Being a Pilgrim

Finding Redemption: The Message of Isaiah 1:18-20

Posted on 16th Jun 20269th May 2026 by Adrian Clark

““Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. If you will only obey me, you will have plenty to eat. But if you turn away and refuse to listen, you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies. I, the Lord, have spoken!””
Isaiah 1:18-20 NLT

After a hard-hitting message that included a comparison between the Israelites and the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, God offered the Israelites a way out from the impending destruction that was getting closer and closer. The problem, though, was that the people didn’t recognise God for who He is anymore. Isaiah 1:3, “Even an ox knows its owner, and a donkey recognises its master’s care— but Israel doesn’t know its master. My people don’t recognise my care for them”. So what was the point of all the burnt offerings, the blood of bulls, the ceremonies and meaningless gifts that we read about earlier? The Israelites were just going through the religious motions without any understanding of what they were really doing or why they were doing it. They were even praying, but to no avail, “When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look. Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims” (Isaiah 1:15).

But God is always merciful, and He offered a way out for the Israelites. Our verses today start with “Come now, let’s settle this”. Other translations read, “Come now, let us reason together”, but the meaning is the same. The human race has always had the capacity and mental ability to look at the facts and draw a conclusion. And the facts for the Israelites were stark. In Isaiah’s day, the political situation in Israel, the Northern Kingdom, was one of instability, and the Assyrian empire was expanding its horizons, starting to encroach on its borders. It wouldn’t be long before Samaria would fall, and many Israelites would be deported to a foreign land. But they had, as a people, one last chance to avoid a fate that otherwise seemed inevitable. Isaiah’s vision was directed at Judah in the South with the warning that unless they changed their ways, they too would follow into captivity.

The Lord effectively said to them, “Look at your circumstances, look at what is about to happen, and turn to Me so that you can be saved”. And He then said, “But if you turn away and refuse to listen, you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies”. The problem for the Israelites was that they didn’t want to change their sinful and idolatrous practices. There is something seductive about sin, that makes repentance so very hard. The deeper the Israelites were engulfed in their evil ways, the harder it was for them to turn their backs on all that they were doing and instead turn to God. God told them they must use their rational minds and consider their future. It seems simple to us, looking on with the benefit of hindsight, but, sadly, as events turned out, they failed to make the right choices. God had the power and mercy to forgive them for their sins, and if only they had made the right choice, for Him rather than against Him, they would have been returned to His protection, and world events would have been different.

Sins like scarlet and red like crimson. Colours that had stained their hands and hearts, leaving the people indelibly inked with sin for which there was only one solution. God offered to make their hands and hearts white like snow or as white as wool. There was no human solution. No chemical in a bottle on the shelf with the power to bleach out the redness. No other god or idol was available to forgive their sins. They had only one solution, and God was holding out His hands, pleading with them to turn from their wicked ways and return to Him.

We pilgrims made the right choice when we turned to God from our lives of sin. We came to the Cross at Calvary, and bowed before the Man crucified, believing Him and His message of salvation. That was the moment when our crimson-red hearts were made as white as snow. King David made the right choice after his affair with Bathsheba when he wrote, “Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7). He then wrote, “Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me”. David could see the same choice before him three hundred years before that of the Israelites. He wrote, “You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God” (Psalm 51:16-19).

There are many people around us who are heading toward destruction and a lost eternity. The same choice that Godless people face today is the same as the one before the Israelites in the 7th Century BC. We pilgrims must be diligent in telling them about the consequences of a life spent in sin. God is holding out His loving arms to them, just as He did to us, and we are His messengers responsible for dispensing His message of love and hope.

Dear God. Only You have the remedy for sin and guilt. Please help us, we pray, to be diligent in telling others of Your love and grace at every opportunity. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Embracing Justice: A Biblical Call to Action

Posted on 15th Jun 20269th May 2026 by Adrian Clark

“Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.”Isaiah 1:16-17 NLT

Isaiah next comes up with a feature-rich remedy for the Israelites’ apostasy and idolatry. It’s all very well pointing out to a person what they are doing wrong, but without offering a way out, the negative perception just becomes unhelpful criticism. Thankfully, the God we worship always has an answer to our sins, and to fulfil His remedy, He sent His Son, Jesus. God was the same in Isaiah’s day, expressing His love and care for His guilt-ridden people.

