of butterflies, the fog of apprehension pierced with bursts of sunlight. Life’s a roller coaster!

Sometimes, when we talk about believing in God, an image pops up of someone sitting in a random church listening, and listening, and listening. “Where’s the connection to my life outside of this religious bubble?” we might whisper.

Throughout the pages of the Bible, God meets people and walks alongside them in every conceivable venue. They converse by the ocean, alongside rivers, on top of mountains, in homes, up trees, in caves, in boats, in chariots, in fire, in thunderstorms, in earthquakes, in deserts, in vineyards, in churches and synagogues, in dreams, in visions, in books. These encounters between God and his people invariably are interruptions—surprises—and usually unexpected events that happen while the person is on their way to somewhere else—or, perhaps, going nowhere.

Consider:

Is God in a box in your head, restricted to speaking or working in specific ways and times? What if he’s bigger and more creative? Listen for him in a new way today. How does God speak? He always begins with our name, affirming his love. He never speaks to us accusingly. He embraces us with his genuine acceptance, not necessarily of every attitude or behavior. From that place of acceptance, he gently reveals anything negative in a manner that helps rather than humiliates. He can speak in a whisper of a thought, through written or spoken words, through a picture, a fleeting impression, whatever way is most normal and intuitive for us, because he knows us intimately. Don’t try hard to listen; just believe he is speaking, and you will hear.

John 10:27

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

Love will find a way; indifference will find an excuse.

Ukrainian Proverb

2 | Ashes into Gemstones

Jesus spent day after day with his disciples, walking along roads, teaching, healing—surprising those he met with a love and an acceptance they never expected. He lived with an authority, power, and self-assurance that was quite remarkable considering the political circumstances into which he was born. His home country was occupied by the Roman superpower of the day; his family was ordinary “working class.” His opportunities for “self-fulfillment”—for instance, getting rich, or attending university—were zero. Add to that the fact that he was promised a significant spiritual ministry and had to wait thirty years before he was permitted to do anything publicly! How did he do it? After all, he was fully human, the same as you and I.

Yet circumstances did not appear to dictate his path. Instead, he embraced his life and situation without flinching or complaining. He seemed to be aware of another reality and truth underpinning the visible. That was the place of truth from which he derived his meaning, purpose, and sustenance—a trusting relationship with his/our Father.

Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why Jesus came to earth in the first place: to broaden our horizons and to help us see truth beyond what we taste, touch, and feel every day, in other words, beyond the “natural.”

To use an analogy from the previous musing, the trick or truth is never in the burnt toast. Rather, it is discovered within the heart and mind of the one holding the charred remains. I place my hands clutching blackened bread into the hands of the living God and remain there with patience—that’s the key. I should not be surprised to find diamonds and glittering emeralds emerging between my fingers from among the crumbs.

That’s what he does! Water into wine, stormy seas into tranquil waters, sickness into healing, death into life, enemies into friends, despair into hope. Dejection into direction, lost into found, drought into rain, aimless into purpose, barren into fruitful. Sometimes we try so hard and think the solutions are always rooted in us, or the blame, or the disappointment. Remember, there’s mystery in this life. If we think all of life is without hardship—all fresh bread without even a burnt edge—then we will miss out on what God is doing beneath the surface; how he is turning the ugly parts of our lives into beauty.

As you read these words today, there’s a high probability that either you, or someone you know, is experiencing burnt toast. There’s no shame in that; we’re not alone. But it’s not the end.

Consider:

Scrape off the charred bits (forgive, be forgiven, accept, embrace, yield), talk to God your Father—and trust him to turn the ashes into gemstones, the sadness into joy (or at least something more constructive to build upon)! Believe, be patient, be expectant.

Isaiah 61:3

 . . . and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

3 | Fear Not

What if you were kissed by the frog of your nightmares only to discover the Prince Charming of your dreams standing at the doorway to heaven? And what if he knelt at your feet and the shoe in his hand fitted you perfectly? As you arose in bewilderment, you were transformed into who you were always meant to be. Your Cinderella persona fell away in the presence of such unexpected love and affirmation, revealing an heir to the throne—what then?

