Ponder The Path

Let's start out in prayer, father, god, we just thank you, lord, for tonight.

We thank you, father, for your word that you gave us.

It is so sharp and powerful, father, I just thank you, father, tonight, as we dig into your word, that our ears are open to what the Holy Spirit is saying, father, and our heart is open, father, to your word, father, and to what you're saying to us tonight.

I thank you, father, that we are teachable, we are a moldable Father, unoffendable, and we, open with our hearts, are open, wide open, father, to what you have to say to us tonight, father.

So we just thank you.

We come with thankful and grateful hearts in Jesus' name, amen, amen.

So I just have a simple message tonight and, if you're taking notes or if you wanna type it out in the comments, the title of my message is Ponder the Path, and we're not meant to blaze our own path and make our own pathway and do our own thing, but God has a path for us.

It is a good path, it is a path full of abundance and peace and joy.

You know, in youth we're still teaching on Zoe life.

In our theme scripture is John 1010, the enemy comes to steal, kill and to destroy, but Jesus came that we may have a rich and a satisfying life here on earth.

And so you know, life, life is busy, life, life comes at us very fast, and so sometimes it's good I don't say sometimes all the time, every day it's good to ponder, to think about the path that you are on, and so there are many scriptures in the word regarding our pathway and pondering the pathway.

But so the first one I wanted to share with you tonight is in Proverbs 418 in the New King James, and I'll read several versions of Proverbs 418.

But the New King James says but the path of the just is like the shining sun that shines ever brighter into the perfect day.

And the message says the ways of right living people glow with light.

The longer they live, the brighter they shine.

Isn't that good?

The New Living Translation says the way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.

And then another translation, the Amplified.

Don't worry I'm not gonna read all of them.

The Amplified says but the path of the uncompromisingly just and righteous is like the light of dawn that shines more and more, brighter and clearer until it reaches its full strength and glory in the perfect day to be prepared.

And then, if you turn over a couple of verses down in Proverbs 425 and through 27,.

In the New King James says let your eyes look straight ahead and your eyelids look right before you Ponder the path of your feet.

Everybody say ponder the path of your feet and let all your ways be established.

Do not turn to the right or to the left.

Remove your foot from evil.

And the message translation says keep your eyes straight ahead, ignore all sideshow distractions.

How many of y'all know there's lots of distractions.

I thought of going down 1960 when I read that.

I was like there's, like you know, there's a business on every corner, just like what's over there.

What's over there what's?

We're always like trying new places out to eat and what's that place and what you know.

But really there are distractions.

Here are the God saying keep your eyes straight ahead, keep your eyes straight ahead, ignore life's distractions, all sideshow distraction.

And if you read that Proverbs 425 through 27, in the Passion translation it says set your gaze on the path before you with fixed purpose, fixed purpose, looking straight ahead, ignore life's distractions, watch where you're going.

Stick to the path of truth and the road will be safe and smooth before you Don't allow yourself to be sidetracked for even a moment or take the detour that leads to darkness and that's so good.

So here he's saying, hey, watch where you're going, stick to the path of truth.

Right, and the road will be safe and smooth before you don't allow yourself.

That means you can't allow yourself to be sidetracked.

But here he's saying, hey, not even for a moment, because it we know where that leads.

It leads to darkness.

And so we have to stay close to the Word of God, stay close to the whole the Holy Spirit's inside of us, leading and guiding us.

Truth here is stick to the truth, right, simple instructions.

But how many of y'all know it's easy to get off course.

It's easy to to get your eyes over here.

This you know people making commotion over here.

Let's look over here we're.

Hey, god has you right here.

Stick to the path where he has you.

Ephesians 5, 15 in the new living translation says so be careful how you live, don't live like fools, but like those who are wise.

So basically, pay attention how you're living, right, the steps that you were taken.

And then I want to read that in the new living Actually Ephesians 5, 1 and 2 in the new living, imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.

Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ.

He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, pleasing aroma to God.

And so I just have three simple points for you guys tonight To consider.

And life number one ask yourself what pathway am I on?

You know, the habits and the decisions that we make on the daily are so important the simple, the simple, you know, habits of Getting up early and reading your Bible, praying much in the Holy Ghost.

You know, so many of us Just have busy lives or we have to go, go, go.

You know, and and sometimes I feel, you know, if I wake up late or the alarm went off and you and I snoozed or, you know, stayed in bed for an extra 30 minutes, then sometimes I feel like, oh, my day's behind.

You know, I haven't we got to get to.

You know, we have to get to work by a certain time.

And then, you know, and then I may cut down on my reading time, and so I just prioritize the word of God.

We have to prioritize the word of God.

And so you know you can.

You can come to church, you can be a Christian and still be on the wrong pathway.

Just because you show up, you go to a church, you go to a church building and you call yourself a Christian doesn't mean that you're on the pathway that God wants you to be.

And so the habits, the daily decisions that we make, are they healthy?

Are you know?

Are they?

Are they pulling us closer to the pathway that God wants us to be?

Parva's 24, 12, actually I wrote that I think it's 14, 12, and the new living says there is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.