“Wash yourselves and be clean!” He said. This didn’t mean go and have a bath, because no amount of water will wash away our guilt and sins. It is only by repentance and ceasing to be involved in evil that a person will become clean and holy before God. The Israelites’ problem was sinfulness with a capital “S”, so great that God pointed out how burdensome and wearisome their religious acts had become to Him. It is the same today because will God listen to the prayers of a sinful person, someone who is living a life of evil? Which is why God’s next instruction was “Get your sins out of my sight”. Nothing can be hidden from God, of course. Psalm 139:1-2, “O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away”. So, on the basis that nothing we think or do remains hidden from God, there is only one solution – stop doing things that offend Him. Stop sinning, as Jesus said to the healed man by the Pool, “But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you”” (John 5:14). Jesus also compassionately said the same to the woman caught in adultery. John 8:10-11, “Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more””.

Next, the Lord said to the Israelites, “Learn to do good”, and He proceeded to point out four things that we pilgrims would do well to follow. “Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows”. Injustices have always been prevalent in human societies. There are always people who are unable to help themselves, whatever the age. The pattern of injustice is wearyingly familiar, and it usually starts with the rich oppressing the poor, or the powerful lording it over the powerless. Even in so-called enlightened societies, injustice still occurs. There will always be people who need help and who are unable to help themselves. Specifically, in the days of the Israelites, the problem was the injustice suffered by orphans and widows. There was no social security safety net, and such people would suffer greatly, unless someone came to their rescue. The Jewish Law put in place safeguards, as seen in the Book of Ruth. “One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go out into the harvest fields to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it.” Naomi replied, “All right, my daughter, go ahead”” (Ruth 2:2). The custom that encouraged the harvesters to leave some crops behind was recorded in Leviticus 19:9-10, “When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. It is the same with your grape crop—do not strip every last bunch of grapes from the vines, and do not pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Leave them for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God”. The problem was still around in the first century, and James wrote, “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you” (James 1:27).

We pilgrims today will encounter injustices in our societies, perhaps from evil men and women who find ways to line their own pockets at others’ expense. Perhaps also due to discrimination because of a lack of technological skills (for example, I read the other day that many GP surgeries are forcing older people without the technology or IT skills to fill in an online triage form). Perhaps the discrimination exists because of race, beliefs or sexuality. There will always be injustices in our societies, but we pilgrims are encouraged to look out for them and do good by providing a remedy.

Heavenly Father. Please help us look out for people in distress, people who are needy and unable to help themselves. We want to do Your will, and we know that You always see the unfortunate people around us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Religious Flummery

Posted on 14th Jun 20269th May 2026 by Adrian Clark

““What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?” says the Lord. “I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened cattle. I get no pleasure from the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to worship me, who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony? Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts; the incense of your offerings disgusts me! As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath and your special days for fasting — they are all sinful and false. I want no more of your pious meetings. I hate your new moon celebrations and your annual festivals. They are a burden to me. I cannot stand them! When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look. Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.”
Isaiah 1:11-15 NLT

The Israelite sacrifices that were made initially in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple in Jerusalem were a central feature of Jewish religious life. God commanded the nation of Israel to perform numerous sacrifices according to certain procedures prescribed by God. First, the animal had to be spotless. Second, the person offering the sacrifice had to identify with the animal. Third, the person offering the animal had to inflict death upon it. When done in faith, this sacrifice provided a temporary covering of sins. Another sacrifice called for on the Day of Atonement demonstrated forgiveness and the removal of sin. The high priest was to take two male goats for a sin offering. One of the goats was sacrificed as a sin offering for the people of Israel, while the other goat was released into the wilderness. The sin offering provided forgiveness, while the other goat provided the removal of sin.

All this was going on in the Temple at the time of Isaiah’s vision, but the Temple was located in Jerusalem, which was in Judah, whereas Israel had no God-ordained place for sacrifices. Although Isaiah’s vision was directed against the inhabitants of Judah, the Israelites were not innocent because they continued the practice of animal sacrifice in the Northern Kingdom in Dan and Bethel, although prophets such as Hosea and Amos were scathing in their criticism of what was going on, particularly because the rituals often involved the worship of Baal.

So, having considered the background to Isaiah’s vision, we see that God was not at all happy with how the sacrifices and ceremonies were conducted. Yes, the Israelites were doing what was required, following the correct processes. They practised parades and ceremonies, the burning of incense, fasting and prayers, New Moon celebrations, in fact, all the things the Jews would have done in those days, but God was sick of them. Why was that? Because God provided a sacrificial system based on animal sacrifice that enabled the people to connect with God through the sacrifice being made. In Hebrews 9:22, we read, “In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness”. The animal sacrifice system was a temporary arrangement put in place until the coming of Christ and His sacrifice for all time on the cross at Calvary.

