SCRIPTURE:

MATTHEW 6:6-14 “THE LORD’S PRAYER – OUR GUIDE ON LIFE’S JOURNEY”
ACTS 1:4-8 “LIFE’S JOURNEY’S ROAD STOPS”
The Lord’s Prayer was given by Christ to show us how God wants us to pray. We acknowledge:
1. Who He is, so we are reminded He has more than sufficient power and authority to help us.
2. We are reminded also that He is all powerful and always will be all powerful so to follow Him is to be on winning side both in heaven and also here on earth. His Will will ultimately be done on earth as surely as it already is being done in heaven.
3. He gives us each day’s provision and meets each day’s needs and offers guidance along each day’s journey if we ask and receive that guidance by obediently putting our hand in His. But we always must invite Him. We also are reminded in this prayer that He knows both what we need now and what we will need and prepares for that. Yet the Israelites in the wilderness learned the manna came sufficient for each day, but not for tomorrow until tomorrow came. They had to trust tomorrow’s provision would come tomorrow, not today.
4. Our daily journey included sin and failures needing His forgiveness, just as others will continue to sin against us needing our forgiveness too. We need to see both and realize importance of being both forgiving as much as we continually need to seek His forgiveness.
5. Not only are we weak and vulnerable, but we also have an enemy passionately trying to destroy us by tempting and drawing us into sin. This prayer not only reminds us of that but also reminds us how much we need to be in close relationship with Him in order to have and use His shield in avoiding and defeating daily temptations. We are vulnerable when we neglect praying daily because we take our eyes and minds off Him and remove our hands from His. Yes we can and should go about our day’s tasks and work and obligations mindful of His presence next to us, as a child explored with his hand in his dad’s hand.
Heaven is our destination and the goal – the prize we hope for at life’s end, but what about the journey we are on until that time comes?
I would encourage you review previous blog entry I did on Ruth. Elimelech and Naomi decided to escape God’s judgment of drought to Moab without seeking God’s guidance first. To stay brought risk of starvation and drought hadn’t hit Moab at that time. Consequence over next 10 years was life of Elimelech and both their sons as well as wealth they had accumulated to that point. But when Naomi decided to return home and Ruth, one of her widowed daughters-in-law, decided to follow Her and embrace her God too, God began to open His Grace and Mercy to both her and to Ruth, as we discover in the book of Ruth. Result was Ruth becoming the wife of Boaz and eventually great-grandmother of King David and ultimately to Christ Himself. Yet she was a pagan woman who otherwise would have never known God or made that significant an impact on history. She did nothing more than accept God’s mercy and obey Him each day – living a life that honored him – raising her son and grandson and being a blessing in her town each day. Her journey led her on a path God used for eternal good.
Some other examples in scripture:
1. Abraham and Sarah both agreeing to have a son thru Hagar – a sin/mistake with consequence of Ishmael’s line (Arabs – Muslims) being in constant conflict with Hebrews / Jews as well as with Christians. Yet, when they finally yielded to Him, the intended line of Isaac was established.
2. Daniel’s life long faithfulness even during decades of being captive in Babylon, resulted in salvation of King Nebuchadnezzar, countless fellow Hebrews who had turned from God, and likely countless pagan Babylonians all influenced by Daniel’s faithfulness. Then their is the influence and impact Daniel has had over the centuries through scripture let along through the revelations / prophecies God revealed to them and us through Him. His life’s journey made an eternal impact that is still unfolding today.
3. Joseph’s life journey likewise had an amazing impact on his family and on Egypt as well as on subsequent generations through his story in scripture.
4. How about Noah or Job or Moses or Joshua or Hannah or Samuel or David or, yes Ruth, or Elijah or Jeremiah or Isaiah or Esther or ….
5. How about some New Testament examples like Jesus’ mother, Mary, or Elizabeth or Peter or Paul or Dorcas or …. The list goes on and on. Common people doing mostly common things in common ways that God used to impact others in uncommon ways.
If you think these were uncommon people or had uncommon gifts or abilities, consider those who greatly impacted you. How about that Christian mother or father or grandparent or aunt or friend or brother that lived and acted in a way that greatly impacted you. Did they know the impact they would have or difference they would make? Did they realize good they would do or how long it would last?
Well, LIFE’S JOURNEY IS JUST AS IMPORTANT TO GOD AS THE DESTINATION WE REACH! YES, AND IT SHOULD BE JUST AS IMPORTANT TO YOU AND ME TOO… You see, Christ knew that the Cross would be the price of creating us, but He created us anyway!! He could have destroyed us and started over. Read Exodus 24 and then Exodus 32. God was going to wipe out the rebellious sinful Israelites and start over fresh with a new line starting with Moses. But Moses persuaded God to give them opportunity to repent, which God willingly did (Exodus 32:11-14). What difference did Moses’ argument make to the lives and destiny of those people and their descendents?
So, how about you and me? How important is our life’s journey and how do the choices we make and things we do impact us for eternity and how do they impact others? Here are some ways we can judge:
1. How our lives have impacted our spouses, our children (who wouldn’t have been born without us), our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers, and our church family? Compare our life’s example to example of our parents or grandparents. I am not just talking about response we’ve seen but by how Christ like our example has been as compared to example our parents or grandparents lived and showed (or others who greatly impacted us).
2. Let’s keep in mind our effectiveness should not be judged entirely by fruit we see in lives of others (because it might still need to be played out – God is still working), but also by how Chist like our example has been. Well, none of us have given that good an example, so we also need to see just how obedient we have been too… Ok, we’ve fallen short there too, right?
3. Well, then we need to let the examples of scripture and examples of our family ancestors show us how to live the remaining days and years God hopefully will grace us with. Let’s use them wisely by following the path He guides us on. A path that may be narrow at times, with potholes and ruts in places, a path with some steep hills at time and hard to walk (or climb) at times. But nonetheless, the path to eternal life and the path that just might help someone else to take as well.
WE ARE ON A JOURNEY TO ETERNAL LIFE. MAKE SURE TO TAKE YOUR GPS (God’s Positioning System) TO MAKE SURE YOUR CHOICES KEEP YOU ON THE RIGHT PATH. His GPS includes His Word (Holy Bible), His cell phone (PRAYER), His abiding presence (abiding Holy Spirit), and sometimes a well place friend along the way who might just need us as much as we need him/her. So make sure to take time to stop when His GPS says stop. Jesus was often stopped and distracted. He wasn’t too busy for little children or women who touched his robe for healing or for a little girl or a friend who was sick or even died. We must not be too busy to stop and lend a listening hear or a helping hand to a friend or neighbor either. Not even for those not so kind to us either….
Don McDaniel
dmcdaniel12@verizon.net