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On
The Road Less Traveled
The
Truth Sets You Free
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On
The Road Less Traveled
Dear
friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever
does not love does no know God because God is love. 1 John
4:7-8
The desire to fulfill the purpose for which we were created
is a gift from God. Knowing that our purpose is connected
to the Spiritual Christ helps us greatly in finding and
reaching our true purpose in life.
The
hardest part is in applying the gifts that will help lead us
to our purpose in our own life. Some of us
open the gift given to us from God and find that it is empty
inside. We don't see anything, and so we do nothing. Then a
few of us open the gift and feel really great about our self
and our life for awhile and then all the great feelings vanish
all of a sudden and we stop trying to understand the power of
the gifts. The rest of us struggle daily with the directions
that come with the gifts. We try and do what the instructions
say, but nothing in our life seems to change and we get
discouraged.
Could it be because we are walking the wrong road? First
of all we need to figure out what is in the package. What do
the gifts consist of? What is so powerful
about them? And how can we use it to empower our own lives?
All of these things and more can be found on the road less
traveled.
What is the road less traveled? It is the straight and narrow
path. The path that tells us about our self and all that
we can become. The road less traveled relies on faith and
spiritual guidance because we have full trust in God. We
trust that what God says is true and that we will live in
eternal life with Him in heaven.
I believe that God has given us several gifts all
packaged up in one big gift. They don’t come out of the
package all at once. The gifts come out in intervals and at
different degrees for each individual.
God
wants you to be ready for each new gift before you start
applying it into your life. Think of it as if you were a baby.
Your mother puts a few baby crackers on your highchair, not
the whole box. The same goes with understanding the gifts that
God has given you. You can’t hand your five-year old a book
and he starts reading. No. You first teach the child to
pronounce the letters and then they slowly begin reading words
that form sentences. In the same way, when you are
ready, and if you are searching for answers, you will
understand the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is a
spiritual growth process that entails being totally with
Christ on the road less traveled. That means, you are not
walking in front of Jesus like so many like to walk, but are
following Him. He will always be the leader in your life,
never the other way around.
"HE
WILL TEACH US HIS WAYS, SO THAT WE MAY WALK IN HIS
PATHS." Isaiah 2:3
"YOUR
WORD IS A LAMP TO MY FEET AND A LIGHT FOR MY PATH." Psalm
119:105
Trusting
in God is very important and must shine through so bright that
it fades out all other things that consume your life. You need
to take hold of God's light by putting it into operation into
your own life. There are a few things you should know first,
and this will help you in understanding the spiritual gifts
inside the package.
Have you ever thought about how you were made? God created you
with a physical body, a mind that creates emotions, thoughts
and beliefs, and last but not least, a spiritual portion. The
spiritual portion is what gives you faith and trust in what
you cannot see. So what would happen if you only used your
self-based limited mind and body? Would you be a whole and
complete person without the spiritual aspect of 'who you are'?
Let's find out.
If
God created us in the physical, mental and spiritual, the
above three elements make up the complete and whole person
that we are. If we lack in any one of these aspects of our
makeup, we are not utilizing the full potential of 'who we
are'. But now when we use all three qualities within our
character, we become balanced and complete. That is, we are
undivided with self, meaning we will not fight with self
because we are content and assured in being 'who we
are'. We will not have little demons in the attic (negative
feelings) telling us what to do and what to believe. And we
will not have the flesh pulling at us because of temptations
and we will also not behave self-righteous and proud.
The spiritual element of 'who you are' is the manifestation of
Jesus Christ. So in essence, part of your
character comes directly from your source. Now doesn’t that
make sense? The spiritual portion when utilized to its full
potential, by applying the gift of faith can control what the
mind thinks and what the body does, if you let it be so.
This is the powerful gift of the Holy Spirit.
And so if the spirit within our inner makeup is the
manifestation of Jesus Christ, what will happen then if we do
not accept what He has done for us? What if we do not believe
in Him? what if we do not follow Him? Then the Spirit
will not be made known to us and we will never know what it
feels like to actually be a whole and complete person and we
will not know what it feels like to be truly saved.
So why aren't more people applying the gift of the Holy Spirit
into their lives? Two reasons that I can think of off the top
of my head are because they do not know about the Spirit of
Christ and two because of the "spiritually uncommitted
attitude" that has gone into full stream in this society. Christ
is with us right here and right now, everyday. He is in the
hearts of those who believe in Him. People have a choice
as to what road they will walk on and they have chosen to take
the road most traveled. The road most traveled
lacks in godly knowledge and wisdom.
