Are You on the Path?

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines more and more (clearer and brighter) until (it reaches its full strength and glory in) the perfect day (to be prepared.)

Proverbs 4:18

It is so easy to hit a season in our lives where everything seems out of whack! We don't know what the next step will be in our lives, we're confused, scared, and worried. So many people get thrown off track during these times and let the troubles of this world overwhelm them.

One of the greatest lessons I've learned is found in the verse above. The path of the righteous gets brighter and brighter and clearer and clearer. I've learned that as a Christian, God did not intend my life to be this bumpy ride where I'm constantly getting knocked around, constantly in fear, and never knowing what to expect. No, God said that He will direct my steps and make my path clear.



So what am I trying to say? If your path isn't getting clearer and brighter... you're not on the path! Jesus said that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. When we're on the path it should be easy and you should have a peace about where you are!

One way I've learned to evaluate if I am on the path is by this standard:

If it's good it's God, if it's bad, it's me!

So let me ask you... Is your path getting brighter and brighter? Is your path getting clearer and clearer? Are you in a good place right now? If it's not . . . you may need to look at your life and realize where you've missed it. You may even need to go back to the last thing God asked you to do and make sure you were obedient. If you weren't, repent, and jump right back on the path!

God is so good!!! There really is no better feeling than knowing you're on the path and knowing that as you continue in your journey with God that the path is only going to get brighter and better! I am pretty fired up about being on the path! Are you? God has some amazing things in store for you.... get ready!

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God's Plans (Part 4)

"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord. "And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and so my thoughts are higher than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:8, 9

Go Until You Get a No

I've only recently in the past 6 months started to get a hold of this truth. We're talking about God's plans... yesterday I talked about how God will lead us and how we can know we're on the right path. Today I want to focus on going after everything God has for you. I think the majority of people miss out on the plan of God for their lives because they're afraid to act. They constantly are saying things like, "What if this isn't God... I could ruin my life! I'm scared! I don't know what to do... etc." These thoughts end up leading them to a point where they freeze up and never take another step forward. Because of fear . . . they end up being robbed of so many amazing things that God had planned for them.

I'm becoming more and more convinced that God is a God of action... He wants us to act! He put inside of us everything we'll ever need to live out the life He intended us to live. It is up to us to draw it out and give Him a return on His investment.

So if you find yourself thinking... "Should I do this, go here, be with this person, etc." Consider this:


Ben Rath gave me two books that changed my life (The Barbarian Way and Chasing Daylight, both by Erwin McManus). The main theme I got from these books: GO UNLESS YOU GET A NO. God wants us to be big dreamers... so many times we limit God and what He wants to do in and through us. The Bible says that God looks at our hearts when we're making decisions. I am convinced that if we're truly and consistently pursuing God in our everyday lives that He'll let us know if we need to slow down, stop doing something, go somewhere, or stay somewhere.


As I mentioned... I am in a season where I started asking questions like the ones I mentioned above... Ben Rath made this comment (click here to read the whole thing) on one of my posts that really helped me:

Stay true to your essence (who you are to be and who you are becoming) and just move with that. I know that if you'll stay focused on your "why" and look to milk it for all you can with the opportunities that are in front of you now, God will do His part. Just keep moving. Look for opportunities to do the most good with what you know in your heart right now. If it's preaching, then look for other opportunities to do that. If it's something else, then look for ways to start to do those things. But just move (or in your case, keep moving).

That really helped me not stress out about knowing what is next, know what I am supposed to do, who I am supposed to marry etc...

God really does operate like a traffic light when it comes to leading us:

• Green Light - Go Baby!! I believe that most of the time God has a green light in our lives! He wants us to dream, work hard, and go after everything that is in our hearts!

• Yellow Light - Other times... He'll tell us to slow down. It's not time for this yet... etc.. Remember that it's always better to be 3 steps behind God then 3 steps ahead of Him!

• Red Light - God loves us and cares about us! He does not want us to make decisions that we'll look back and regret. Red light means stop...cut this out of your life... don't go!
  

I'll end it here... but be led... don't be afraid to act! Go unless you get a "yellow or red light". If we'll learn this simple concept and apply it to our lives... we'll always be exactly where God wants us to be!

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God's Plans (Part 3)

"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord. "And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and so my thoughts are higher than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:8, 9

Which Way do I Go? Which Way do I Go?

In Part 2 I discussed that there is God's Perfect/Specific Will, God's General Will, and God's Permissible Will. So we know that God has a specific and perfect will for our lives that if we'll cooperate with it... we'll live out the most amazing life we possibly could here on earth! Pretty exciting right? But how do you know what God's perfect will is? How do you now you're living it? Do you ever wonder how you know who you're supposed to marry? What you're supposed to do with your life?


I am convinced that if we can hear from God and be led by Him, then we'll have it made. Don't you agree? If we knew God's perfect will for our lives... wouldn't that make it so much easier? Well... Good news! It's God's will that you know His will... I want to touch on a few factors that come into play when it comes to discovering the Will of God for your life:

• It's God's Will that You know His will (Colossians 1:9) He wants you to figure it out!

