Heb. 12:13
Mark out a straight path for your feet. Then those who follow you, though they
are weak and lame, will not stumble and fall but will become strong.
Have
you ever been on a trip needing to get to your destination and all of a sudden,
there it is, a detour. Next thing you know you are running late trying to get
to where you wanted to go. In our Christian walk one of the things that we have
to be aware of both from our own fleshly standpoint as well as our enemy who
does not want us to accomplish our God-given plans is that we will face
decisions that can become a detour to where we want to go. These detours that I
am talking about are ones that can be avoided. If we avoid the detours we are
going to succeed in what Christ has done for us.
The
other key element is that we have people who are watching us. There are those
who look to believers with hope of a better life but then they see these
Christians going down the same crooked path their on and this only causes them
to continue to stumble through life living weak and lame. The healing and
deliverance they need is not received because they may not have someone to lead
them down the only path that will get them there, and that path leads to God.
The number one complaint of unbelievers about those who say they are Christians
is that they are hypocrites. I realize that there are those who claim to be
Christians and either are false converts, or don’t even realize what a real
Christian is. But scripture clearly reveals that those who know Christ should
be setting an example that others can follow.
If
you want to reach the destinations that God has for you hear on earth, which
these destinations are the promises we have been given through Christ that we
can obtain now, there are several key things in our life in which we need to
have a straight path maintained to so that we don’t get detoured from what God
has given to us as a strength in our life. I want to share two very important
areas we need to maintain a straight path to. There are more, but these are two
of the most important in the life of a believer. The better we get rid of the
distractions and maintain these straight paths the stronger we will become as a
child of God. God did not intend for us to become born-again and not become
stronger spiritually. On the contrary, the stronger you become spiritually the
more impact you will have for God’s kingdom, and you will have greater
victories in this life.
Psa. 27:4 I have
asked one thing from the Lord. This I will seek: to remain in the Lord’s house
all the days of my life in order to gaze at the Lord’s beauty and to
search for an answer in his temple.
The first
place we need to make a straight path to is the Lord’s house where we can
behold His beauty, be refreshed in His presence, and get answers to the
challenges in life that we face. Current polls show that only 43% of Christians
attend church just once a week. The other 57% don’t even attend once a week,
but most churches have at least two services a week. It is no wonder why the
body of Christ as a whole is not very strong. If you send your children to
school once a week how much are they going to learn?
If
Christians are not dwelling in the house of the Lord where the Bible teaches
they are refreshed by His presence, equipped with insight and training from
God’s Word, strengthened through fellowship with one another (iron sharpens
iron), how then are they going to defeat the darkness that is increasing on the
earth? It is not only important we get to God’s house, but it is also important
we do so with a desire to know God, serve in His house, and be a part of the
body He has called us to grow with.
Stop and
think about your church attendance. Scripture reveals many benefits in going to
God’s house, yet if we are not there how can we benefit from something God
provided for us to be a strength in our life? Think of all the excuses people
make for not going to church. These excuses are detours that put believers on a
crooked path where instead of going straight to church, they take a detour and
go elsewhere. I have found no place in my life where I can get refreshed and
blessed like I can in church. I have never received the strength I get in God’s
house at my home, in the grocery store, at a ball game, nor anywhere else.
Those places don’t have all that God’s house has.
Luke 14:16 Then He
said to him, “A certain man gave a great
supper and invited many,
Luke 14:17 and sent
his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, “Come, for all
things are now ready.’
Luke 14:18 But they
all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, “I have
bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me
excused.’
Luke 14:19 And another
said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you
to have me excused.’
Luke 14:20 Still
another said, “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’
Luke 14:21 So that
servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the
house, being angry, said to his servant, “Go out quickly into the streets and
lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and
the blind.’
Luke 14:22 And the
servant said, “Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’
Luke 14:23 Then the
master said to the servant, “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel
them to come in, that my house may be filled.
Luke 14:24 For I say
to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ”
Jesus here speaks of
the fact that God wants to see His house full every time His table is set to
feed His children. A shepherd’s job is to feed His sheep. Notice when people
were invited to come the excuses they made as to why they could not come. One
bought a piece of ground, another bought five new oxen, and the other had
married. These are often the same three excuses that people give today as to
why they don’t come to church on a regular basis.
The first represents
those who are caught up with their own personal desires. Whether that is taking
care of their land, mowing the grass, working in their yard, or doing other
things more important to them. The second represents those who become so busy
with their own business, buying oxen; they no longer have any time for God’s
house. The third focused on family time, and that family time was more
important than going to God’s house.
Notice in verse 21 that
the master was not happy about those who made excuses and did not want to come
to his house. So the servant was told to go and compel all who would come for
the bottom line was the master wanted to bless these people, and it brings
great joy to him to see his house full. It brings great joy to our God to see
His house full for He desires for us to be in His house for our benefit, and to
help others. Those who were invited and did not come, they did not taste the
supper that God had prepared for them. If you don’t eat you become weaker and
weaker. The better you eat the stronger you become. Remember when we make
straight paths for our feet, those who are in need of healing and deliverance
will know who to follow.
Every pastor who is
called by Jesus as one of the five-fold ministry gifts He has given to the body
of Christ who seeks the Lord about what he is to share with that congregation,
has something from God to say to everyone that is there. Think about that. God
has spoken to that pastor and has given that pastor a word from Him that He
wants to share with His kids. I can’t tell you how many times I have had a
message that I have shared and later had someone who didn’t come to church but
then wanted my help in dealing with something they were having trouble with,
and the very thing they were dealing with I had just preached on under the anointing
of God. God knows what we need to hear and when we need to hear it.
Psa. 119:104 Through
Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.
Psa. 119:105 Your word
is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
The second
area we need to maintain straight paths for our feet is going to God’s Word
every day. Through God’s Word we get understanding, and become aware of the
false ways that mislead us. His Word helps to show us the steps to take, and
what we can look to and believe God for in our life. The Word of God is what
will continue to set us apart from the world, it’s deceptive ways, and it’s
harmful effects on our life (John 17:17). It brings clarity and strength to our
life as we develop further in our understanding of who we now are in Christ
Jesus.
John 8:31 Then Jesus
said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word,
you are My disciples indeed.
John 8:32 And you
shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
When you live in the
Word of God you have chosen to make a straight path to the scriptures, and not to
allow things to detour you from what will bring great freedom in your life. One
who lives in the Word of God Jesus said is His disciple (student), and they
shall know the truth. This truth will free them from error, deception, and the
seducing ways of satan. It will bring a great strength to those who make it a
time of fellowship with the Lord and come each day with anticipation of what
the Lord will share with them.
I agree with Kenneth E.
Hagin who said that the believer today should spend the majority of their time
in the New Testament for this is our covenant with God. Without an
understanding of who we are in Christ and our covenant we have with Him, we
won’t interpret the Old Testament in light of the New Testament. We should not
be reading the Bible just to read it, but to get revelation from it, and
fellowship with God.
So make
straight paths for your feet. You are the only one who can. A key to doing so
is making sure our heart is set on God. We also must redeem our time for the
days are evil. Watching T.V., surfing the Internet, and allowing others things
to consume our time are not going to make us spiritually stronger. God loves
you and wants to strengthen your life and use you to lead others as well.
See You Again
Next Week For More “Weekly Wisdom”
May God’s Best
Be Yours!
Pastor Darryl
Baker
