Every destination has a path, and unless there are other factors at play, one can always be guaranteed safe arrival. In Psalms, it says; YOU WILL SHOW ME THE PATH OF LIFE... (16:11) So, the fact that theres a path of life is in itself an indication that not every path leads to life. To live a profound, productive life, one would have to know the path that leads in that bdirection. In fact, in Isaiah, he takes it a step further than just life, to a profitable life. Heres what it says in this regard: ...I am the Lord your God, Who teaches you to profit, WHO LEADS YOU BY THE WAY YOU SHOULD GO. (48:17) So, again, even with profit, theres a path. NOTHING JUST HAPPENS! Profitability in life has a path, to the end that, God went as far as to say: OH, THAT YOU HAD HEEDED MY COMMANDMENTS! Then your peace would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea. (Isaiah 48:18) Right there, you hear the pain of Someone, Who, despite all He knows, feels grossly undermined and perpetually ignored. Growing up as a young boy, I was always intrigued and impressed by my mothers sense of direction when traveling through various cities of our beautiful rainbow nation of South Africa, particularly, the complicated city of Johannesburg. It didnt matter if our destination was through the ever-congested downtown or just having to navigate through the various suburbs thereof. It didnt matter at all. She would always take us through the intimidating metropolitan city of Joburg as if she was reading It from the palm of her hand. And, as a result, it was always fun and reassuring to be in the same car with her. You just knew, there was just no chance in the world that you could ever get lost with her present in the car. There was this one time, though, where we were attending a conference in Rand burg, coming all the way from KZN. We were with several others, traveling together as a group of about fourteen people in one transport. We had just finished attending the last session and we were then headed back home. It was after a few minutes on the road, with everyone in the car minding their own business, that the driver missed a turn and threw us in a completely unfamiliar territory. He then invited ideas for the way out from all passengers who might know to help in taking us to the free-way. Amazingly, there were so many ideas that stemmed from people claiming to know Joburg from their childhood days, that all my mothers efforts in trying to point us in the direction that would have definitely taken us to the N3, fell on deaf ears, and she had no choice but to allow those that claimed to know the way to take the lead. I even remember her going straight to sleep as soon as she was sure we were not headed in the right direction. They all took turns, claiming to know the way, each taking over immediately after the others ideas had failed. They continued enthusiastically, very adamant that this time we got it! —Only to find ourselves stuck at the cul-de-sac in some neighborhood far from the free-way. And, needless to say, the cul-de-sac said it all—that, no one who claimed to know the direction knew what they were talking about. And now, there was dead silence in the car, everybody, probably silently regretting the contributions of those that claimed to know, and we were even further from the main roads, let alone, the free-way itself. And, with everyone, now quiet, having given it their best, it was pretty clear; THE ONLY PERSON WHO SHOULD OPEN THEIR MOUTH NOW IS ONE WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT! Thats precisely what my mother did—She pointed the way as if she had been on that cul-de-sac several times in her life before. She even knew which street was one-way-street from the cul-de-sac even before she started offering her guidance to the N3. I was never so proud of my mother as I was that moment! I wondered, HOW DID SHE EVEN KNOW THE STREET BEHIND US WAS A ONE-WAY-STREET? She made the whole thing look so easy, it felt very embarrassing to have been frustrated with directions when all that time we had somebody that knew the way like the back of their hand traveling in the same car with us. I often wondered how it must have felt for her to be undermined and ignored the first time she offered to help. But you know what? That sort of thing happens with God almost everyday in dealing with us. We tend to trust and depend on charlatans who are interested in nothing but to attract attention to themselves more than we do on God. We come to God as a last resort instead of doing things Gods way the first time. By not putting God first in all we do, we inadvertently set ourselves up to be deceived by these charlatans who are always preying on the ignorant. When you put God first you shut the door from that opportunistic devil that is always lurking to take advantage of your ignorance. No wonder, Jesus said to SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED TO YOU. (Matthew 6:33) Notice He did not say to SEEK LAST! No, SEEK FIRST! He said. Ironically, something happens to impact what we want when we seek God first—ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED... says the Master Himself. Our relationship with God is designed to cause an otherwise difficult life to be easy. SOMETHING HAPPENS TO CAUSE WHATEVER IT IS YOU