And then in the message it says there is a way of life that looks harmless enough.

Look again, it leads straight to hell.

Sure, those people appear to be having a good time, but all that laughter will end in heartbreak.

And so there's a way that seems right to men.

Here the scripture said there's a path to for each person that seems.

You know what that looks like.

The right pathway, everybody, you know everybody else is doing that.

Everybody else is, you know, getting married to whomever, by the age of whatever, and having kids, like everybody else is doing that.

That looks right, but no, is it the pathway that God wants you to be on?

And so it's so important to follow the Holy Spirit.

It is so important to ask yourself you know the decisions and the what I'm doing on the daily.

Is it glorifying God?

Is it holy, you know?

Is it drawing me closer?

Is it the pathway that God wants me to be on?

In Acts 9, I'm going to read about Saul Acts 9, 3, as he journeyed, and I'm reading the New King James.

As he journeyed, he came near Damascus and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.

Now, this was, you know, paul, who wrote in the New Testament.

But he was Saul and hated Christians.

And so then he fell.

This is his great conversion.

Then he fell on the ground and he heard a voice saying to him Saul, saul, why are you persecuting me?

And he said who are you, lord?

Then the Lord said I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

It is hard for you to kick against the goats.

So he, trembling and astonished, said Lord, what do you want me to do?

Then the Lord said to him arise and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.

So one encounter with God changed Paul, one encounter, and he was a baby Christian.

You know, like, hey, what do you want me to do, lord?

Where do you want me to go?

We, as born again believers, mature in the word of God.

You know.

We have his word.

Not that you can't ask questions, but sometimes you can get in the arena of just asking all of these questions of why and how.

And this happened to me and I was betrayed and I was trampled on, and this happened, and my kids, this and you know what, my work situation, why God?

No, no, no.

You don't have to get into the question arena, because a lot of times the enemy that's where the enemy, you know, can have his way.

It's like, no God, we serve a God of answers, of yet his promises are yes and amen.

And so sometimes we, you know again, he was a baby Christian, he just converted.

He just like, hey, what are you good questions, who are you, lord, and what do you want me to do?

And so God was, you know, he was like, hey, arise, go in the city and then you be, you know, sit there and then I'm going to tell you what to do.

So so many times we get in a hurry.

And what do I do next?

And what do I, you know, and what's the next step?

And what do?

No, no, no, no, no, no.

Put that aside, and just you know, be faithful to your local church, be faithful to a pastor.

You know, guard your heart, have peace.

You know just the basics of what the word of God says, you know.

That's what keeps us on the right path where we may know what you know.

All the fill in the blanks.

We may not know all of those, but if you stick to the word of God, if you stick with the simple instructions that God has given you in his word, you'll stick to the path, amen.

And so, number two clear the path.

So so, when you ask yourself, number one, what pathway am I on?

You know, is it the pathway that God wants me to be on?

Do I have peace?

Have I said yes to Jesus?

You know, because that's where true peace comes from.

And then, number two so these again, these are things to consider in life.

Ponder the path.

Number two is clear the path.

Know the things that will hinder your path.

And so what?

What's slowing me down?

Worry, anxious thoughts, dread, what there are.

Things in life.

There are things, there are obstacles that the enemy has placed before you that will slow you down, that will hinder you, and so we have to be aware of those, we have to be aware of his tactics, we have to be aware of what he throws at us.

And so, genesis 17 one says, when Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him I am Almighty, god, walk before me and be blameless.

In other words, you know, pay attention to your feet, pay attention to the path in the new living.

And he says serve me faithfully and live a blameless life.

Let me say that again Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life.

Live a blameless life.

You know, right living, and so making the right choices, doing the right thing, being honest, sticking to the word of truth, that's right, living Right.

It's not like, oh, later on.

You know I'm going to do what I want right now, but then you know, when this situation clears up, then I'm going to get, then I'm going to say the right thing, then I'm going to.

When I see the miracle, then I'm going to say the right thing no, no, no, why would?

That's not faith.

Faith is now.

Faith is, you know, the ever since things not seen.

We don't see it yet.

So we need to speak faith, we need to declare God's word, not our own words, and not anxious words, not fearful words, not, not worried words, but God's word.

And so here he said serve me faithfully and live blameless, live a blameless life.

Hebrews 12, one in the new King James says therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

And so there's a race, there's a path that is set before you.

And so worry and anxious thoughts and sin you know, I put this down sin allowed to stay in your life will definitely hinder the call of God.

I'm not saying you can't apply the blood of Jesus, hey, like you messed up, quick to quick to forgive, quick to repent.

It's under the blood, yes.

But then we, we move past that.

We don't keep going back there, right.

We don't frustrate the grace of God.

We, we, we keep moving forward, right.

So we make a choice.

Again, I'm talking about hindrances in our path, clearing the path.

You know, when the kids are young adults now.

They're grown For the most part.

They pick up their things other than Ethan's workout gear, maybe at the around the kitchen table, but he moves it to the side.

But when they were little, you know, and they did pick up their toys, but they had Legos.

