Pathway Weeklies

Let’s argue! One of Paul’s wonderful attributes, and there were many, was his use of argument. No, not the hair-pulling, veins-popping-out kind that we too often encounter in our current culture. I mean rhetoric! If you want to know where Paul is going with an idea, then all you must do is see from whence the idea was flowing. I follow the verbs. In our focal context, he reaches back to 1 Corinthi...

We are at war! No, a rogue nation has not crossed a “red line,” but we are engaged in daily conflict. As the comic strip Pogo once famously stated, “We have met the enemy and it is us.” I opened my social media threads this morning and was hit with a barrage of venomous rhetoric in what are often claimed to be trusted news sources. The psalmist reminds us that war does not take place solely on bat...

“The person who broke you can’t be the one who fixes you” is a popular meme. It holds some truth, but I wish it were as simple as that quote suggests. Sin cripples and leaves us in such disrepair that we have no hope of ever “fixing” ourselves. Gloriously, we meet Hope, who is Jesus Christ, and He changes our hearts forever. We are His from then on, regardless of who we once were. Our value is for...

Suffering is unbearable if you aren’t certain that God is for you and with you” (Keller, Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering, 58). Job vents his frustration over the pain and suffering he is experiencing, his confusion about God’s place in all of it, and his anger at the meaningless words of his “comforters.” Sometimes we cannot see the forest for the trees when we suffer because our pain ...

Humans can live for quite some time without food and shelter, but water is essential for survival. Finding, preserving, and using water factored largely into how ancient Israel lived life. Without this life-giving source, their existence would have been impossible. The psalmist reminds us that our chosen way of life is like water. What an amazing metaphor that speaks clearly to our minds. Choose t...

“Fall on your knees and grow there. There is no burden of the [human] spirit but is lighter by kneeling under it. Prayer means not always talking to Him, but waiting before Him till the dust settles and the stream runs clear” (F.B. Meyer). What a wonderful description of the practice of prayer! The disciples model in this passage the oft-overlooked pathway to making clear choices that bring God’s ...

Despite the great length of time between Christ’s ministry on earth and His imminent return, we all must be aware that we live within the boundaries of His mercy. Upon His return, those who have not received His forgiveness will face judgment. His teaching in this passage helps us to recognize the moral urgency when we encounter evil and suffering (13:1). We should notice immediately that He embod...

It is not the giving of the belt around your waist to the poor that comes first; instead, it is what binds your heart to the Father’s that is key. I’ll explain this in a bit, but we see in our focal passage today a clear word about our spiritual health. If our “eye” (spiritual vision) is open to God’s Word/Jesus’ teaching, then our whole body (person) will be healthy (good). It does us well to hav...

We all have doubts! These questions come in all shapes and sizes. At the end of the day, however, if we are not careful, it causes us to live defeated lives. “Doubt discovers difficulties which it never solves; it creates hesitancy, despondency, despair. Its progress is the decay of comfort, the death of peace. Believe! is the word which speaks life into a man, but doubt nails down his coffin” (Ch...

Think of the darkest day you have faced in your life. One where you felt entirely alone and could not see your next step. There is a message for you in God’s Word. The Lord can take the darkest moment in your darkest day and cause the sun to rise upon it, so trust Him. The passages we have before us today cover the climax to a time in Judah’s history where their hopes were dashed, and their lives ...