Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. -John 14:6 (NASB)

In the ’80s, I enjoyed reading the wildly popular Choose Your Own Adventure books, which let you play a game while also reading the book…and even alter the direction and outcome of the book based on your decisions. It was an absolute blast to play the role of the main character and control the direction of the book, and pick different paths each time. (Apparently, you can still buy them online today!)

In life, we can also choose paths to take. We can choose to do our own thing and have a roller coaster, up and down life…or we can pick what early followers of Jesus called The Way (Acts 9:2). When I finally picked The Way in 2013, I finally had spiritual footing, the Holy Spirit overflowing in my previously empty and aching heart, and direction in my life!

In fact, The Way was about the last option I would’ve ever taken. Like most who don’t follow Jesus, it’s generally thought that being a good person is all that matters, and if things don’t go well in life, just change your path. Jesus shows us that He already knows our path, and promises to carry us through every step of it, if we will only keep our eyes on Him.

No matter where you’ve been, once you choose The Way, you can choose to see the adventure in every waking moment of your life as you look to glorify Him in all you say and do. And no matter how the winds of circumstance blow around you, He’s got your back…and His Way will often ask you to trust Him as He helps you plow straight through choppy waters and scaling mountains.

The verse above is part of Jesus’ answer to His apostle Thomas, who asked Him how they could follow Him if they didn’t know where He was going. Jesus was heading to Heaven, and is the only way there. He endured and suffered and died and rose again to make the way for us.

When you choose The Way, you’ll be suited up in spiritual armor–and even a Sword!–for your new journey, because your eyes will finally be opened to layers of reality you had no idea existed. You’ll be given a new moral and spiritual backbone in a world where anything goes.

Ready to choose your own adventure? Walk this way »

Today’s soundtrack

Jamie Grace’s “You Lead” tells God that we trust Him completely in leading us in a victorious walk, no matter what life brings.

They did not destroy the peoples, Concerning whom the Lord had commanded them, But they mingled with the Gentiles And learned their works; They served their idols, Which became a snare to them. -Psalms 106:34-36 (NKJV)

Ever seen a movie that had some obvious setups for sequels? Well, truth is stranger than fiction.

Those Israelites and their Asherah poles! A constant source of temptation to them was idolatry, and though Joshua mightily commanded the Israelites to astounding and miraculous victories throughout the Promised Land–all to God’s glory–the Israelites didn’t completely follow through. There were pockets of folks who were not driven out, as the Lord had told them to do.

These seemingly innocuous peace treaties or coexistences with the non-Israelites of the Promised Land proved to sow the seeds of much, much suffering ahead. Since all the Asherah poles and false idols weren’t destroyed, they slowly started infecting the Israelites with the attraction of idol worship. As more and more gave in, the nation was infected, and disobedience and outright rejection of the Lord became the norm.

We might think, “Those Israelites! Why are they so thick-skulled?” But in reality, they’re a reflection of us. We have our own modern idols and temptations to take God out of first place in our lives, and it’s always our choice to veer off course.

Let the Israelites’ repeated disobedience be an illustrated life lesson for us to learn: dig deep and partake in His Word. Fellowship with like-minded Christ followers to stay in God-fearing company. Pray without ceasing. As soon as we slip on any of these, those Asherah poles and false idols of today will become more and more appealing…yet again.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. -Ephesians 4:30 (NIV)

A fool vents all his feelings, But a wise man holds them back. -Proverbs 29:11 (NKJV)

Did you know that the hurtful words you allow to give life past your lips trouble the Holy Spirit within you?

We are sanctified (set apart for holy purposes), to say, think, and do great things in His name, and to His glory. The context for the verse above comes from Paul’s instructions to the believers in Ephesus on Christian living:

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. -Ephesians 4:29-32 (NIV)

Sometimes a situation may irritate or even enrage you to the point of knowing you will release terrible words that are like death to the listener. They also poison you inside with bitterness, rage, and anger, and above all, grieve the Holy Spirit. Such words have nothing to do with honoring God, but everything to do with selfishness, being ruled by emotion and not God’s commands on how to live and love.

God gives us free will so we can always choose what comes out of our mouths. As we walk in obedience to the Lord, He builds our spiritual maturity, so we’re not ruled by our whims and emotions, like unbelievers who do not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them.

When we feel emotion rise up, we can recognize it and then do what is right in God’s eyes. Instead of choosing to destroy with your tongue, choose to either restrain it or speak life instead!

Today’s soundtrack

TobyMac’s “Speak Life” tells us that the words we say are like stretching out arms of compassion.

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. -Romans 10:9-10 (NIV)

God gave the very children who were made in His image the most powerful check against even His saving power: free will. We were designed from the beginning to have it. God gives us the choice to willingly accept His loving sacrifice poured out into our lives…or the choice to turn away.

If you’re an unbeliever, the consequences of not choosing Him don’t seem real, because you don’t believe in Him and His works anyway. But the consequences are eternally real.

As mentioned in my previous post, I had the stealth assignment of witnessing to my Buddhist father. God presented the opening, which was clear as day: my mother was frustrated phoning different care facilities, so I encouraged her to drive to the one she preferred nearby to discuss the matter in person. After she left, I started praying along with many other agents, and then went in.

