Tuesday, September 21, 2010

BEWARE OF DETOURS AND SHORTCUTS!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Verse for Today
Psalms 1:6a - But the Lord knows the way of the righteous.

The greatest comfort and courage God's children experience is from the knowledge that the Lord knows their ways. He knows where they are going and what are the difficulties that they will face on the way. It is wonderful to realize that even when they do not know what to expect on the way, they can still keep going forward trusting the Lord who has gone before them. He is the God of yesterday, today and forever, and so knows what lies ahead on the pathway of each of us. Not only that, He goes with His children and clears the way for them. The enemy of their souls will definitely try to create road blocks of discouragement, despair and confusion. The enemy is good at distracting the children of God so that they would take detours and thus slip away from the perfect will and path created by their Lord for them. The Lord has established His directions on the way through His Word which is both a light unto their path and lamp unto their feet. If we focus on the companionship and fellowship of the Lord and use the route map that is given to us, we would not need to fall into the distractions of the enemy. Temptations to be distracted are such that the enemy will use a new strategy to lure us away when one of his earlier attempts fail. He had used it against Adam and Eve, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and so many other children of God. We can see many examples of failures and distractions in the lives of many of the children of God which is given to us as a great warning to keep our eyes only on the Lord Jesus and walk with Him. We also have to bear in mind the truth that the Lord knows our ways, and at the same time, it is our responsibility to be on the way and take heed to walk each day of our lives with the Lord. If we fall into the temptations of the devil and allow ourselves to be lured away, we will have to pay a price and suffer consequences as did many of the great servants of God. Their biographies are written as serious red signals for us to keep away from.

Dear reader, are you always conscious of the fact that the Lord has paved out a way for you to walk? Do you appreciate the fact that that He has gone before you to prepare your way? Do you also realize that He has established His lamps for your direction and His light to fight the darkness that prevails over the present world in which you are placed? Are you focusing on the Lord and His light? Do you experience the temptation to walk the shortcuts created for you by the enemy with the express intention to distract you? This sojourn means that we decide to look at Jesus only and not at the wisdom that the world gives us to walk this pathway of faith. It involves a conscious and deep commitment to follow only Jesus and not a mixture of 'Jesus and the ways of the world'. As we walk along with the Lord, we need to continue in our fellowship with Him and ask Him in prayer to help us not to fall into distractions and take detours and shortcuts. We also need to trust Him to take us forward every step of the way. When Jesus knows our way which He has created for us, and as He has gone before us to prepare every step of our way, He has also prepared provisions for every need of ours in the physical, intellectual, emotional and above all in the spiritual realm. The provisions are there to draw upon on a daily basis like the manna which the Israelites enjoyed daily during their wilderness walk. So our walk with Jesus is one of total dependence on Him and on the basis of all His provisions for us. These ought to satisfy us so that we do not need to go to any other field for gleaning, as Boaz instructed Ruth. There is enough for us in His field to fill us to overflowing. Dear friend, the comforting words of the Psalmist that the Lord knows our way ought to strengthen us to walk forward with courage and confidence, and without weariness. Let us walk with Him today and be a blessing to others who are on the same pathway.

Isaiah 30:21 - Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it".

Thought for Today
The benevolent Father has made provisions for every need of His children as they are on their pathway with Him.

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