I worked as quickly as I could, but I did it right, and I was glad to have the work.”
                    –Mel Odom  (The Pecos Undertaker)

       “But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”
                    –James 1:25 (NKJV)
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          “He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, but he who refuses correction goes astray.”  –Proverbs 10:17

     Someone has said it’s not an easy road, this road to heaven.  Let me tell you something else, “The righteous is on the way of life, but the wicked wander from it.” (NKJV Study Bible)  One of the most important things that you can do is walk a dedicated and disciplined life showing others the way.  No matter who you are, you have looked up to someone.  Who was it that walked the way and that you watched?  Along with that, no matter who you are, someone is watching you.  Walk properly, uprightly, steadfastly in the way of the Lord.  We do this in “the life of discipline; a life dedicated and consecrated to the ways and wisdom of God.” (Bob Beasley)
     I had a dog who loved the snow.  It was a little beagle who loved to play in the deep snow, however, it would soon flounder and could not get out of the deep drifts because it would get off the beaten path and I would have to go out and rescue her.  My wife tells of the times when in deep snow Pappy would go out ahead of them to make a path so they could walk down the hill to the bus.  Someone had to clear the way.  I ask, who helped clear the way for you?  I ask, who are you clearing the path for?  
    Watch the life of a good person, step in their steps.  Listen to their instruction.  John writes, “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” (13:17, NKJV)  This of course is speaking of the things of the Lord.  If we follow His instructions we can stay on the good path.  Charles Bridges gives us a warning, one that we should heed, “To be deaf to the voice that would save us from ruin, is a most fearful error.”  Obey the Word of the Lord and have life.  We have proper instruction, in fact it is “instruction that sets the way before us.” (Bridges)  Then we must adhere to that instruction.  It must be heard, it must be remembered, and it must be practiced.  Listen to reproof and correction, don’t roll your eyes.  The purpose is to help keep you on the way of life.  Accept reproof as good medicine.
     We walk the way of the Lord to honor Him.  “The life of a holy man is a way to spiritual and eternal life, because it is the means by which men come to know God.  If there were no good men in the world, there would be no means by which sinners could be brought from death unto life.”  (J.L. Flores)  I remember once, back when I was eight.  I can remember my age because we were visiting my Uncle’s family in Wichita.  One night at dinner I whispered to my Aunt Bern, “I’m going to eat everything that Uncle Ted does.”  I did, though at the time, I had some trouble with the tomatoes, but I followed his example.  Jesus tells us that we are to be salt and light.  Why, so we can flavor the life of those around us and that we can show them the right way to live.  Paul says that we are “living letters.”  People read the Bible through our lives, they look at the way we walk, where we place our steps.  There was a wedding I attended and when it came time for the toast I refused the champagne, turned the glass over on the table, and held up the water glass for the toast.  I was told later by the groom that he and his wife were watching to see if I would compromise or if I would live up to my standards.
     Let me just mention that cheating and taking shortcuts are not the way to get ahead.  Oh, you might find you got there first, or you may have succeeded in getting a position, but at what cost?  To cheat is to wander off the path.  Let me close today’s thought with this from Dan Dick:  “We really do kid ourselves when we think cheating is a way to get ahead.  There is nothing to be gained by cheating.  Our victories are empty ones, and we open ourselves to criticism and doubt.  We lose our credibility and turn people against us.  It is in honesty and truth that we find fulfillment.  God dwells in truth, and He loves honesty.  This is the way of life, but the way of death is through sin.”  Therefore, let your light shine, and let it shine brightly.

There was something about the mountain air that made one want to inhale deeply…it was like fresh, clear, cold water in the throat.”
                    –Louis L’Amour  (Shalako)

       “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.”
                    –Psalm 42:1 (NIV)
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       “Blessed [joyful, nourished by God’s goodness] are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness [those who actively seek right standing with God], for they will be [completely] satisfied.”  –Matthew 5:6 (Amplified)

