Beauty to Behold

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. - Isaiah 61:1-3 (NKJV)

The Word of God offers us vivid word pictures painted with imagery and descriptions that touch our very hearts as we hear them read aloud. His Word offers us an explosive collision of senses and emotions as He describes the coming of the Savior in Isaiah's prophecy.  Yet, look deeply at what the Lord says through this man of God.

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me...
It is as if the Spirit of the Lord is a fragrant oil or balm that is ceremoniously anointed upon the head.  It reads almost like Psalm 133:2 where it speaks of the pleasantness and joy of unity among the brothers: It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard.  The imagery of the oil comes up again where the prophecy speaks of oil of joy for mourning.  The oil serves as an ointment, and if it is oil of joy, it should help and aid us to deal with and heal from our mourning.

To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion. . .
The prophecy speaks clearly about comforting and consoling all who mourn and those who mourn.  The prophecy has something special for those dealing with mourning.

• beauty for ashes
• The oil of joy for mourning
• The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness

Just hear those words speak to your heart.  God doesn't just send us someone to "save" us and set things in order in Jesus Christ.  He sends someone who restores mankind into a refueled and refreshed fellowship with God the Father by faith and grace.   The words themselves paint the picture for us.

Ashes are usually a sign of mourning.  Job and David exemplified this as it was customary during a period of mourning.  Mourning? What was dead? We were dead, lost in the darkness of our own sin.  Oil was used to anoint for special purposes and to help purify and cleanse wounds.  How much did we need to become cleansed? His blood covers us and cleanses us, making what was once scarlet become as white as snow.  The garment of praise has been fitted for each believer.  It fits right over all of the stuff that seems to weigh us down and keep us from moving forward.  These garments allow us to become wrapped and clothedin the very praise that arises from within us due to God hearing our cry and plea.

Listen to the words.  Hear them speak to your heart.  Allow them to create new images in your mind.  Let them help you discover new ways to picture how much God loves you today.

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials- James 1:2 (NASB)

Can you consider your troubles as times to boost your joy? James thought so.  Better yet, James believed so.  He said it to other believers about what they endure as a "testing" of their faith.  James spoke of enduring such trials, exercising patience and evolving into spiritual maturity (James 1:2-4).  According to James, we should look at such times as times of hope "wanting for nothing."

Think of it differently.  Look at your troubles and trying times differently.  See them as growth opportunities.  Some will call them life lessons.  Others will consider them moments of truth. Don't get caught up on what they may be called.  Get into understanding that what you experience is to lead to your spiritual growth , eventually making you more mature in your faith.

Do mature Christians always face their trials in such a way? That may not necessarily be the case.  Look at Moses when the people of God tried his patience.  He did not just speak to the rock.  He struck the rock.  David, a man after God's own heart, was upset when his friend was struck down for touching the ark of God.  John the Baptist sent word to Jesus from jail, questioning if He was the Anointed One or not.  Even Jesus said that there would never be one like John the Baptist, but he questioned the Messiah when he faced his pending execution.  Do mature Christians always face their trials in such a way? The Bible tells us: no.

The Bible is in our hands and is to be in our hearts.  It should serve as a reminder to us of how we should conduct ourselves as we seek to grow in our faith.  Some tragedies simply rock our world and throw us off a bit.  We need to grow.  We grow as we go through things in life that help build up our faith.  James' instructions were clear.  Let it grow you as you face various trials in life, allowing your spiritual maturity to grow and shine.

An Ever-Present Enemy

When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. - Luke 4:13 (NIV)

Luke provides an account of the devil, Satan, Lucifer, the prince of the earth, the fallen angel, completing his attempts to tempt Jesus in the wilderness and departing from Him. James spoke of submitting ourselves to the Lord and having the devil flee from us. The NIV ends Luke 4:13 with "... he left him until an opportune time." He wasn't done with Jesus then.  He's not done with us now.

If his main job is to steal and destroy, he's not even close to being done with us. He wants our joy.  Do we still have children? He wants to steal our joy. Are we still smiling and laughing in spite of the tears and the heartache? He wants our joy. He won't be done until we are left with nothing and no one. He still seeks that opportune time to sneak up and snatch our joy.