His lungs were filling with fluid, and his coughs were terrible…like someone drowning. He called to me, so I came to him with a large print text of a plea for him to accept Jesus, followed by the sinner’s prayer. I watched his eyes scan the words from top to bottom. He continued to wheeze loudly, but didn’t utter a word. I asked him several times to read it aloud, but he wouldn’t.

I slowly read the prayer aloud to him, but still nothing. He nodded to me in the way I’ve seen him nod when he wants someone to stop annoying him. He then waved away the paper several times.

I don’t cry often, but this time, I sat down at the desk in his room and let my eyes well up. I thanked the Lord for giving me the opening, and I asked that the seed planted in his heart might have him accept Jesus before he departed this world. It’s not over yet.

When we fight spiritual battles, the fights aren’t our to win, but His. I followed God’s will to expose my father to Jesus, to that rope bridge over the abyss of hell, but only God knows whether he will cross it before he passes from this earth.

It’s naive to think that when we do things in God’s name and to His glory, that the outcomes we want will come to pass. And yet, God uses all of it to His glory, according to His will and timing. These are His promises that this agent is watching unfold before his eyes, though I only see a small part of it now.

Our fight is far from over, brothers and sisters in Christ. In my family alone, I believe this is just the beginning of a spiritual war which will continue for many years, till my mother passes–or accepts Jesus herself. But God commands us: we are not to be discouraged or afraid. We will have trouble in this world, but He has overcome it. We are to be unashamed of the Gospel.

Having done what I could in the mission field, I return home to continue the fight at home. As the first Christian in my family line, Jesus has broken the chain of unbelievers, and I will do my duty to Him in training my son up to follow Him.

We choose to live and breathe and fight for Him no matter the odds, because He secured the victory for us over 2000 years ago. Thank you, Lord Jesus.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. -2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. -Philippians 4:13 (NLT)

You won’t know what real, supernatural strength is like till you’ve given all you’ve got in your own strength, only to get crushed into dust and pieces. There is not one of us who, in our own strength, can conquer any and all challenges.

I’ve been a pro at being stoic and passive aggressive when it came to handling way too much in my own strength. Usually, about once a year, I’d fall very ill, my body just caving under all the stress, forcing me to stop and recuperate. One reason for this I can remember was the comparison my father would draw of me and my siblings against his friends’ kids: He would boast about the other kids’ physiques or what sports they were playing…and how we were just weaklings.

Good times, good times.

So, though I could never match the physical strength of others in musculature, I strained to show I had strength in other ways. Sometimes I’d get a little haughty and confident in how well I could accomplish things. But, eventually, the mountain of things I tried to carry would crush me.

I can see how Paul had to learn the hard way: In his letter to the Christians in Corinth, he tells them about how he thought he was handling everything just fine, even thinking he was rightly persecuting Christians in God’s name–till Jesus blinded him on the road to Damascus. Paul pleaded three times for it to be taken from him. But by blinding Paul, and eventually restoring his sight, God gave Paul vision and strength he never had before.

Paul goes on to say:

That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. -2 Corinthians 12:10 (NIV)

When we are finally broken and shattered and can honestly tell God, “I give up,” and let Him work through us, oh! what amazing works He will perform! How people will marvel, and that is your chance to let them know whose works they are!

Real strength is through Christ, who strengthens you. God’s work can begin at the end of yourself.

Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” -Mark 14:35-36 (NIV)

It’s an amazing thing that we have an omnipotent Creator, but One who also gave us free will. And at the intersection of God’s power and our free will, we can actually choose to turn away from Him.

When God tells you what you must do, you have a choice: Through faith and obedience, let His blessings overflow into your life after a season of trials to strengthen you, or limit His blessings and work in your life by choosing your own way.

Jesus Himself expressed to His Father how His Father’s will was to be done, above anything else.

So when you’re wrestling with guilt that it’s not second nature for you to surrender to God’s will, know that He understands. But also know that following God’s will results in blessings and favor you’ll never experience without choosing His path.

Over and over in Scripture, God asks to believe in Him…and He comes through every time not just in the life of the one who believed, but the blessings pour out far beyond. In the examples below, the blessings spread worldwide.

Noah was tasked by God to build an ark which would house the beginnings of a new world over the watery grave of the old. He was told that the world would be destroyed, and he would have to endure a century of ridicule and labor to build a ship for a storm no one could see coming but him and God. But it came, and it was Noah’s family that survived and started again after the flood. (Genesis 6-9)

God tested Abraham by instructing him to sacrificing his son to Him, and Abraham followed His instructions till God spared Isaac at the last moment (Genesis 22:2-14).

Mary, mother of Jesus, most certainly lived a surrendered life. A Walk in the Word devotional explains that Mary surrendered to God’s will:

• even though it was difficult;
• even though she didn’t understand;
• without knowing all the details; and
• by faith.

Read the whole devotional, which expands on all the above points »

Know that when you surrender to God’s will, the road ahead may be perilous, but He will bless you and others through your faith and obedience to reap greater reward than if you chose your own way. His way is the only sure thing. And, over time, your path and God’s path will be less of an intersection but lines that align and converge as He shapes you in His will…and you will feel so much freer when you realize there really is only one blessed way to go.