STUDIES FROM BRETHREN IN CHRIST

6/24/2018 ~ The Way

✓   TheWayPM1.mp3 (27m 10s)   TheWay.pptx Darkness excludes all that is real. There is the way of God which calls for all sinners to return. Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way. ~ Psalms 25:8 God has given His truth for us to know. ... "I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go. ~ Isaiah 48:17 The Lord has given this Holy knowledge for our spiritual recovery. I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths. ~ Proverbs 4:11 So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness. ~ Proverbs 2:20 His knowledge remains. "Now therefore, listen to me, my children, For blessed are those who keep my ways." ~ Proverbs 8:32 ... Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the LORD! ~ Psalms 119:1 His call includes warnings not to fall away from His truth. Make me understand the way of Your precepts; So shall I meditate on Your wondrous works. ~ Psalms 119:27 ... Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, And I shall keep it to the end. ~ Psalms 119:33 To remain in His truth, it must be a soul’s desire to endure temptations and pursue Him and His ways. ... Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You. ~ Psalms 143:8 It is a choice to hear His word. Remove from me the way of lying, And grant me Your law graciously. ~ Psalms 119:29 Many lie ignoring His ways preferring the ways of man. "... love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul." ~ Joshua 22:5 Dedication to God reveals the nature of a soul. For the commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; Reproofs of instruction are the way of life, ... ~ Proverbs 6:23 He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, But he who refuses correction goes astray. ~ Proverbs 10:17 His word can be harsh for sinners reluctant to turn to His ways. Hear, my son, and be wise; And guide your heart in the way. ~ Proverbs 23:19 I have chosen the way of truth; Your judgments I have laid before me. ~ Psalms 119:30 Wisdom in truth brings one to the feet of God. "... wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." ~ Matthew 7:13-14 One needs to remain diligent as it is a matter of life over death. ... "Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. ..." ~ Jeremiah 6:16 His knowledge has endured throughout the generations relieving spiritual deprivation. Yet they say to God, 'Depart from us, For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.' ~ Job 21:14 The stubborn of heart refuse to know of His ways. One chooses the light or remains in the darkness. My son, do not walk in the way with them, Keep your foot from their path; For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood. ~ Proverbs 1:15-16 Warnings run all through the Bible to abstain from the ways of the wicked. Do not enter the path of the wicked, And do not walk in the way of evil. ~ Proverbs 4:14 It is a command to stay away from the evil ways as expressed in His word. O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps. ~ Jeremiah 10:23 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. ~ Proverbs 14:12 In all the expressions of God, He declares guidance over the miscalculations of man. "... 'Thus says the LORD: "Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death." ' " ~ Jeremiah 21:8 God has given each of us the blessing of freedom and it is then up to us to choose life over death. His plan of salvation has been once delivered for those choosing life over death. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish. ~ Psalms 1:6 In the way of righteousness is life, And in its pathway there is no death. ~ Proverbs 12:28 Nothing is hidden from the Lord and judgment will be based upon the truth of His given word. For when a few years are finished, I shall go the way of no return. ~ Job 16:22 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, ... ~ Hebrews 9:27 Death into life is inevitable for all mortal. Our actions and relations are what the Lord closely watches. The vapor of life approaches us all with one final call. Our response declares who we will become, in Him or not. He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, But he who is careless of his ways will die. ~ Proverbs 19:16 Harsh discipline is for him who forsakes the way, And he who hates correction will die. ~ Proverbs 15:10 There is consequences for those that ignore or turn from His ways and it is the way of death. Many are irritated by the mere mention they may need godly improvement. Patience is possessed by those that thirst for His ways. And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. ~ Psalms 139:24 Repentance is acknowledging the sin inside oneself and responding to His call. He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints. ~ Proverbs 2:8 ... by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, ... ~ Hebrews 10:20 God protects those that love Him in ways not tangible but inherently internal such as peace of mind and strength of heart. The Path Leads / Directs / All Knowing ↓ Sinners ⭩        ⭨ Death or Life WIDE / Death Lying Refuses Correction         Refusal to be Good         Do not desire God Limited Time NARROW / Life Wisdom / Right / Guidance Instruction / Understanding Goodness / Righteousness Thankful Trusting Praise     Just Protection for saints     Judgment ⭩                  ⭨ Harsh Discipline Keeps to His ways Wisdom incorporates knowledgeable obedience ● The LORD teaches sinners in the way they should go ● Call to walk in the way of goodness in righteousness ● Blessed are those who keep God’s ways ● Hearing and trusting God allows one to know the way ● God calls one in the way not to practice lying ● Serve God with all your heart and with all your soul ● Reproofs of instruction are the way of life ● Keeping instruction is in the way of life ● Narrow the gate & difficult the way leading to life ● Wicked do not desire the knowledge of God’s ways ● All have a choice in the way of life or the way of death ● One careless of his ways & hates correction will die ● God preserves the way of His saints The Way to life is in God. Darkness is desperate to find anything.   TheWayAM2.mp3 (35m 19s) There is only one way and God controls what is all. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But he who heeds counsel is wise. ~ Proverbs 12:15 The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know what makes them stumble. ~ Proverbs 4:19 Lack of understanding, or the desire for it, more often runs on impulse. The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray. ~ Proverbs 12:26 Do not be deceived: "Evil company corrupts good habits." ~ 1st Corinthians 15:33 Many choose company and associations that lead them further in to sin. The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, But He loves him who follows righteousness. ~ Proverbs 15:9 God is calling souls to be righteous and it is His test to see if one will respond to His call or fall in the rejection of His Holy ways. Apply your heart to instruction, And give your ears to words of knowledge. ~ Proverbs 23:12 To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things, ... ~ Proverbs 2:12 One way to insure a steadfast faith is to remain immersed in His word. The way of the lazy man is like a hedge of thorns, But the way of the upright is a highway. ~ Proverbs 15:19 It takes courage and fortitude to remain upright in His ways. A man who wanders from the way of understanding Will rest in the assembly of the dead. ~ Proverbs 21:16 Carelessness leads to death and for all those that choose to ignore the higher morals given by God. An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, And he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked. ~ Proverbs 29:27 Evil despises good as good despises evil. "Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair.' Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair?" ~ Ezekiel 18:25 Justice originates within God    The Way of the Lord = Fair                              Our ways = Not Fair  No amount of blaming God can rectify the certain atrocities of man against man. "... 'As I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. ...'" ~ Ezekiel 33:11 God does not desire wickedness only that it turn back to His goodness and ways of the Holy Spirit. Character declares destiny ALMIGHTY GOD        ⭧ ⭨        Not Fair Fool Wicked / Darkness Speaks perversely          Lazy / Wanders away         Fair Heeds counsel Chooses friends wisely    Applies ♥ to words of knowledge    Appalled by unrighteousness One Chooses to be with God or not "But you have departed from the way; You have caused many to stumble at the law. ... ~ Malachi 2:8 Departing from the Lord perverts justice and all that is Holy. "Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, ..." ~ Malachi 3:1 God long announced He had a plan of salvation to those who would desire hearing Him. "... spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.'" ~ Matthew 3:3 Scripture proclaims the fulfillment of the messenger proclaiming the coming of the Lord through John the Baptist. ... "For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; ..." ~ Matthew 21:32 Even with the coming of Christ, still there are those in denial rejecting His coming. "To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace." ~ Luke 1:79 Christ’s calling is to bring us back to God. ... "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." ~ John 14:5-6 It is through Jesus that we see the light of God in the ways of His truth. ... so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. ~ Acts 9:2 As the way of Jesus was known about in the first century, persecution came to those initial believers. ... "These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation." ~ Acts 16:17 Many original Christians were relentlessly pursued. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. ~ Acts 18:25 There is the way of God and in whole it is the truth. To only embrace part, or to practice that which has past, is not in the call in Christ. ... Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. ~ Acts 18:26 Faithful Christians are called to clarify the way of Christ as it has come to be. And about that time there arose a great commotion about the Way. ~ Acts 19:23 "And the way of peace they have not known." ~ Romans 3:17 For man, his quest for power, disavows the message Christ has brought to the world. Augmentative posturing defeats His call for unity. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. ~ 2nd Peter 2:2 Many have no intension of returning to God or finding out His ways. ... forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. ~ 2nd Peter 2:15 There are those who would worship evil in their lust for more. ... it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. ~ 2nd Peter 2:21 Having the knowledge of God and turning from it seeds a deeper condemnation, for no excuse may be had. Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, ... ~ 1st Peter 1:13-16 To remain steadfast to the end receives the prize of eternal life. One needs to take up the sword of truth that cuts through the air. Dreams are the maps that write upon our hearts. All dream for a better way and God delivers this in His hope for our return to Him. God's Plan Light upon shadow of death   ↘                                   Peace                             Ignorance Partial knowledge Commotions Unrest Destructive ways      Forsake the right way      Jesus Christ The way of God Holy Commandment     Sober hope upon grace      Obedient self-control Holiness In God is the Light of Love God Calls for all to Come to Him ● The way of the wicked is like darkness ● The way of the wicked can lead the righteous astray ● The way of the wicked is an abomination to God ● Leaving the way of understanding results in death ● Claims of God not fair, but, His is the way of fairness ● GOD / no pleasure / death of wicked / stop evil ways ● John came/the way of righteousness - to show peace ● Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life ● The way of / Most High God - is the way of salvation ● Opinions of men create commotion about the Way ● Many followed destructive ways void of / way of truth ● Forsaking right way for the love of unrighteousness ● Be as obedient children holy in all your conduct In life we all bear the weights of living; sometimes feathers of laughter while at other times, boulders of troubles. These are the ways of mortality. Pleading hearts indicate an endurance in suffering. Not all grasp clear answers able to heal the crying humble or to pacify the screaming proud. Unity is where no division causes twisting hearts to fall from the surety of knowing. Knowledge in truth remains declaring love delivers one from what is unspeakable or unforgettable. Stubborn cowards roam where caustic winds may blow torn sails without rising spouts of faith. The way to peace comes in believing in more than one is and looking to that which is greater. Following God delivers a soul. Darkness has a sinking emptiness.