Generally, I know what to speak. But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. Ecclesiastes 7:29 tells us that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. When we translate that into the imagery of paths, roads, and highways, we arrive at Isaiahs indictment of man: The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace (Isa. For example, rivers seen from the air meander and wind all over the place. But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. It is when we know things are drastically wrong that we pull out suddenly from incoming disaster. Peace be upon Israel! Accepting that we need adjustment isnt such a bad thing, as matter of fact that can be just part of the whole process thing here, I mean to develop and learn and find out that there are better ways for us than the same old habit patterns that have designed us and shaped our lives up to here. Naomi's tragic losses . We are all different and need our type of time and adjustment which is unique to us, since we are individual and no two are alike, so dont despair or get frustrated when things dont suddenly go away overnight. His water is living and changes the landscape of our parched soul to a place of vitality, that will bring forth a bud, we will see life coming forth where there was once barrenness. We dont always suddenly deceide, lets just take a 180 degrees turn here! We become aware that things are not sitting right and things are not running as they should by these inner alerts. It is a heart surrendered and submitted to God, worshiping, praising, and obeying Him. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Then He reveals the treasures that are hidden and are covered by the darkness, the light is turned on to reveal treasures, that are new ways of living, pathways to success. TopicalBible Proverbs 3:7 Verse Concepts Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. 40:3), our taking that command seriously leads to the result that "the crooked shall be made straight" (Isa. Based on the Scripture quoted above, the crooked place, the place of deceit and wickedness that the Bible refers to most often is the human heart. Martin is the senior researcher for Chalcedons ongoing work of Christian scholarship, along with being the senior editor for Chalcedons publications, Arise & Build and The Chalcedon Report. But the Lord raised up Cyrus, to deliver Israel. Crooked NOW Straight. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Join the Mornings with the Holy Spirit prayer broadcasts live. Taken from the March 2020 issue of our bi-monthly Arise & Build printed newsletter. But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. Be ashamed. Isaiah 40:5 - It's an encouragement to know that we serve a God Who will make the crooked places straight, make the rough places smooth, level the exalted places, and level the mountains. 17 They shall be turned back, The crooked path is also the spiritual and emotional way or road a person is traveling through life. W Teach me Your paths. These things will I do, and I will not forsake them. OpenBible.info the indicators that sound off inside like impressions, feelings, sensations and maybe our little voice, the advisor telling us, that we need to change this behaviour or we are headed for trouble when we go this way or react that way. Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. 5. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. Again, another verse with reference to the crooked places made straight - to bring light and direction to those who are blinded and cant hear the right ways. God will make the crooked path straight. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. Well, His plan is to help us and let us see that there is a better way to go in life. Bartholomew holds that the universal spread of shalom is the actual end game in history. A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. And all mankind will see Gods salvation (Luke 3: 5, 6 NIV). How does Jesus set us free? Gods ways are higher than our ways. Read them, accept His words, and repent. They dont consider that the author of Ecclesiastes walked by sight when he said Observe the work of God, for who can straighten what he has made crooked? Bartholomew says. When God makes the crooked places straight, He forgives our sins, redeems our lives, and restores our hearts back to the condition of the human heart in the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eves hearts became crooked through deceit and wickedness. We do need help if you like and education to develop our pathways, so is it a surprise when we need to lean upon our Creator and the One who knows us best of all and find out that He does want to be part of our training and development in lifes processes. We enter the straight path through the narrow gate that leads to life. But it shall accomplish what I please, Ask God to make them straight and smooth. The Crooked Places made Straight Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. We have a key part to play in the restitution of all things (Acts 3:21). These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them. The Lord protects the strangers;He supports the fatherless and the widow;But He makes crooked the way of the wicked. They shall be greatly ashamed, Minor Prophets, Then they [Josephs brothers] said to one another,In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. J. Alec Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction & Commentary (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1993), p. 300. These metaphorical highways are built by the casting up of stones to create a way through the wilderness. It is a transformed heart, the heart of a new creation. It can also be a twisted place, like the coils of a serpent. 