LED BY THE SPIRIT

"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." (Romans 8:12-17)

Devotion 3 of 20

A MAN'S STEPS -- ORDERED BY THE LORD

If you can see things from the higher point of view, God's direction becomes apparent. "A man's steps are ordered by the LORD; how then can man understand his way?" (Prov 20:24, RSV). David adds additional perspective to the matter. "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way" (Psa 37:23). The latter part of this verse can mean that God delights in the way of a person whose steps are ordered by Him -- or, that the person whose steps are ordered by the Lord takes great delight in the path in which he is led. Both are gloriously true!

Our steps have been made firm, or "ordered," when we are able to navigate through life without being snared by the devices of Satan. If we are going to make it safely to the haven of ultimate rest, we will have to avoid the delusions of the devil. How are we able to accomplish this? Some imagine that if enough information is digested by our minds, we will be able to figure it all out. The personal history of our lives should once and for all establish the foolishness of this notion. If we could be saved and directed by information alone, Israel would have been the leader of the human race. Above all nations--even in an exclusive way--it was given information about God, morality, interpersonal relationships, and the ages to come. They were led out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and into Canaan. Yet, they were noted for their rebellion and hard-heartedness.

Jeremiah speaks for every informed soul when he says, "O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (Jer 10:23). Humanity, redeemed or not, cannot operate independently of God. Salvation does not involve independence from the Lord, but identity with Him. In spite of this, there are Deistic tendencies in much of the theology of our day. Deism supposes that God institutes necessary things--whether the world or circumstance--and then withdraws from the situation. If the "steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord," let us put behind us any thought of directing our own path; i.e., determining our own destiny independently of Divine influence.

Many "conservative" believers have embraced the lie that God no longer directs the steps of a good man. There is not, however, the slightest hint in all of Scripture that such a state is ever reached by any one in this world. Those who believe they can direct their own steps and plot their own course have been blinded by the god of this world. They are in jeopardy, for they have excluded God, not only from His creation, but from His great salvation. Such are foolish in every possible sense of the world.

PRAYER POINT: Father, in Jesus' name, deliver me from any notion that I am capable of directing my own steps, and planning my own life.

-- TOMORROW: SOME WAYS ONLY SEEM RIGHT --