Walk a crooked path!

I became a Christian over 40yrs ago! Where have those years gone!

A whole new world opened up to me. The excitement of being introduced to the Holy Spirit, the stories and adventures of the bible. A supernatural power that lived on the inside of me, wow! The opportunity to start afresh, being born again, the possibilities to think, love, act like Jesus.

The overwhelming awe that God would love me that much that Jesus paid the ultimate, sacrificial ransom demand so that I could be reconnected to God in heaven who wanted me to call him Dad!

I became addicted to Jesus and Holy Spirit!

Mark 16 birthed such a fire in my heart.

And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”

When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honour at God’s right hand. And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs. Mark 16:15-20

Then I read:

Pursue [this] love [with eagerness, make it your goal], yet earnestly desire and cultivate the spiritual gifts [to be used by believers for the benefit of the church], but especially that you may] prophesy [to foretell the future, to speak a new message from God to the people]. For one who speaks in an unknown tongue does not speak to people but to God; for no one understands him or catches his meaning, but by the Spirit he speaks mysteries [secret truths, hidden things]. But [on the other hand] the one who prophesies speaks to people for edification [to promote their spiritual growth] and [speaks words of] encouragement [to uphold and advise them concerning the matters of God] and [speaks words of] consolation [to compassionately comfort them]. One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but one who prophesies edifies the church [promotes growth in spiritual wisdom, devotion, holiness, and joy]. Now I wish that all of you spoke in unknown tongues, but even more [I wish] that you would prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater [and more useful] than the one who speaks in tongues, unless he translates or explains [what he says], so that the church may be edified [instructed, improved, strengthened]. 1 Corinthians 1-5

Then I read that Peter’s shadow healed the sick and aprons that Paul wore carried the anointing that healed the sick.

...to such an extent that they even carried their sick out into the streets and put them on cots and sleeping pads, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on one of them [with healing power]. Acts 5:15

So that handkerchiefs or towels or aprons which had touched his skin were carried away and put upon the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.

Acts 19:12

To top it all, I read:

But you have an anointing from the Holy One [you have been set apart, specially gifted and prepared by the Holy Spirit], and all of you know [the truth because He teaches us, illuminates our minds, and guards us from error].

As for you, the anointing [the special gift, the preparation] which you received from Him remains [permanently] in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But just as His anointing teaches you [giving you insight through the presence of the Holy Spirit] about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as His anointing has taught you, you must remain in Him [being rooted in Him, knit to Him]. 1John 2:20,27

Wow! I could do all the things the disciples did in the bible, share the good news, heal the sick, cast out demons, even raise the dead!

The power to do it wasn’t mine, it was the Holy Spirit’s who lives inside of me, just like he does you, if you are born again!

"what is man that you are mindful of him" Psalm 8:4

The longer I’ve walked with Jesus the more I have come to appreciate in the depths of my heart the awesomeness of his love for me. None more so than in the darkest moments of my life, when I’ve felt totally lost.

I thought all Christians felt the same way as I did when reading the bible!

I never dreamt that the biggest dream killers and nay sayers would be found in the church! I was this little sponge soaking it all up!

But, God works it all to our good!

Shortly after becoming a Christian, I got baptised in water.

Each of us was given a certificate with a prayerful scripture written on it.

This was mine:

‘Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.

In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.’ Proverbs 3:5-6 AMPC

A great scripture, but I didn’t want this one. I wanted one from Mark 15!

I smile about it now, because if I had embraced it all those years ago, I would have realised that this scripture empowers us to be fully equipped to do all the bible instructs us to do. To dream the impossible, to love like Jesus, to forgive, to heal and be healed, to experience such love, joy and peace. To have the abundant life that Jesus paid for. To enjoy our inheritance as joint heirs with him!

How to navigate life with all its highs and lows is found in plain view in the bible. It’s not only a love letter to all but a road map to a life in the spirit, that if we put our trust in, then Holy Spirit will teach us and show us how to overcome all and every situation we will ever find ourselves in!

God’s continually looking to find trust in us, because our trust mirrors who he is!

Our entire journey as a Christian is learning to trust, an absolute trust in God.

Trust grows or should grow as we experience his goodness.

Have you noticed that delayed answers seem to bring up all kinds of issues within our hearts, they highlight where we actually mistrust God! This isn’t a punishment or God exposing us, I’ve found it’s to show me where I’m really at. When I face that and acknowledge it to God a grace comes on me to deal with it.

I can fool myself and I can fool others at times, but I can’t fool God! He knows me better than I will ever know myself! Actually, I have found it to be so freeing to acknowledge where I’m really at because then I can experience the reality of this scripture.

Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favour to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].

Hebrews 4:16

I no longer squeamishly approach God; in my mind I see myself bounding up to my Father, telling him what he already knows, acknowledging my mess up and asking for his help; “It’s me again. I’ve messed up, I’m so sorry. How can I fix it? I need your help Dad.”

The alternative is to isolate from him and then that opens the door for the enemy to be the accuser! Running to him will always be better than running from him. Look what happened to Jonah!

God’s also looking for worshippers, he’s not looking to be worshiped, he’s not in need of affirmation, he’s looking for worshippers because we always become like whatever we worship! Whatever we worship will determine what or who we trust!

