Fearlessly Courageous
From the Desk of Dennis Piller
7 19 2023
A Crossroad of Your Life is Here!
Jeremiah 6:16-20 (NCV)This is what the LORD says: “Stand where the roads cross and look. Ask where the old way is, where the good way is, and walk on it.
If you do, you will find rest for yourselves.
We are always coming to crossroads. roads that require decisions about our direction. crossroads of going forward or staying put or even retreating and going back. How many chances does one get to get it right? How many chances are you prepared to ask God before you offer to yield to the changes he is asking of you? When will you ask the master to take the helm of your ship or will you be that private first-class seaman who can never submit to authority, council or. loving at that kind of level.
Crossroads are before us every day… we make decisions every minute of every hour. Choose you this day who you will follow. Josh 24:15 God or man? God or yourself?
When you face a crossroads in life, you need to wait on God until you can move forward with confidence that God is directing your path. The Bible says, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Prov. 14:12). How many chances do we get? We may only get one in some instances. But each chance comes with a threshold of decisions and specific consequences. It is so easy… in fact too easy, to do what seemeth right… It seems logical … or profitable.
I often pray at the altar, as part of the prayer team, and I refuse to pray for people out of my own experiences or knowledge of the prayer request without waiting on The Holy Spirits’ direction of how to pray. I want to wait on the anointing of God to not do what seems logical but what he wants. Personally, I understand a prayer altar and giving up that reverence to God in waiting on him but how is that different than every other decision we make, every other crossroads we come to? It isn’t! The time may be short. We may not have but moments to decide what to do, but how long does it take to say Jesus Help Me? Guide Me Lord! When one does that, what does it say of their walk with God? That they should consider God first in everything. To honor him with asking! How many ways are there to respect God as we walk through life?
Crossroads and their decisions are everywhere. What do they mean?
What do they symbolize? The truth is that each one is another encounter with God…
it’s another decision to ask for His blessing or walk on alone giving God no notice…
no consideration… oftentimes not even a glance or hesitation…we press on in the arrogance and pride of I’ve got this. Some of them make us uncomfortable, it’s a four-way stop that could change everything for a significant time or a lifetime…or an eternity.
A young 17-year-old girl did a quick U-turn the other night. It was midnight and a motorcyclist was but four miles from home, she didn’t see him, she was a young driver, and her mom was in the passenger seat…the young 30-year-old manager at Publix died at the scene. His fiance could just get there in time to watch him pass.
Even when we are in the right, we have to be on the lookout for people who make foolish or even reckless decisions that can potentially impact us. Crossroads, detours, and intersections will always be part of our daily lives. We must be conscious about walking with God, talking with him, and giving him “the” place of honor in all we do.
We never know when our time will expire here.
Crossroads? New Encounters…There are fresh opportunities, perhaps with an angel trying to direct you to a Godly purpose. Your smallest movement can be a blessing to God if you make it so. Consider him as you smell the freshness of the morning, see the soft rise of a sunrise, or the meeting with a friend or even a stranger. If we pray to god in the storm for protection why wouldn’t we pray to God for our daily and hourly direction? Why aren’t we looking for his intervention with everyone we meet, in exchanges linguistically with people? Do you really believe that things happen for a reason? Then, what is God telling me or suggesting to me at this moment … at this seemingly insignificant crossroads…Where is God in this and what would he have me see or do or say or be?
Crossroads are about change…decisions must be made…”No decision” can be just as significant as making one. Not just in bad times or when there is a problem but in seemingly ordinary times…You know, nothing monumental going on, just little things….working…cooking….playing with the kids…spending time with friends….God is in them all. What is God saying to us in lifting the kids over our heads as they squeal in delight?
The cross was once a symbol of the most shameful form of death and execution for criminals but it has become the most prominent sign of Christ’s love. Although, even today it is also a symbol that evokes violence, racism, and persecution.
Certainly, the cross is the biggest crossroad we will ever come to. Life and death…temporal and eternal. Each of the crossroads and intersections of our days is an opportunity we have to include God in our lives.
To consider Jesus in every decision, every turn, every consideration, and teach our children and our circle the blessed gift of walking with god in every moment and not just on Sunday morning or when others are looking.
Today is another crossroad for each of you reading.
What part will you allow the Holy Spirit to play in your life? Phil 4:13 “Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”. We have a fresh and new opportunity to create a new and vibrant future walking with Christ, hand in hand… Letting him be the light to illuminate our path and the right way to represent him before men.
In it all, he will pour out the overflow of his love, peace, and mercy in everything you do. All of this is our free gift for considering Christ at every crossroad from today on.
God of all my days. Casting Crowns
