Prepare For Life

I had been taught that experiences with the Holy Spirit were not for today, that we have the settled Word of God and do not need supernatural experiences. But I felt so dry inside, like a gear grinding against metal needing oil. I read the book of Acts and saw the amazing activity of the Spirit there. I began to wonder what happened to the Holy Spirit? Was He on break? Is there more to the Christian life than what I know? Learn more in this podcast.

What if I told you the Lord wants to bring you someone who will comfort you when you are sad? He will bring guidance when you don’t know what to do. He will never deceive you. He will always bring you the truth. He will teach you and give you the very words you need to say. He is your advocate, your counselor, your helper. He prays for you and through you so that your prayers are effective. He initiates your salvation and then cleans you up and empowers you to live a life that pleases God. He discloses the future to you. He always glorifies Jesus. He strengthens your inner man. He is the One who floods your heart with God’s love, so that you know the God of the universe actually loves you and you can live out of that love. He will never leave you. He will go with you through all your life.

The amazing thing about the holiness of God is that He isn’t just holy, He calls us to be holy too! In fact this is explicitly spelled out for us in I Peter 1:15-16, Like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior because it is written, “You shall be holy for I am holy.” We are clearly called to be holy. Wow. Is that even possible? The short answer is yes, but only through the blood of Jesus. When we come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ many wonderful things happen to us. For instance, our eternal destiny is changed, we have eternal life, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us AND we become holy in the eyes of God. We make a divine transaction, we give Him our sins and He gives us His righteousness. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him, II Corinthians 5:21. When we turn to Jesus in faith and receive the gift of salvation, His blood covers us so that God the Father declares we are righteous. This is

As we walk on the ancient paths with the Lord we are learning more about God and how to relate to Him. This week I want to focus upon something we don’t hear much about these days: God is holy. He is not just holy, He is holy, holy, holy. We sing about His holiness in our worship songs, we call the third person of the trinity the Holy Spirit, we use the words holy and holiness, but what exactly does holy mean? Many of us have a negative concept of holiness. Someone who is holy sounds like someone who has no sense of humor and looks down their noses frowning on all of us because we are having fun. I think we are getting holy confused with “holier than thou.”

As we walk with the Lord on the ancient paths how we perceive and respond to Him are all important. We all probably know the child’s blessing that begins, “God is great, God is good and we thank Him for our food”…such a simple prayer, such a profound prayer. God is good AND God is great. These are two very different concepts about God and they elicit two very different responses. God is good, He is full of mercy and compassion, He forgives, He is patient and long-suffering, kind and gentle. We respond back to His goodness with love for Him. God is great. He is all powerful. He reigns above all. He is sovereign. He is our creator. We respond to His greatness with respect, reverence, fear and awe.

We all need hope. I think we are hard-wired for hope. When we go through tough times we need hope so we can hang on and persevere. Hope anchors our soul and keeps us steady, helping us to persevere when things look bleak.

I have one more key for you. This will be your go-to key. You will use this key every morning and evening and several times a day as you walk on the ancient paths with the Lord. It is the key of having a grateful heart.

Before we move on, I want to focus for another week on that big key on your key chain, the key of forgiveness. There is one more person you may need to forgive. You may have overlooked this person; you may need to forgive yourself! I have shared with you that after I came to know the Lord, I basically decided that I wanted to go to heaven some day but that I wanted to run my own life in the meantime. It turned out running my own life did not bring joy or satisfaction, I was miserable. I also shared with you how the Lord deeply touched my spirit and I began to turn back to Him.

I remember talking about the importance of forgiveness one day in Bible study. After class I visited with some friends and was late leaving. As I walked to my car I passed two women sitting in a suburban with the engine running. The driver’s side window rolled down and a woman with tears in her eyes, sobbed, “Do I really have to forgive him?” My heart broke for her. I didn’t know her story but I could only imagine the suffering that whoever “he” was had put her through. I told her that yes, the Lord really is serious about forgiveness, we really are instructed to forgive everyone of everything and that sometimes the first step is simply to ask the Lord to make you willing to forgive. I invited her to do that.