     I have never truly been starving, but I have been very thirsty a few times in my life.  Ask a person who has been starving what it means and he could tell you.  How then, do we judge hunger?  If we are to hunger and thirst after righteousness how do we do so?  Thomas Watson gives us some insight.  First, true hunger is a painful thing.  As the Psalmist wrote, “They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.” (107:5, NIV)  Food and water are required for life.  If that is true in the natural, how much more true is it in the spiritual?  Hunger is satisfied with nothing but food.  The content is important–food is needed, not flowers, not music, not well wishes.  Give me a steak!  
     Watson continues and says that hunger wrestles with difficulties and hunts for food.  Man in many parts of the world was a hunting and gathering society.  They spent most of their time hunting.  Why?  Because they were hungry, they knew that food was imperative to life.  Oh, that we could grasp that in the spiritual.  How much do we search for food in the Scriptures?  Why do we not understand that it is imperative to our spiritual life?  He then says that the hungry man goes to his food with a strong appetite.  You do not have to persuade him to eat.  One more thing, though not required, he tastes flavor in his food; it is not bland.  Spices and salt are not required, the food has enough flavor of its own.  The Bible has its own flavor, it does not need an outside opinion.
     “Don’t eat that!  You’ll ruin your supper!”  Have you ever heard that before?  Or perhaps, “don’t eat that, it’s not good for you.”  We should avoid things which will hinder our appetite.  Sweet things spoil our appetite and can hinder the taste of real, supportive food.  Watson states, “When one is filled with a windy opinion of his own righteousness, he will not hunger after Christ’s righteousness.”  Stay away from false doctrine though it might appeal to the senses.  Then watch out for the wrong type of calories.  American youth look healthy because they are getting plenty of calories, but in reality most are not because of the type of calories they are eating.  “You cannot glut yourself upon the world, and at the same time be greatly in love with Christ.” (Watson)  What music do you listen to?  What friends do you hang with?  What do you watch on television, movies, social media?  Are they the right type of “calories” to help your spiritual nourishment?  John tells us, “Do not love the world, or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15, NIV)  We should do all that we can to provide a nourishing spiritual appetite.  We are reminded by Paul, “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.  For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:7-8, NIV)
     When we eat we are satisfied now, but there will come a day when we will hunger no more.  To eat of the world’s bounty is fading, not filling.  We read in Psalms, “My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.” (63:5, NIV)  Jeremiah brings us a promise from God, “I will bless my people with more food than they need, and the priests will enjoy the choice cuts of meat.  I, the Lord, have spoken.” (31:14, CEV).  God, and His bounty, His provision, His life-sustaining food, can never be exhausted.  Know this, sin will starve the soul.  Stay away from what the world offers and look instead to the table of the Lord.  Realize also, that the hungry soul is the most thankful.  We should be “looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” (2 Peter 3:13, NIV)
     “O the bliss of the man who longs for total righteousness as a starving man longs for food, and a man perishing of thirst longs for water, for that man will be truly satisfied!”  

Chase life, not death.”
                    –Eric H. Heisner  (Seven Fingers a’ Brazos)

       “I am the Living One:  I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!  And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
                    –Revelation 1:18 (NIV)
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               “He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way”
                          –Alfred H. Ackley

Take some time this week, in fact today–Good Friday–would be a good time to read the words of Jesus from Gethsemane through His trial.  We are familiar with the words from the cross and I will not diminish them, but we often lose sight of the rest of the ordeal.  Jesus actually said very little in His three “trials.”  However, what He said had a great impact.  
     Start with the two words in the Garden when asked if He was Jesus.  He simply replied, “I am,” and the soldiers and priests were hurled to the ground.  Just the power behind that title!  I have pondered and contemplated over what took place at that time.  It seems to me that it should have gotten their attention, but no, not even the very breath and words of God could deter them.  They were under a great delusion as the world will be under the influence of the Antichrist.  Then ponder for a moment.  What took place in the spiritual realm when Jesus made His declaration in Gethsemane?  They demons, the angels, the old serpent himself knew who He was, but were they shaken as well?
     They came to take Him, to put Him to death.  But He told Pilate during one interview, “You rightly say that I am a king.  For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 18:37, NKJV)  Remember that Jesus already declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:8, NKJV)  No matter what anyone says, He is the Truth!  He revealed Himself as “I AM”!  Think of that when you sing this Sunday.

          “I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today;
          I know that He is living, whatever men may say;
          I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer,
          And just the time I need Him He’s always near.”
                     –Alfred H. Ackley

     He is the God who is here!  Right now, right beside you, right beside me.  There is no other, there is only Jesus Christ, the risen Savior!  He proclaimed to the high priest when questioned, “You rightly say that I am”! (Luke 22:70)  WOW!  Get that!  The priest along with the Sandhedrin was stunned, but they will be even more stunned when they bow before Him in judgment.  Mark (14:62) and Matthew (26:64) shows that Jesus declares who He is.  “I am.  And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”  Oh, they will tremble as will all those who do not accept His wonderful offer of salvation.

          “In all the world around me I see His loving care,
          And tho’ my heart grows weary I never will despair;
          I know that He is leading, thro’ all the stormy blast,
          The day of His appearing will come at last.”

    Jesus came to present the truth; the truth that He is the Truth!  Now is the day of salvation.  It was purchased, paid for in full, by the blood of Jesus on the cross for anyone and everyone who will accept it.  If the priests did not tremble with the statement of “I AM” I wonder what they thought when the tomb was empty?  Could they believe that a bunch of common people, the disciples, could overcome a Roman guard?  The empty tomb would linger and haunt their mind…and I might say, for eternity.  Think of their private thoughts, think of the conversations in the small groups.  Could Jesus be alive?  Makes me smile to think of the delusion of their thoughts.  He is risen!  He is alive!  Therefore…

          “Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian, lift up your voice and sing
          Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the King!
          The Hope of all who seek Him, the Help of all who find,
          None other is so loving, so good and kind.”

     The “I AM” is alive, and He is with every believer, every moment of every day.  WOW!  He does walk with us and talk with us along this narrow way that we trod.  

          “He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
          He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way.
          He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
          You ask me how I know He lives?  He lives within my heart.”

He enjoyed the territory, always most content when he rode alone in new country, given time to enjoy the solitude with his Lord and all of His creation.”