To
the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and
happiness. Ecclesiastes
2:26
The road most traveled goes something like this. I'm
cheerfully walking down the road most traveled and I desire
something I know to be wrong, my spirit (the Spirit of Christ)
lets me know about it. I can either choose to stay on
the road most traveled and become sin with sin or I can choose
to listen to my spirit (the Spirit of Christ) and walk on the
road less traveled. if I keep walking down the road of the
majority, I am choosing to believe in my own self-seeking
belligerent ways, and I wouldn't be allowing the spirit to do
its work. That means I am only using two of the above elements
of 'who I am'.
God
said that the greatest commandment was to love him with all
our heart, mind and soul. If I am not using my
soul to love God then obviously my mind isn't either and where
my mind is there also shall be my heart. So what happens to a
belligerent person such as myself walking down the road most
traveled?
Well,
if I continue with my "I don't care attitude" in
life about what road I will take, I probably won't like myself
very much. In that case, I surely do not love 'who I
am'. How can I truly love 'who I am' if I'm doing bad things
to myself and body? If I do not do anything good for
myself, I cannot love who I am. In other words, without
my Spirit I am not complete enough to love even myself. And so
now what happens? Negative feelings, thoughts and emotions
begin to take over for me. Now everything in my life is
controlled by my feelings. My marriage, friendships, career,
family, children, spouse. I have created a foundation
for my life based upon my own selfish and rebellious attitude
begotten from walking on the road most traveled. How do I get
off? Anyone can get off. The question is, do you want to
get off?
The kind of love I'm talking about isn't a self-based
egotistical kind of love. It is the kind of love that allows
you to free yourself from guilt, bitterness, anger,
resentment, bitterness, etc. When your own character is
free from these negative aspects is when you can begin to love
not just yourself, but others as well. This kind of love comes
from God and frees you from being rapt up within what is now
holding you back from accepting Christ's guidance for
yourself. Instead, you are guided by God's love for
yourself and others.
It
all begins with what you are doing with the three essential
elements of who you are. Remember what I said, it takes
effort, at first, to tap into all the boundless love that God
has for you. The effort to become love does come with great
rewards for those who choose to pursue it.
Did you know that Jesus’ love would wipe the slate clean if
you allow it to be so? It doesn’t matter how many marks you
might have or what they are for. All you need to do is
surrender, by giving up your marks and start a new way of life
with Jesus Christ. I did that. I have many things in my past
that I am not proud of. My marks covered the whole
blackboard and I'm still erasing! I finally put up my arms in
disgust with who I was and told Jesus to take it all away from
me. I pleaded and begged with God from the bottom of my heart
to free me from the sinful bonds that were controlling me.
I just got on my knees in the privacy of my own home and
pleaded for my no good rotten life. And I had many
things controlling me, one of which was alcohol, and the other
resentment. My resentment controlled me to such a point
that it kept me from doing things I wanted to do, and made me
do things that were in great sin. Ah yes, but Jesus took that
all away from me.
If you have a slate that is full of chalk marks, it’s
okay. We all have marks at sometime or another that we don’t
feel particularly good about. One thing we will never be and
that is perfect while living on earth. So until the time comes
and Jesus takes our souls into heaven, we are to utilize here
on earth the gifts that God has given us to pursue a moral,
upright and peaceful life. And yes, we all make mistakes, but
we are also to learn from those mistakes and never do them
again.
Now
you can accept the gifts or deny the gifts. The
choice is yours. I can tell you how to
apply them, but I can’t apply them for you, as much as I
would like to. If you are walking on the road most traveled, I
must let you know that road is in error. The people on
that road talk a lot, but never do what they talk about. They
tell others that they are walking with Jesus, but actually
they aren't even on the same road as Jesus! This road has many
blind people strolling its paths, leading them into endless
temptations.
THESE
PEOPLE HONOR ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEY ARE FAR FROM ME.
Matthew 15:8
The
scary part about all this is once the heart is so deceived
(diseased) because of walking on the road most traveled for so
long, it becomes even harder to get off. You see, this road
plays tricks with your mind, giving the appearance of
righteousness, but it leads you further away from wanting to
apply the gifts of God in your own life. Lets just say that
the road most traveled is full of a bag of tricks. And if
you're on it, you're getting tricked!