11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; E. Johnson, quoted in Spence & Exell, op. The crooked places have to be made straight, and the rough places smoothed. It is a Kingdom heart a heart that loves God (Mark 12: 29 31) and loves others before itself. On the flip side, the sins of my past life have been used by God to teach me important lessons about His grace and mercy, and how to extend compassion to others. By His supernatural power He opens the eyes of the blind, breaks the gates of bronze and bars of iron that imprison us in anger, shame, guilt, and sin; and He leads us out of darkness into the light. The First Word of the Gospel by Richard Owen Roberts. Have you not heard? In Greek, deceive (related to deceitful) means to go astray, to wander or roam about, to be led aside from the path of virtue, or to be led into error or sin all good descriptions of the crooked path. Labs In an introduction to eighteenth-century Scottish pastor and theologian Thomas Boston's book The Crook in the Lot, J. I. Packer describes a "crook" this way: 2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight : I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: Read Isaiah (KJVA) Read Isaiah 45:2 (KJVA) in Parallel Lexham English Bible for Isaiah 45:2 2 "I myself will go before you, and I will level [the] {mountains}. Spence & Exell, The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, n.d.), Vol. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. Young's Literal Translation for Isaiah 40:4. Geocoding 10 Practical Ways to Help People Who Are Hurting, No Matter How You Feel Right Now, Your Life Is Worth Living, 3 Good Things to Remember When You Feel Anxious about the Future. I say, I come out of agreement with that spirit of condemnation or accusation. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. And God will make the crooked things in your life straight, as well. (Gen.40:13-15; 23). The highway appears at verse 23: Romans 11:25-26 is Pauls explanation for thisIsraels two foes (representing all Gentiles) come in first, and Israel is the third part. There is meant to be some challenges in life which are all part of the learning curve, that is fine and dandy for healthy development, so yes we can have some crashes on the way and that can be just how things are meant to be with the growing, learning and gaining new experiences in life. And the young men shall utterly fall, it is a place of stillness and peace, where your dependency is entirely on God and you listen for His sweet advice and hear His word for your life. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Read Isaiah (WEB) Read Isaiah 42:16 (WEB) in Parallel. ESV Text Edition: 2016. Craig G. Bartholomew, Ecclesiastes (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2009), p. 250. So, I searched. Disclosure:In order to provide this website free of charge to our wonderful readers,Beautiful Christian Life LLC uses advertisements and affiliate marketing links to generate revenue. So what do we need to do, to assimilate into our consciousness and take hold of this word of breakthrough. where you come into alignment with Him, united in your thinking, For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. It cost him dearly in the death of their son and three of his other sons. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. Jesus tells us, I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt . Proverbs 3:5 Verse Concepts Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. New American Standard Bible "I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Publication date: Apr 23, 2023. Viruses are also malicious threats that come in, usually by stealth and perhaps coming in when downloading files, or opening attachments in the inbox, which allows unauthorised, mischevious code within, to infect the main operating system and corrupt our files. Sign up with your email address to receive notifications of new posts. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. The crookedness in God's creation began with a created being, Satan, whose heart was lifted up, who thought of himself more highly than he should. They lived there about ten years, and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. The Hebrew word for crooked means fraudulent, deceitful, sly, or slippery. You are our gods. The paths are not known to us, Gods ways are higher than our ways and unfamiliar, it may seem strange to us to follow these paths at first, until we come to know Him and trust God and there is an adjustment to our thinking and ways, so that we come into alignment to the Highway of life. How do you receive the Holy Spirit guidance? As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein (Isa. When we take up the plummet to build things straight, God is fully involved in our work. 1:18; Ez. Naomis tragic losses. At the beginning and most of the time when we choose a pathway, all appears to be the right way for us; we do our sums and sometimes we even have a real emotional fuzzy to say all is well, so off we go! These gates of bronze that prevent us from going through to the right place, God will smash and break the hold, like a sronghold that blocks our thinking and keeps us contained in weakness. 2. And crooked places straight. . Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked? But I commend an important book to you Repentance. They looked like Solomon observed in Ecc 1:15, that which is crooked cannot be made straight. Then he was imprisoned on a false accusation from his masters wife. He straightens out the crookedness that I have left behind in my wake as I passed through the world.. There is no change in the things themselves, but in our views of and feelings towards them. [% hit.searchResultSection || hit.specificType %], Thy Kingdom Come: Studies in Daniel and Revelation. But what does all this have to do with me? We see a parrellal in this verse, to reinforce the point, that even if you are the most difficult case, nothing is impossible with God. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Hallelujah! To view the full ESV Copyright information, click here. God wants us to lead our paths, since He is the one who makes them straight. Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. That you may know that I, the LORD, Thus says the L ORD to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have heldto subdue nations before him and loose the armor of kings, to open before him the double doors, so that the gates will not be shut: 'I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. 36:26). CJB Every valley must be filled in, every mountain and hill leveled off; the winding roads must be straightened and the rough ways made smooth. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, Visit the Bible online to search for words if you dont know the specific passage yourre looking for. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, Be sober-minded; be watchful. Encouraging Bible Verses & Scripture Quotes: #1. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save. If the Holy Spirit needs to convict me of sin, He will be specific). n God will be nobody's co-pilot. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. He was telling me that in the moment when I felt ashamed and not good enough, somewhat lonely and sad, I was being deceived in that moment satan was trying to drag me, emotionally and spiritually so to speak, into a crooked place of condemnation. Theology. Johnson refers to the mysterious call emanating from Isaiah 40:3. along the way that causes anothers path to be crooked, or gives us the grace and power to plow right through the mountain. Only to be discovered after much testing, or way down the track when an unknown situation arises, or when a user presses all the buttons at once and it blows! Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. But God intervened. He certainly straightened out this mess. However, in Is 42:16, the Lord said, I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. When Naomi returned to her people with her daughter-in-law, Ruth, she was destitute and bitter. As Christoph Starke (1684-1744) observed, it costs time and labor to level mountains.8 He adds that God seeks fruit and is not contented with mere leaves.9 God is looking for straight paths to be built. each new version has its improvements yes, but new bugs are still found and will take effect and haunt its success and so the cycle goes on. And if the grace of God is in them, it will bring it out, and cause it to display itself. In the Progamming World that we live in where binary machine code governs the known universe, all is not infallible and the best laid plan can go awry. No one comes to the Father(in other words, no one walks on the straight path)except through me (John 14: 6 NIV). Major Prophets, The command is Prepare ye [plural] the way of the Lord. Rawlinson asserts that the way of the Lord is the way of holiness of Isaiah 35:8.5 That is precisely the highway to be built by His people. Remember, there are some things that suddenly change, but other things take time and need to go through a process. Isaiah 40:4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: Isaiah 42:16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. Quoted in John Philip Lange, Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Mark-Luke (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, n.d.), vol. Gods people got busy building things straight, viz., the paths where the redeemed will walk (Isa. However, you know if you just have this bent inside, you know, like a habit pattern, that just sends you off each time and sometimes we may not even be aware of these kinks that kneejerk in us, or why we just seem go that way; we just go for that ride and bump! Have you not puta hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? Writing an expos of the perverse spirit in the form of a training manual, Penelope Kaye teaches readers how to recognize and overcome this twisted serpent with prevailing prayers, practical tools, and powerful weapons. These are the days The rough places can be made smooth in our lives - where there has been bitterness and wounds that scar our souls, these can be smoothed with healings and anointings with the good oils, that will enable us to progress on the right path without the overwhelming hindrances. . There is what we could call "Generations of Thinking", that comes into play in the family traits lineage that we come from. I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: LSB "I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars. U Through His shed blood, He cleanses them and gives them a new heart (Is. And not just for me. I can boldly declare to you that About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, Cornelius. And he stared at him in terror and said, What is it, Lord? And he said to him, Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways. 2. Davids adultery. Developing a Spiritual Warfare Ba. Making Crooked Places Straight solves that dilemma by providing information, insights, and answers from a solid biblical base. The crooked path is the way that leads to spiritual and emotional emptiness and death never to fulfillment! 4:12). He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. (Phil 1:21-24). Why will you continue to rebel? Having that kind of strength and power before us, behind us, and within us is a huge comfort. We are not machines that can be simply switched off and overwritten without some effect, there is adjustment in change, so become part of the process that God has for you in the recovery program. After many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth. So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Government, Our ability to repent is one of His greatest gifts to us. The Israelites had been taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar. And here are three passages, out of many, that I found: I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. They Mount up on Wings of Eagles
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how does god make the crooked places straight 2023