Today, we pilgrims can look back at the history and how the early Jews messed up. They were doing all the right things, but something was lacking. They were going through the process without connecting what they were doing to the forgiveness of sins and their relationship with God, which was the whole point of it all. But before we start climbing up onto the moral high ground, perhaps we pilgrims go to a church which follows some form of liturgy, perhaps quite complicated to an outside observer, with processions, canticles, prayer books, incense, hymns, gowns and funny-shaped hats, and so on, but it is always good to stop and think why we are following the script. What is the point of it? Others of us go to more fundamental churches with no set liturgy and few religious distractions. But again, the question is, what is the point of it?

We pilgrims go to church to meet with other Christians, and there we worship God through our songs and hymns. We receive teaching. We read the Bible and pray. We serve one another. We celebrate the Lord’s Supper on occasion. And we follow the instruction from Hebrews 10:25, “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near”. In Acts 2 and 4, we see how the common purpose amongst the early believers developed into the early church, with them being “united in heart and mind” (Acts 4:32). So we pilgrims go to church to primarily worship God, and we do that as God’s people have been doing for centuries, even millennia. David wrote, “Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. They will receive the Lord’s blessing and have a right relationship with God, their saviour” (Psalm 24:3-5).

Do we pilgrims have a pure heart and clean hands? We make sure we do by kneeling at the Cross, repenting of our sins, and once again coming into God’s presence, holy before Him. If there is anything to put right with another person, we do so. If we are guilty of going through a mindless ritual in the church service, we pray for God’s help in reconnecting with Him. If we have stopped attending church, we return there and recommit to being with God’s people. If the church we normally attend is no longer one that preaches the whole Gospel, without human additions, we find one that does. But in it all, we do what God really desired the Jews to do. If necessary, we change our ways to return to the One who loves us so much.

Dear Father God. We come before You today, feeling Your gaze penetrate our hearts. We ask that You point out anything within us that causes You offence so that we too can worship You in a place of holiness. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

Israel and Sodom

Posted on 13th Jun 202613th Jun 2026 by Adrian Clark

“If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had not spared a few of us, we would have been wiped out like Sodom, destroyed like Gomorrah. Listen to the Lord, you leaders of “Sodom.” Listen to the law of our God, people of “Gomorrah.” “What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?” says the Lord. “I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened cattle. I get no pleasure from the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.”
Isaiah 1:9-11 NLT

Sodom and Gomorrah were two towns in the region around the Dead Sea, but because no conclusive evidence of their existence has been found, their exact locations are unknown. In Genesis 18, we read how Abraham interceded for Sodom, but not just because his nephew, Lot, lived there with his family. We read about the problem in Genesis 18:20, “So the Lord told Abraham, “I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant”. What was their sin? As we see in subsequent verses, it was sexual immorality, particularly of a homosexual nature, and a word in the English language is “sodomy”, describing such evil behaviour. But the Lord was not specific about the type of sin in His conversation with Abraham, and there could have been more. Faced with the prospect of Sodom’s destruction, “Abraham approached [the Lord] and said, “Will you sweep away both the righteous and the wicked? Suppose you find fifty righteous people living there in the city—will you still sweep it away and not spare it for their sakes? Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Why, you would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same! Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”” (Genesis 18:23-25). The two angels, now in Sodom, were going to spend a night in the city square, but Lot persuaded them to be his guests for the night, and then we read, “But before they retired for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house. They shouted to Lot, “Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!”” (Genesis 19:4-5). Lot subsequently escaped the destruction with his daughters, thanks to the angels, and we then read, “Then the Lord rained down fire and burning sulphur from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah. He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, wiping out all the people and every bit of vegetation” (Genesis 19:24-25).

