–1 Peter 2:21 (NKJV)
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               “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way.”
                              –Psalm 37:23 (NKJV)

This is one of my favorite verses.  It brings comfort to the soul and courage to the mind.  Fear is dispelled and trust replaces it.  The NLT translates it, “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.”  The RSV, “The steps of a man are from the Lord, and he establishes him in whose way he delights.”  While the NIV translates it thusly, “The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him.”
       I used all of these translations to help us get a complete look at the verse.  First of all, it all begins with the Lord!  Our steps are from the Lord.  But whose steps?  The godly man, the good man–perhaps we could say, the righteous man.  Then I would have to ask, but who can be righteous?  Isaiah says that our righteousness is nothing but “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6).  No matter how hard we try to be good, godly, and righteous we fall short.  The chief meaning of righteousness deals with ethical conduct.  Man can do only so much, but in the end he usually ends up doing “what is right in his own eyes.”  The Law was given to help guide us along the way.
       With the writing of this Psalm, we have to assume that “good” or “godly” is according to keeping the Law.  Man in the Old Testament attempted to live a godly life which someone has said is “the quality of being right in the eyes of God; it is based upon God’s standard.”  Man always falls short of this standard, however, the Lord looks at his steps, makes them firm or sure.  He is involved in every detail of our lives, including the place where we step.  This is even more assured when we look at righteousness according to the new covenant.  God is even more involved in the ordering of our steps.  There is now the God-give quality imputed to man upon believing in Christ.”

               “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works.”  –Romans 4:5-6 (NKJV)
               “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sine is covered.  Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”  –Psalm 32:1-2 (NKJV)

Righteousness comes because of the work on the cross and it comes through faith.  When a person believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, righteousness is given to him by faith.  Now, even more than before, the steps of the “good” man are directed, are established, are ordered by the Lord.
       The words of the hymn by W. Elmo Mercer have been going through my mind.  It is what brought me these thoughts this morning.

                 “Each step I take my Savior goes before me,
                 And with His loving hand He leads the way.
                 And with each breath I whisper, ‘I adore Thee;’
                 Oh, what joy to walk with Him each day.

                         Each step I take I know that He will guide me;
                         To higher ground He ever leads me on.
                         Until some day the last step will be taken,
                         Each step I take just leads me closer home.”

                    –Zane Grey  (Robbers’ Roost)

       “For in him we live and move and exist…”  

                    –Acts 17:28 (NLT)
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How many times have I written–Life is living?  Jesus wants us to live our lives to the fullest; live it abundantly.  “I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”  (John 10:9-10, NKJV)  To live the abundant life is to live in Christ and for Christ.
       “Useful work, expanded interests, the delights of shared experience, inward spiritual resources, and a worthy purpose at life’s center–such unselfish things as these are of the very substance of a joyful and abundant life.” (H.E. Fosdick)  When we give ourselves completely to the Lord Jesus Christ we find that our horizons begin to widen.  We are not caught in trying to please ourselves, but to please others and most of all to please Jesus.  We get so caught up in our own feelings.  Depression, fear, joy, happiness, sorrow, gladness–not that they are not real but they revolve around us.  Even in our worship much of the time it seems it is how we “feel” instead of focusing on the Lord.
       I came across a little prayer, that if we would contemplate the depth of these words much of our selfish desires would flee from us.  “O God, Author of the world’s joy, Bearer of the world’s pain, make us glad that we are men and we have inherited the earth’s burden; deliver us from the luxury of cheap melancholy; and, at the heart of our trouble and sorrow, let unconquerable gladness dwell…” (Henry S. Nash)  Yes, we are in the world, we are faced with the world’s problem of sin, but as believers we are no longer of the world.  Yes, we have our own burdens, but we now have One who helps us carry them.  And here, I would say, do not selfishly hold on to your burdens; the Lord is more than willing to share the load.
       Fosdick says, “If you wish blessedness, head for service; if you wish the crown of joy, take up the cross of sacrifice; if life is to be yours, lose your life in other lives and in causes that have won your love.”  The words of Jesus ring out here, put aside self.  “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.'” (Matthew 16:24, NKJV)  Are you living life to the fullest in Jesus Christ?  I remember as a youth being challenged with the above charge.  But then, the preacher, stopped and solemnly spoke, “Many say they would die for the cause of Christ, but how many will be willing to live for Him?  “Men find it easier to die for a cause in a crisis than to live for it in ordinary hours.” (Fosdick)  They do not really believe that self-realization through self-surrender is a universal law of life.  The words of Jesus should sober us–“He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”  (John 12:25, NKJV)

                    –Major Mitchell  (Poverty Flat)

       “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.”

                    –2 Timothy 4:6 (NKJV)
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          “I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.”
                             –Romans 12:1 (Amplified)

Many people want the “abundant life,” but I wonder, do they really?  To have that abundant life is to forsake the world and the things in it, forsake yourself and pick up your cross daily to follow Jesus.  That is the only “reasonable, rational, and intelligent service and spiritual worship.”  Abundance, having whatever you want is not living an abundant life.  The having of things is not what Jesus meant.  Having more of the Spirit is to live an abundant life.  
       If the abundant life consists of “things,” then what happens when all is lost?  What happens when the storm rages and it is all washed away?  What happens when the enemy attacks and the battle is fierce and the wounds severe?  Paul understood the reality of giving his life to Christ; happiness was not having things, but knowing that he had spiritual resources within himself whether shipwrecked or in a Roman prison.
       Pascal said, “The man who lives only for himself hates nothing so much as being alone with himself.”  When days of sorrow sweep in like a whirlwind, when suffering buffets us with the winds of adversity, where will your strength lie?  If it is in “things,” if it is within yourself, then you are for sure in deep trouble.  Our lives are not our own, we are given them for a while to worship the Lord.  And what does He want?  For us to have more possession–no, but to have more of Him.  That cannot happen unless we empty ourselves of our humanistic tendencies and become rooted in Jesus, rooted and grounded in love.  “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height–to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”  (Ephesians 3:14-19, NKJV)
       To thrive in this world, get rid of the baggage that you are carrying and do not pick up any more.  Live in the fullness of Christ.  Make the sacrifice on the altar and get rid of self by being a “living, sacrifice” that is holy and “well pleasing to God.”  May the words of the hymnist, Thoro Harris, bring this truth closer to our hearts.

               “Are you trusting Jesus, all along the way?
               Does He grow more precious to your heart each day?
               Are you His disciple?  Test His Word and see,
               He will give the Spirit more abundantly.

               Come to Him believing, hearken to His call;
               All from His receiving, yield to Him your all;
               Jesus will accept you when to Him you flee;
               He will grant His blessings more abundantly.”