Choosing the right Path to follow..

We have to understand that we can't be an effective worker of God if we are struggling between the spirit and the flesh.. we have to walk with the spirit and walk in the reflection of Jesus.  God has a plan for every one of us, he has a Path he wants us to follow, but we often find it hard to choose the right path.  Sometimes it is difficult to determine what God wants us to do, we have a fear of doing the wrong thing because all we want to do is please him and we don't want to go off track ..so we begin to over-think the choices we've been given.  Sometimes we need to just let go of the doubts and fears, give up the fight and let God take over, because when we reach a challenging crossroad he will be there and he will point us down the right road.  Life is full of these turning points and decisions, it can be a lot like walking through a maze, we can find ourselves asking the constant question of where next?

Where next? With barriers and paths leading in all directions a maze can be very difficult and frustrating to solve at times, but essentially there is a centre finishing point where there is complete satisfaction and reward for getting to the end.  That is what we have to remember, we are working our way through this maze but the end is the reward, so any dead-ends we hit, or wrong paths we walk down we have to keep heading for the same finish line.  And sometimes God will purposely lead us to a dead-end but he will always lead us back and open a new, better path for us to walk down.  If we could walk through the maze, through the barriers and straight to the finish it would be to easy!..Where would the satisfaction and reward be?

When the maze gets to difficult we sometimes have to stop and ask someone for help, and we can advise each other on which route to go down, but the only real person in the maze that can see the path you have to follow to get to the finish, is God.  Thats why its important to constantly be asking him to guide us, constantly seek advice and keep praying because he is the one who can get you there.  And he will answer you, for 'Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it" (Isaiah 30:21)' so we just need to be sure that we are listening..

So pray for guidance and strength to follow the right paths we have to walk down, but also pray that God will help us listen to his voice as he gives us direction.

Proverbs 3:5-6

'Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not upon your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your path.'

10 Prayers God will always say Yes to....

If you have time to watch and read this, it is such an inspirational video and will relate to everyone.
The song, by Casting Crowns is also amazing :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EV42LVJ3GM

No Rules...Just Jesus!

One of the things we get stereotyped for as christians is that we are another religion following a set of Rules and obeying orders...
The Law, otherwise known as the 10 commandments and other rules set out in the Old Testament, was given to people by God before Jesus arrived on earth.  These rules were put to us to act as guidelines, to childmind us and show us God's standards of how we lead our lives.  The Law shows us what our sins are and the temptations we should not fall to.  But the Law has flaws, nobody on earth is perfect and to follow all these standards to the full without a single sin is virtually impossible.
Those people who followed the Law with such strong dedication were so focused on living by these guidelines that they didn't stop to think why they were following them and what the reason was that God wanted us to live in this way.  The Law was in charge...until Jesus came.
Jesus showed us the reasons for these rules, he was the perfect person without sin, but he showed the love and compassion behind the Law God had set.  'Christ redeemed us from living the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us' (Galatians 3:13).  He gave us FAITH, with faith we have been set free from the supervision of the Law, we no longer need to dedicate our lives to following strict rules.  Jesus provided us with forgiveness of our sins and through him we can get to God, we can live eternally, we are FREE.  Because of Jesus God blessed us with the Holy Spirit.  He lives within us, He guides us to the right ways to live, He shows us the paths to follow, He directs us away from sin.  Through Jesus the Law was given meaning and complete love for God, we are no longer childminded by the Law but instead we become Children Of God.

Galatians 3:5 and 3:11
'Does God give you his spirit and work miracles amoung you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?'
'Clearly no-one is justified before God by the law, because, "the righteous will live by faith"