June 16 – Guiding the Blind

“And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them.  I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.” -  Isaiah 42:16 (ESV)

There are times when things get so dark we lose our way and we are tempted to think that God is not aware of what we are going through. There are times when we do not see the path that He has set before us to walk in and we’re essentially blinded by our lack of understanding. There are times when our way in life seems to be too rough for us to sustain our walk. God gives us promises for times like that. He promises not to forsake His own. That means He will always be there. And what will He do He will guide us, turning darkness into light. He will help us make decisions we have never made before. And what about those times of difficulty because the path for our life is so rough? He will smooth them out. God’s sovereignty will be evident to all of us as He guides the blind over previously uncharted courses. Even the spiritually blind can be made to see the way because of what God does for them in opening their eyes to see.

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May 30 – The Pursuit of Joy

“You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”  - Psalm 16:11 (NASB)

Whoever said that being a believer in God is a dreary sad life? It is not. In this Psalm King David testifies to the truth that our God makes known to us our life path.  Where God is, we find the fullness of joy - that is our promise.  In God’s right hand is pleasure. But in this life of sin and pain, joy and faith are besieged. Paul says to Timothy, “Fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Timothy 6:12). It is so with joy as well. We must work for it and fight for it. It’s available in abundance but we must press forward to lay hold of it. Paul said to the Corinthians, “We work with you for your joy” (2 Corinthians 1:24). Here are five strategies* for laying hold of joy. 

1. Understand that authentic joy in God is a gift. 
2. Comprehend that joy must be fought for relentlessly. Don’t let the paradox of these first two points distract you.  
3. Attack all known sin in your life, by the power of the Holy Spirit. 
4. Learn the secret of how to fight like a justified sinner repelling piggish guilt. 
5. Realize that the battle is primarily a fight to see God for who He is.

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*Fifteen strategies on How to Fight for Joy

March 15 – Only One Right Way

“For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.”  -Psalm 1:6  (NLT)

This is a David song.  It brings us comparative promises summed up in its last verse.  The psalm compares the consequences of following the path of wicked council and scoffers against the blessings and rewards of godly living.  There is solid and provocative truth here.  Believe and be counted among the assembly of the righteous or do not believe and perish.  Those who are on the path which leads to destruction will be destroyed.  All have the opportunity to turn off the way of the wicked and follow, by faith, the way of the righteous.  It is our Lord who knows the way of the righteous and it is He who watches over the path of the godly.  That is a promise that we have from God.  It’s like we have an advance team making sure the pitfalls are being taken care of.  The path of the righteous or godly is not the way of the sinners. Seated in the assembly of the righteous is not a seat among the scoffers.  With the Lord watching over our path, need no council from the wicked. When we choose God’s path He becomes our path maker and wise council.  

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November 1 – No Swerving Necessary

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”  Hebrews 10:23 (NIV)

These words challenge us to persist in our confidence in our God.  Notice the word “unswervingly.” Imagine we are in a vehicle and as we travel down the road we begin to notice things off the road that capture our attention maybe even cause us to worry or fear.  We begin to swerve to the right and then to the left because we have taken our eyes off our path.  In front our road is clearly marked but our attention is on things off to the sides of the road.  “Unswervingly” means without wavering, that there is not the slightest sign of wavering when we think of what God has promised.  We do not entertain the slightest hesitation about believing what God has said.  The basis for this kind of faith and hope is in the unquestioned faithfulness of God.  We can be unswerving because God is unswerving. He will keep His promises so let us hold on to that fact, and  keep our eyes on the path God has made straight for us.  If we know He is faithful we can be tenacious, holding firmly to His promises.

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October 14 – Not To the Right or the Left

“Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.  Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil.”  -Proverbs 4:25-27   (NASB)

Don't we who follow Jesus Christ because He is our Lord and Savior want our ways established in His Word and Truth?  Do we not want to avoid falling for the attractions of evil things?  Today's promises tell us just how we should go about accomplishing that objective.  Actually it is accomplished by he grace of God who does it for us if we keep our eyes fixed on Him and His Word.  We keep His Word in our heart/mind and we fix our gaze straight ahead in front of us.  If we do this and keep our eyes on the path where our feet are walking, God establishes us and our habits and behaviors.  We refuse to turn to the right or to the left for that is where the distractions and attractions for an ungodly life are.  When we intentionally resist temptation and turn away from evil, God's ways become our ways and we bless God as He more abundantly blesses us.  

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August 27 – Lighting Our Way

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”  Psalm 119:105 – (NIV)

This verse reminds us that as we live our lives as believers in the Lord we are on our way toward eternity. It speaks of our lives as if we are walking every day and we need help from God to make our way toward the destination which our God has set before us.  Yes, our activities should bring us closer and closer to God's plans for our eternal destination.  God helps us in more than one way but one very important help is providing a light for our path through His Word.  It is from the Bible that we receive the wisdom and guidance we need to progress in our walk with God.  God leads us through His teaching in the Bible and when we find ourselves in a dark place we do not need to think we are lost because God's Word is a lamp for our feed.  

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March 7 – Know. Teach. Lead. Wait.

“Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.”  Psalm 25:4-5  (ESV)

One of the wonderful promises we have from our God is the promise that He will lead us on the path of life that He has designed for us.  Another verse in the Book of Proverbs that we looked at recently tells us to not trust our own understanding only but to acknowledge God in all our ways.  He promises to make our path straight and clear.  Our verse today is a prayer asking God to fulfill his promises by making known what His ways are and teaching us the right path – the straight path He has made for us.  Yes, our loving Lord is ready to lead us along that path in His truth.  He is eager to teach us how we should then live for our best benefit and for His own honor and glory.  And why should this matter to us?  Why should this path be the one we seek?  Because our salvation comes from the path-maker.  The psalmist ask the God of his salvation to make known, to teach the way, to lead in God's truth, and to teach that truth.  After asking for this, we wait.  We wait all day, and every day.

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December 3 – Shine the Light

“...because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness  and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”  Luke 1:78-79 (NIV)

Some of us are beginning to see Christmas lights around town and in our homes.*  We're beginning to hear Christmas music too. So is it too early to think about the real meaning of Christmas?  Actually the Christmas story began long before Jesus was born. We remember that John the Baptist was born 3 months before the birth of Jesus.  When John was born, his father regained the ability to speak and spoke these prophetic words about Jesus who was soon to be born.  Those who have believed and in faith have accepted the offer of salvation from Jesus Christ have seen the Light that Jesus came to bring.  We obediently walk in the Light and in the path of peace because of what Jesus did at the end of his life on earth.  He died in our place to satisfy the demand for our sin and He rose from the grave to give us a new life if we in faith believing turn to Him.  He is the Light of the World, the Lord of Peace and what we have comes to us because He promised.  

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* Editor's Note:   Christmas traditions and observations differ across the world.  Not every country has the same traditions as North America and some countries do not observe any holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.  

The commercialization of the Christmas season has changed in the 24 years since this was written by Richard Anderson.   Today it is common for the lights of Christmas and Christmas music to begin a good amount before Thanksgiving Week.  Christmastime is now Holiday time in the commercial world and  it begins in October in some places.  

September 12 – Go, Say, Think

“You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.  Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all.” Psalm 139:3-4 (NASB)

We do need to remember often how great our God is and how involved He is in the details of our lives from the very beginning of our being.  David says much about this in Psalm 139.  Today's verses show us what David had learned about God's involvement.  Knowledge and awareness of us is complete.  God knows instantly and even more than that, He knows before we think, before we speak, and before we act.  He knows were we go when we go and where we are when we're in one place not moving about.  He takes intimate interest in all we do.  He not only hears all we say, he knows our thoughts that form what our speaking is going to be about.  Unlike a magician's magic trick of pretending to read minds, God reads our thoughts perfectly.  So let's watch our movements today, and watch our words when we speak, and especially watch our thoughts that they may be pleasing to Him. 

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September 16 – Always Watching Over

“When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who watch over my way. In the path where I walk people have hidden a snare for me.” Psalm 142:3 (NIV)

A good number of the Psalms that were written by King David were written while he was on the run, being hunted or hiding from those pursuing him. Our promise today come from a psalm written while David was hiding in the cave of Adullam. It was his stronghold hideout when King Saul was out to kill him.  God knew where David was and He knew how David felt. He is also watching over us, His followers today. He knows more about us than the people we are living with because He knows even the feelings which we don't always express openly to others.  Now it may be that your spirit is not faint within you today. But there are times and there will be days when we need to remember this promise. Our God is always watching over us and ready to help us when we turn to Him. 

May 25 – Eternal Pleasures

“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalm 16:11 (NIV)

Our verse today, written by the psalmist David, is his expression of praise to God. The book of Psalms has been given to us because what the psalmists experienced can be a part of our life these many centuries later. Our promise is in the words of our verse which can become an expression of our feelings today. God has shown us the path of life. It is a path that we walk here on earth and it leads to life eternal. This path is made and directed for us by God and it leads to a life filled with joy in God's presence. It also leads us to pleasures that will be ours forever – eternal pleasures at God's right hand. That is a promise for our life both now and for when we are with God in heaven.  It is a great truth that we can trust in today because it has been promised to us. 

June 16

“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” Isaiah 42:16 (NIV)

There are times when things get dark and we are tempted to think that God is not aware of what we are going through. There are times when we do not see the path that we should walk in and are blinded by our lack of understanding and we cry out for help from the Lord. God gives us a promise for times like that. He promises not to forsake His own. That means He will always be there. And what will He do He will guide us, turning darkness into light. He will help us make decisions we have never made before. And what about those times of difficulty? He will smooth them out.

February 24

“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 (NIV)

This is a picture of someone walking on a path noticing another path off to the right or to the left and thinking of turning off. Then from behind comes a voice warning not to turn aside but to keep right on. Is not that how God’s Holy Spirit speaks to us encouraging us to keep on the right road? We do not see him but we hear His voice. I am so glad our God is interested in every step we take as His children. I’m glad He warns us when we are tempted to turn aside. Let us listen for His voice.