Today I want to give you another big shining key for that key chain I gave you recently. These keys will help you as you walk on the ancient paths with the Lord. This key is important. It has to do with our personal relationships. This key will keep you out of one of the sneaky traps of the enemy of your soul, it is the key of not seeking your own revenge.

Imagine a janitor pulling out a heavy laden key ring loaded with lots of different keys. That is exactly what I want to give you today for your journey as you walk through life on the ancient paths with Jesus, a key ring that is loaded with keys. You will need each of these keys. These keys represent many different characteristics of a life that pleases God. You will need to employ these keys so that you line up with God’s heart and purposes for your life, so that you stay close to the Lord on the ancient paths.

Does anyone want to know God’s will for your life? Does anyone need God’s direction about a specific matter? Does anyone have a decision to make about a school or a job or some other situation and you need to discern God’s plan? Today we are going to learn about knowing and following God’s plan for your life.

Today I want to give each of you a flashlight. The Psalmist says, Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Psalm 119:105. This flashlight represents the Bible, the Word of God as it lights our path. The Bible will shine on our course, it will set our boundaries, showing us the potential wrong turns and the dead ends, the places that are out of bounds. We especially need this flashlight at this time because the days are growing darker and it feels like we are walking into uncharted territory. God’s word will be our beacon that will light our way.

I am so glad you have responded to the Lord’s invitation to join me as we walk with Him on the ancient paths! This journey will be rewarding and fulfilling, but it may be difficult in some ways. We may end up with some blisters on our feet and some sore muscles on our backsides but it will be worth it. Remember this trip is not about the destination but the journey. Savor each step of the way.

I want to invite you to join me on a journey. We are not going to the latest “in” spot. This isn’t about setting trends or even crossing a destination off your bucket list. In fact this trip is not about the destination, it is about the journey. The Lord’s voice is issuing the invitation. There are many voices clamoring for our attention, pulling on us, distracting us. In order to hear this voice you will have to tune out the other louder voices and listen carefully to hear what Elijah calls the still small voice. This voice is the One who is worthy. He is the light of the world and in these days when the world is growing darker, we need to draw closer to the light of the world.

I believe the essence of Christmas is celebrating that the God of infinite majesty and glory went on mission to our humble planet and invaded humanity to be born as one of us as a helpless baby. Matthew sums up the Christmas story with one word, Immanuel. And they shall call his name Immanuel, which translated means, “God with us.”. Matthew 1:23. God has come among us. This is the essence of Christmas.

In the fulness of time the Christ child was born. His birth was not set in a palace but a humble stable, away from the pageantry of royal birth. Even though his arrival wasn’t noticed by the elites of this world, it was marked by unusual confirmation from a variety of sources. Angels became visible in the heavenlies over Bethlehem and heralded his birth, the shepherds in the fields beheld the glory of God in the sky overhead. Simeon and Anna gave prophetic witness in the temple that baby Jesus is the Messiah.

In the fulness of time, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law. Galatians 4:4. Jesus was born to parents who were faithful to the law. Both Mary and Joseph were devoted to God and so they raised their son to be observant. Jesus was never legalistic, yet he perfectly fulfilled the law. In his words, he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill the law. This was true even when he was a babe in arms.

In the fulness of time, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law. Galatians 4:4. Jesus was born to parents who were faithful to the law. Both Mary and Joseph were devoted to God and so they raised their son to be observant. Jesus was never legalistic, yet he perfectly fulfilled the law. In his words, he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill the law. This was true even when he was a babe in arms.

Galatians 4:4 says, But when the fulness of time came, God sent forth His Son….What do you think this verse is talking about? The word fulness means completeness. The fulness of time as it relates to the birth of the Lord Jesus refers to the fact that all the details that needed to be in place so He could be born were completed. All of the preparations for the birth of the Messiah have been accomplished. The stage is fully set. It is time for the birth of the long awaited Christ child.