Life is all about order, when you think about it.  From conception to death.  There is an order.  Morning routines make the day run smoother.  Cleaning and putting our homes and cars or trucks in order make our surroundings less confusing and less overwhelming.  We take care of relationships with our spouses, co-workers, family, and friends to make our lives more peaceful.  Those are just a few examples.

 

What made me think about teaching on this subject, ordering my steps, is – well, we’re getting a path to the barn!  No more fall hazards or stuck in the mud shoes.  I’m getting order in that small area of my life that is going to make that few minutes I’m feeding Joker and Chloe more peaceful and less stressful. 

 

Just as we put in order the physical, financial, and mental categories, we put in order our spiritual also. 

 

 

To acknowledge our Father in all our ways, takes submission to our Lord and seeking His solutions, His path for us.  This is a moment by moment decision we make.  The result is when we go to Him, He directs our path.  He sets us on a path to righteousness, not destruction. 

 

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God (God’s way of doing things) and his righteousness; and all these things (what things?  Food, clothing, mental stability, finances – all necessary things for life) shall be added unto you.

 

 

 

No confusion when we are moving ahead, with God’s path to follow!  Children seem to have the purest heart and a genuine hunger for knowledge of God and His Word. When we come to God and find out what He has to say about our lives and decisions, as a child would with a mom or dad, we have no fear, we are submitting and looking for order, the next step.

 

 

A direction! A road map. A way to order our steps.

 

 

 

Our awareness of our constant need for God is our greatest strength. Our neediness is a link to God’s presence.  We need God as much as we need water!

 

Psalms 119:132 Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name. (thy custom is toward those)

 

 

 

Being in submission to God and His Word, we are reminded the devil is under our feet, we are the head and not the tail.  We won’t slip, because our God is holding us up.

 

Psalms 119:134 Deliver (redeem) me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.

 

The world gives us lies and fears, but the truth of the Word is what gives us confidence to know we can do what the Word says we should do.

 

We have Christ in us when we are born again, incorruptible seed, a new man.  We were inadequate without that Christ in us, and the gentle reminding of the Holy Spirit and His Word.  We have that new man, a spiritual man in us.  Praise God.  We have a continual choice, we can have that deep dependence on Him or walk as the old man, the stinking man, the natural man and have despair.  No man that professes to be a self-made man can be without that despair, because that is worldly knowledge, not truth.  Anytime, his knowledge will fail, and then he’s no longer on top of the world, because he’s not ordering his steps in the Lord.  Satan has dominion over him. 

 

The emptiness the world is feeling can either be filled with problems or with God’s presence and His solutions. 

 

The decision is our own for our own lives.  We have free will, we can choose to be disciplined, focused, consistent, and hard working.  Or we can squander our lives and waste them, not keeping our eyes set on Jesus and eternity. 

 

 

We make God central by praying continually, simple short prayers flowing out of the present moment.

 

 

It is available, God says it is. 

 

We must get in the habit of using the name “Jesus” liberally to remind us of His presence. Keep on asking in His name, and you will receive, so that your gladness may be full and complete. 

 

There is a certain distinction between Dechomai and Lambano. Dechomai is a passive verb that frequently indicates “a welcome reception”. Lambano is an active aggressive verb that suggests a self-prompted taking.  Both can accurately be translated as “received”, but the greater meaning is lost in the loose translation of these two words.

 

The definition of Dechomai literally means: “to receive by deliberate and ready reception of what is offered”. It denotes very little action beyond being happy to take possession of something. An example is receiving a kind word or receiving a guest into your home. That is the meaning of “Dechomai”.

 

The definition of Lambano is: “to take, lay hold of; to receive into action or use”. Besides its literal sense, it is also used metaphorically of fear, as in “fear taking hold” of people.

 

Lambano denotes action into some kind of manifestation, such as when you receive an order from a superior and immediately act upon it. Your action is the manifestation of receiving the order. Or when you take something in hand, like a hammer, then use it to drive in a nail. You have it in your possession; you used it and now there is the manifestation, the result of the action, which is the pounded in nail. You put it into manifestation. That is the meaning of “Lambano”.

 

Dechomai is like a wedding reception when people line up to wish the bride and groom well. That is known as a “receiving” line.

 

Lambano is when you make a purchase and the cashier hands you your change. You “lambano” your change and put it in your pocket or use it to make another purchase.

 

Running the Race.

 

Before you all start getting any ideas, I’m not physically at a track running.  I would only run if something was chasing me.

 

There are days I feel as though I have ran a race, as we all have.  And our feet never touched the track.

 

~Linda Jernigan