Let
me explain, if Christ, the source of your existence is not
first in your life, you most certainly will find that you’re
dangling over the fence. Which side of the fence are you on?
Where does your foundation for truth come from? What are you
basing your life upon?
You're
not the only one getting bamboozled. Everybody is
getting tricked on that same road and they don't even know it.
The problem stems from lack of desire. The desire to hang onto
Jesus Christ just isn't there! The desire to
fulfill the purpose for which we were created is just not
there! Therefore, lots of people are only halfheartedly
pursuing Christ. The things of this world tell you to do one
thing, while the things of the Spirit tell you to do another.
The part of you that is rapt up in self causes you to sin and
follow a foundation that leads to error.
Let’s take a look at some typical scenarios of
rebelliousness and selfish seeking personality within an
unspiritual emotional and mental attitude hanging in the
rafts. I'm walking on the road most traveled and
have created a foundation for myself that is selfish, proud,
and self -righteous. I believe I know everything there is to
know about God. Therefore I do not ask for spiritual
guidance, I am my own guide, besides I don't feel spiritual at
all. I go to church, and even read the bible sometimes and
nothing so far has changed for me. And so because
of my spiritual bankruptcy I wrangle with my feelings,
emotions and thoughts on a daily basis, which keep me from
being free, and feeling the whole and complete person God
intended me to be. My husband hasn't been there for me
emotionally and mentally. I tried to change my husband
into what I wanted him to be, but it isn't working. and so I
get out onto the road most traveled and they tell me it is
okay to find a new husband and divorce the one I have. I
believe them because their all doing it. I just want to
be loved and so I go out onto the road most traveled and get
drunk and find a stranger who will says he will love me. At
this point I am allowing my feelings to control my behavior. I
do bad things to myself and body because I think it will make
me feel better inside. But it doesn't make me feel better. It
only makes me feel worse. So I do it again and again and
again. My conscience tells me what a failure I am. I hate
myself. My thoughts are only on what I can do for myself. What
self-seeking pleasures that I can get my self into. I just
want to have fun, who cares about anything else. I want, I
want, I want!
Scenarios
like this happen everyday and every minute. Our conscience
wages war within us, but we do not know how to get out.
We aren't asking for help, we are the masters of our domain!
We think that we have the understanding to guide ourselves to
salvation. We become things that aren't us such as,
homosexuals, lesbians, rapists, pornographers, murderers,
thief's, resentment sowers, bad parents, greedy money mongers,
drug addicts, egotistical and selfish rebellions, haters of
what is different, alcoholics, addicts, and downright
bitter and diseased people. Some of us believe these things
are not wrong. We conger up thoughts and ideas in our heads
that give us the justification to be these things, so we
become them. We change scripture for the benefit of our sin
and even preach the untruth to others. This heavy load of
denial is so strong in our minds that we don't see clearly
enough to come out from the bondage of sin! Denial literally
kills a persons soul.
If you believe that you might be in denial Please! go back and
read the Heaven Ministries Newsletter, "Am
I A Christian?" Take your time as you read and have
an application study bible handy, for easy scripture lookup.
Don't let the road most traveled kill you!
Deniers of God's Word certainly are not going to get down on
their knees and admit that they are retched sinners. Oh no!
That would be very bad for the persona they have been carrying
around with them for so long. And, anyway, what would their
family think if they became Jesus freaks? Better to stay an
addict, then deny yourself and follow Jesus. Maybe you think
your family will disown you. And what about your
friends, job and career? Nope, nope! Let's just stay on
this crowded road where everyone else is, it must be the right
road, everyone's on it!
"Am
I A Christian"
Here is another development on the road most traveled.
I am feeling dreadfully guilty over a past sin and
can’t seem to get out of the rut I'm in. Instead of praying
about it and finding solace in God my Creator, I go on a
spending spree. I am depressed and cannot love myself. I don't
know how to feel good. And so my desires and needs go after
the wrong things even those things that I think will bring me
happiness, peace and contentment. I buy a new $30,000 car and
a week later, I still feel dreadful. I now can't pay my high
mortgage payment and I'm going further and further into debt
with a house and new car that I don't need. I only wanted to
feel better and look good to other people, but now I'm in
debt. So now what? Buy another car? Get a divorce? Maybe
if I found a new spouse, I'll feel better. I believe my spouse
doesn't love me anyway. We don't talk.