Many people speak about God or a “higher power” as if he were an ugly toad, croaking in the dark. An irritant more than a blessing, best kept at a safe and respectful distance.

Remember Robinson Crusoe—shipwrecked on a remote island, finding a single footprint on the beach, realizing that he was not quite as alone as he’d supposed? The realization of another presence on his island caused panic to rise as his imagination ran wild. Rather than being excited about company, and someone with whom he could share his adventure, he imagined an enemy to threaten his existence.

One day a footprint appeared in the dusty earth of Bethlehem and audaciously challenged our assumptions and preconceptions. Jesus Christ embedded his mark on the earth—God’s footprint in the form of a historical person. Our initial response to Jesus may sometimes not be dissimilar to that of Mr. Crusoe stumbling upon a footprint on his secluded, sandy beach.

With this footprin...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1 | Burnt Toast and Marmalade
• 2 | Ashes into Gemstones
• 3 | Fear Not
• 4 | Time
• 5 | It’s Unbelievable
• 6 | Easter—Every Day
• 7 | Changing and Never Changing
• 8 | Disillusionment
• 9 | Reality Check
• 10 | Passion
• 11 | Imagine
• 12 | God—in Human Form
• 13 | What Now?
• 14 | Encouragement
• 15 | Freedom
• 16 | Organic Church
• 17 | No Doubt About It
• 18 | Dead and Alive
• 19 | Together We Thrive
• 20 | Jesus Makes a Difference
• 21 | Praying
• 22 | Not Much is More Than Enough
• 23 | Learning from Nature
• 24 | Gardening and Fences
• 25 | Thanksgiving
• 26 | Mindsets
• 27 | Stay with It
• 28 | Dark Days
• 29 | Beyond My Comfort Zone
• 30 | Character
• 31 | On Fire
• 32 | Plans
• 33 | Investing
• 34 | Easter
• 35 | Power
• 36 | Dinner at Simon’s House
• 37 | Ask and Receive
• 38 | Facing Fear
• 39 | Overcoming Timidity
• 40 | Dare to Try
• 41 | Why Church?
• 42 | Never Insignificant
• 43 | The Impact of Jesus
• 44 | God’s Green Fingers
• 45 | Faith and Money
• 46 | Ready, or Not?
• 47 | Community
• 48 | Three Strings
• 49 | God’s Olympics
• 50 | Hitchhiking
• 51 | A Taste of Heaven
• 52 | Joy
• 53 | Orphans No Longer
• 54 | God’s Spirit in Us
• 55 | Declarations amid Despair
• 56 | More Than Able
• 57 | Forty Days
• 58 | Like a Lion
• 59 | Pilgrimage
• 60 | God with Us
• 61 | Extraordinary Wrapped in Ordinary
• 62 | Following Jesus
• 63 | Advent
• 64 | Bold Faith
• 65 | Declarations of Faith
• 66 | Peace, Despite . . .
• 67 | Lessons from Nature
• 68 | Extraordinary You
• 69 | Impressed by Jesus
• 70 | Orphan Mentality
• 71 | God is Faithful
• 72 | Running the Race
• 73 | Risky Living
• 74 | Freedom and Contentment
• 75 | The Real Battle
• 76 | Community Has Power
• 77 | Expectations of Church?
• 78 | Closer Than We Realize
• 79 | Death
• 80 | Fathers
• 81 | Money
• 82 | Pursuing
• 83 | Caring for Others
• 84 | Loving the Difficult People
• 85 | Peace
• 86 | Overcoming Anxiety
• 87 | Into the Unknown
• 88 | Finishing Well
• 89 | Step Out
• 90 | Discovering Treasure
• 91 | Sunshine
• 92 | Meals
• 93 | Our Father
• 94 | You Could be the Next Dancing Dog
• 95 | Spiritual Battle
• 96 | Underestimating Small
• 97 | The Professor and the Sandbox
• 98 | I Now Realize
• 99 | After the Silence