We can go to church, sing along, raise our hands etc. but if when I face a difficulty I turn to something other than God then my trust area is being challenged. It’s at these times we need to get counsel from those who will speak truth into my life rather than agree with my opinion.

I’ve learnt that I don’t want my own opinion because that’s what got me into trouble in the past. I don’t want to have thoughts or values that are inconsistent with His thoughts and values!

I want to think creatively and have strategies within the confines of his word and Lordship. It’s the logic of his Kingdom where you go low to go high, and where to be full you empty yourself.

The Holy Spirit is working to build a community of trust and faith that best represents who he is on the earth.

When things weren’t going well for Israel, they would always turn back to false gods like Baal! The book of Hosea is a story depicting Israel as an unfaithful wife, but God's love was always greater than his anger.

What we fear determines what we worship. What we trust in is what we become like. What I fear affects what I worship, what I worship affects what I trust!

For example, let’s say I have a fear of having no money. I will be tempted to turn my affection, my heart, towards money and getting it to try to create a security for myself. I can raise my hands, sing the songs but if my heart is anchored in the desire for things other than God then it will defile my trust.

My authentic extravagant worship is exposed when a difficulty arises because that’s when I discover what and who I really trust in!

Going back to my opening scripture in Proverbs:

Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.

In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.

When we trust the Lord we increase our ability of hearing, perceiving, and being sensitive to touch. We become like him in our capacity and ability to live life. Trust is what opens up supernatural grace to us, the ability to live like Jesus!

My perception of things will undermine my trust. Perception must be given to us by God so that we see the way he sees and see what he sees. Otherwise, we can end up warring against the will of God. Jeremiah 29:11

There was a situation in my life that was causing me great pain and anxiety. I spoke to the Lord about it and he said, ‘My grace is sufficient.’

I automatically assumed that he was saying, well you’ve made your bed and now you must lie on it! I believed that for a long time until he spoke to me about it and showed me that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of grace and that he was the one that would help me navigate the situation.

I put myself through unnecessary anguish because I had made an assumption rather than ask a question!

I want my thoughts to be consistent with his promises over me. I’m not a robot to be programmed by commands; in a relationship, our thought life is the offspring of the one we commune with.

Lean not on your own understanding. Why? Because our perception of things can be weak and misguided.

Acknowledge him in all your ways. Our way of acknowledgement is often we see someone, raise a hand and say great to see you again! We are acknowledging them but biblical acknowledgement is to know intimately, experientially.

God is giving us an invitation to know him in all the different ways of life.

We have family life, church life, life with friends, financial life, business or work life, ministry life. All these are ways in our life.

We may have an area of maturity in our life, say a grace for being a parent, raising children. They are thriving, doing good, problems come, you know how to weather those storms because you’ve come to know God in that part of your life.

But, say, when it comes to money you have a constant worry, a fear and anxiety, your trust and acknowledgement is in something other than God. We aren’t acknowledging him in that area of our life!

Let’s say in family life, finances are good, but when something out of the blue happens, the car breaks down, we experience a betrayal, or we have a sickness - for some it will challenge their faith but for others it becomes devastating. These things aren’t meant to devastate; if they do, we end up on an emotional roller-coaster. Personally, I don’t like emotional instability.

In that situation I need to know God as the one who is emotionally stable, the creator of my emotions as he himself is emotional. His anger lasts for a night, but his favour lasts for a lifetime!

God, I need to know you in this area so that I can actually manage this part of my life.

He says, in all your ways acknowledge, come to know him and he will direct your path.

The word for direct path is to make it straight.

He wants to take these crazy paths that we sometimes find ourselves on, take away this trait and turn it into a straight path so you can go where you’re supposed to go.

The path is the Lord’s direction. He was always working to take Israel into their inheritance, their promised land. He wants to direct our paths so that we receive and enjoy our inheritance in our promised land. It will look different for all of us!

So, when we say, I want to know you in my finances etc we are saying I want to encounter you, acknowledge you as the God who provides, you’re the one who sustains all life with a word, you’re the source of life, I want you to be the sustainer of my economic wellbeing. I want to know you in that part of my life!

The Holy Spirit says ‘Awesome!’ and begins to teach us how to be a success in that area of life! He begins to work with us and helps to renew our minds, as well as our expectations. We are coming to know him as the God of finance etc. He’s making what was crooked straight and it takes us right into inheritance.

The scripture says, In all your ways come to know. It may be a child you’re having trouble relating to - your make-up, your personality, may fit one child better than another; we need to know the God of child rearing. I need to know how to work with that child, or that person, because I think so differently from them.

We are acknowledging we are weak in areas and want to be more in tune.

Those encounters transform who we are and what we are capable of doing.

I’ve come into a ministry whose main priority is prayer, from a very different background. I’ve had to trust, lean and acknowledge. Why? Because I was weak in this area. My crooked path needed straightening.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart requires absolute surrender. Leaning on our own understanding will undermine our faith.

In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight and take you right into your promise.

Jesus has qualified us to receive and enjoy our inheritance. Faith is to have a measured effect now. I want to see a measured impact of promises fulfilled.

‘God stoops down to make us great!’ Psalm 18:32