The Pilgrim Path---Hosea 7: 13, 14 

Woe to them, for they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me! I would redeem them, but they speak lies against me.

They do not cry to me from the heart, but they wail upon their beds; for grain and wine they gash themselves; they rebel against me.

“…FROM THE HEART”

We had a facilities manager in high school who was a godly man: Rev. Bill. He may have worked at the school around 25 hours a week. He pastored a local church. On occasion, he would drive my friend Tim and I, to special events. Here was the incredible part: He would stop the car and say, “We have just got to pray about this situation” (he would proceed to tell us what was shaking his soul). I must tell you, looking back---there were times he made me uncomfortable. My uneasiness was due to his sheer closeness to the Living Christ. He was not much for the paltry or puny. Don’t misunderstand me---he had a marvelous sense of humor. But he was focused on the World to come. That is reorienting to a teenager---but that was Rev. Bill. Because he could not change people or circumstances---he would plead with God to come down by the Holy Spirit’s power for the sake of God’s Glory and the benefit of broken and confused people. Wow---you never forget that…Rev. Bill was the opposite of Hosea’s congregation---who seem to have only ever had “tears” on their face (and gashes on their bodies) when their menu choices were not satisfied. What a tragic situation: To be that spiritually dry---and deformed. Rev. Bill laughed with ease---he seemed to have cried as often with the concerns of hard-hearted and sin-enslaved people. At times, he simply made me uncomfortable. Rev. Bill was a saint prone to catch you off guard---with tears…

Oh---Spirit of the Living God, awaken me continually to real soul concerns. My own---and those about me…

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Matthew 5: 6

From Jeremiah Burroughs: The soul acting as God acts, is living the life of God.

From Samuel Rutherford: Blessed by my rich Lord Jesus, who sendeth not away beggars from his house with a toom dish. He filleth the vessels of such as will come and seek. We might beg ourselves rich (if we were wise), if we could but hold out our withered hands to Christ, and learn to suit and seek, ask, and knock.

Meanwhile on the other side of the world:

---On Monday, War Criminal & Arch Tyrant Putin, blasted major cities across Ukraine with the worst missile attacks since the beginning of the War---reaching from downtown Kyiv---to Lviv on the west (Washington Post).

---Daily Mail (United Kingdom): “…launched from aircraft, drones and naval vessels, the lethal strikes exploded in a hail of terror as commuters headed to work.”

---President Zelenskiy said on a Telegram App Monday: “The Russians are trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth…”

---The head of the United Kingdom’s GCHQ intelligence agency, Sir Jeremy Fleming said yesterday, “Their gains are being reversed and the costs to Russia in people and equipment are staggering. We know and Russian military commanders know that their supplies and ammunition are running out. Russia’s forces are exhausted” (Sky News).

---Pray for Ukraine. Pray for the end of this terror-- waged by this slave of the devil: Putin.

Grace and Peace in Jesus, the Only Redeemer of broken and wretched souls, Pastor Jason