They love Legos, they love building with Legos, and so then they would, you know, one night I like almost fell and I stubbed my toe on the coffee table because there were Legos.

I'm like what do we?

There were Legos.

You know how bad those hurt on your bare feet, pretty bad.

And so, clear the path Right.

Simple instructions, clear the path Right.

And so in life we have to clear the path.

Sin, you know, worry, doubt, those thoughts.

You have to clear the path, you have to.

Thoughts will come to your mind and it's what you do with them.

Are you clearing those?

Are you replacing those thoughts with the word of God?

And so here in Hebrews he's saying hey, lay it aside, clear it, lay it aside once and for all, amen.

And so that way we can run our race on the path that God has set before us.

There is a path and we will one day have to give an account of how we, you know how we bring it, how we brand our race, and so we have to make sure that, hey, there's not we're not always tripping up, there's not always hurdles, they're not always those Legos on the floor.

We have to clear the path.

And then it goes on to say in verse two looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross.

You were the joy that was set before him.

You, despising the shame, has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

And so God is a rewarder.

God rewards faithfulness, and so when you're faithful to his word and what he has to say, he will reward you, no matter what it looks like.

You can't help what so and so says and what they do, but the only person that we're in charge of is ourselves.

And so God rewards faithfulness, amen.

And so we just have to stick to the path.

We can't drift off of the path.

We have to get.

And hey, listen, if you drifted off the path, you good news is, you can get back on the path tonight.

You can get back on the path today.

Today's the brand new day.

His mercies are new every morning, and so you can get back on track, and never again will you go back right, so you can get on the pathway.

And then number three God has something for you to accomplish here on this earth, and so it's up to us to live it out, to walk it out, to find out faithful till the end.

Second Timothy 1 6 in the new King James says therefore, here's Paul telling Timothy.

Therefore, I he's reminding him, he's reminding him of something you know, we need to be reminded from time to time.

That's why it's good to be part of a local church, to be faithful, to come every Sunday.

Paul is telling Timothy.

Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of hands.

And so we can't just go through the motions, we can't just show up, but we have to stir it up.

You know, not just on Sunday, when pastor preaches a good message on Sunday and he does every Sunday but Monday through Saturday.

You have to stir it up.

Are you digging into the word?

Are you praying much in the Holy Ghost?

Because it's easy to get off the path.

And so we have to ponder the path that we're on right now, today.

And hey, stir it up.

Stir up the gift of God it's in you, you can do it.

Amen.

And so my last scripture is Galatians 2.

2, 20 in the new King James, and then I'll read it in the passion after this I have been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh.

I live by faith in the Son of God, who love me and gave himself for me.

Here he's saying, hey, it is not me, I have been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who live, so I am not free to make my own choices.

I am not free to just blurt out anything that first comes to my brain.

I am not free to to to make my own pathway.

Well, that didn't work out and that didn't work out, so I'm gonna.

I'm just gonna do my own thing and make my own pathway.

That's not no, I have been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh.

Yes, we do have this body, and this body is bossy.

Let me tell you like if it, if, if it's lunchtime rolls around and it wants to eat, right, like this body.

Or wants to go somewhere, like, hey, it has its own set.

God gave us this body, but we it is not our boss, right, we are a spirit being.

And so in the passion.

Translation says my old identity has been co-crucified with Christ and no longer lives.

And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the anointed one lives his life through me.

We live in union as one.

So here, hey, my old identity has been co-crucified with Christ.

My old man, he's gone, he's been crucified.

He's in the graveyard, like who goes to the graveyard and digs up dead people?

Right, but so many of the time that's what people do.

Like oh well, you can't tell the difference.

Like I thought that was their old man, but that's the old man.

But then they're talking like the old man, no, no, no, the old man has gone once and for all.

We don't go back to him.

He's been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer he, he is not living, he is a dead man.

And so here he's saying it.

But Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith.

Right, he says I live by faith.

So this life, this pathway that you're on, that I'm on it, is a pathway of faith.

You know, is it always sunshine and rainbows, and you know, tinkerbell and pink everywhere?

No, I mean, I like all those sayings, but no, sometimes it's rough and sad, but hey, listen, we don't have to live like the world does.

We live by faith.

And so we're not down in the dumps, we're not gloomy, we're not worried, we're not anxious, but we are full of joy, we are full of faith, we are full of expectation.

And so I just want to encourage you with that.

Don't ponder the path that you're on today, ponder, and where do you want to go?

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Where do you see yourself next week?

And so God sees you whole, healed, delivered, not in bondage anymore.

He wants to give you a good life.

You know, just like at the beginning of the program John 10, 10, jesus wants you to have a rich and a satisfying life.

But it's up to us to ponder the path, to think about, to ponder on something.

Have you ever pondered about something where you meditated on and you thought about it over and over.

But so a lot of times we think of sometimes we might be tempted to think of bad worry.

You know, ponder, you meditate.

But no, ponder the path which you're on and see God's goodness in it every day.

Thank him for it, amen.

And so he wants you to be on a good path.

His path, and so his path is the one that brings true joy and true peace, amen.

So I just wanted to encourage you with that.