Skip to main content

Steps to Walking this Christian Journey

The Narrow Path

Now that it has been established that we believe in a higher power, how do we walk this Christian journey? How do we develop this personal relationship with Jesus? There are some practical tools that we can use to help keep us on the journey that we are called to walk according to God's grace.

1) Keep God First - There must be a strong foundation to build a structure with longevity. The taller the building is constructed, the deeper the foundation. Deuteronomy 6:14-15 instructs us to , 13 Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. 14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 15 for the Lord your God , who is among you, is a jealous God....
As you draw near to God, He will draw near to you, James 4:8.
2) Choose the Narrow Path - We are directed to seek and enter the narrow gate. According to Matthew 7:13-14, we are to 13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Since we wrestle against our flesh daily, one may be more inclined to enter the wide gate and broad road. This may seem more attainable, desirable, accepted and frankly easier. However, the small and narrow gate may not be as appealing, seek and find that gate anyway, enter into it, and walk the narrow road to life! Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. (John 14:6). In fact a couple of weeks ago, we had a fire reported in our building. All of the employees that occupied this fifteen story building were instructed to find the nearest exit. As we traveled down the stairs, sometimes we would come to a complete halt or bottle neck in the flow as masses of people traveled down to get to the first level to exit the building. For those of us on the thirteenth floor, it was a long journey down those flights of stairs, but I would often notice that there was a flow hear and there, foot steps clattering with a rhythm, all headed in the same direction. The descent was one of relief and liberation when we all reached the last step and exited the building. Even though the narrow path may take some maneuvers that may be uncomfortable for the moment, keep walking. The race is not won by the swift, but by the one who endures to the end.
3) Stay Truthful - As Jesus was so many times questioned by the Pharisees, he directed this answer to the Jews who believed him. In John 8:31-32, Jesus said, “31 If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 14: 15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. There will be times when you will be questioned, the decisions you make, the actions you take, and believe it or not your authenticity may be questioned. However, what's in the dark will soon come to the light. Stay rooted and grounded in the Word. Don't compromise where you are for where God has planned for you to go.
4) Renew Your Mind Daily - There are so many distractions and events that we can easily get caught up in the middle of and lose focus, substance and drain us. Romans 12: 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will. Living according to and staying in God's will is attainable by renewing it daily with the Word of God.
5) Seek and Save the Lost - Do I need to find something that I have in my hand? No, it has already been found. We are God's children, you and I. He wants the very best for us. He has laid out this plan, the instructions, a guide to help us along this journey. We are his sheep, He is the Good Shepherd. Jesus often times taught in parables, which are moral or religious stories: a short simple story intended to illustrate a moral or religious lesson. As Jesus is speaking to the disciples in The Parable of the Lost Sheep found in Matthew 18:11-14, 12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish. 

Lord we thank you for your grace and mercy to teach and guide us according to your Word. Give us the resolve to keep you first in our lives, choose the narrow path less traveled, stay truthful, renew our minds daily, and seek and save the lost to share the Good News! You are the source and the strength of our lives. You receive all the glory and honor. "In Jesus Name", Amen!

Blessings and Peace,
LaKenya

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by my blog. If you read something that blessed you or resonated with your spirit, please share it. I would love to hear from you! Blessings and Peace to you. God loves you and cares about you! ~ LaKenya.

Popular posts from this blog

Thank You!

  Thank You DFA and Family   This serves as a “Thank You” to all of you who are reading this right now. Today is my last day at DFA. Although some of you were here when I came to DFA back in June of 2000, many have retired or moved on to various other assignments. Some have come after I started with DFA. I have had the opportunity over the last few weeks to execute a brief version of a succession plan. What usually takes years, I had to condense in a few weeks. However, I feel assured that the work of DFA will continue with excellence. I did not want any of you to worry about how you were getting paid, so I preferred to work until my last day and think of it as a “see you soon” rather than a "good bye". Good byes are not my forte, because they seem so final. So, I will see you soon. I will be rooting for you and know that DFA will succeed. The years and seasons have gone by so quickly. Time surely waits for no one. As a nation and state, we find ourselves still in the m...
13 comments
Read more

What profits a Person to Gain the Whole World?

What Profits a Person to Gain the Whole World and lose his/her soul? The soul is deemed integral or essential to consciousness and personality . As I contemplate on this thought, I have to take a look in the mirror at myself. With any evaluation made, one must first perform a self assessment , which equates to self-awareness . Knowing where you stand on a particular subject or how you feel about a particular topic, first requires some soul searching and getting to know SELF . So, I ponder and pray sometimes about the direction God wants me to take; about the decisions God wants me to make; about the work God wants me to do; about the associations God wants me involved in; about the influences God wants me to have on others; about the thoughts God wants me to write; and about the people God wants me to touch; then I pick up my Bible to read and He reveals some of these things that I ponder over. Oftentimes, I may not know where to start, but He leads me to where he wants me to g...
10 comments
Read more

Don't Waste Your Time...

Don't waste your time arguing with or listening to people who are argumentative by nature. Some people will "argue with a stop sign", that's what they use to say in the old days. Just ignore the noise and focus on other things that are more important. Let the small stuff go! There are many more urgent things going on that require more attention. Let us take a look at John chapter nine. Here, Jesus heals a man who was blind at birth and the Pharisees were trying to find out every thing they could to find fault in the miraculous thing Jesus did for this man. First, the disciples asked Jesus, what sin did the man commit? John 9:1 - As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answers, 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him w...
8 comments
Read more

Love! The Greatest Commandment.

 Love  Love  Love! The Greatest Commandment. Matthew 22:34-39 (NIV) 34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”   37 Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' Love is an action word! It is more than a notion, a belief, some fantasy. It is truly seen by way of one's actions. Love causes us to sacrifice many of the our own personal agendas and follow God's agenda. His agenda is for us to love Him with all our hearts, every inch of our being and mind. When we extend a helping hand to that lady in the store who just had back surgery and is not able to pick up an item she just dropped in line, we show love . When we...
5 comments
Read more