• God's Word is His will
• In order to know the specific will of God... we need to know and live out the general will of God. That means knowing and living the B-I-B-L-E God's Word is His will to everyone...it's general...you won't find things like You should marry ______ in the Bible, but you will find out how to conduct your lives in order to please God.
  

• The Number One Way God leads us is through His Word and by His Spirit. (Romans 8:14,16)
• I just had a post on this with some great resources on How to be led by God and How to hear from God.
  

• Proverbs 4:18 says that the Path of the Righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
  
• If you're cooperating with God's will for your life... your path should be getting brighter and brighter...better and better... if it's not... you're probably not on the path.
  

• The Bible says that God is NOT the Author of Confusion
• I heard someone say once that if you have doubt... it's not God. I used to think that was ridiculous, but the more I grow spiritually... the more truth I am seeing in that statement. God is not out to confuse you!

• God will give you Peace about Your Decision
• Phil 4:7 says that God will give you His peace which surpasses understanding. I am convinced that when God is leading us to do something... even if it isn't logical, doesn't make sense, etc. that we'll have a peace that it is the right thing to do.

These are just some of the ways I've learned about learning and knowing what the specific will of God is for your life. I hope it helped you!

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God's Plans (Part 2)

"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord. "And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and so my thoughts are higher than your thoughts."

-Isaiah 55:8, 9

With the exception of Christianity, every other world religion views God's plan from one of two angles. Either they view God as this puppet master who controls our lives and they come to the conclusion that they have no choice over anything in life or they believe that all they're able to do is do the best that they can in life and then ultimately God will still choose their destiny for them for eternity...He will weigh whether or not they were good enough to please Him.

Both are wrong views and end up putting people into bondage....Christianity is the only religion in the world where there is not a ladder to climb to get to God, but Christianity is when God came to earth and gave us His Son out of love so that we could have an intimate relationship with Him.

I'll teach on God's love one day, but realize that the Bible says that God knew you and the plans He had for you before you were in your mothers womb. He knew you before the foundations of the world. He sent His Son (Jesus) to die for you before you were even born and while you didn't deserve it. He send His Son to die for you so you could have an intimate relationship with Him and live out the life He has planned for you... the best life you could imagine (John 10:10)

So if this is true... God has a plan for me... does He just make choices for me? Do I have a choice in the matter? How do I know what His plan is? I'll cover this over the next few days... but first, you need to know 3 things concerning God's will. There is:

• God's Perfect/Specific Will - God has a specific plan for your life . . . His perfect plan! However, this does not just happen because God chose it for you. You have to cooperate with it.

• God's General Will - God's general will is His Word (The Bible) . . . this is His will for everybody on the planet! You'll never get over to the specific will of God, if you don't live out the general will of God. So many people want God to speak to them, but He already has! He's given them an entire book... learn that... then if He wants to... He'll tell you more!

• God's Permissible Will - God is not a controlling God... He gives us the ability to choose. Free Choice is one of the greatest gifts God has given to us. We will always be able to choose what we want in life...we can choose to cooperate with God, run from Him, make good decisions, bad decisions, etc..
  

We'll get into more tomorrow... I'm really trying to shorten my posts...

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God's Plans (Part 1)

"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord. "And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so amy ways are higher than your ways, and so my thoughts are higher than your thoughts."

-Isaiah 55:8, 9

If you've gone to church for any period of time, I am sure you've heard Jeremiah 29:11 (which seems to be the new John 3:16 lol) that says God has an awesome and specific plan for our lives. While I think we'd all (who know the Word) would agree that God has a plan for our life, I believe few of us know how to draw that plan out and watch it come to pass in their lives.

In my short time going after God I've learned and continue to learn some things about God's plan for our lives. I'd like to share them over the next few days and hear from you along the way.

See, I'm in another season where I don't know what the next step in my life is supposed to be. I know I'm where I am supposed to be now, but isn't it easy when you don't know what is next to start guessing or planning your own next step instead of waiting for God? It can be frustrating and scary at the same time . . . but I'm learning that if we'll just take God at his Word, wait on Him, hear from Him, obey Him and trust Him... then we'll live out the specific Will of God in our lives and stand back in awe at how amazing our lives are as a result of what He has planned for us.

What I know about God's Plan for my Life:

• He has one for me! (Jeremiah 29:11)

• Through it, He wants to do super abundantly, far above, all I could dare ask, think, or imagine in my life. (Ephesians 3:20)

• It's God's will that I know His will (He's not hiding it from me) (Colossians 1:9)
  (I Cor. 2:9,10)

• I have free choice in life... just because God has a plan for my life doesn't mean He makes every decision for me... I have to cooperate with God's will. (Psalm 127:1)

• God has a permissible will... this is where I think so many Christians settle for a good life... when God created them and has planned for them a GREAT life.
  

• If I'll learn to hear from God, if I'll be willing, and if I'll be obedient... than I'll live out the plan that God has for me! (Isaiah 1:19)

• The ultimate purpose of the specific will of God for my life is to have an impact on everyone around me for the Kingdom of God. People's lives should never be the same as a result of seeing God in and through me.
  

I think I could go on forever, but these are just a few things I want to cover over the next few days (could be a long series). This subject has been on my heart for a while.


What about you? What are some things you've learned about God's plan for your life?

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