Does
any of this sound familiar? And what about feelings of
resentment? If we are harboring any thoughts that have
offended us, whether from a spouse or friend, we can’t
really give them all of who we are. Meaning if it is our
spouse we are holding accountable, then we will not love them
with genuine loving kindness. If it were a friend, we will
hold back on giving them the respect and love they deserve. We
just aren't with it. Our entire makeup is divided amongst
itself, fighting--fighting with self, doing selfish things and
behaving rebellious to God.
What is your weakness? Do you have an addiction,
or become depressed, feel hopeless or behave needy and selfish
to those around you. Are you tempted all the time. These
things stem from the lack of the Spiritual Christ in your
life, and grow bigger from the lack of the Spiritual Christ in
your life. These negative things are created in the mind,
sustained in the mind that is in denial and will remain your
focus until, you say, "heck with all this petty nonsense!
Jesus save me from the depths of hell that I am in."
Once
you understand and experience the awesome power of Jesus
Christ, you can then live by his works and words. You will
never want to look back. You will run towards the road less
traveled faster then your little feet can carry you.
Jesus Christ presence in your life will give you the
understanding that you need to figure it all out. Those that
give up and veer off the road less traveled need more
patience. The Spiritual gifts will be given to you when Christ
knows that you are ready to accept them.
And
Christ became a human being and lived here on earth among
us and was full of loving forgiveness and truth. John 1:14 TLB
A
new spouse, lover, car, home, or addiction is not where
happiness lies. Happiness is found through the love of Christ,
which is your spiritual completeness. Discovering the
spiritual side of self is the missing link to becoming all
that you can be. The spiritual aspect of self will be hard to
find when you are walking on the road most traveled.
Temptations loom on the road most traveled and before you know
it has gobbled you up. Without even realizing it, you have
allowed beliefs into your world and those beliefs
control your thoughts and behavior.
The Truth is what sets you free from self. To be
able to truly love yourself, you need to plant the seed of
Christ into your heart and strive to understand the word of
Christ. If you ask for His guidance He will receive you and
make everything apparent to you that you otherwise did not
understand. Many Christian's have the seed planted, but
for some the seed has not sprouted. The reason this happens is
they are too involved with their world and strive for what they
desire. The seed of life will sprout in your heart when
you give up your self to the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He
will help you to understand how to live by using the wholeness
of your entire being, the flesh, heart, mind and the Holy
Spirit.
As scripture says, “But now God has shown us a
different way to heaven – not by “being good enough” and
trying to keep His laws, but by…coming to Christ; no matter
who we are or what we have been like.” Romans 3:21-22 TLB
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The
Truth Sets You Free
I believe it is those people who genuinely want to help others
who find the most contentment and peace in their lives. I
believe that is what God meant by loving our neighbors.
Helping those in need is a growing and healing process in
itself. What keeps the alcoholic or drug addict from using?
They surrender to their weakness and submit (give in) to Jesus
Christ. The addict has come to realize that it is beyond their
control to stay abstinent. Therefore, to stay clean, they let
go of the addiction and become humble and submissive to the
living God.
What
brings people to humble and surrender their old ways to Christ
and become whole in Christ's love? Just about the same way as
for the addict. They realize that this life on earth is not
all there is to being happy, content and at peace in their
lives. They want more and realize they do have a purpose for
themselves, their family and others. Stuff and material
possessions have not been enough to keep them feeling
complete. They realize the smallness of who they really are
without Jesus Christ and give up the bondage of their sin that
has been controlling their lives for a new life with Christ.
They have come to Jesus because they realized they were in
denial to the Truth.
It is a fact; addicts stay clean and sober when they
are helping other addicts to abstain. What keeps them going?
Giving up their denial (addiction) to a higher power,
uncovering their sinful past to Jesus Christ, as well as to
others, and finally becoming whole through the spiritual
growth process. But then there are those who are dangling over
the fence, they just can’t seem to let their sin go. So
what’s the problem?
They have not fully given themselves to Christ! It
doesn’t matter what the weakness is, whether it be addiction
or plain old resentment, it is the laissez-faire attitude many
people perceive about Jesus Christ. They have not completely
given way to the importance of the spiritual element within
them to utilize it to its fullest degree. So in the mean time,
they half-heartedly pursue Christ while still living in their
dreams of denial. It is only when they can’t take it any
more and hit bottom that they throw up their arms to Christ.
But then it might be too late.
