Episode 68
Getting Your Life on a Great Path
August 8th, 2021
39 mins 36 secs
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About this Episode
Proverbs 3:5, 6 NIV
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
A Life Question: Are you on a path that is leading to God’s best for you?
Proverbs 3:1-6 NIV
My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, 2 for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. 3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.
Proverbs 3:6b NIV
… and he will make your paths straight.
Matthew 7:13, 14 NIV
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Genesis 12:1a & 2 NIV
The Lord had said to Abram, . . . 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Wisdom Lesson:
Wisdom is knowing the best life possible is the life lived on the path designed by God.
Three Practices for the Journey to a Great Life
Practice #1
Develop a Deep ________________________ in the Lord.
Proverbs 3:5 NIV
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
Proverbs 3:1 NIV
My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart
Proverbs 3:3 NIV
Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.
Genesis 12:1-5 NIV
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out . . .
Wisdom Lesson:
Wisdom is knowing that where you want to be may require you to move from where you are! Trust God on the journey.
Practice #2
Determine to ________________________ in a Way ____________ to God’s Way.
Proverbs 3:5b NIV
and lean not on your own understanding. . .
Proverbs 14:12 NIV & Proverbs 16:25 NIV
There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.
Ephesians 6:10-14 NIV
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then. .
Genesis 16:1-3 NIV
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
Wisdom Lesson:
When your way and God’s way are contrary its always wiser to take God’s way.
Practice #3
Acknowledge that _________is ______Over ______, _________.
Proverbs 3:6a NASB
In all your ways acknowledge Him. . .
Proverbs 3:6a NIV
. . . in all your ways submit to him
Luke 22:42 NIV
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
Genesis 22:1, 2 NIV
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” 2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
Wisdom Lesson:
Acknowledging God is always best even when his best leads to sacrifice and submission.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS, THOUGHTS and THINGS TO PONDER
For your personal discipleship, discussion with family, your LIFE HACK Group, or a watch party
- Quick Review
a. Ask yourself: Was there a particular point or passage of Scripture that challenged, confused, or caught your attention?
- What stood out to you in the message?
Are you on a path that is leading to God’s best for you?
In your everyday life, are you living on the path that God has designed for you?
Are there specific areas of your life that you know you have taken a detour off God’s path?
a. What are those areas?
Practice #1 -- Develop a Deep Heart Trust in the Lord.
In what areas of your life do you have difficulty trusting God?
How do you think you can develop that practice of Heart Trust?
Are there things you are doing that diminish your trust in God?
Practice #2 -- Determine to Not Even Lean in a Way Contrary to God’s Way
Where are you most apt to go your way over God’s way?
Choosing your way over God’s way is evidence of a lack of trust in God. In the ways mentioned in question 8, why do you think you do not trust God?
What can you do to learn to “stand firm” instead of “leaning on your own understanding?”
Practice #3 -- Acknowledge that God is God Over Everything, Always
Do you agree with the idea that God should be God over everything, always?
In the areas where you tend to be your own god, your areas of disobedience, will you prayerfully place them and you on “an altar” declaring your willingness to acknowledge, submit and obey? Take a moment and, if possible, kneel or lay prostrate before Him and make that declaration. Submit your questions regarding this message or series to hope@ghope.org
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