Pastor Charles Stanley said that if we want to hear from God we need to clear the pathway. He gave some good suggestions. The title alone made me think about what John the Baptist taught also; but John the Baptist’s words were not suggestive, he commanded us by the Spirit of God the Father to “make straight the way of the Lord”. What does this mean? It is simple, but it’s also very deep and extremely powerful when we better understand and practice it. It becomes a two fold blessing. This study is long but if you don’t have time, would you skip down to the conclusion? Thank you and may God Bless you too. Thank you all for praying for the Body of Christ, for me, my family and friends. Lots of love.
HOW DO WE MAKE OUR PATHS STRAIGHT ?
Isaiah 40:3
“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, PREPARE ye the way of the LORD,
MAKE STRAIGHT in the desert a highway for our God.”
John 1:23
“He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, MAKE STRAIGHT the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.”
Hebrews 12:13
“And MAKE STRAIGHT PATHS for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.”
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How does God define what is the opposite of straight? What does He say is crooked?
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Deuteronomy 32:5
“They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of His children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.”
Job 26:13
“By His spirit He hath garnished the heavens; His hand hath formed the crooked serpent.”
Psalms 125:5
“As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: but peace shall be upon Israel.”
Proverbs 2:15
“Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths”
Isaiah 59:8
“The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.”
Phillipians 2:15
“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world”
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What did John the Baptist preach and teach?
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Matthew 3:2-3
“And saying, REPENT ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, PREPARE ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”
Matthew 3:5-8
“Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, CONFESSING their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? BRING FORTH therefore FRUITS meet for repentance”
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Making our paths straight means to confess and repent of all our sins by putting them away and walking after the Spirit by bringing forth the fruit of the Spirit; that “fruit meet for repentance” which means producing the fruit that shows that we really genuinely repented from sinning. We have and continue to give up walking in the crooked path of our “old man” that was buried at the time of our full immersion water baptism. Everyday we recommit to continue to do God’s will and do God’s works that He “before ordained that we should walk in them”.
Ephesians 2:10
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus UNTO GOOD WORKS, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
The word “unto” means going in the direction of; bringing forth and producing.
Phillipians 2:12-16
“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always OBEYED, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
For it is God which worketh in you both to will AND TO DO of His good pleasure.
Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a CROOKED and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
HOLDING FORTH the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”
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CONCLUSION
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Remember this scripture?
Isaiah 40:3
“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, PREPARE ye the way of the LORD,
MAKE STRAIGHT in the desert
A HIGHWAY for our God.”
When we do prepare ourselves and make our paths straight by obedience and righteousness, we are opening up and giving God permission and free access to come in and work mighty miracles in our lives and in this world.
Remember when Jesus only allowed those who believed to be present when He would work a miracle? The Bible tells us that He was not able to do many mighty works because of their unbelief. When we believe God we will also obey Him, keeping His covenant.
Look at the power of these principles and what it means for our collective future in the Body of Christ:
Revelation 19:7
“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife HATH MADE HERSELF READY.”
Psalms 102:13-18
“Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come. FOR thy servants TAKE PLEASURE in her stones, and favour the dust thereof. So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth Thy glory. When the LORD shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory. He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer. This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.”
“Take pleasure” means that our hearts are right with God and we are loving our brethren in the way that the LORD commanded us to do, by following His commandments and caring and loving one another from the least “the dust thereof” to the greatest among us “her stones”. We are fervently praying and interceding for the entire Body of Christ scattered throughout the world and our hearts break for them like they are our own, because they are.
1Corinthians 12:25-27
“That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”
Romans 13:8-14
“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, IT IS BRIEFLY comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: THEREFORE love is the fulfilling of the law.
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”