Weekly Devotional - Gloria Miller
The Narrow Pathway
We are given various scriptures and situations to ponder. These circumstances are events centered around God and what He declared in the lives of these people: His power made known in each situation, and their response to the voice of God and what He had declared in their lives.
Genesis 3:8-13---NIV---then the man and his wife, heard the sound, of the Lord God, as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. but the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” he answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so, I hid.” and He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “the woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “what is this you have done? The woman said, “the serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
It’s obvious that Adam forgot the voice of God. If you go back to Genesis 2:16—NIV—and the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” there are consequences when we don’t heed the voice of the Lord. For mankind it was a spiritual death and separation.
As Minister Bridget said, “We have lots of voices in our ears, in these times; the enemy himself, social media, influencers etc., people we don’t even know. What voices have you been listening to, besides God?” That’s a great question. This brings us to Fill-in #1 — How do we filter out the voices?
Going down the Narrow Pathway requires we constantly stay before the Lord in praise, worship, prayer, fasting, and in the Word (Bible). in John 10:27---NIV— “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” Genuine followers of Jesus Christ recognize and follow His guidance, distinguishing His voice from other spiritual influences or teachings. Let’s not follow Adam and Eve’s example. As Minister Bridget said, “we must wait on the Lord, seek God’s face, and wait for Him to respond.” God wants a relationship of trust with us.
Minister Bridget led us to Genesis 17:15-18---NIV---God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; Her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” Abraham fell, face-down; he laughed and said to himself, will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” and Abraham said to God, “if only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”
Genesis 18:10-15---NIV---Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of child-bearing. So, Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?” Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” but He said, “Yes, you did laugh.”
Abraham and Sarah also knew the voice of God but had doubts and disbelief regarding what they heard. In chapter 15, God made a covenant with Abram and his descendants. In chapter 16 a plan was hatched by Sarah to use Hagar to bear seed for her husband. They had the privilege to hear from God, right in their midst, and did not have the faith to believe. They looked at their circumstances in the natural and responded accordingly — to the point where the question was asked, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
When the Lord speaks to us, let’s activate our faith beyond what we see, stay on the Narrow Pathway, and be attentively open to receive what God has in store for us. Let’s keep our hands in God’s hand, letting Him lead and guide us. When you’re on the Narrow Pathway, there is no “Plan B.”
Here again, we were taken to 1 Samuel 1:2-8, 10-20---NIV---(Elkanah was from Ephraim) he had 2 wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phineas the two sons of Eli, were priests of the Lord. whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat, to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. but to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb. Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her, in order to irritate her. This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the lord, her rival provoked her, till she wept and would not eat. Her husband Elkanah would say to her, “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons? in her deep anguish, Hannah prayed to the lord, weeping bitterly. and she made a vow, saying, “Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”……………………………so in the course, Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because, I asked the lord for him.” Hannah did as she had promised God.
This is awesome. See, the Bible says, “she prayed with deep anguish.” When you walk the Narrow Pathway, everything is not going to be easy. At times you are going to be extremely distressed; have severe mental or physical pain; and all while trying to get what you want from God. I have gone through this many times myself.
Like Minister Bridget said, and I agree with, Fill-in #2 — The difference between Sarah and Hannah wasn’t their circumstances, but how they responded to their circumstances. Sarah laughed and took matters into her own hands. Hannah, with deep anguish, prayed though it felt painful and uncomfortable. She did not relent or come up with a “Plan B.” She put her petition before God, believed God for it, and waited on the Lord — and the Lord remembered her.
Fill-In #3 — In what way are you waiting for God to move? Will you wait on God and allow Him to move on your behalf? Will you trust God to do it His way? What’s your priority — staying on the Narrow Pathway and being a little uncomfortable sometimes, or having it your way?
Minister Bridget admonished us to deeply think about Matthew 7:13-14--- NIV---"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few, find it.”
This question bares asking again, whose voice are you listening to, besides God?
-Gloria Miller
We are given various scriptures and situations to ponder. These circumstances are events centered around God and what He declared in the lives of these people: His power made known in each situation, and their response to the voice of God and what He had declared in their lives.
Genesis 3:8-13---NIV---then the man and his wife, heard the sound, of the Lord God, as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. but the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” he answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so, I hid.” and He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “the woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “what is this you have done? The woman said, “the serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
It’s obvious that Adam forgot the voice of God. If you go back to Genesis 2:16—NIV—and the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” there are consequences when we don’t heed the voice of the Lord. For mankind it was a spiritual death and separation.
As Minister Bridget said, “We have lots of voices in our ears, in these times; the enemy himself, social media, influencers etc., people we don’t even know. What voices have you been listening to, besides God?” That’s a great question. This brings us to Fill-in #1 — How do we filter out the voices?
Going down the Narrow Pathway requires we constantly stay before the Lord in praise, worship, prayer, fasting, and in the Word (Bible). in John 10:27---NIV— “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” Genuine followers of Jesus Christ recognize and follow His guidance, distinguishing His voice from other spiritual influences or teachings. Let’s not follow Adam and Eve’s example. As Minister Bridget said, “we must wait on the Lord, seek God’s face, and wait for Him to respond.” God wants a relationship of trust with us.
Minister Bridget led us to Genesis 17:15-18---NIV---God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; Her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” Abraham fell, face-down; he laughed and said to himself, will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” and Abraham said to God, “if only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”
Genesis 18:10-15---NIV---Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of child-bearing. So, Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?” Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” but He said, “Yes, you did laugh.”
Abraham and Sarah also knew the voice of God but had doubts and disbelief regarding what they heard. In chapter 15, God made a covenant with Abram and his descendants. In chapter 16 a plan was hatched by Sarah to use Hagar to bear seed for her husband. They had the privilege to hear from God, right in their midst, and did not have the faith to believe. They looked at their circumstances in the natural and responded accordingly — to the point where the question was asked, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
When the Lord speaks to us, let’s activate our faith beyond what we see, stay on the Narrow Pathway, and be attentively open to receive what God has in store for us. Let’s keep our hands in God’s hand, letting Him lead and guide us. When you’re on the Narrow Pathway, there is no “Plan B.”
Here again, we were taken to 1 Samuel 1:2-8, 10-20---NIV---(Elkanah was from Ephraim) he had 2 wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phineas the two sons of Eli, were priests of the Lord. whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat, to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. but to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb. Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her, in order to irritate her. This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the lord, her rival provoked her, till she wept and would not eat. Her husband Elkanah would say to her, “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons? in her deep anguish, Hannah prayed to the lord, weeping bitterly. and she made a vow, saying, “Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”……………………………so in the course, Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because, I asked the lord for him.” Hannah did as she had promised God.
This is awesome. See, the Bible says, “she prayed with deep anguish.” When you walk the Narrow Pathway, everything is not going to be easy. At times you are going to be extremely distressed; have severe mental or physical pain; and all while trying to get what you want from God. I have gone through this many times myself.
Like Minister Bridget said, and I agree with, Fill-in #2 — The difference between Sarah and Hannah wasn’t their circumstances, but how they responded to their circumstances. Sarah laughed and took matters into her own hands. Hannah, with deep anguish, prayed though it felt painful and uncomfortable. She did not relent or come up with a “Plan B.” She put her petition before God, believed God for it, and waited on the Lord — and the Lord remembered her.
Fill-In #3 — In what way are you waiting for God to move? Will you wait on God and allow Him to move on your behalf? Will you trust God to do it His way? What’s your priority — staying on the Narrow Pathway and being a little uncomfortable sometimes, or having it your way?
Minister Bridget admonished us to deeply think about Matthew 7:13-14--- NIV---"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few, find it.”
This question bares asking again, whose voice are you listening to, besides God?
-Gloria Miller
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