Pathways

Psalm 16:6 (The Passion Translation)

Your pleasant path leads me to pleasant places.
I’m overwhelmed by the privileges that come with following you,
for you have given me the best!

Hosea 14:9 (NLT)

Let those who are wise understand these things.

Let those who are discerning listen carefully.

The paths of the LORD are true and right,

and righteous people live by walking in them.

But sinners stumble and fall along the way.

The Lord obviously wants us to pay careful attention to the paths

He has laid out for us to walk in. 

Paths are supposed to be traveled on a regular basis or else they become overgrown and useless. We may stop a while and enjoy God’s bountiful creation, but as a general rule we need to keep moving. Each of God’s pathways include multitudes of lessons that are uncovered like beautiful vistas around every twist and turn of our walk. Don’t allow the paths of God to become overgrown and impassable due to neglect of spiritual exercise. 

Ps. 16:11

You will show me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

It is impossible to travel our life-paths too quickly. They may be uneven and narrow. One should travel carefully and deliberately – making way for others who may pass in the other direction. As we pass strangers, a measure of communication, eye contact and polite greeting is definitely in order. As you walk on your spiritual pathways, enjoy each of the God-lovers who pass by. You never know what treasures God may bring your way. Don’t rush through the lessons of life. Pay attention to the details and rhythms of gracearound every corner. I love this passage from The Message Bible – 

Matthew 11:28-30

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

Psalm 32:8

The Lord says, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.

I will advise you and watch over you

The Lord as our lives under control. I am determined to keep my eyes on Him. As we move forward...there is abundance:

Psalm 65:11 (NLT)

You crown the year with a bountiful harvest;

even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.

God's 10 pathways in the Bible that have a name...
The Path Of...

1.  Psalm 16:11 The path of life. You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

2.  Psalm 23:3 The paths of righteousness. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. (NKJV)

3.  Psalm 119:35 The path of Your commands. Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness (delight – NKJV) is found. (NLT)

4.   Psalm 139:24 The path of everlasting life. Point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life. (NLT

5.   Proverbs 15:19 The path of the upright. A lazy person’s way is blocked with briers, but the path of the upright (faithful) is an open highway. (NLT)

  

6.   Proverbs 15:24 The life-path of the wise.The way of life winds upward for the wise, that he may turn away from hell below. (NKJV)

The path of life leads upward for the wise; they leave the grave behind. (NLT)

7.   Isaiah 40:14 The path of justice.With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding?

Proverbs 4:18 The (path) way of the righteous (just) is like the first gleam of dawn,
which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.

8.  Luke 1:79 The path of peace.To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (NKJV)

And he will illuminate the path that leads to the way of peace.” (TPT)

9.   John 13:17 The path of blessing. You know these things -- now do them! That is the path of blessing. (NLT)

10. 2Timothy 2:18 The path of Truth. They have left the path of truth, preaching the lie that the resurrection of the dead has already occurred; and they have undermined the faith of some. (NLT) 

Ps. 15 - 11 Things That Give You Access To God's Presence

I have been meditating on Psalm 15 this morning – Here we find such an interesting perspective on the people who are invited into God’s presence. I’m not sure that we would prioritize some of these qualities in quite the same way,  nor would we list them as attributes that need to be found in those who worship and long to be found in the presence of God! Sure – they are all important, but not necessarily things that spring to mind initially.

Also note that the psalmist begins the psalm with 2 questions and answers with 4 verses – each has 3 components. I know that the verse markings were not originally included in the Bible – but it is always interesting to me to see the symmetry of the poetry:

Psalm 15 (NLT)

1 Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?

Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?

2 Those who lead blameless lives

and do what is right,

speaking the truth from sincere hearts.

3 Those who refuse to gossip

or harm their neighbors

or speak evil of their friends.

4 Those who despise flagrant sinners,

and honor the faithful followers of the Lord,

and keep their promises even when it hurts.

5 Those who lend money without charging interest,

and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.


Such people will stand firm forever.

So…here is the list of 11 qualities that need to be found in worshipers:

• Holiness on the inside

• Holiness in our actions

• Always speak the truth

• Don’t gossip

• Don’t hurt your neighbors

• Don’t speak evil of your friends

• Hate sin and those who are blatant sinners

• Honor those who follow God

• Keep your word even if it costs you something

• Be generous and lend without charging interest

• Never take a bribe – especially to lie against the innocent

If you do these 11 things you will never be moved from God’s presence!

If you look at this list again, it really does make sense - these things center around the way we govern our hearts, mouths, attitudes and finances. All these things are important to form the heart of worshipers.

Deuteronomy 32:4

Our God is a God of infinite justice. Sometimes we don’t understand His ways – we expect Him to deal with situations as we would. For example, we tend to expect life to be fair: if we do all the right things, then life should work out well for us…if we are good to people, we expect them to be good to us. But this isn’t always the case. Horrible things happen to innocent people all the time, and we wonder what God is doing.

He is not subject to our thoughts on what is “fair.” Life is definitely not fair a lot of the the time. But…if we can see that although God is not “fair” in a human sense – He is ALWAYS JUST. He operates out of a law of justice rather than a human law of fairness:

Rev. 15:3 They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: "Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!

Ps. 89:14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.

If we look at this verse in Deuteronomy, we can see another verse with 7 statements about God all wrapped up in one verse. I love that!

Deut. 32:4 He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.

• He is a Rock

• He is Perfect in every way

• He is a God of Justice

• He is a God of Truth

• He is without injustice – It is interesting that in this list, the Lord talks about justice twice; also this is not something added to the list – rather it is a statement of something that God does NOT have. He has no shred of injustice in Him. It is not possible for Him to act or respond to us in a manner that is unjust.

• He is Righteous

• He is Upright

Deut. 32:3 calls us to respond to the wonderful name and greatness of our God – what else can be said of Him who is without injustice and perfect in every way?

Ascribe greatness to our God