Am I On the Right Path?

This is a question that I find myself asking a lot while on my walk with Christ on this earth. Am I choosing the right way? Am I following God's will for my life? Am I trying to do things on my own? Sometimes I find that I go through life without considering what God would have me do in situations that come up. As I think about it now, it is like playing the game risk. Do I make moves on my own that may hold serious consequences if I am wrong, or do I place my trust in God for Him to guide me on the right path? Do I look for the advice of others, and give that equal value to what the scripture says? It seems like there are always going to be things that will pull us from our walk and get us off course. This reminds me of a set of scriptures from 2 Timothy.

2 Timothy 4:2-5
"Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

How do I make sure I am on the right path? I need to stop, wait, and be ready. The first thing we should do is stop where we are. If you can not honestly say that what you are doing is pleasing in the sight of God, then it stands to reason that you might not be in the will of God. And this is a path that does not need to be traveled on. Because danger awaits us in the form of sin.

Genesis 4:7
"If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

Secondly we must wait on God to act, and show us the right path. Too many times we place our trust in other people. And usually the ones that say what we want to hear as described in 2 Timothy 4. We want our ears tickled. We want to believe what we are doing aside from God is justified. And we continue down the wrong path.

Lastly, we must be ready when God says move. The best way to be ready is constant devotion to the Word of God. Because by this, we draw nearer to God, and it is easier for us to hear God lead us on the right path.

Psalm 119:105
"Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path."

And when He speaks, we must go. It may not be the path that we think is right. It may be something that we really do not want to do. But, we need to realize that God looks at everything by the big picture. We see things just where we are.

I heard the story of a pilot who on many occasions flew from Charlotte to Wilmington in the course of a year. On one such trip, the air traffic controller gave the pilot a new course. Feeling that the course was incorrect, the pilot started to move back to the course that was familiar. Within seconds the air traffic controller radioed and asked why the pilot was changing course. The pilot explained that they felt they should be on a different course. The air traffic controller replied that if the pilot did change course, his small one seat air plane would crash into a 747.

So the question again, are we on the right path?

Thanks for reading, and God Bless you all this week!

Stay Close

I am forever amazed at some of the things that a child can play with, and it keep their attention for long periods of time. Now there are a lot of things at my house that we have to keep on lock-down because we do not want them to play with them and lose them. Such as the flashlight. I have yet to meet a kid that did not love to play with a flashlight, day or night. But, they seem to have trouble putting them back where they need to go. And when the lights go out, it is an interesting task to find them. One of the things that I have noticed that my kids love to play with is an umbrella. There is some fascination with watching it open up, and hiding underneath. Whether it is raining or not. Or whether they are in the house or outside, they do not care. The funny thing is, when it rains, they do not want to use it then. They want to run out in the rain and feel it falling on them. Now, don't get me wrong. I enjoy it sometimes too. But, my kids do not like to use the umbrella for its real purpose. Many times my wife and I will tell them to stand real close so they will not get wet. For when the umbrella is used correctly, it protects us all. This reminds me of a verse in the book of James.

James 4:8
"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

We will face many storms in this life. Whether they come as a tragedy, financial hardship, or relationship problems, we all will have struggles. The question is, are we prepared for them when they happen? Or the proverbial question, "Do we keep and umbrella around all the time just in case?" The best thing we can do is to draw close to God. By striving in our lives to form a good relationship with our Heavenly Father, He will get closer to us. Just like we tell our kids to stand close under the umbrella to keep them dry, we should draw close to God when we are faced with our troubles. And He is faithful to us to see us through.

Jeremiah 30:17a
"For I will restore you to health, And I will heal you of your wounds,’ declares the LORD."

Now some people think that their problems are too big for them to handle. And they are right. There are many things that we cannot handle on our own. But my God is bigger than any problem imaginable. My God is greater than anything. And as long as I draw near to Him, I know that everything will be alright. This reminds me of a song that I like to hear on K-love. The name of it is "Our God" by Chris Tomlin. The link to the song on You Tube is below if you would like to listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oksdb06SsTM&feature=fvsr (If this does not work, you can go to youtube.com and search "Our God" by Chris Tomlin)


Thanks for reading, and God Bless You all this week!

I refuse

These past couple of months I have been blessed to see some wonderful miracles in my life and in those around me. Praise the Lord we have had 8 people saved at our church in the last few months. Prayer really works. We have been actively praying for a long time for our new brothers and sisters. The sad thing is, you just do not hear of people getting saved like we did years ago. It is becoming uncommon in today's society. Many people are in a state of false assurance these days. Back in the 1980's Rev. Billy Graham estimated that 85% of all church goers are not saved. That is staggering! What is the reason for this. I have an idea that I would like you to entertain for a moment. How many of us are actively looking for ways to serve Him and be an active witness for Him in our daily walk? I know that I am guilty of this, being caught up in the worries and happenings of this life. Many times we seem to have our blinders on to God. We do not think actively every day of how best to serve Him. Because of this, the gospel of Christ has become diluted, and somewhat misconstrued by some "so-called" believers. The only way to combat this is to do what scripture teaches. In Matthew 28:19 Christ says "Go and make disciples of all nations...." He did not say when you feel like it, or when you have time in your schedule. He said "GO". In 2 Timothy 4:2-5, Paul charges Timothy "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry." We have a job to do. These scriptures were not just for the recipients of the message, but to all of us. I refuse now to stand by and let others be an example for me. I refuse not to take a stand. I refuse to putting other things ahead of my bible reading time. I refuse to not witness based on what others may think of me. I hope that all of you that read this, will join me in a refusal to just stand idly by and "GO" to work for Him before it is too late.

Thanks and God Bless You this week.