Ask for the Ancient Paths

Since the children have flesh and blood, Jesus too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

Hebrews 2:14,15

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From the journal of John Wesley, Sunday, January 25, 1736:

There was now an opportunity of trying whether they [the Moravian believers] were delivered from the Spirit of fear, as well as from that of pride, anger, and revenge.

In the midst of the psalm wherewith their service began, the sea broke over, split the main-sail in pieces, covered the ship, and poured in between the decks, as if the great deep had already swallowed us up.

A terrible screaming began among the English. The Germans calmly sung on.

I asked one of them afterwards, “Was you not afraid?”

He answered, “I thank God, no.”

I asked, “But were not your women and children afraid?”

He replied, mildly, “No; our women and children are not afraid to die.”

The Lord said to Samuel, “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

The Healthy and Mature Prayer --

• Lord, help me to walk through this well as a Christian, so I can help others who later walk the same path.

 Jeremiah 6:16 --

• “Lord, which of these paths helps me to love you more?”

James 4 --

• You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

"Your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

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Wesley's Covenant Prayer:

I am no longer my own, but yours.

  Put me to what you will, rank me with who you will;

  put me to doing, put me to suffering;

  let me be employed for you or laid aside for you;

  exalted for you or brought low for you;

  let me be full, let me be empty;

  let me have all things, let me have nothing;

I freely and heartily yield all things to your pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you are mine and I am yours. So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.

How can a lemon help teach eternal lessons?

"Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."

Scriptures Referenced: 

• Luke 14
• Matthew 16
• Matthew 8
• Luke 12
• Philippians 2

"I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Scriptures Referenced:

• Matthew 8
• Matthew 16
• Luke 23
• Revelation 2, 20 and 21
• 1 Thessalonians 5
• John 13
• Matthew 5
• Luke 14
• Ephesians 6

"Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

Scriptures referenced:

• Matthew 16
• Hebrews 12
• James 1
• Hebrews 1

"If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you."

Scriptures Referenced:

• Acts 4
• Acts 5
• Matthew 12
• John 12
• John 14
• 2 Corinthians 4
• John 8
• Colossians 2

"Everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort."

Scriptures Referenced:

• 1 Corinthians 14
• Jeremiah 6
• Galatians 5
• Matthew 6
• Galatians 6

"Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son."

Scriptures Referenced:

• John 3
• Numbers 21

"I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."

Scriptures Referenced:

• Ezekiel 36
• Philippians 2
• 1 Peter 2
• Psalm 133
• Colossians 3
• John 17
• 1 John 4
• Galatians 5

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."

Scriptures Referenced:

• Colossians 2
• Titus 3
• Genesis 1
• Mark 12
• Deuteronomy 6
• Deuteronomy 7
• John 13
• John 17
• Ephesians 4
• Hebrews 4
• John 15
• Ephesians 5

"For this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."

Scriptures Referenced:

• 1 Timothy 4
• John 18
• Matthew 5
• Isaiah 53
• Isaiah 9
• Deuteronomy 18
• Jeremiah 31
• Ezekiel 36
• Exodus 19-24
• Mark 10
• John 12
• Mark 1
• Luke 19
• 1 Timothy 1
• John 10
• 1 John 3
• Hebrews 2
• 2 Peter 1

"Those who wait on the Lord are never put to shame."

Scriptures Referenced:

• Psalm 25
• Romans 10
• Psalm 23
• 2 Corinthians 4
• John 20

"I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say."

Scriptures Referenced:

• John 5
• John 12
• 1 Corinthians 2

"God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."

Scriptures Referenced:

• 2 Corinthians 4
• John 20:30-31
• Matthew 24
• John chapter 2
• Philippians 2
• Ezekiel 36
• Colossians 1
• Ephesians  3

"He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

Continuing the discussion about how Jesus is a good shepherd.

Scriptures Referenced:

• John 10
• Psalm 23

"This is what the Lord says:

Stand at the crossroads and look;
Ask for the ancient paths,
Ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
And you will find rest for your souls."

Scriptures Referenced:

• Jeremiah 6:16
• See also
  • John 10
  • Psalm 23
  • Luke 9:57-62