What Path Are You On?

*I taught this devotion ,that I wrote, at the Bible study that I lead at my church last Sunday. I thought I would share with you.

Matthew 5:8- Blessed are the PURE in heart, for they will see God.

If someone observes your life for a week, what would they say about you? 

Are we being an example as a follower of Christ? We cannot walk with both Jesus and want worldly things. They go in two different directions. There is no middle ground.  What do I mean by that? I’ll give you one example. In James 3:9-10 says this: 

“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.”

*Sunday- Praising God, worshipping God, sharing his words with others and being kind to others…

*Monday-Saturday- Cuss like a sailor, being unkind to others, gossiping about people, lying and so on..

Sunday and the rest of the week , doesn’t go together, do they? 

This is what I mean by middle ground. There shouldn’t be a middle ground in our life. Holy and worldly sin does not go together.

God’s Holiness

In the Old Testment, Leviticus 11:44-45, God told Moses and Aaron to tell the Israelites (that he help bring out of Egypt) that he wanted them to be holy, for he is holy! 

“ For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”

Leviticus 11:44–45 KJV 

It was repeated again in New Testment. As Peter mentioned it. 

“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.””

1 Peter 1:15–16 NIV

This is a important reminder for all of us is that , God is HOLY. I think we forget that sometimes. I know I do. Here’s a few more about God’s holiness. 

• Do you remember in the LORD’S PRAYER?  In Matthew 6. Jesus was teaching his disciples how to pray. When we pray to God ,we should start out by saying this, Our Father which art in heaven, HALLOWED BY THY NAME. Hallowed meaning holy. So even speaking the name of God is holy! His name needs to be honored anytime we use his name, but especially when talking to him. God’s name is holy and pure. God isn’t of this world. Remember he created this world sinless.  There was no sin till Eve ate the apple. 

• In Exodus 33, Moses ask to see God but listen to what God said..

“he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.””

Exodus 33:20–23 NIV

God’s Glory is divide radiance, powerful, bright, and pure above all its holy! 

• Remember the 3rd commandment? In Exodus 20:7 , God himself said “thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God’s name in vain”. Why? Again, because his name is holy.

Bad words doesn’t go with his holy name. Using it in vain does not go with his holy name. His name is pure. It needs to stay that way. We need to leave God’s name out of anything that we are fixing to say that is bad. That’s why it’s one of the 10 commandments. He does not want any bad connection to his holy name.  It’s important to him. We should honor that. 

God wants us to be holy. Right? Of course as I said after Eve, sin entered in this world, it made the goal of being holy a little bit harder to do. Ok, maybe a whole lot harder.  We are all sinners. However that’s not an excuse for us to continue walking down the wrong path or continuing to making wrong choices especially as a follower of Christ.

HOW SHOULD WE ACT AS FOLLOWER OF CHRIST?

**One thing to keep in mind, just because the world has changed and trying to “normalized sin”. Here’s what I mean by normalizing sin, is this, the world is telling us that it’s ok to do those things (sins) when the Bible tells us  differently. It does not change the fact that, God’s words (Bible) has NOT CHANGED.

DON’T……   (Worldly Path)

1. Don’t WALK IN DARKNESS– 

“If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 1 John 1:6”

2. Don’t WALK AS FOOLS-     “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: But fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  Proverbs 1:7 KJV

“A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: But the fool rageth, and is confident.”  Proverbs 14:16 KJV

3. Don’t WALK IN SIN-    “For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes NOT from the Father but from the world.”   1 John 2:16 NIV

“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

Colossians 3:2 NIV

DO…..(Holy Path)

1. Do WALK IN SPIRIT-      “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance…”       Galatians 5:22-23 KJV

2. Do WALK IN LOVE-          “and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor.” Ephesians 5:2 KJV

3. Do WALK IN LIGHT-     “but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”   1 John 1:7 KJV

4. Do WALK IN TRUTH-    “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  John 14:6 KJV

“The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”  1 John 2:17 NIV

So all of this (for me) boils down to this, the best way to get from point A to point B  is to have an unobstructed path. What I mean by that is , we need to get all the junk out of our path such as normalized sin, unnecessary busyness, hanging around with wrong crowd, or whatever conviction that’s on your heart. Only you know what’s in your path. We need replace all that with regular prayer time, reading the Bible faithfully, loving one another, being kind and sharing the gospel. We need to be the light to the lost world not just on Sundays but everyday. 

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, HOLY and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility (meekness), gentleness and patience.” Colossians 3:12 NIV

Hope this devotion help you today as it did for me. Praying for you!