But back to our verses today from Isaiah, where we see that the Lord could see a link between the sin of the Israelites and the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. This was really serious stuff, and Isaiah recorded in his vision that the Lord would only spare a few of the Israelites, wiping out the rest like Sodom and Gomorrah. Were the Israelites guilty of the same sins as Sodom? This vision of Isaiah’s came at a time when the Israelites in the Northern Kingdom were increasingly being harassed by the Assyrians, who were taxing them heavily. In Israel, there was political instability and religious corruption, and, worse, idolatry was common. Over the next few years, the situation worsened, and Assyria utilised a policy of mass deportation to break the spirit of the people, with many inhabitants from the northern territories of Israel (east of the Jordan) captured and deported to Assyria, effectively stripping the country of its population and resources. Isaiah’s vision probably immediately preceded this situation and was an effective warning of what could be about to happen in Judah, the Southern Kingdom. By 722 BC, Israel in the North had effectively been destroyed.

So what do we pilgrims learn from these verses today? One message for us is to emphasise the destructive nature of sin and how it can lead to the destruction of a nation. In Abraham’s intercession for Sodom, he asked the Lord if He would destroy the city if there were 50 righteous people inside, pleading “Surely You wouldn’t do such a thing …”. Abraham then worked his way down the numbers, 50, 45, 40, 30, 20 and then we read, “Finally, Abraham said, “Lord, please don’t be angry with me if I speak one more time. Suppose only ten are found there?” And the Lord replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten”” (Genesis 18:32).

We pilgrims are the “salt and light” in our communities, and we are holding back the forces of darkness and the judgement of the Lord through our prayers and witness. Jesus said early on in His Sermon on the Mount, “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavour? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:13-16). Jesus didn’t just say that because the message sounded good or because it fitted an evangelistic agenda. We are perhaps the fifty or the ten who are protecting our communities from judgement.

God is gracious and merciful, and He will do as Abraham pleaded, “Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?” God is righteous as well as loving, but He is comfortable waiting for the time when He can judge each person for how they have lived their lives here on Planet Earth. So we pilgrims must be diligent in doing our righteous deeds before men and women everywhere. Do our neighbours know about our faith? Do we care for them in the way that Jesus ordained? I’m sure that we do, and we thank God for His patience and mercy, giving us the time we need to follow the Lord and pass on our faith to the next generation.

Dear Father God. We thank You for Your grace and love, but knowing that one day Your righteousness will be seen. Please help us to be diligent in doing the things You have asked of us as we continue to be “salt and light” in our communities and families. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

God’s Remnant.

Posted on 12th Jun 20269th May 2026 by Adrian Clark

“Your country lies in ruins, and your towns are burned. Foreigners plunder your fields before your eyes and destroy everything they see. Beautiful Jerusalem stands abandoned like a watchman’s shelter in a vineyard, like a lean-to in a cucumber field after the harvest, like a helpless city under siege. If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had not spared a few of us, we would have been wiped out like Sodom, destroyed like Gomorrah. Listen to the Lord, you leaders of “Sodom.” Listen to the law of our God, people of “Gomorrah.””
Isaiah 1:7-10 NLT

The existence of the nation of Judah, yo-yoing between God’s blessings and curses of their own making, was the result of the Jews’ relationship, or lack of, with God. In times of national rebellion against God, with sin, evil and neglect of Him predominating, it was a rampant disease everywhere, and one that He warned them about in Deuteronomy 28:15, 20, “But if you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and do not obey all the commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overwhelm you … The Lord himself will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in everything you do, until at last you are completely destroyed for doing evil and abandoning me”. But in times of obedience in keeping God’s commands, blessings abounded. Deuteronomy 28:1-3, “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God: Your towns and your fields will be blessed”.

Was God a petulant, capricious Being who took the huff when His people rejected Him? Not at all, because the commands the Israelites so often failed to keep were designed for their present and future well-being, but if they went their own way and ignored them, then it was no wonder they experienced problems. It’s a bit like today, with a burglar caught house-breaking, stealing the contents of the owner’s jewellery box. God’s command was “do not steal”, but breaking that commandment had consequences for the burglar, who subsequently found himself behind bars. For our modern-day command-breaker, Paul had a word of advice detailing a better way, God’s way, “If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need” (Ephesians 4:28).

The landscape described by Isaiah in his vision must have been much like parts of the Middle East today, or the Donbas in Ukraine, with missiles and bombs causing destruction. Towns and villages reduced to heaps of rubble. People displaced, with their countryside overrun by foreigners. Did that mean that the people living in these places had disobeyed God? Not necessarily, because in the 21st Century evil extends far beyond its natural borders. Jesus warned about such times coming today when He told His disciples, “And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world” (Matthew 24:6-7). But in 740 BC, there was a people, God’s people, who were His special nation, and they had a choice to follow Him or not, the same choice that mankind has had ever since Jesus was crucified at Calvary.

