Right Paths

 

"I have led thee in right paths" (Proverbs 4:11)

"We only go this way once." Life is brief and life is precious. It is desirable that we live it that one time so as to hold no regrets. God instructs us, "Ponder the path of thy feet" (Prov. 4:26). Our paths should receive earnest attention from us.

A variety of paths seems open before us. Some live one way, some another; and it would appear that we can do as we please. Yet a clear analysis of the situation reveals that there are really only two kinds of paths out there ahead of us: right paths and wrong paths.

The Hebrew word translated "path" in our text really means the furrow made by a wagon or other vehicle. It is plain and visible to the eye, easy to follow. The first half of the text says, "I have taught thee in the way of wisdom," which means that the paths in which the Lord will lead us will always be wise paths and therefore right paths. Conversely, right paths will always be wise paths, and wise paths, plain ones.

If the Lord's ways are always right and wise, then it can never be a mistake to go the way He directs. It is never foolish, not a defeat to genuine personal interests or potentials. God wants to lead and we ought to follow. He will "establish" our ways if we follow Him. Right ways can be established, i.e., made permanent, because they are for the good of all and for the glory of God.

All the way my Savior leads me; Oh the fullness of His love! Perfect rest to me is promised, in my Father's house above. When my spirit, clothed immortal, wings its flight to realms of day, This my song through endless ages: Jesus led me all the way. ---Fanny J. Crosby

Let us pray daily for discernment to recognize practical application and wisdom to walk in "right paths."

--Rev. Roger J. Andrus

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

 Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we, your unworthy servants, give you humble heartfelt thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all people. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life, but above all for your limitless love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace and for the hope of glory. And, we humbly request, give us a sense of all your mercies, that our heart may be openly thankful, and that we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips but in our life, by giving up ourselves to your service and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Ghost be all honor and glory, world without end. Amen.

adapted from the Book of Common Prayer

The Lord's Name is Majestic

 

O Lord, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth! (Psalm 8:9)(NLT)

A person's name is more than just a label. It represents who they are. Hearing someone's name often brings to mind that person's character, abilities, and appearance. So, too, with our God, whose name is above all names. When we hear the name of the Lord, we should reflect and marvel, as David did, that the God whose glory fills the earth has lavished such affection upon us human beings. In a small way, he has allowed us to share in his majesty, granting us dominion over his creation. Our wonder at the majesty of his name will then give way to heartfelt worship.

MAJESTIC GOD, as we hear your name, we are reminded of your presence and power. Forgive us when we misuse your name or fail to appreciate the greatness of the One it represents. We are grateful that you have called us by your name, and so we ask you to glorify your name by our life. Amen.

(from the Praise and Worship Study Bible--Tyndale House)

A Prayer for Guidance

 

O Lord Jesus Christ, You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We pray you allow us never to stray from you, who are the way, nor distrust you, who are the truth, nor rest in any one other thing than you, who are the life. Teach us, by your Holy Spirit, what to believe, what to do, and how to take our rest.

Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)

The Path of Pleasing God

 

"When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him"          (Proverbs 16:7)

Human behavior patterns can please the Lord. A servant can please his master. A son can please his father. A student can please his teacher.

"Without faith it is impossible to please him." Hebrews 11:6 does not say that it is improbable but that it is impossible. It is totally outside the realm of a possibility that a man can please God without first trusting in Him. He wants to be believed, for one thing. The one who doesn't trust Him is virtually saying that God is not trustworthy. Then again, man cannot know God's will about the ways that please Him unless he believes what God has said.

When He is pleased He makes human enmity to melt and turn to peace. This is a general truth but not a universal one or else Christ would have had no enemies, for He wholly pleased the Father. Also, there would have been no martyrs. In the main, however, when a man pleases God, other men seem to like him and want to have a good relationship with him.

But the greatest reward to such behavior is the knowledge that we give God pleasure. This is an astounding thought and yet is exactly what our text teaches. Man can give God real pleasure. That is not to say that He is satisfied and seeks no further growth, development, or obedience from us. He is easy to please although hard to satisfy.

"The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, on those that hope in his mercy" (Psalm 147:11)             "For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation" (Psalm 149:4)

-- Rev. Roger J. Andrus

Praise to the Healing God

I will exalt you, Lord, because you have lifted me up and have not allowed my enemies to triumph over me. Lord, my God, I cried to you for help, and you healed me. Lord, you brought me up from Sheol; you spared me from among those going down to the Pit. Sing to the Lord, you his faithful ones, and praise his holy name. (Psalm 30:1-4)(CSB)

I want to give praise to my Lord---Jehovah-Rophe---God my Healer. 

It was a little over two months ago, when my wife, Lisa, and I began to feel a little sick. It began with her coughing, then to me coughing, then to both of us running a low-grade fever over night. The next morning we went to the doctor to get checked out. After looking us over and giving us a couple of tests, we were told that we were positive for the coronavirus. We were a little dismayed, because we thought we had been careful around others, but we got our prescriptions and went home to quarantine. 

The next week and a half were pretty rough for us. In fact, there was a time or two when I felt like I may need to go to the hospital because of difficulty breathing, but each time we prayed, things seemed to get better. After we each got past that phase, then we started wondering if we would ever regain our strength again. But each morning as we prayed for God to heal us, we began to slowly feel better and regained our strength little by little. We had our loved ones, and our church family checking in on us and praying for us, and it made a big difference. Through all our fears and pains, the Holy Spirit was there calming us. We continued to improve until finally we were restored to normal (or some might say "abnormal") again. We still had to deal with the isolation and boredom from being quarantined, but it was obvious to Lisa and me that our God had answered our petitions and healed us.

