Stranger in a Strange Land

I write this Tuesday’s devotional as a somewhat privileged refugee.  As Hurricane Irene headed toward the NC coast, I took my daughters and headed to Virginia to stay with family until the storm had passed.  The hurricane passed over Hatteras Island with wind and rain, but then dealt it a brutal blow with hard westerly winds as it left.  I had seen pictures of locals who had stayed through the storm standing out in the sound on dry land as the waters had receded during the beginning of the storm.  The sound came rushing back in with a vengeance, flooding the northern villages of the island, from Avon to Rodanthe, and destroying great pieces of Highway 12, the only road onto the island.

Many dedicated people and companies are working around the clock to restore power and transportation to our beautiful island.  In the meantime, those who left wait to return to the lives they left behind.   I am reminded of the period of time before I came to know Jesus, when I increasingly was feeling like what I found the Bible calls “a stranger and pilgrim on the earth”.

Hebrews 11:13-16 (NKJV)

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.  But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

Hatteras Island has a spiritual heritage that could be called a microcosm of the pilgrim dream of America.  The villagers’ lives centered around their church and families, the work ethic was strong.  These were a people who knew they were “strangers and pilgrims on the earth”.   Many of the old-timers of Hatteras Island have now passed on to that heavenly country – and they too “died in faith, not having received the promises”.  These promises included the salvation of their households – their inheritance which is composed of their children, their grandchildren and so on.  This inheritance also includes the nations of the world, for the Word of God promises He will give His people the nations as their inheritance.  In their day, Hatteras Island was a wild and desolate place, isolated from the world.  In our day, people from all over the world come to us to enjoy all that nature has to offer.  Many people have moved to Hatteras Island for a simpler lifestyle, drawn by the passion and purity of life surrounded by sound and sea. They are included in the inheritance of the saints.

And so, as the Church age rapidly draws to a close, we will see the promises of God come to pass for all those who died in faith, for those who confessed they were strangers and pilgrims, for those who desired a heavenly country.  This includes all who died in faith all over the world, throughout human history.   The days are upon us that we will see the nations give up the inheritance of the righteous – an inheritance far more valuable than gold or diamonds – an inheritance composed of men and women and children.  Those who will recognize that they too are strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

Ephesians 2:19-22    

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,  having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,  in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,  in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

These are the most exciting days of human history in which to be living, days in which we will receive the promises of those who died in faith.

Rhonda Roughton
Rhonda is founder of INK Ministries. INK Ministries' mission is to build up the body of Christ through writing, preaching and teaching with an emphasis on the New Covenant and who we are in Christ. "Write down the vision and make it plain on tablets so that whoever reads it may run with it." Habakkuk 2:2-3. This is a "hands-on" ministry as well as a writing ministry - moving in the gifts and power of the Holy Spiit to bring hope, healing and deliverance to all those who hunger for more of Him.