Soon after I was born again the Word of God became a vital part of my life. I had never read the Bible before that time and was thrilled about the wonderful things God had written to me in His Word.
It wasn’t just words on a page, it was Holy Ghost inspired words that were alive and powerful.
I couldn’t learn fast enough, I wanted to know all that God had for me. No matter what the situation, I would always think, “What does the Word say?” Then I would search the Word for my answer, write it down, meditate on my promise until it was rooted in my heart.
I quickly learned that real bible faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible, and receives the impossible.
Light Your Path
Psalm 119:105 says, “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Putting Jesus first place in your life and making God’s Word the last word reveals God’s path. It is the only choice that can transform a dead, meaningless existence into a life filled with joy, peace and purpose.
I would like it if God revealed His path all at one time the way the airport lights up a runway to guide the airplane to a safe landing. Instead I have found that God usually lights only the one bulb that I need at the time. Then, when I walk in faith under the light of the first bulb a second light appears, then a third and so forth.
Eventually I discover that His way was never hidden in darkness from me, it was hidden for me, ready to be revealed at the perfect moment in time. “But the path of the just is as the shinning light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” (Prov. 4:18).
In Luke, Jesus reveals the importance of knowing God’s path in everything that we do.
Now as they were traveling along, He entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. And she had a sister called Mary, who moreover was listening to the Lord’s Word, seated at His feet.
But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him, and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.”
But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are so worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
(Luke 10:38-42)
I can understand why Martha wanted everything to be perfect for her very important house guest. I’ve been there.
I remember one time that I cleaned, scrubbed, dusted, polished and fluffed everything in the house. My daughter, Jodi, was helping me get the house ready for some friends of ours that would be spending the night in our home.
After asking Jodi to put sheets on the guest bed before she left, I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things. Just before our guests arrived, I walked through the house, spraying potpourri and looking everything over.
There were lots of clean towels, shampoo, and soap in the shower, and as I glanced at the fluffy comforter and pillows on the guest bed, I thought it looked perfect. I never once wondered if Jodi remembered to put the sheets on the guest bed.
Bad choice.
We showed our guests around the house and put their things in the guest room closet. Everyone saw the fluffy bed and thought it looked perfect. I mean, it looked like there were sheets on the bed.
In the morning when everyone woke up, I asked our guests how they spent the night. When they told me that they slept on the mattress because the sheets were not on the bed, I thought that they were pulling my leg. Then it hit me, I forgot to check the bed.
I thought everything was perfect, but I forgot one very important detail. I was so embarrassed and I couldn’t apologize enough!
Forgetting A Very Important Thing
Martha had everything perfect, but she forgot one very important thing, the condition of her heart. She was resentful of Mary for not working and wanted everyone, including Jesus, to know it.
Mary, on the other hand, was so hungry for Jesus’ Words, she could care less about what was on the stove. She had discovered the only thing that was necessary, sitting at Jesus’ feet.
Many people live like Martha, caught up in what seems to be the need of the moment and make choices that take them away from Jesus. They are usually disappointed and frustrated, not aware that they detoured from God’s plan for their lives by making wrong choices.
Wise living involves learning to assess the value of choices and choosing those things that have lasting value.
When Jesse and I knew that God was calling us to full time ministry, we carefully considered the cost. We had heard about some ministers that loaded themselves down with debt and were swallowed up before they could fulfill the call of God on their lives.
We recognized that they had made the wrong choices and we were determined to not make the same mistakes. Every choice had to be lead by the Spirit of God and not by the dictates of our flesh. This was not a baby step, it was gigantic. We couldn’t afford to take advice from people in the boat, we were walking on water and only the voice of God would do.
Only God knew the path that we had to take to complete the calling on our lives. Some people thought we were crazy. “What will you live on?” “Where will you go?” They couldn’t believe that Jesse would walk away from a great future at Shell Oil Company to travel around the country preaching the Gospel.
Although we didn’t really know where we were going, we knew who was leading.
Like many that came before us, we chose to answer the call of God by faith.
By faith Abraham, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.
By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; For he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
(Heb. 11:8-10)
Although Abraham didn’t know where he was going, he knew that God was leading him. His eyes were focused on the promise and he did not allow obstacles and difficulty to stop the plan of God for his life. There was no going back. He had made the right choice and was committed to walk in it.
God Is Directing Our Path
Although we may not have a blueprint or a table of contents, we can know that God is directing our paths. When we didn’t know what to do, we stood on Proverbs 16:9: “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs His steps.”
As born again believers, we can rely upon the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truths.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you…Let not your heart be troubled….
(John 14:26-27)
When you make the choice to put Jesus first place in your life – and make His Word the last word in your situation, He will direct and guide you every step of the way. Even if you have missed a few steps, and gotten off the track, Jesus is always ready to forgive you and put you on the right path.
Excerpt permission granted by Jesse Duplantis Ministries
Reverend Cathy Duplantis is an anointed teacher of the Gospel dedicated to living by faith and inspiring others to do the same. Cathy is the wife of Evangelist Jesse Duplantis. She has worked continually with her husband in ministry since it began in 1978, serving as Administrator, Editor in Chief of Voice of the Covenant magazine, and television co-host.
Cathy uses her life experiences and divine revelations to encourage and inspire her audience and is a favorite guest speaker for women's conferences and church meetings. She also continues to preach the Gospel with Jesse in meetings throughout the USA.
Along with her husband, Cathy is the co-founder of Covenant Church, a local outreach of JDM in the greater New Orleans area. It was her vision to build a church where people would be encouraged to realize their potential in Christ Jesus, to be able to overcome life's circumstances and to experience success spiritually, emotionally, and physically. In the summer of 2017, Cathy obeyed God and stepped into the Senior Pastor position of Covenant Church. Now, not only is she sharing the Gospel through her local church, but she is continuing to spread the love of Jesus around the world. Cathy desires to show believers everywhere how they can be transformed into powerful and joyful people of faith by applying the teachings found in God's Word.
