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Reaching Out

Embarking on the Narrow Path With My Five Best Friends

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14<www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%207%3A13-14&version=NKJV>

Jesus said: “I am The Way, The Truth, and The Light; no one goes to the Father but through Me.” John 14:6
The Narrow Path is The Way to Heaven, and Jesus is the gatekeeper. We must repent of our sins and receive the gift of salvation from Him to travel the Narrow Path. But we cannot find it in the flesh, nor travel on it by ourselves. We need the Holy Spirit to guide us, with five best friends.

Five best friends:

* Praise honors our Lord, recognizes His holiness, mercy, and love, and His call upon our lives.
* Conviction – the Holy Spirit sends us messages (of guilt) to warn us when we start to get off the Narrow Path (by sin), like an EKG for our heart.
* Repentance – gets us back on the path; we should repent quickly and as often as necessary to be spiritually clean and available for service.
* Forgiveness – sets us free from bitterness and anger against those who have wronged us.
* Compassion – everyone we meet is broken, has a story, and needs the Lord. They are fellow image-bearers of God, so let us treat them with love and compassion, for compassion opens their hearts to receive the love and truth of Christ.
Some do not take these friends with them, so they stray off the path and perish. With guidance from the Holy Spirit and help from these friends, we can walk on the Narrow Path lightly and freely, with the joy of the Lord. Many take other paths (religions), but they lead to the Lake of Fire because they deny Christ. Others (Laodiceans or those who equate church attendance or good works with a regenerated life, devoted to Christ and led by the Spirit), believe they are on the Narrow Path, but are actually on the wide path that leads to the Lake of Fire.

The Narrow Path is dangerous because it winds through the valley of the shadow of death, with its sensual delights, worldly pleasures, and deceitfulness of riches. In this valley, deception is the norm, sin abounds, and temptations are great, all of which may lure us off of the narrow path. We also become targeted by Lucifer and his minions, because we are children of the Lord, his mortal enemy.
Taking The Narrow Path – The Way, is the most exciting, exhilarating adventure in the world. It even engages another dimension – the spirit world, and makes sci-fi movies look boring and tame. But we must leave everything – all our stuff and worldly agendas behind, because they will become a burden and even a danger to us on this narrow, winding path through danger and deception.

When we wake up in the morning and open the Word, Jesus asks: “Are you going My Way?” So let us go forth with the love and truth of Jesus, and show others The Way, the Narrow Path. For life is short, eternity is forever, and we are not guaranteed tomorrow.
To God be the glory