FAITH CAPSULE: A journey through the wilderness is a process where character is built up to maintain life in the Promised Land.

Mark 1:1-15
 
The wilderness is a place where the enemy has planted all kinds of mines to derail the transportation that will bring man to the ground of transformation. Also, it is a journey that cannot be avoided if one desires transformation in life. The children of Israel passed through it to get to their Promised Land. The fact that the Lord led them through the wilderness was evidence that it was the best available route. It is written, “Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 13:17-18). The wilderness was the best available route and yet it appeared the worst and the most challenging to the children of Israel. The journey through the wilderness is the route that takes God’s children through to where God has purposed for them in life.
Luke 4: 1-2 documents that, “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.” The next experience in Jesus’ life after having been filled with the Holy Spirit was on a journey to the center of His divine assignment. The journey of Jesus calls for a passage through the wilderness. This experience in Jesus’ journey was same as that of the children of Israel. The Israelites, after having been freed, moved on to their next experience, which was going through the wilderness. Jesus our Lord and Savior went through the wilderness and for us, taking the same path should not be an exception. A journey through the wilderness is a process where character is built up to maintain life in the Promised Land. Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith could not enter into His full assignment on earth until He was led into the wilderness. The Bible makes us realize what exists in the wilderness journey of Jesus stating, “And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the beasts; and the angel ministered to Him.” (Mark1:13)Does it feel you are in a wilderness journey? The same ministration that Jesus received will also answer for you. It is a season that must past if you will remain focus on God.
 
Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to remain focus and be strengthened.