25/06/2022 - OUR WAYS

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Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider your ways!  Haggai 1:5

King David made a decision that would change his life, for he wanted to walk in God’s presence. However, he saw that his way of living was not helping him. Then he discovered his mistake and spoke: I will guard my ways, lest I sin with my tongue; I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle, while the wicked are before me (Psalms 39:1). That is a positive thing to do. As long as the enemy stands before you, stay alert and pray.

We have to apply our heart to review our ways. Behind the act of smiling, for example, someone may think that we are available to fall into error, and this would be our doom. When we serve the people with politeness and friendliness, but filled with the anointing of God, the person understands that we are guided by the Holy Spirit.

A contemporary of Haggai, the prophet Zechariah spoke about the failure of the Israelite fathers who heard and did not understand the Lord’s message: Yet surely My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? So they returned and said: Just as the Lord of hosts determined to do to us, according to our ways and according to our deeds, so He has dealt with us (Zechariah 1:6).

The Lord gave Israel time, so that the inhabitants of that nation would learn to walk according to His precepts. However, their intentions did not lean toward the Most High, so they continually erred. Likewise, many of those who claim to be from God also sadden Him. He made His displeasure explicit in the following text: For forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said: it is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways (Psalms 95:10). Know the paths of the Lord!

Let the Good Shepherd guide you in the paths of goodness. Then you will see that your steps are pleasing to Him. Isaiah declared: For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord (Isaiah 55:8). When we follow the Lord’s directions, we discover that in His wisdom He has prepared them for each of His children (Ephesians 2:10). Stay on the mission to which you have been called!

David experienced God’s best, without losing a single battle. With faith and determination, he never ran from the enemy, for he knew what the Creator would do for him. The psalmist expressed himself this way: You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways (Psalms 139:3). In view of this, why not take the road He shows you? The Most High knows your life and knows how much you need Him.

Let us remember Paul explaining about his ways: For this reason, I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church (1 Corinthians 4.17). Before having an encounter with Jesus, this apostle had a crooked way. After his conversion to the Gospel, he began to follow the Master. What a blessing!

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares