Isaiah 40:3-5 -
There is a voice crying out in the wilderness of our soul that persitently and compassionately calls us to the right path of life.
Our soul is a complex creature and an integral piece of our personality, although you cant say that we are a machine, or behave like one, you can say that
there are indicators, kind of internal dials, warning messages, alerts that sound off inside.
We become aware that things are not sitting right and things are not running as they should by these inner alerts.
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.
Some elements that create bugs in the system are unwittingly pre-programmed, or programmed in by the developer of that particular application.
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!
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.
When we entered this world, we took on some inherited corrupt code if you like from the program DNA and yes; although we are not machines, we can take
similar features to illustrate a point. Sometimes there are generations of mindsets and patterns of behaviour that become embedded deep into our souls that will trigger a payload, or some type of reaction to a certain event or condition that we connect with on our life journey.
There is what we could call "Generations of Thinking", that comes into play in the family traits lineage that we come from.
Software and operating systems can also inherit properties from previous generation code and as each advancement comes there still is, the features of the original inherited, like in the OS - MS Windows;
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.
You could say that with mankind there was an original Genuine Version made, but then things got corrupted on the way and a very insidous hacker got a virus in and then we became, this ongoing fallen behaviour persons of this worlds system.
Thank God, that He had a backup plan and a rescue package, an antivirus and the works prepared for us, you know like disaster recovery, that you need to put into place in the event of destruction to the original.
There is such a thing as formatting and reloading the system, or you could say, over-writing the corrupted files and program back to the original.
When we lose our way, it all becomes like a wilderness and lifes destiny and purpose seems lost and meaningless and that is where we find ourselves sometimes, on the wrong pathways in life.
Going astray doesnt always happen overnight, at the beginning of a journey all seems pretty much aligned together at the starting point.
We dont always suddenly deceide, lets just take a 180 degrees turn here! It is when we know things are drastically wrong that we pull out suddenly from incoming disaster.
Life can get pretty rough when we veer off course - going down a bumpy track that is tough going and taking us away from the good things in life.
Life is about choices and selecting a pathway for our future, so why would we go down a track that is not right for us?
Something must be out of alignment and whacky in our decision making processes for us to be persuaded to take off down a wrong track.
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! Lets do this!
As we know, the way things turn out are not always what we considered and that is OK as well, as we need the element of mystery to be on an adventure, but I am talking about when we end up in the ditch and we are just plain bogged down with no way up anymore.
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.
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!
Internal motivations and thought patterns are just that, part of who we are type of thing going off there, inside.
So, we tend to think, "just back off with the lecture! Thats just me and I cant help it!"
When we say Gods ways are higher than our ways, He is not there looking down, waiting for us to fall with some kind of superior, satisfaction and says to us in a booming authority voice - "there told you so!!! That will teach you!!!"
No certanily not! Have you heard of compassion for children or your offspring? Well, His plan is to help us and let us see that there is a better way to go in life.
Gods ways are higher than our ways. His thinking is higher than ours and we need see that coming into an alignment with His ways will lead us in the higher ways of life and persoanl development and take us out of the low-ways of living, that lead us away from the best laid plan.
Experience should tell us that there just isnt a lot of right going on in this world and somewhere inside our make up, something just must be out of kilter and thats those little warning bells;
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.
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.
You see it is just the way to go in our personal development and the maturing process to reach out to God and make that connection to get on track, we need to accept that our limited way of thinking will lead us down the wrong track and in time it will be evident.
How is it that when we are unlearned in any field or challenge this is waht we do? We go to the experts and ask advice, we get some training, we practice new skills, we change the old habits to gain better skills, we get retrained, we google it!!!
The point is, that is how it is! 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.
On top of all the abundance of wisdom that is available, God is merciful and kind enough to help us troubled humans, find our way back. When we are bumping around making gross mistakes and yes even outright bad choices, is the best time for us to reach out to Him while He may be found, we must give up our stubborn harmful ways, as the further we go down the beaten track, the deeper the hole.
When you hear God calling you in your wilderness, no matter how far off you are on the beaten track, it is not too late, you can accept His mercy and allow Him to adjust your thinking, put you on the Highway that is above the low way pattern of life.
Isaiah 55:10,11 -
10 For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
When all is dried up and lifeless and there is hardly any green to be seen, the sweet deliverance of the gentle rain can revive the weary old plant and make it vibrant again.
God sends His rain on the wilderness of our soul and our lost ways, that creates growth in a dry place. 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.
He will plant a seed into our life that will produce life, the seed will grow in our lives and change our thinking and lead us on the right path.
Gods word is like a seed that will bring life in your thinking where there was barrenness, the word will produce and if we allow it - we will see a harvest. Gods word is not void but prospers when it is planted and permitted to grow in our lives.
Now there is a highway which is straight and it appears in the desert of life, there are no potholes and cracks, no twisting and turning in a dangerous fashion and it is created when our vision is adjusted to Gods ways.
Have you ever driven on a road that is poorly constructed and the bends are hard to handle, you could easily crash or hit a tree, or go off a cliff.
Then there are roads that are full of potholes, worn out and in need of repair, this is hard and hazardous for your vehicle, tyres can blow out, wheels can come out of alignment, wear and tear is terrible on your vehicle, so you need to avoid those roads.
In life we are given a vehicle and it is up to us which track we go down and where we head, if we choose to go on a road that is destructive to our vehicle, eventually the vehicle will break down, or we crash and lose our vehicle and we could be injured or destroyed.
If we lose our vehicle, we could be in a wilderness with no easy way out, restricted on foot, miles from anywhere, definitely on the rough and the hard road without means to get to our proper destination.
Then there is those deep and dark valleys that are hard to get back out of, if you are in a vehicle then you are straining and in low gears and using a lot of gas to get back up on level ground, if it is wet and slippery it will make matters worse, it can be a real struggle to come out of the valleys in life.
What happens when you hit a huge immovable brick wall, it is like a mountain that suddenly looms in front of you, a daunting huge block of an obstacle, stopping your progress and brings your vehicle to a dead standstill.
We see in our opening scripture from Isaiah 40, that even a humungous, monstrous mountain in your life can be brought down to a level place for your progress to continue.
God is into progress in your life not dead standstills.
So what do we need to do, to assimilate into our consciousness and take hold of this word of breakthrough.
It appears we need to adjust our limited ways of seeing the problems of life and see the possibilities of hope, even when we need a total miracle which seems impossible to the natural mind.
The promises of this word are presented as a visual representation of a truth and why is it important to use a presentation like that?
Because, as a whole man we are made up of not only our reasoning (logical thinking that looks at the facts), but we also possess picture thought imagination, which can empower us to see in a different way.
What lies is in front of us is in a material form and sometimes it is in our face, a blockade, thinking about it and striving will only tie us up in knots, as there is no logical way out.
Right brain - Left Brain we need both to see us through - we are made that way.
Just allow God to adjust your vision, look to Him when you are limited by your thinking to see a way out and begin to be a person of faith. God moves by faith, that is His way and we can allow our thinking to be aligned to the higher ways.
The Crooked places are made straight.
What does crooked represent but something out of alignment, not straight obviously and bent away from the best possibilities.
If our thinking has become crooked for some reason, we then also, see things from a crooked perspective and so it limits our potential to overcome lifes, inevitable obstacles and curve balls.
It also, can bring a loser mentality and a hopeless attitude, that can paralyse us and keep us from reaching our potential and restrict us from dealing with the challenges that we face.
God says He will make the crooked places straight, so that we can see with our imagination, the good things and have the faith that will move that mountain in our life, bring us up out of that rut, the valley and the circumstances that hold us back and prevent us from achieving in life.
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.
Now in Isaiah 45:2,3 -
2 '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.
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden riches of secret places,
That you may know that I, the LORD,
Who call you by your name,
Am the God of Israel.'
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.
Like when we are restricted by bars of iron, it is like an imprisonment, we are caged in and our movement is blocked. Then there are gates, not just any little wooden gate, but a huge metal gate, it is formidable and imposing, designed to stop us getting through.
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.
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.
When our vision is adjusted to Gods ways and our thinking is realigned to Gods thinking, then we will be able to see what was once hidden from our limited way of seeing, we will find the treasures that can make our life an exciting road to be on.
Isaiah 42:16-18 -
16 I will bring the blind by a way they did not know;
I will lead them in paths they have not known.
I will make darkness light before them,
And crooked places straight.
These things I will do for them,
And not forsake them.
17 They shall be turned back,
They shall be greatly ashamed,
Who trust in carved images,
Who say to the molded images,
You are our gods.
18 Hear, you deaf;
And look, you blind, that you may see.
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.
Now if we are blind, we do not see the right place to be and cannot see the right path to take.
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.
Allowing an image carved by the craftiness of an evil, humanistic philosophy to imprint your thinking is trusting in an idol, which like an obsession, holds you to wrong beliefs and trusting in ways that are not from God, so we can become blind and deaf to the truth and we then need to turn around from the lost pathway of our wilderness.
Suddenly, a light will come on and we will be able to see, that we were in a place of darkness and heading down the wrong track in life.
Where is it all going to?
Isaiah 40:5 -
The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
What a glorious day when we see the reformation and transformation of nations, societies, regions, yielding to the moving of His wonderful grace and life changing power.
We will see a supernatural highway appear with miracles breaking through, the reversing of circumstances that are oppressive obstacles to our welfare in our cities.
I can boldly declare to you that
These are the days
Acts 2:17
And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.
Since Pentecost there is a way for God to move on this earth in greater measures and bring His transforming power to the hearts of men to be filled with His glory.
Even in old testament times before Christ came to this earth to make the sacrifice that made this freedom all possible, there were men and women who had the might of God upon them to shake nations.
Now, we have His Mighty Spirit poured out, to show Gods love and intentions for mankind, breakthrough from extreme conditions and bring us into a close relationship with God on the right road of life, blazing in incredible light.
Jesus came and made it all possible and now the way is open for this glory to be revealed, which will transform any place of gloom to a haven of restoration.
Psalm 25:4,5 -
4 Show me Your ways, O LORD;
Teach me Your paths.
5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day
God will reveal His ways to us and show us the right way to go in life.
Isaiah 40:28-31 -
28 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the LORD,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
We now see what we can do to receive and accept His goodness, the glory and miracles.
Beginning with the promises in the above passage again like opposites, crooked becomes straight by a miracle from God.
He Gives Power to the weak
Those with no might He increases their strength.
Lets receive this strength to enable us to be victorious over every obstacle.
Then the instruction for receiving and seeing breakthrough:
Those who wait on the Lord
Renew their strength
They Mount up on Wings of Eagles
Run and not grow weary
Walk and not faint.
Find the highway in your desert, see your crooked situation made straight - wait on the Lord, praying in the spirit and reading His word,
where you come into alignment with Him, united in your thinking,
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.
You come to rest in His very Presence that fills your life up and goes deep into the dark places of the crookedness of the soul, there you will receive a new strength that you did not have before, on the straight Highway of life.
The rough places will be made smooth, rough places of resistance to blessings, resistance of a hard place in life, where it is rough going to find success.
The rough places are made smooth by the anointing oil of breakthrough and healing, this is our blessing and the place of smooth flow for our lives.
The valley of lack and despair that leads to depression and heaviness of soul will be raised up again to provision and the joy of a new day, a spirit of praise will put a spring in our step to a brand new day in God.
The mountain of debt and huge foreboding obstacles, they appear to be insurmountable and block our way, preventing any movement forward towards the promises of God for our life.
The mountains will be brought down, reduced to level ground that you can easily walk through and your vision wont be blocked anymore, you will be able to see the sun shining through and the brightness of your new day.
The mountain that was a massive oppressive blockade will be removed in Jesus Name.
Now your part is to see these things in the imagination of your mind, picture these images of success and all of your obstacles coming down and being removed from your life, just like the mountains and valleys and rough places that are in your life, they can be represented by this imagery.
Now you can see by faith, pictures of victory and overcoming, sense the feeling of these coming into your life and the relief it brings, the feeling of joy and winning will fill your thirsty soul.
God will take you there, when you wait upon Him, resting in His embrace, in His presence there is an atmosphere of heaven where all things are possible.
He gives strength to the weary and power to the weak.
Not just a patch up, but a whole new program is available for each of us, the way it was meant to be, where we run efficiently in the original intention.
Change is on the way.
Remember, there are some things that suddenly change, but other things take time and need to go through a process.
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.
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.
Help the process along by seeing the result and the good that God has for you. See the new person He designed you to be, in some ways we can rewrite our code by declaring the good things for our lives, that we have seen and received from God in vision and prophetic messages for our future.
Some things are deeply ingrained and take time to reverse, so as long as we understand the process and see that if we trust God with our future, that He will graciously see that the effect will take place, it is a matter of faith and believing sometimes when we are in the face of opposing conditions.
When we are so used to being a certain way, it takes time to develop to another way on a higher channel, a better track above isnt always familiar to us until we grow into the new suit from above, that fits us well and makes it all a new day for us.
Crooked NOW Straight.