New and Ancient Paths
But my people have left me to worship the Big Lie. They’ve gotten off the track, the old, well-worn trail, And now bushwhack through underbrush in a tangle of roots and vines. (Jeremiah 18:15 MSG)
Ouch! I don’t know about you, but this picture of being tangled up in roots and vines and trying to plow through on my own does not sound very pleasant. But such is what happens when we leave the path and seek our own interests and desires instead of God’s. This isn’t anything new. We as humans have been doing it for centuries. But, let me ask you this…isn’t it time that we get back on the well-worn trail, the path that leads to holiness and righteousness? The path that leads to LIFE? Isn’t it time to make a new way, to let God lead us down difficult paths even if we do not understand them because we KNOW that HE does?
Are you stuck? Do you not know where your path is? Do you have trouble seeing how you can get over the mountain that faces you? Sister, God always provides the answer to our entanglements. “Just as a machete clears paths in the wild, the sword of God’s Word has the power to sever what entangles us” (pg. 142, emphasis mine). Take it to the bank. It is a promise. You might be facing a mountain right now. It may be something of your own doing or it may be something God has allowed in your life for a divine purpose. Whatever the reason, you must know that the Word of God will light your path every step of the way. Your path may seem confusing and senseless to you but it makes complete sense to God because He sees the whole picture. He knows it all because He is sovereign. With God, we have the chance to walk in a new and living way.
By His death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. (Hebrews 10:20)
If you want to know what to do next, go to His Word. Pray. Talk with Him. LISTEN. WAIT. He will speak to you but you must give Him the opportunity! “Through the power of His Word, He makes a way where there seemed to be no way.” (pg. 145)
Change Environments
I am going to quote an entire paragraph from this section because it really spoke to me and I think it is so very important!
Sometimes you need to make a radical environmental change – turn off your television, get off the Internet, and hang up the phone. When all these voices are silenced, you have a chance to quiet yourself as well. However, this isn’t an invitation to meditate on a deeper revelation of YOU but to experience a deeper revelation of HIM.
When Jesus came in and cleared the decks of your life, the enemy did not disappear; he just moved aside. He was not gone; he was simply out of sight, watching for an opportunity to reestablish himself. To avoid a hostile reinvasion, you must firmly establish a new lifestyle and environment (pg. 146, emphasis mine).
Wow, right? In order to forge our way and return to the ancient path, it might be necessary to make a radical change to our current life. Remember, we are called to be IN the world but not OF the world (1 John 2:15-17). What changes do you need to make today in order to return to the ancient path…to be a trailblazer like Jesus? This section was very convicting for me and I know I need to spend some time in prayer to see what my Lord would have me do. It is very difficult to change our environment, especially when we are comfortable. But God does not really want us to be comfortable. He wants us on a mission, to reach the lost and hopeless, to be trailblazers for His Kingdom.
What does it mean to you to be a trailblazer?
Let’s Pray:
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Holy Word. Thank You for teaching us and convicting us, guiding us and leading us. Continue to show us the way we should go, to be trailblazers for Your Kingdom. Help us to make environmental changes where You want us to, even if those changes are difficult, Lord. Give us strength and courage to push through our entanglements, leaning on You every step of the way. You alone know all and are Sovereign. We can trust in You. Thank You, Father, for Your love. We love You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
Thank you, Jennifer, for this study this morning. I, too, need to spend some time in prayer to see how Jesus would have me be a trailblazer.
I really appreciated Liza’s study of Prov 2:12-15. We forget that just as God has a way, a path, and a language for our lives so Satan has his own way, path, and language to entangle us and get us off God’s path. We must choose (daily) between the broad path and the narrow path, we can’t walk both. (Matt 7:13-14) “…these are often chosen by virtue of the words we speak. Our language or choice of words has the power to set the course of our lives.”
I pray that I will use the machete of God’s Word to clear what entangles me so I can “…run the course(way and path) You lay out for me if You’ll just show me how.” (Psalm 119:29-32)
I love how we can see one word and it becones very personal. “Trailblazer”. Like Clella, I need to pray and seeks God’s guidance on how to become one, how I can change aspects of my environment to become the woman god designed me to be, to glorify God and so I can beter understand God and so I can better lead others to him. thank you!
Jennifer, It really hit home when you said that God does not want us to be comfortable, and that he wants us to be on a mission to reach out to the lost. We have a lost friend that is spiraling out of control. Please pray for my husband and I as he wants us to adopt him as his parents. God has sent him to us at 2:30 am in the morning drunk and lost.He knows we are Christians. Help us to witness to him today and give him hope in Jesus. I feel that the Lord wants us to bring him to celebrate recovery at our church tonight. I must say that at 2:30 am in the morning that I wanted to go back to my comfortable life, but God has called all of us to share our faith and hope. I thought about all the lost and hopeless people in the bars late at night. All the people that have been tangled up in Satan’s traps. Help us as Christian’s to be able to pray for them and share our hope in Jesus.
Praying with you, Lorraine. May God give you wisdom and direction as to how you are to minister to this person. May the Lord open this mans eyes, ears, and heart, to be able to receive from Him. I bind satan off of him, and any addictions and bondage’s that may have attached themselves to him, in the Name of Jesus! I plead the Blood of Jesus over him, from the top of his head to the soles of his feet!! Heal the pain Lord. Heal the past Lord. Heal relationships that may have been burned by his actions. In Jesus’ Name, AMEN!!
Echoing Christi’s prayer and standing with you, Lorraine!
Jennifer,
Thank you for your post today. It really spoke to me today. I do need to find more quiet time for just me and God. It can be soooo hard to do, but I know it can be done!
yes, jennifer, it IS time! thankful, thankful to KNOW that i know that i know that “…the Word of God will light your path every step of the way. Your path may seem confusing and senseless to you but it makes complete sense to God because He sees the whole picture. He knows it all because He is sovereign.” (and thankful to God for working in you to speak the Truth in love!) <3