Isaiah recorded God’s mercy, when he wrote, “If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had not spared a few of us, we would have been wiped out like Sodom”. There was always a remnant of God’s people in Israel and Judah. There was the time when Elijah ran from Jezebel, depressed with the thought that he was the only prophet left, “Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too”” (1 Kings 19:10). But further down the page in verse 18, we read God’s response, “Yet I will preserve 7,000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed him!”

Psalm 91 provides a wonderful picture of a mother hen protecting her chicks, a picture of how God looks after His children. “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armour and protection” (Psalm 91:1-4). But the protection for the chicks disappears once they decide to go their own way and relocate somewhere where the mother hen cannot protect them.

We pilgrims are God’s children, and we have God’s protection with a promise that one day we will be in His presence. Yes, the evil in our sad and bad world will affect us in this life, just as in Isaiah’s day, where many good people suffered because of the sins of their fellow countrymen. In Elijah’s day, the nation of Israel was riven by Baal worship under the jurisdiction of an evil king, Ahab. But God still had a remnant of faithful people who worshipped only Him, even through their suffering.

So we continue to look upwards to Heavenly places, with faith that God will do what He has promised. One day there will be no more sickness, dying and pain – “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever” (Revelation 21:4).

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You for Your promises that prevail even though we live in an evil world. Please help us to stand firm on Your Word, as we look forward to the wonder of Glory. Amen.

The Burden of Guilt

Posted on 11th Jun 20269th May 2026 by Adrian Clark

“Oh, what a sinful nation they are— loaded down with a burden of guilt. They are evil people, corrupt children who have rejected the Lord. They have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. Why do you continue to invite punishment? Must you rebel forever? Your head is injured, and your heart is sick. You are battered from head to foot— covered with bruises, welts, and infected wounds— without any soothing ointments or bandages.”
Isaiah 1:4-6 NLT

The burden of guilt. It is a heavy burden to bear, and many are bearing it in our world today. God has created mankind with a conscience, designed to be aligned to Him so that their lives are without guilt. Man was never able to carry the burden of guilt. The psychiatrists may come up with band-aid solutions that might make someone feel better for a short while, but the issues are still there and before long the burden of guilt returns. Some people turn to some form of distraction, such as alcohol or drugs, “retail therapy”, or sexual gratification, but the burden of guilt remains in the cold light of the morning.

Isaiah, bringing the Word of the Lord in our verses today, called out evil, corruption, God-rejection, sickness, and punishment, all self-inflicted conditions because of one single cause – the people had turned away from God. How had it come to this? As the previous verse in Isaiah 1 recorded, “Israel doesn’t know its Master”. They had become complacent in their land. The crops continued to grow. The rain came at the right time. Children were still being born. Affluence had dulled their spirits, and the effort of keeping a relationship with God had somehow become crowded out by living.

The root of the problem was, of course, sin. The current generation in Isaiah’s day had been brought up without a knowledge of God, because their parents didn’t know Him either. This was because their parents were Godless as well. But this wasn’t a sudden decision, made one day to forget God and His ways. The sin and evil had come into their lives as God was forced out, getting worse generation by generation. Now, the storm clouds of war, famine, pestilence were starting to emerge on the horizon, and Isaiah brought a warning straight from God Himself.

There was a remedy to their condition and David wrote about it in Psalm 32:5, “Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone”.

We pilgrims are not immune to the same problems the Israelites faced. It starts on a Sunday morning, with the thought that we might skip church just once. Then we find ourselves too busy to pray or read the Bible. Then sinfulness creeps in, and we finally find that we are well and truly on the slippery slope that leads to destruction. Yes, there are those who say that you don’t have to go to church to be a Christian. There are even those who claim eternal life from the “once saved, always saved” doctrine, and then proceed to live out the rest of their lives in a world full of sin and depravity. But always in the background is our loving Heavenly Father, calling out our names, warning us of the consequences of sin. We pilgrims know all this, of course, but somehow we can find it easy to rationalise our return to a world that invites the punishments the Lord warned the Israelites about in 740BC.

Sin is rebellion against God. Pure and simple. And as sin builds, so does guilt. The burden gets heavier and heavier, bringing sickness, mental ill-health, and ultimately death. But today, should we find that we are carrying a burden of guilt, we come before God with a repentant heart, believing as David did, that He will forgive us. In 1 John 1:9, the Apostle John wrote, “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness”. And so, we return to our knees once again, feeling His forgiveness wash away our burden of guilt.

