Pathways Press.com

Written by Courtney Fallick, a contemporary writer.

Have you ever had a moment where everything seemed to fall apart at once? A door slammed shut, a relationship shifted, your plans unraveled—or maybe something small but strangely persistent kept tugging at your heart. Sometimes, in the middle of chaos or quiet, we wonder: Is God trying to get my attention? … If you’ve felt like you’re in a season of disruption or confusion, I want to encourage you to pause and ask: “Lord, what are you trying to show me?” God is not distant or indifferent. He sees you, He’s speaking—and He just might be using this moment to draw you closer. If you’re sensing that God might be trying to get your attention—don’t ignore that nudge. Whether it’s through a storm or a whisper, His pursuit is always fueled by love. He doesn’t chase us to shame us—He calls us to restore us. Take a moment today to lean in, listen, and respond. Ask Him what He wants to show you, and trust that whatever He reveals is meant to bring you closer to His heart. He’s not done with your story yet! Keep walking with the King.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. [James 1:2-3]

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Written by Jennifer Slattery, a contemporary writer and speaker.

We experience the most peace in our souls and relationships when we learn to deal with our emotions before we begin to devalue the other person. That was the message Jesus conveyed when He warned us against calling others worthless (raca in the original Greek) or a fool. May we, God’s beloved, redeemed and empowered children, never allow our anger to become so strong and unmitigated that we become unable to see the other person’s value as a human being created in the image of God.  I don’t mean to suggest this is easy. In fact, there are times when doing so will feel excruciatingly hard, if not impossible…When we remember that He sees our pain, every injustice we experience, and promises to reward our every obedient act, we feel less compelled to vindicate ourselves. We’re better able to trust Him to work all things for our good and His glory, and often, He does His most beautiful work in those very relationships we otherwise might have destroyed.  Because our God is for us—for our joy, peace, and relational fulfilment. 

Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. [Matthew 5:23-24]

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Written by J. R. Miller (1840-1912), an author, pastor, and Editorial Superintendent of the Presbyterian Board of Publication.

There is a fable about the way the birds got their wings at the beginning. They were first made without wings. Then God made the wings and put them down before the wingless birds and said to them, “Come, take up these burdens and bear them.” The birds had lovely plumage and sweet voices; they could sing, and their feathers gleamed in the sunshine, but they could not soar in the air. They hesitated at first when bidden to take up the burdens that lay at their feet, but soon they obeyed, and taking up the wings in their beaks, laid them on their shoulders to carry them. For a little while the load seemed heavy and hard to bear, but presently, as they went on carrying the burdens, folding them over their hearts, the wings grew fast to their little bodies, and soon they discovered how to use them, and were lifted by them up into the air — the weights became wings. It is a parable. We are the wingless birds, and our duties and tasks are the pinions God has made to lift us up and carry us heavenward. We look at our burdens and heavy loads, and shrink from them; but as we lift them and bind them about our hearts, they become wings, and on them we rise and soar toward God. There is no burden which, if we lift it cheerfully and bear it with love in our hearts, will not become a blessing to us. God means our tasks to be our helpers; to refuse to bend our shoulders to receive a load, is to decline a new opportunity for growth.

They shall mount up with wings as eagles [Isaiah 40:31]

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Written by John Calvin (1509-1564), a French theologian, pastor, and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation.

If we, then, are not our own but the Lord’s, it is clear what error we must flee, and whither we must direct all the acts of our life. We are not our own: let not our reason nor our will, therefore, sway our plans and deeds. We are not our own: let us therefore not set it as our goal to seek what is expedient for us. … We are not our own: in so far as we can, let us forget ourselves and all that is ours. Conversely, we are God’s: let us therefore live for him and die for him. We are God’s: let his wisdom and will therefore rule all our actions. We are God’s: let all the parts of our life accordingly strive toward him as our only lawful goal. O, how much has that man profited who, having been taught that he is not his own, has taken away dominion and rule from his own reason that he may yield it to God! For, as consulting our self-interest is the pestilence that most effectively leads to our destruction, so the sole haven of salvation is to be wise in nothing and to will nothing through ourselves but to follow the leading of the Lord alone.

For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. [Romans 14:7-8]

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Written by Bob Goff, a contemporary author.  This is an excerpt from his book “Catching Whimsy.”

In life, whether we are paying rent or paying a mortgage, we are still the tenants. It’s not our place; it’s God’s. If we want to move the furniture around a little, no problem. But before we start remodeling the house and repurposing what we are caretaking, we need to get permission from the owner. How do you know what you have permission to change in your life? The answer is both simple and hard. We have permission to love and forgive and engage and be obedient and to be wise and kind. We might not have permission to build fences to separate ourselves from others. We also might not have permission to build a shed and store up things God would rather have us put into play. Jesus doesn’t need pictures of Him hung on the walls. He would rather we decorate our lives and our hearts with compassion and empathy and generosity and joy and with, yes, a touch of whimsy…Love, hope, and patience are always the best kind of accents to our lives.

Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. [1 Corinthians 12:7]

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Written by Charles Spurgeon (1824-1892), an English preacher, known as “The Prince of Preachers.”

Does not the Word come like a soft shower, assuaging the fury of the flame? Yes, is it not an asbestos armor, against which the heat has no power? Let the affliction come–God has chosen me. Poverty, thou mayest stride in at my door; but God is in the house already, and He has chosen me. Sickness, thou mayest intrude; but I have a balsam ready–God has chosen me. Whatever befall me in this vale of tears, I know that He has chosen me. Fear not, Christian; Jesus is with thee. In all thy fiery trials, His presence is both thy comfort and safety. He will never leave one whom He has chosen for His own. “Fear not, for I am with thee,” is His sure word of promise to His chosen ones in “the furnace of affliction.”

I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.  [Isaiah. 48:10]

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Written by Vivian Bricker, a contemporary writer.

Have you ever felt so stressed out that you were at your breaking point? Maybe you were going through a divorce, you failed a test at college, or you simply felt anxious about the future. Did you know that it doesn’t have to be this way? If somebody told you today that you could have lasting peace, would you accept it? … The peace that Jesus has given us will never fade away nor can it be taken away. Even if everything around us is falling apart, His peace still remains. While it might take some time before you fully embrace His peace, it is already waiting for you. Go to Him today and tell Him about your feelings. All of your anxieties, worries, and fears, lay them at His feet. Jesus knows this world is full of hardships and troubles, and He is always more than happy to help us.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” [John 14:27]

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Written by George MacDonald (1824-1905), a Scottish author, poet, and minister.

To trust in spite of the look of being forsaken; to keep crying out into the vast, whence comes no returning voice, and where seems no hearing; to see the machinery of the world pauselessly grinding on as if self-moved, caring for no life, nor shifting a hair-breadth for all entreaty, and yet believe that God is awake and utterly loving; to desire nothing but what comes meant for us from His hand; to wait patiently, ready to die of hunger, fearing only lest faith should fail–such is the victory that overcometh the world, such is faith indeed.

This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.[1 John 5:4]

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Written by Ken Boa, a contemporary author and founder of Reflections Ministry.

If you are walking down a crowded sidewalk in midtown Manhattan on your way to a lunch appointment, “being seen” has relatively little value. Why? Because you don’t feel lost. If New York City is your home, you have friends there, and you are (or at least feel) secure in that environment. But if your situation in life changes—perhaps you are adrift on a disabled boat a few miles offshore in the Pacific Ocean—“being seen” may become your highest value in life. You wave frantically at every blip on the horizon or in the heavens, hoping to catch someone’s eye. Once you have caught the attention of a search plane or a passing vessel and you see it turning back in your direction, you know you are safe because you have been seen. Being seen by someone with the power to save you is the same as being saved—you know it’s only a matter of time… Perhaps you have felt emotionally shipwrecked, or lost and abandoned in a wilderness of circumstances, feelings, or conflicts. Don’t despair in those situations… God sees you. Nothing—and no one—escapes His attention. To be seen is to be found, and to be found is to be safe. God’s promise:  No matter how alone you feel, you are never out of His sight.

So she [Hagar] called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” [Genesis 16:13]

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Written by Mark Roberts, a contemporary writer.

When Jesus calls his first disciples, Simon and Andrew, then James and John, he calls them away from their work (fishing for fish) and into a new line of work (fishing for people). If we are going to follow Jesus faithfully, should we leave our jobs and take on new employment?…Though the earliest disciples of Jesus did give up their jobs to follow him, that wasn’t true of all first-century followers of Jesus… Often, indeed, most of the time, the call of Jesus does not require the leaving of our jobs. Rather, it invites us to see our work in a whole new light and to do our work for a whole new purpose. Following Jesus fills our “ordinary work” with new meaning and energy. Or, better yet, when we follow Jesus fully and faithfully, there is no “ordinary work.” …  The example of the Apostle Paul helps us realize that following Jesus does not necessarily mean we give up our careers or our occupations. Paul was a “full-time craftsman,” a leatherworker who often used his skills to make tents. Usually, therefore, we refer to Paul as a tentmaker. During most of his apostolic efforts, Paul worked long hours in his craft, using his work to support himself and as a platform for sharing the gospel. The example of Paul helps us realize that following Jesus does not necessarily mean we give up our careers or our occupations. But, if we follow Jesus faithfully, then how we live and how we work will be radically altered, even if we remain in the same jobs we had before saying “Yes” to Jesus.

As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him. [Mark 1:19-20]

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