Jul 16, 2021
In the podcast you will learn:
I was going to do a podcast on finding your purpose, but I want to first go over shifting your mindset to the “narrow path” because in order to walk in your purpose you need to first understand what it means to walk the narrow path because you have a choice to make.
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” - Matthew 7:13-14 NIV
What is the road that leads to life? The road to eternity.
What is the road that leads to destruction? The popular road or the “worldly road.”
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2:15-17 NIV
We are trading temporary treasures for eternal rewards. I want the mansion but I will not focus on dwelling on the mansion. Instead, as a God-fearing Christian, I will choose to dwell on bearing fruit here in this world so that I may reap the rewards in heaven. By shifting my focus, I encounter joy along the way.
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Colossians 3:1-2 NIV
What if you are not a God-fearing Christian?
It's time to take a step of faith. Start knocking on God’s door and see how your heart responds. The Bible says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” – Psalm 34:8
As we change our perspective to eternity our worldly desires will lesson. As long as we are still wrapped up in worldly things, partying all the time, cursing all the time, etc., we are not able to see past to the other side. We are blindly led. Like sheep to the slaughter.
The road that leads to life is the narrow path. The more I live, the shorter life gets. I don't know about you, but I'm striving to get it right. I get tired of messing up. It's exhausting. Almost as exhausting as trying to get it right all the time. With Christ though I don’t have to get it right all the time and I have the Holy Spirit to remind me that I don’t want to live in my sin. As long as I have Christ I have the fuel to keep going and I will encounter resistance along the way because of the devil’s need to kill, steal, and destroy. The more I come to know God, the more I’m prepared for battle.
The narrow path is NOT the path of least resistance.
Instead, it is filled with many walks through the valley. Ye though I walk THROUGH the valley of shadow and death. This is something pastors often say at a funeral, but we are doing the walking NOW. Our time to fear no evil is now.
…3He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name. 4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.… We must remember we are walking THROUGH and not to an end." - Psalm 23: 3-5
However, if you choose to take the popular path, the path of least resistance you may not experience as many roadblocks along the way, but what happens when you have no choice but to stop? You are not prepared to deal with it! You are not conditioned. You have been coasting along with the crowd because it’s comfortable. But when the end has come and there is nowhere to run you're in shock.
What we need to do is evaluate the path we are walking. Is it a path that will lead to eternity or a path that leads to destruction?
We have a choice. How we’ve been conditioned will help us make a choice. High schoolers are often bombarded with temptations. If the teenager has not been conditioned on right and wrong or has been constantly bombarded with family issues they have a less likely chance of making the right choices.
Jesus chose the narrow path. We would be wise to study the ways of Jesus so that we know how to handle the world. Jesus is our prime example. Not the world.
Get your mindset on being a warrior. Warriors are conditioned and STRENGTHENED for battle. Warriors have much resistance, but they choose to fight. Warriors are also aware of the cause they are fighting for.
You must become aware of what you are willing to fight for. Are you willing to fight for your health? Are you willing to fight for your wayward child? Your freedom? Recognize that this will not be an easy path. Anything worth fighting for will not be easy but it will be worth it.
Jesus fought for you and me and it was definitely not easy. The Bible says that he wept tears of blood concerning his soon-to-be death. Luke 22:44 says, "And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground." The result was worth it. The key though was WHO he was fighting for. He was fighting for us!!! HE had a reasonable cause and He thought we were worthy. It's time for you and me to believe that we are worthy and fight for our cause even when the world is against us.
Whatever it is you are fighting for if we put God at the forefront our cause is ALWAYS worth it because when we do things God's way there is purpose and meaning because we are designed that way. How do we know what our purpose is then? The road to get there is narrow and the path through the valley is where we learn about ourselves. We learn of the wonderful people that we were meant to be and once we begin to rise up out of the valley we discover the why and that on the other side of heaven there will never be an end, but an ongoing journey!