I share all of this to give praise to our Lord, the Great Physician, and to hopefully encourage others. You may say that all the medical statistics and reports show that most people recover from this virus, and you would be right. But I have no doubt that God heard our prayers--our cries for help--and healed us. As in the above passage from Psalm 30, God spared us and lifted us up from the pit of sickness that we had fallen into. And just like verse 4 encourages, we want to be faithful by continuing to sing to the Lord and praise His holy name. Our Healing God is so much more than worthy!

Joey Culpepper

A Prayer During Times of Trial

 

O my God, your loving providence transforms sorrows, difficulties, trials, and dangers into means of grace, lessons of patience, and channels of hope. Grant us good will to use and not abuse those privileges. By your great goodness, keep us alive through this dying life, that out of death you may raise us up to immortality. For his sake who is the life, Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

-Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

How Do I Know if My Heart is "Divided"?

 

Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. (Psalm 86:11)(NIV)

Throughout the Psalms, the word heart refers to the center of the human soul or spirit. From this center flow all a person's emotions, thoughts and attitudes. An undivided heart means that these expressions reveal a heart that is pure and unselfish, not corrupted in any way (Ps. 24:3-4).

The prophet Jeremiah wrote in a similar vein, telling us that God wants us to return to him with all our heart (Jer. 24:7). He called this concept singleness of heart and action (Jer. 32:39). Ezekiel also spoke of God giving an undivided heart and ....a new spirit (Ezek. 11:19).

Only God can give someone an undivided heart; it's not something we get on our own. Still, we must accept God's offer; we must want an undivided heart. The surest way to know whether one's heart is undivided may be to echo David's prayer: Search me, O God and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts (Ps 139:23). Only God can tell whether or not our hearts are pure.

                                                                                                                                                                              

       (from the Quest Study Bible published by Zondervan)

God Heals His People

 

If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.  (2 Chron. 7:14)(NLT)

Under God's covenant with Israel, there was a strong connection between sin and sickness. When the Lord commanded the Israelites to obey his laws, he promised to reward them by keeping them safe from many diseases. But these diseases were spiritual as much as physical. So here the Lord promised first to forgive his people, then to heal their land. We have also sinned against God in our thoughts and actions. But if we turn from our sin and humbly follow him, he will forgive us as well and heal us as his people. Let us praise God for healing and restoring us.

MERCIFUL GOD, we have harmed ourselves and others by neglecting your Word and living according to our own desires. Please forgive our sins, and help us to turn from our wicked ways. We thank and praise you for healing us. Amen

(from the Praise and Worship Study Bible by Tyndale House)

A Prayer for the Morning

O God, the King eternal, who divides the day from the darkness and turns the shadow of death into morning, drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our heart to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice and give you thanks. Amen.

Anonymous

Obedience to God Shows our True Commitment to God

1 Jn. 2:3-4 (HCSB)

This is how we are sure that we have come to know Him: by keeping His commands. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” yet doesn’t keep His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

How deep is your commitment to God? Is it defined by you calling yourself a Christian, going to church most Sunday mornings, and reading your Bible once every couple of weeks? Or is it deeper than that? Is your commitment limited to only acting like a Christian around your church friends while living like the world the rest of the time? Or is it a commitment that touches and influences every aspect of your life?

That deeper type of commitment is what our Lord is calling us to. It’s also what the disciple John teaches us in his gospel and letters. John taught us that we can Know that we know. We can have an assurance of our salvation and of our Christian faith. This assurance is profound and not just a “maybe so” hopefulness. It’s evident through the obedience to God in our lives.

Jesus made it clear that our love for Him is directly connected to our obedience. He said: “If you love me, you will do what I command.” (Jn. 14:15 NIV), and “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s command and remain in His love.” (Jn. 15:10 NIV) So if we say that we know Him and truly love Him, we should be able to point to obedience in our lives that will reflect that. This obedience will be obvious when it’s apparent to those around us that we aren’t living our lives for ourselves, but for a higher purpose.

This is how we can know that we know Him: if we keep His commands (1 Jn. 2:3), by keeping His Word (1 Jn. 2:5), and walking as Jesus walked (1 Jn. 2:6). “Keeping His Word” signals that it’s not enough to just read, hear, or to know His Word. We need to strive to be “Doers of the Word” as James encourages us to do: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (Jms. 1:22 NIV) I enjoy hearing my pastor’s sermons, at least the ones where he’s not stepping on my toes too hard, but if I listen to them week after week, never letting them sink in, but just going in one ear and out the other, how is that ever going to impact my life or those that I come into contact with for God’s kingdom? As the old saying goes…We need to “Walk the walk” not just “Talk the talk.” When we walk our walk we should want to walk as Jesus walked. He gave us the perfect example of the humble servant, doing His Father’s will, following after God in obedience.

This kind of commitment is not easy. It’s hard to go against the gravitational pull of this world. That’s why Jesus says that if we want to follow Him we have to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily, dying to the world. (Mt. 16:24) But because of what God has done for us, through the power of the Holy Spirit we can. We can Know that we know Him and keep His commands, by deciding every day (with the Holy Spirit’s help) that we are going to follow Christ’s example for us –an example of obedience even to the point of death:

(Phil. 2:8 NIV) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross.

Pray:  Heavenly Father, please help me to follow Jesus’ example by showing my commitment to You through obedience.

 

(by Joey Culpepper)