Father God. Please forgive us for all our sins and for trying to hide our guilt. As we roll our burdens off our shoulders before Jesus, Your Son who died so that we can be forgiven for our sins, we experience an inner peace that cannot be found anywhere else. Thank You for saving us. Amen.

Isaiah’s Message: Rebellion and God’s Unfailing Love

Posted on 10th Jun 20269th May 2026 by Adrian Clark

“The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the Lord has spoken: ‘I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.’”
Isaiah 1:1-3 NIVUK

Isaiah started his massive book of prophetic writings with a vision that spanned the years from about 740BC to 700BC, across the reigns of the four kings quoted in the first verse of chapter one. So in a sense, these initial verses in Isaiah form an overview of what was to come, and he didn’t hold anything back. We don’t know who Isaiah’s father was apart from his name, Amoz, but Isaiah based all his prophetic messages on the covenant between God and His people, Israel, and, straight away, we see a charge laid against the Israelites for failing to understand who their Master was. It is quite a poignant start, as any parent will understand, in that the Lord declared that He has reared His children but then they rebelled against Him.

How many parents today can echo the same theme, as their teenage children find that they want to plough their own furrows and move on, rebelling against their parents’ authority. They may drop out of college, or school. They may get into the wrong company and start on the slippery slope into moral and physical ruin, riven by drugs and caught up in crime. There was a Biblical character who did just that, and he became the subject of one of Jesus’ parables. We read, “Jesus continued: ‘There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, “Father, give me my share of the estate.” So he divided his property between them” (Luke 15:11-12). Here we have it: a rebellious son bringing heartache and shame to his father, with a lack of respect and honour. Straight away, we can see Jesus’ take on the complaint made by God 700 years before. But the story continued in the next verse, as predicted, “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living”. The Israelites rebelled against their Father in Heaven, the One who created them, and the younger son rebelled against his father, who brought him up.

But after a while, the son found that a life of debauchery failed to satisfy him, and eventually he ran out of the means to keep living that way. There was nothing like hunger pains and the demeaning task of feeding pigs to bring common sense back into his life, and the son returned to his father. But what was the first thing that he thought about, through the fog of hunger that was clouding his mind? His father. He must have gone over and over in his mind what he would say in that moment when he knocked on the front door of his father’s house, and we read, “When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants”” (Luke 15:17-19).

But what about his father? He didn’t stay inside, mourning and moping, wondering what he had done wrong in his child-rearing days. Instead, we read in the next verse that he kept watch, “ … But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms round him and kissed him”. Back in Isaiah, we overlay the actions of the prodigal’s father over the way the Lord must have felt after rearing his children, the Jews, only to find them rebelling and going their own way. The prodigal’s father had the pleasure of welcoming a repentant son back into his house, but God had yet to see the fruit of His patience with His rebellious children.

The Lord’s complaint against Israel compared the limited knowledge of an ox and a donkey, animals that knew the source of all they needed for life, with the lack of knowledge of the Jews, who failed to understand who their Source was. Worse, they proceeded to work out their rebellion by pushing God away. So God looked on, yearning for them in the same way that the prodigal’s father yearned for sight of his own son.

We pilgrims were redeemed from a life of sinful rebellion against God. After all, what is sin, other than rebellion against God? God, as any loving parent would, set out the right way to live before His children. He warned them that choosing any other way would only lead one day to ruin. We pilgrims know the same, but we are thankful for the Holy Spirit within us, gently whispering in our ears, “Not that way; go this way”. Yes, we too get it wrong sometimes, but God, the Father, is always looking out for us, heading back into our arms.

Heavenly Father. We thank You that You are always there for us, and always ready with open arms to welcome us back home. We worship You today. Amen.

Reviving the Holy Kiss: Unity in Modern Christian Fellowship

Posted on 9th Jun 20262nd May 2026 by Adrian Clark

“Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All God’s people here send their greetings. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
2 Corinthians 13:11-14 NIVUK

A kiss amongst Christians is unfortunately a problem in our Western societies, or at least in the UK, because it can be misconstrued or misinterpreted due to the societal views and taboos that exist. It can be just about considered acceptable between a man and a woman who know each other, but when observed between those of the same sex, the fault line exposed by an onlooker’s views on gender issues rises up and can cause problems. Not all the time, of course, because multi-cultural Britain has come to understand and accept customs appropriate to certain people groups and religions. But in our traditional churches and denominations, the holy kiss does not appear in the liturgies or even in more social settings. In fact, in some churches with larger congregations, any form of greeting can be missing. It can be easy to slip into the meeting after it has started and slip out without talking to anyone, let alone give someone a handshake, hug or even a kiss.

