RUN and Take Refuge!
In our small group, we've been reading through Andy Stanley's "The Principle of the Path." It's been a great study and God has revealed so much to me over the course of the last 4 weeks! I had my quiet time after our small group last night - and found it so very interesting that the topics were the same!
Every choice that we make leads us somewhere. The things we do will take us down a path, whether its rewarding or destructive - our decisions determine our destinations. When we begin heading down a wrong path, there are usually many red flags and warning signs, that we either overlook or simply ignore. We ignore the advice and just assume that everything will somehow work out. Everything does work out... somehow... Stanley says, "Every decision has an outcome and every path has a destination."
Prov. 27:12 "The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it."
There are 2 types of people: prudent (wise) who see the danger of the path they are on and RUN from it. That is, they identify the behaviors that are turning into habits and they DO something about it. The other type of person, the simple (naive) see the danger, yet they keep going. They continue going down the path they are on.
"Seeing danger and doing nothing doesn't accomplish anything...seeing it, feeling it, agreeing with it is not enough." - Stanley
Is it easy to run from the destructive path? It sounds easy enough, but when our flesh and our selfish desires get in the way, it is not so easy - it is actually very difficult. But if we - if I -am ever going to get where I am going - not just tomorrow, not just 1 year from now, not just 5 years from now, but eternally - I have to rely on His words.
"On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." - John 6:60-69
Life is not easy... the decisions to stay on the right path are not always easy decisions - but where else where we go? When we're about to slip, when we are about to lose our foothold, we must remember the words of the psalmist:
"Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (73:25-26)
I've been senseless at times ... yet I am always with Him. Lord, guide me with your counsel... it is good to be near you! Help me to RUN and take refuge in you, Sovereign Lord!
"We will rise, and we will fall But You remain after all . You're glorious and beautiful. To God alone be the glory To God alone be the praise Everything I say and do Let it be all for You!"
Every choice that we make leads us somewhere. The things we do will take us down a path, whether its rewarding or destructive - our decisions determine our destinations. When we begin heading down a wrong path, there are usually many red flags and warning signs, that we either overlook or simply ignore. We ignore the advice and just assume that everything will somehow work out. Everything does work out... somehow... Stanley says, "Every decision has an outcome and every path has a destination."
Prov. 27:12 "The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it."
There are 2 types of people: prudent (wise) who see the danger of the path they are on and RUN from it. That is, they identify the behaviors that are turning into habits and they DO something about it. The other type of person, the simple (naive) see the danger, yet they keep going. They continue going down the path they are on.
"Seeing danger and doing nothing doesn't accomplish anything...seeing it, feeling it, agreeing with it is not enough." - Stanley
Is it easy to run from the destructive path? It sounds easy enough, but when our flesh and our selfish desires get in the way, it is not so easy - it is actually very difficult. But if we - if I -am ever going to get where I am going - not just tomorrow, not just 1 year from now, not just 5 years from now, but eternally - I have to rely on His words.
"On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." - John 6:60-69
Life is not easy... the decisions to stay on the right path are not always easy decisions - but where else where we go? When we're about to slip, when we are about to lose our foothold, we must remember the words of the psalmist:
"Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (73:25-26)
I've been senseless at times ... yet I am always with Him. Lord, guide me with your counsel... it is good to be near you! Help me to RUN and take refuge in you, Sovereign Lord!
"We will rise, and we will fall But You remain after all . You're glorious and beautiful. To God alone be the glory To God alone be the praise Everything I say and do Let it be all for You!"
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