The Path to Glory

Posted on by korgrocker

“You have given me your shield of victory. Your right hand supports me; your help has made me great. You have made a wide path for my feet to keep them from slipping.”
Psalm 18:35-36 NLT

David wrote that God had widened his path, to keep his feet from slipping. Once again, we have a contrast between natural and spiritual meanings, but the outcome in both cases is the same, in that God eased David’s journey through his life, and in the same way He eases our life-journeys to Heaven today. In our natural worlds, we always prefer to walk on a wide and uncluttered path, because we then avoid being tripped up by something that could lead to personal injury or danger. Unless we are some more extreme sporting fanatic, we avoid narrow ledges on the sides of a sheer rock face, or a hill walk over difficult ground. We avoid icy surfaces and snow-laden fields and difficult country paths. The pilgrim’s way, though, is often strewn with practical difficulties, in the choices we have to make to stay on the path God has set before us, with employment, retirement, family relationships, social engagements, office parties, and so on, all environments that can conflict with our desire to live our lives God’s way. 

In our spiritual lives, though, we walk a different path to most of the people around us. Our lives are infused in, and focused on, our faith in God, and the promises He has laid out before us. Faith that Jesus was who He said He was, and that He died for our sins at Calvary. Paul wrote, “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast“. Our very salvation, the promise of eternal life with God, saved from a lost eternity, is all based on something intangible that needs faith to believe. There is no written certificate of title to a life in Heaven after we die. Our name on a church membership role or baptismal certificate will not gain us entry into Heaven.

So how does God make “a wide path for [our] feet”? Proverbs 3:5-6 helpfully notes, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take“. In our lives there will be many paths that we can choose, and we have this promise that as we look to God, He will show us the way. And speaking of which, we know what Jesus said to His disciples, “ … I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). By following Jesus we are assured of finding the right path to our ultimate destination.

Jesus warned His listeners that the choice of path can lead to difficulties. Matthew 7:13-14, “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it“. We know that the Christian life can be hard at times, but, thankfully, we don’t have to walk the narrow and difficult road in our own strength. In fact, such a journey would be far too difficult for us. And this is why David wrote that God had made a wide path for him. If it wasn’t for God helping us, leading us, whispering in our hearts words such as “not that way, this way is better because it is My way”, then we would soon founder and lose our way.

Father God. Thank You that through Jesus, You have showed us the way to life with You. Jesus went before us, opening the door to eternal life through His sacrifice at Calvary. We are so grateful. Amen.

Jesus is the Way

Posted on by korgrocker

“When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.” “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
John 14:3-6 NLT

Was Thomas just a bit slow on the uptake or did he voice what all the disciples were thinking? It would usually be Peter who would act as their spokesman, but perhaps he was still smarting a bit after Jesus’ rebuke with the rooster crowing comment. Jesus had previously warned His disciples about His death and resurrection, as we read in Mark 8:31, “Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead“. But the Gospels don’t record what Jesus might have said about events that would follow. From Thomas’ question the disciples genuinely might not have known about Jesus’ intention to return to His Heavenly home, but they surely must have had some idea. After all, they knew that they were in the presence of the Son of God. Their expectation, however, was still that Jesus would usher in a Kingdom bringing autonomy to the Jewish nation, something that they had yearned for, for centuries. 

Jesus then went on to utter the profound and far-reaching statement, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me”. To the Jews, the phrase “I Am”, was the name of God, and by using it Jesus was in fact saying that He was, and is, God. Previously, the Jewish leaders had accused Him of blasphemy, as we read in John 8:58, “Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I Am!”” Jesus then went on to say that He is the Way. The word “Way” implies that He is the only way to Heaven. There is no other way. All the other religions will fail to find the pathway that leads to Heaven. There will be no Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, or any other religions or sects there unless they renounce their previous faiths and instead embrace the One who is the only Way, through believing in Him and repenting of their sins. I know a man who claims that he had a revelation from God, who told him that there are many different compartments in Heaven, one for each faith group. Deluded?

We pilgrims must also be careful when other Christian groups or sects make claims about Jesus. For example, the JW’s believe that Jesus is the Way, but they don’t believe He is God. They conveniently overlook verses such as John 10:30, when Jesus said, “The Father and I are one.” The Mormons have an even more confused approach to Jesus’ deity, claiming that anyone can be a “god” like Jesus. 

Jesus is the only way to the Father. This is a statement that many around us, who claim to be more “enlightened”, find divisive and even offensive. But we need to be clear about the reality that Jesus is the only Way to Heaven. There are no short cuts. There are no alternatives. And when we share our testimonies about the love and grace of God, we must emphasise the exclusivity of our faith

Dear Lord Jesus. You have revealed to us Your glory and all we need to follow You to Heaven. You are the only way to the Father, and we announce the truth to all at every opportunity. Amen.