But things were different in those early Christian days, when Paul and the other Apostles were turning the Mediterranean societies upside down with their message of the love and forgiveness of God and of Christ crucified for their sins. In those days, a holy kiss was a non-sexual, sincere greeting of brotherly affection, unity, and love amongst the early believers, signifying a “set apart” spiritual family bond. A kiss was an acceptable form of greeting among people in the Middle East and was even a cultural norm, used to greet guests or family members. It was even a common greeting showing respect to those in authority or when reconciliation was required between two parties. But what set the Christian holy kiss apart from the secular equivalent was that it was “holy” and had a deeper spiritual meaning for early believers, particularly as it crossed racial and cultural boundaries.

So, in a setting where there were different factions, as was the case in Corinth, Paul’s encouragement to “Greet one another with a holy kiss” would have been a sign that any differences had been settled and unity between believers was again present. This he followed up with his final words, “may … the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all”. Such fellowship was not possible in an atmosphere of antagonism, disunity and chaos.

Paul encouraged the believers in Rome to do the same, as we read in Romans 16:16, “Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings”. It must have been standard text for Paul, being word-for-word the same as in 2 Corinthians 13. Again, the greeting appears in 1 Corinthians 16:20, “All the brothers and sisters here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss”, and 1 Thessalonians 5:26, “Greet all God’s people with a holy kiss”. But it wasn’t just Paul who wrote this greeting. It appears at the end of 1 Peter, “Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ”.

In the Old Testament, there were occasions where a kiss was used in a similar context, such as in 1 Samuel 10:1, “Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, ‘Has not the Lord anointed you ruler over his inheritance?” In this case, it was in an act of reverence, as Samuel recognised God’s presence with the man before him. And we all remember the kiss that sealed Jesus’ fate when the soldiers came to the garden to arrest Him. Matthew 26:48-49, “Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: ‘The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.’ Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ and kissed him”. Why was the signal to be a kiss? In those days, it would have been a natural way to honour someone and to demonstrate brotherly love.

So today, we pilgrims reflect on how we greet one another and consider the “holy kiss” in an appropriate setting. It is not always acceptable to everyone, as in the case of a young man I knew who recoiled from human contact of any sort, because he was somewhere on the autistic spectrum. As an aside, though, it has been wonderful to see God at work in him, bringing healing that enabled him to gradually overcome his phobia.

In greeting someone there is an opportunity to share a common bond that centres in God. It may be with a hug, or a handshake, or even a “holy kiss”, but its inherent meaning is one of mutual love and respect. The early church considered such a greeting to be important, and today we would do well to emulate their sentiments and intentions in our modern churches and fellowships.

Dear Father God. With one mind we greet one another, knowing that we do so in Your name and to Your glory. You created families, and we are part of Yours through Jesus. Thank You. Amen.

God’s Love

Posted on 8th Jun 20262nd May 2026 by Adrian Clark

“Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet each other with a sacred kiss. All of God’s people here send you their greetings. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
2 Corinthians 13:11-14 NLT

Scriptures about God’s love and peace can be found throughout the Bible. Take, for example, Genesis 1. We read the creation account and towards the end we find this, “Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. … ”” (Genesis 1:26a). What motivated God to create human beings? There was, and is, only one possible explanation: His love. A baby is born today, ready to be lavished with the love of its parents. The waiting is over, the birth happens, and then we see the wonderful picture, repeated many times, of a little scrap of humanity being cradled in his or her mother’s arms, love gleaming in mum’s face through the drying tears following the pain of birth. Didn’t God go through the same loving experience when He birthed Adam and Eve? Wasn’t His love gleaming through the creation story? And then we find the same God, heartbroken, but reaching out over the millennia, to His wayward children, corrupted by sin, rebellion, and denying their very Father. However, God had a plan to be executed through His Son, Jesus. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. The once and forever act of love remains hanging in the air as an invitation to God’s creation, regardless of generation, geography, or gender.