Here is a great and notorious piece of wisdom quoted
from the Al-anon book, which sums it up well for all that I
have been talking about thus far. “God, grant me the
serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to
change the things I can, and the power to know the
difference.” This quote is not just for the addict;
everybody can apply this little tidbit of wisdom into his or
her life.
We may not be able to change others, that is true, but we can
change our self. We can change just enough to start applying
all the gifts our Creator has given us into our own lives.
What we’re after here is not just to love others in the way
they love you, but also to love others with the wholeness of
who you are. Just as the addict cannot just stop their
addiction and remain abstinent the rest of their lives without
the power of God guiding their lives. No! They must fully
surrender their old self to Christ to stay clean and sober -
for good!
At this point, you may be thinking, “How can I be in sin? I
am always doing good deeds for others and I already know how
to love.” Well, both of these statements
may be true for you because that is all you know. It is your
belief that generates these kind of thoughts within yourself.
As you walk along the road most traveled, even with all
the social and cultural changes that are ever present,
many things will justify in your mind the rightness of the
path you are taking. This road seems so right and so you don't
do anything about getting on a different road. If you
allow yourself to believe like this long enough you will not
want to seek out anything else that might improve, or
otherwise help you to grow more into the loving person you
were intended to be. This is why Jesus Christ said the people
were blind. Many of them weren’t literally blind, but
close-minded to the Truth.
JESUS
REPLIED, EVERY PLANT THAT MY HEAVENLY FATHER HAS NOT PLANTED
WILL BE PULLED UP BY THE ROOTS. LEAVE THEM, THEY ARE BLIND
GUIDES. IF A BLIND MAN LEADS A BLIND MAN BOTH WILL FALL INTO
THE PIT. Matthew 15:13-14
HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND DEADENED THEIR HEARTS, SO THEY
CAN NEITHER SEE WITH THEIR EYES, NOR UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR
HEARTS, NOR TURN - AND I WOULD HEAL THEM. John
12:40
THE
GOD OF THIS AGE (on the road most traveled --my note) HAS
BLINDED THE MINDS OF UNBELIEVERS, SO THAT THEY CANNOT SEE THE
LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL OF THE GLORY OF CHRIST, WHO IS THE IMAGE
OF GOD. 2 Corinthian's 4:4
Folks are blind to
the truth and they don’t even know it. The unethical
acquisitions of society come from denial. Of course it gets
worse then just being in denial. The problem is that many
stumbling blocks on the road most traveled are literally
enabling everyone else's denial! It is like
a poor ole pathetic wife who thinks she is showing her
alcoholic husband love by enabling his alcoholism.
Because she rescues him every chance she gets, he believes he
doesn’t have a drinking problem and so continues drinking.
How on earth will he ever get better if his wife continues to
rescue his drunken behavior? In the same way exact way the
things of the world justify unethical behavior that go against
the principles of God's words!
Look
at the fruits. What fruits do you see coming from society? Are
there any?
In essence, no one realizes there is a better way to be
happy, secure and content in their life. They are
the masters of their minds, their beliefs have been justified
and they are righteous in themselves.
God did not create you for you to be only what you
want to be, but what He wants you to become – full of Him.
It is a never-ending journey on the road less traveled with
Jesus. I know that some of you will veer off the road
less traveled and maybe even take a shortcut. Pick yourself
back up and get back on that road!
It is absolutely necessary for your spiritual well being to
stay on the road with Jesus. Remember to
always ask yourself, “Why am I here?” “What
is my purpose?” You will eventually come to realize and
answer those questions by walking with Christ. God
wants you to love more fully, to be everything you can be for
others, to show your love, to show your compassion, and to be
a part of the Spiritual Christ. This is the reason behind your
life. Christ wants you to get off the selfish pedestal
you’re on and start working for Him and be His angel on
earth.
The truth is what sets you FREE!
IF
YOU HOLD TO MY TEACHING, YOU ARE REALLY MY DISCIPLES. THEN YOU
WILL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE. John
8:31-32
They
answered him, we are Abraham's descendents and have never been
slaves to anyone. How can you say we shall be set free? John
8:33
Jesus replied, I TELL YOU THE TRUTH, EVERYONE WHO SINS
IS A SLAVE TO SIN. NOW A SLAVE HAS NO PERMANENT PLACE IN THE
FAMILY, BUT A SON BELONGS TO IT FOREVER. SO IF THE SON SETS
YOU FREE, YOU WILL BE FREE INDEED. John 8:34-38
I
AM THE WAY THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER
EXCEPT THROUGH ME. John 14:6
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