Watch out. He's not done.

Purposeful Pursuits

Our purpose in all things is to please God.- John Wesley

What we need to do is please God by what we do day by day. Our daily pursuits should lead to God being glorified every step of the way. Our work should serve as part of our worship. Daily, as we work according to our purpose, we should see our pursuits as a means for God to get the glory from ourselves and others. Matthew 5:16 shares that our lights are to shine in such a way that men will see them and become encouraged to call on the name of the Lord. Pursue the promises of the Lord with purose.

Discover Your Destiny

Believe it or not, Moses would be a pretty tough act to follow as a spiritual leader. He had seen God face to face and spent many days doing one-on-one meetings with God on Mount Sinai. Yet, Joshua was told to be both strong and courageous regarding leading the people of God into the Promised Land. He assured that the Lord was with him. Many of today's leaders may not hear God's audible voice in the same way Joshua heard it, but they need to hear from God. They need God's assurance to lead God's people into new territory. There's little to no movement because there's hardly any confirmation based upon limited communication and communion with God. When you have people trying to speak things into existence and determine their own destinies, there's not much room left to hear from God. Maybe we should hear from the psalmist's words first that simply said: "Be still and know that I am God. . ." (Psalm 46:10). Discover your destiny but learning to hear from the Divine.
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John 15:11 speaks of your joy being "full." You need to know that Christ's joy is to be present within you. It should be within you and maintained at a "full" level. Imagine what life would be like if you livedwith your joy on full daily. That totally change your outlook on every single day as you operated on full joy.

Making Peace Both Near and Far

Some of us need to make peace with family. No matter how far that you have come, you still need to make peace. Someone just needs to bury the hatchet ASAP. There is no more time to waste. Friendships have lied in ruin because of the failure of one side to approach making peace and settling the matter. Presidents and foreign magistrates need to get together and have more "peace talks" and summits. We need to settle some old unresolved matters and start making peace both near and far.

Beyond Just Another Day (Psalm 118:24)

This is the day which the Lord hath made
-Ps. 118:24 (KJV)

Every single day is made by the Lord. True believers cannot deny that. The Creator is the creative force that creates all things. John shared such a view about Him when he wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit: He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn't make. (John 1:3, NLT) Let's just settle on this today. God made the day and it's up to Him what He provides for us day by day.

Our obligation to the Lord is simply a two-part strategy:

• We will rejoice...

We will rejoice. We will celebrate and express to the extreme that God has made this day. We express our joy by what we say and what we do to share it with others. Yet, when we rejoice, we go back to the source of our joy, to the point where our joy was provided for us. For believers, we have to take into consideration Calvary and, of course, an empty tomb where the stone had been rolled away. We have to go back to the source of our joy in order to rejoice!!

• ...and be glad in it

Not only will we rejoice but we will be glad. We have returned to the source of our joy, but we also have to get to the point where we can celebrate continually. The believer has to learn to rely upon and trust in the Lord. We have our joy and gladness because of the same God who loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son for the redemption of the world. Just with that in mind, we ought to be glad!

One Day, One Aim...Feed Those in Need!
Lemon-Aid Stand
April 11, 2009
8 am- 12 pm
Join the Team!

Since We've Started (The Journey of Life Path)

God has been so gracious to allow us time to reflect and look back at what we started and how far we have come thus far. When I consider the fear that held my dreams in 2006, I am thankful for the challenge of faith that came about in 2007 that made Life Path Ministries & Services more than a dream. I was sparked by Isaiah 61:1-2 to take a long, hard look at my christian walk and what I had really been offering God as my service. It was through much study and prayer as well as wise counsel from both friends and elders that has made me sure of what I have offered through Life Path as my best effort.

Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established.

- Proverbs 16:3

Visit the following sites to learn more about
Life Path Ministries & Services:

www.ministriesinaction.com
www.lulu.com/lifepath/
http://lifepathministries.christianarchives.org
www.myspace.com/lifepathevents/

If there is no struggle, there is no progress.
-Frederick Douglass

FYI: Lamentations in the Storm, my latest book of poetry, has been delayed due to some publishing challenges. Please be in prayer that these matters can be resolved by March.