Purposes

Posted on by korgrocker

“I have written and sent this short letter to you with the help of Silas, whom I commend to you as a faithful brother. My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you. Stand firm in this grace. Your sister church here in Babylon sends you greetings, and so does my son Mark. Greet each other with a kiss of love. Peace be with all of you who are in Christ.”
1 Peter 5:12-14 NLT

Peter explained why he wrote his “short letter”. Someone has estimated that 1 Peter contains nearly 1700 words, so that would take around 20 minutes or so to read out loud. Peter may have considered it to be “short” but each word was inspired and delivered by the Holy Spirit, who told Peter just what the people in the five churches in Asia Minor needed to hear. And in the process we have in the Bible a letter that contains truths and much encouragement for us pilgrims today.

But Peter had a “purpose”. Apart from a few high profile and significant appearances recorded in the Book of Acts, we know little about what he did “under the radar”. But having spent time with Jesus and the rest of the Twelve, he became a man with a mission. Peter was a man who knew all about being ill-treated for the sake of His Master, Jesus. He was beaten, insulted, and imprisoned. And from his own experiences he was able to offer help and advice to his readers who were suffering as he did and who probably included some believers who had fled from persecution in Jerusalem.

We pilgrims have a purpose in our short lives here on Planet Earth. In fact we have more than one. Jesus left us with a Commission, which we can read in Matthew 28:18-19, “Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”. The early believers were so diligent and zealous in evangelism, that they turned the societies of their day into a new world order, and Christianity has grown in numbers ever since. 

Jesus also gave us a Commandment, which was recorded in John 13:34-35, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples”. The agape love shown by Christians in their relationships with each other transcends all national and racial barriers that otherwise would exist. In fact, it was such a strong bond, foreign to anything experienced before, that caused the early Christians to sometimes be mistakenly accused of incest and other sexual acts. Christian love is unique to our faith and it binds us together across otherwise insurmountable barriers. 

But the Commission and Commandment were directed at those around us, both inside and outside our faith. We also have a purpose in Changing who we are. No more for us the old sinful practices that used to blight our lives. Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:21-24, “Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy“. We have a new nature, one that brings us to a righteous place before God. Note that Paul used an action phrase – “throw off” – to describe how we are to bring about change in our lives. We will not become more like Jesus through something benign like osmosis. We have to decide that we want to change and take the necessary steps to make it happen. Jesus said, and as recorded in John 14:6, “ … I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me“. There is no other way, in spite of what many will claim, to find God and be with Him forever.

Dear Father God. Thank You for Jesus and what He did for us in making it possible for us to come into Your presence. We praise and worship You today. Amen. 

Suffering Again

Posted on by korgrocker

“If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs. But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name!”
1 Peter 4:15-16 NLT

In our consideration of the previous verse in 1 Peter 4, we reviewed the impact of insults because we “bear the name of Christ”, with the blessings of the Holy Spirit being upon us as a consequence. Peter continues in the verses we are looking at today by saying it is “no shame to suffer for being a Christian”. However, he pointed out that those committing a misdemeanour, no matter how trivial, may experience varying degrees of suffering. They could be a fractured relationship or embarrassment if the suffering results from “prying into other people’s affairs” or, at the other end of the spectrum, a capital punishment for murder. But Peter didn’t want to dwell in the negatives. There is a privilege in “being called by His name”. 

Do we pilgrims suffer for being a Christian? Jesus Himself didn’t pull any punches. He warned His disciples about the problems and troubles that being one of His followers would mean. John 16:33, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world”.

One of the ways in which we Christian pilgrims will invite suffering is through our uncompromising belief that the only way to God, and eternal life with Him, is through His Son Jesus. He said, “ … I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). The world around us have all sorts of funny ideas about how they can get to Heaven. Many people consider that their good lives will be sufficient, because, as their logic goes, a loving God will never reject them. Others follow one of the world religions that often have some funny ideas about how Heaven can be reached. Someone in my family believes that Heaven is full of compartments, one for each religion and even one for those who don’t believe in God, because they are convinced that it doesn’t matter which religion mankind follows – all roads will lead to Heaven. I don’t know how they came to that conclusion but my efforts to correct their thinking have failed, sadly. But whatever other religions say, we have to be on our guard against those who more subtly try and subvert the purity of God’s Word. To take an example, the Jehovahs Witnesses, commenting on John 14:6, say that the only way to heaven is by praying to God through Jesus. Superficially correct until we realise that the JW’s don’t accept that Jesus is God, instead believing that He is a created being, and may even be the archangel Michael. Their beliefs reject the Trinity, God the Father, Jesus His Son and the Holy Spirit, and there is only one God, Jehovah. To back up their unbiblical doctrines, they have retranslated the Bible and come up with their New World Translation. So, as an aside, if that is the version you have on your bookcase, then throw it away.

We pilgrims know what we believe because the Holy Spirit within us helps us. Romans 8:16, “For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.” We are not parent-less. God is our loving Heavenly Father, and He is with us day and night, whether we are suffering or not. We praise and worship Him today.

Dear Lord, please help us to believe that You are with us even when we’re not sure. Please forgive us for our doubts. In Jesus’ name. Amen.