I Want You To Show Me The Way

Psalm 119 is chockful of good stuff. In addition to Psalm 119:133, there's also Psalm 119:105, which says, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path."

If you've ever seen one of the small, clay oil lamps which were used in Biblical times, then you will understand this verse even better. These little lamps, which were held in one's hand, offered only a small flicker of a flame, just enough to see one step at a time in the darkness.

But that's what faith in God is all about, isn't it? Too frequently we want to see the whole journey brightly illuminated ahead of us, but normally God wants us to move ahead one step at a time, or one day at a time, and trust Him to keep lighting our paths for us each step of the way.

Is this difficult for you to do? It is for me. It's easy for us to want to see everything and know everything right away. But that's not how God generally operates. If we say that we have faith in Him, then we have to trust Him every step of the way, even in times when we can barely see our hands in front of our face.

God' word is a lamp. A lamp is a small thing, but it will get you where you need to be. Faith in God works in the same way.

Walk This Way

In Psalm 119:133, the psalmist cries out to God, "Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me."

Where are your footsteps taking you today? Are they leading you to do good or bad? To serve others or to serve only yourself? To bless others or to do harm? Where are your footsteps taking you today?

If we ask Him to do it, God will direct our footsteps. Every day. Every step of the way. We don't need to rely on our own mistake-prone sense of direction in this life. God is willing to do it for us. He wants to do it for us. But we have to ask him to do it, to direct our footsteps, just as the psalmist did.

If your life seems to be without direction, or if the direction in which you are headed right now is a path full of danger and regret, then stop dead in your tracks and ask God - right now - to direct your footsteps. Ask God to lead you in the right direction, and to put you on the right path of life. He will do it. When you are lost, God will put you back on the right path, if you ask Him to do so. But you have to ask Him. Ask God right now, "Where should I go?" He will respond, "Walk this way." Then head down the path on which He directs you, and He will guide you every step of the way along the journey.

"Where Are You?"

Genesis 3:8-9 describes the type of relationship that God originally desired to have with man, before it all went awry:

"Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day ... the Lord God called to the man, 'Where are you?'"

God was looking to spend some quality time with Adam and Eve. But they were hiding from Him, since they were still wiping the juice from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil from their lips. Soon they would be banished from the Garden of Eden and forced to work the very ground from which Adam had been taken. Life wasn't as good as it had been before the fatal bite of fruit. You might even say that one bad apple spoiled the whole bunch.

It's a shame, really, because it served to make things more difficult for the rest of us. But, thankfully, God's grace and Jesus' sacrifice made it all better.

What is important to glean from Genesis 3:8-9 is the type of relationship that God still desires to have with each of us, even after The Fall. God still wants to have a personal relationship with each of us, with you and with me. Quality time. Meaningful conversation. A delightful time together. A relationship based on a mutual love.

That's what God is looking for from you. A relationship that is deep, and not superficial. A meaningful time of prayer and worship with Him, not a quick, 2-minute lip service before you rush out the door in the morning with a ton of other things on your mind.

God is asking every one of us, "Where are you?" He wants to find you and be with you.

Are you seeking Him in return - or are you hiding from Him?

Where are you?

Clay and the Potter

Isaiah 64:8 is a beautiful lyric, saying, "Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand."

These poetic lines tell us the true nature of our relationship with God. We are the clay. He is the potter. If we, as clay, are to amount to anything of value and beauty, then we need His hands to shape us and mold us and form us into what He wants us to be.

Yet too often we, as the clay, want to tell the Potter what to do. The clay wants to tell the Potter how to do His job and how to use His hands. The clay often thinks that it knows a better shape and form for itself than the Potter does.

But that's not how it's supposed to work. The clay needs to allow itself to be molded and formed and shaped by the Potter and His hands.

Are you fighting the Potter as He shapes you and forms you? Remember that He is molding you into something beautiful. Just let the Potter do His job, and you'll be amazed at the final result!

Faith or Sight?

2 Corinthians 5:7 says, "We live by faith, not by sight."

But how many of us really do that? Do you always need God to spell out every step of your journey before you take the first step? Do you always need God to provide you with a detailled road map before you join Him on the journey? Too many of us act that way. Too many of us refuse to join God in His work in this world, unless He gives us all the details beforehand. We want to know the end of the story before we even open the book.

But that's not how God operates. He wants us to be willing to take a first step out in faith - and not by sight - and then He will direct our paths the rest of the way. God won't ever leave you or forsake you on your journey, but He does want you to take the first step, in obedience and faith.

Are you willing to do it?

Every Tribe In Iquitos

We just returned from a wonderful trip to the city of Iquitos in the heart of the Peruvian jungle, right on the Amazon River. While we were there, we visited two native tribes, the Boras and the Yaguas. As we visited with and ministered to the two tribes, I was reminded of the words of Revelation 7:9, "After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language ...."

Sometimes we think that everyone in heaven is going to be just like us, but Revelation 7:9 reminds us that heaven is going to be a beautiful patchwork of people of different colors, races, ethnicities, cultures, social classes, tongues, languages, dialects, nations, and tribes. It's awesome to think that we'll be sharing eternity with our brothers and sisters from the Boras and the Yaguas. It will be one heaven, but it will be made up of many different types of people.

Still The Same

Hebrews 13:8 tells us, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

Jesus never changes. We change. We change all the time, and in every way. We change clothes, fashions, relationships, partners, spouses, friends, schools, jobs, careers, houses, cities, neighborhoods, cars, hobbies, pastimes, likes, dislikes, beliefs, ideas, philosophies, goals, and dreams. We change all the time. Jesus never changes.

In an ever-changing, ever-anxious world, that is good news. Jesus is the rock on which we can build our spiritual foundation. His changelessness gives us a firm foundation in what at times can be a very shaky, very slippery world for us to live in. Jesus Christ was, is, and always will be still the same. He has never changed, and never will.

Immeasurably More

Ephesians 3:20 (TNIV) says, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us ...."

This means that God can use you to do incredible things, amazing things that you can't even fathom or imagine yourself ever doing or achieving.

God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. He chose a humble shepherd boy named David to be the king of Israel. He chose a young teen-age girl named Mary to be the mother of Jesus. He chose a bunch of uneducated fisherman to be among the disciples of Jesus. All of these people were ordinary folks, but they did extraordinary things. God wants to use you and me in the same, great way.

By ourselves, we can't do anything. But when we let God take control of our lives, and guide us, and direct us, and use the talents and skills that He gave us, then we can change this world, and accomplish so much more than we could ever think, ask, or imagine. Are you up to God's task? Is it in you? God is waiting to use you - and to amaze you!