Paul wrote about the “God of love” being with the Corinthians, and so He will be as well with us today. Paul also wrote that much-quoted passage in 1 Corinthians about love and its fundamental importance in human life. We are made in God’s image, and His love is a fundamental, probably even the most important, part of His character. Everything that we do, as it is with God, must be founded on love. Paul finished his second letter with the blessing “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all”. Grace, love and fellowship. Jesus, God the Father and the Holy Spirit. There is something in this verse that grabs our attention, and intuitively, we look upwards to the Source of love.

There is peace to be found in God, and in these war-torn days, with evil and depraved men with fingers hovering over nuclear buttons, with misery consequently tearing at the hearts of God’s creation, peace can be found. But where is it? There is only one place, and that is in Jesus. John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world”. “There is a way back to God from the dark paths of sin”, as the old chorus says. God will never turn anyone away from His presence as long as they seek Him with all their hearts.

Father God. Thank You for Your plan for the salvation of mankind. We look to Jesus and find in Him the love that ripples down from above into our hearts, ready to be shared with those around us. Thank You Lord! Amen.

Encouragement and Peace in Christian Fellowship

Posted on 7th Jun 20262nd May 2026 by Adrian Clark

We continue today with a second look at Paul’s final thoughts in this, his second letter to the Corinthian church. He asked the believers to “encourage each other” and “live in harmony and peace”. Was this an impossible ask, or was it achievable amongst the disparate believers in Corinth? From a natural perspective, any group of people will eventually fall apart because it is not long before there is a falling-out, and the group members will go their separate ways. Selfish desires, differences in intellect and perspectives, different agendas, and so on soon reveal themselves with fault lines that grow until the gaps are unbridgeable. However, some groups with a clear set of rules and a common goal will survive, as with a golf club or another hobby-based vision. Or, better still, a group focused on Jesus.

Among Christians, there is a clear bond that draws each person ever closer to one another and to Christ. I always envision a triangle, with God at the apex and believers at the other two points. As they look up to God and get closer to Him, they inevitably get closer to each other. If they neglect their relationship with God, they will move further apart. It is also a good analogy to use in marriage counselling. Paul’s appeal to the Corinthians to “live in harmony and peace” implied a common bond, as they “grew in maturity,” meaning they were becoming more and more like Jesus every day.

In Romans 12, Paul used the analogy of our physical bodies as the body of Christ. Romans 12:4-5, “Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other”. Paul revisits the analogy in 1 Corinthians 12:12, “The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ”. But in the next verse, he emphasises that no matter our differences, we are all still part of the body of Christ. “Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptised into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit”. And further down the page, we read, “In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. And the parts we regard as less honourable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, while the more honourable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honour and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honoured, all the parts are glad” (1 Corinthians 12:22-26). In these verses, one word emerges, and that is “honour”. We should honour one another as a priority in our relationships, because that is how we live together as a body of believers.

It is therefore obvious that a properly functioning body of believers will only live in harmony with each other if they care for each other in the same way as we care for our own bodies. So if we cut ourselves, we clean the wound and put on a plaster. But what we don’t do is ignore the hurt, as otherwise the wound may become infected and lead to a more serious condition. In the same way, in the body of Christ, if a member is hurting, we tend to the hurt so that it doesn’t worsen and lead to an infection that could ultimately destroy the body.

To “live in harmony and peace” requires effort and diligence on the part of the church members. Otherwise, the believers become separated from each other, and the church ceases to function as God desires. This can be seen in some declining churches, where members meet only on Sunday morning for an hour or so, and leave their fellowship there. Then, when a crisis erupts, there is no cohesion, and the opposite of “harmony and peace” appears. To be a fellowship of believers in the way Paul was encouraging the Corinthians requires diligence and effort. They would have had to work hard to bind with one another and live out his instructions, particularly, as his letters have shown, there was much going on with the potential to tear them apart.

Are we pilgrims a part of a fellowship, living in “harmony and peace” with each other? If not, we must ask ourselves the question “Why not”? Our relationships with one another start with our relationship with God and cross cultural and racial boundaries. To be harmonious starts with Jesus. Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others”. But here’s the thing. The next verse nails it, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus“. Any group of believers that lacks harmony and cohesiveness will find that personal and corporate peace is elusive. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27). The peace of Christ didn’t die out with the Apostles. It is still there for us, from the fount that never runs dry.

So are we pilgrims experiencing a lack of peace today? As we look up to Jesus and gain His perspective, we will soon find the way back onto the right track.

Dear Heavenly Father. As with joy, You are the Source of peace. Thank You for the peace we can experience as we live in harmony with each other. Amen.