Pathway Weeklies

We so often presume to know Christ and His purpose when, in fact, we are not listening to Him. We take up path-making by hacking our way through spiritual jungles while the trail He has blazed rests beside us. Luke shows us how we as disciples may completely miss the nature and purpose of Christ’s ministry—and its power—while He lays the groundwork for His kingdom right beneath our eyes. Our devot...

Dorothy, the fictional character in the “Wizard of Oz,” wanted to get back to Kansas, but every real believer in Christ wants to live forever with Him in the New Jerusalem. We should be reminded that the first verse in the book of Revelation tells us that the rest of that account would be about God’s revelation to His church—a revelation about Jesus Christ (HCBC). John’s vision has unfolded throug...

We presently live in a dreadful and dramatic global era! Turmoil and uncertainty leave every person—at least those who are even remotely aware of the world today—with some concern about where culture is heading. Words like “injustice,” “war,” “crime,” and every dread known to humankind, seem to be prevalent and spreading like a bad virus. What hope may we have for our world today and in the future...

Airliners have black boxes onboard that record pilot conversations when a crisis strikes. In some cases, loud audible gasps or shouts have been made to express the emotions that those individuals feel. Picture your most desperate cry for help in a moment of crisis, the words you used to express your despair, and you will be able to identify with the message of Psalm 70. This hymn has a bit of an a...

It has been said, “Letting yesterday affect today will only destroy the excitement of tomorrow.” Well said, but let’s add a prophetic tweak to the axiom. Ezekiel encountered some leaders who were living in their failed past, and it was ruining the prospects for God’s future. He denounced their flawed leadership. Most of us will know of a church ministry where the members lived their present within...

How do you handle life’s testing times? Perhaps you worry. Maybe you even lash out at those you love. Others will deny the situation and seek to avoid confronting the trouble! I read numerous accounts of people on social medial who refuse to face their troubles and eventually find that they are overwhelmed by the results. The psalmist pens Psalm 112 as a reminder that our troubles provide us with ...

“False Confidence” could be the rubric that Jeremiah might place on the marquees of many contemporary churches. The people in Jeremiah’s day believed they were safe because the Temple, God’s dwelling place, was in their midst (HCBC). Many contemporary congregations hold to a similar belief about their own physical locations and the traditions associated with them. Let’s ask the Lord to open our ey...

(“Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem”—Rembrandt, 1630) Sisyphus, the Ancient Greek mythological character, was required continually to push a heavy boulder up the side of a mountain, only to have it roll back down. I suppose that he is remembered most for his misery! Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, as he is often nicknamed, served the Lord in the latter days of the Kingdom of Judah, an...

“If a spring has not been opened in a soul, a spring of living water from God’s own Son, no waters can flow and there is no life in you.” G.V. Wigram (1805-1879), wrote the English theologian and an early leader among the Plymouth Brethren. He echoes what Christ had taught: Living water must spring from within the well of one’s own heart or a person will die of spiritual thirst. Let’s examine anew...

A Bible commentator catches my eye when he writes, “Affliction either drives one into the arms of God or severs one from God” (NAC). This perspective often proves to be true, but thankfully Peter opens our eyes today to a useful aspect to affliction that we may have failed to consider. He shows us clearly how we sometimes interfere with God’s good work in us when we are experiencing bad things in ...