WANTED TO SUDDENLY RESPOND TO YOU IN A FAVORABLE WAY. DIFFICULT THINGS SUDDENLY BECOME EASY WHEN YOU SEEK GOD FIRST! Such, was Simon Peters experience after he put Jesus first in his business. He himself was shocked at the impact he saw in his business as a result of putting God first. Heres how he responded when it happened; WHEN SIMON PETER SAW IT, HE FELL DOWN AT JESUS KNEES, SAYING, DEPART FROM ME, FOR I AM A SINFUL MAN, O LORD! FOR HE AND ALL WHO WERE WITH HIM WERE ASTONISHED AT THE CATCH OF FISH WHICH THEY HAD TAKEN. (Luke 5:8-9) As you can see, he never had any idea of the inherent power that comes with putting God first in ones life and vocation. He was astonished that it put him on his knees in worship and adoration for what God can do once given first place in ones life. NOTHING IS AS HUMBLING AS SEEING GOD DO IN FIVE MINUTES WHAT YOUVE TRIED AND FAILED TO DO IN FIVE YEARS IN YOUR LIFE! You see, THERES A GRACE THAT ONLY COMES WITH PUTTING GOD FIRST IN ONES LIFE AND CALLING. In fact, it is Peter himself that later penned down his experiences in this regard for the benefit of all of us when he said: GRACE AND PEACE BE MULTIPLIED TO YOU IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD AND OF JESUS OUR LORD, AS HIS DIVINE POWER HAS GIVEN TO US ALL THINGS THAT PERTAIN TO LIFE AND GODLINESS, THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM WHO CALLED US BY GLORY AND VIRTUE, BY WHICH HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO US EXCEEDINGLY GREAT AND PRECIOUS PROMISES, THAT THROUGH THESE YOU MAY BE PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE... (2 Peter 1:2-4) Without a doubt, Peter learned by experience, that, putting God first will bring about with it a grace that will make one a partaker of the divine nature. You see, grace is Gods ability on us to help us to transcend our human ability to achieve desired results in any arena of life. Imagine, grace and peace MULTIPLIED to you with every endeavor of your life. THE STRUGGLE WOULD BE OVER! When God is first, every supposed limit that life has imposed on you gets completely broken and obliterated. Untold results always accompany those that practice this principle. When you think of a person like King David, for instance, who killed both a lion and a bear with his bare hands, and proceeded to threaten to take Goliaths head off of him, when he didnt even have a sword in his hand to begin with, it makes you wonder; what manner of man is that? And yet, when you read from (Psalm 63:1-2) you quickly find out! Lets check it out together: O GOD YOU ARE MY GOD; EARLY WILL I SEEK YOU; MY SOUL THIRSTS FOR YOU; MY FLESH LONGS FOR YOU IN A DRY AND THIRSTY LAND WHERE THERE IS NO WATER. SO I HAVE LOOKED FOR YOU IN THE SANCTUARY, TO SEE YOUR POWER AND YOUR GLORY. Now, you can see what manner of a man he was—a man, always thirsty and hungry for God, a man to whom his God was always first and enjoyed given preeminence. EARLY WILL I SEEK YOU! was his method of operation. Not later, when all else fails. No! He refused to make God his last resort to success. No wonder, when he faced the fearsome Goliath, he didnt face him as David, he faced him rather, AS THE ARMY OF THE LIVING GOD! (1 Samuel 17:26) Remember, he said, ...EARLY WILL I SEEK YOU...TO SEE YOUR POWER AND YOUR GLORY. Seeking God early exposed him to Gods divine nature for success in defeating Goliath in the same way it exposed Peter for success where his fishing business was concerned. Now having established the precedent necessary for one to lead a profitable life, one thing is for sure, and that is; if theres a way to whatever it is we need—God is committed to showing us the way. There just need to be a willingness to follow on our part. Just imagine how far deep in life we could be if only we choose to seek God early and give Him preeminence in all endeavors of our lives instead of coming to Him when all else fails? WHEN GOD IS FIRST, DIFFICULTIES TURN INTO OPPORTUNITIES. He Himself said, MY YOKE IS EASY AND MY BURDEN IS LIGHT. (Matthew 11:30) God is not for heaviness and hardship of life. On the contrary, He wants our life to be free of struggles and completely devoid of any form of hardship and heaviness to the end that He even extended the ultimate invitation to say; COME TO ME, ALL YOU WHO LABOR AND ARE HEAVY LADEN, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST. (Matthew 11:28) The rest He is talking about is the call to partake of His divine nature for success in all endeavors of our life by simply seeking Him first in all that we do. Think about the prospects of parenting your children with grace instead of depending on your human ability, fulfilling your responsibilities as a spouse to your mate with grace, theres even grace to commute daily between home and whatever place of the area of your responsibility, what about grace to do much with only little at your disposal?, you can even have grace to look expensive with cheap material while someone with no grace struggles to convince everybody that the material they have on is expensive, ALL THAT, AND MORE, CAN BE YOURS, WHEN GOD IS FIRST! #RestingInRighteousness#WhereHardshipBowsItsKnees#WhenGodIsFirst
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 17:40:17 +0000
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