Pathway Weeklies

How do you handle life’s testing times? Perhaps you worry. Maybe you even lash out at those you love. Others will deny the situation and seek to avoid confronting the trouble! I read numerous accounts of people on social medial who refuse to face their troubles and eventually find that they are overwhelmed by the results. The psalmist pens Psalm 112 as a reminder that our troubles provide us with ...

“The answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind,” is a portion of a verse from the iconic 1962 song recorded by folk singer Bob Dylan. The song itself was termed a “protest song,” but the series of rhetorical questions it poses cause the listener to ponder issues like peace, war, and freedom. This refrain phrase may mean something like “the answer is so obvious that it is right in your face.” John wr...

The ascent to the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s tallest peak, requires great skill and predetermined rest stops along the way. Isaiah provides us with something spiritually similar in chapter 55. There is an obvious warmth to this passage that catches immediately the attention of a reader as it demonstrates God’s profound care for His children. This passage is something of a rest stop along...

“God never made a promise that was too good to be true” (D.L. Moody, Christian History, Issue 25). The Lord makes three promises in the first paragraph of Isaiah 43, and I wonder how the people who first heard these words responded? God has just chastised them for being dull and blind in the latter part of chapter 42, but here He speaks of being their redeemer! Was He being capricious? Hardly. He ...

“All these people” provides every true Christian with all they need to carry forward in steadfast faith! The author of Hebrews lays aside his discussion of Abraham for a moment in Hebrews 11 to offer some general remarks about those he had discussed to this point. They had lived their lives and died, still living out their faith in the Lord. They lived out their faith, even though they had not pos...

God does not lose those souls He has saved (1 Peter 1:4, “kept in heaven”). There can be no more powerful statement than the one with which this devotional begins. It was written because the first readers of Hebrews needed to remain steadfast in their commitment to Christ. Since then, this chapter has created libraries full of commentary based upon a flawed interpretation of verse 6 and the phrase...

It would be impossible to take a “food selfie” of all the daily bread that God provides. If you are like me, you often despair at the numbers of food photos people post on social media sites. These types of “pantry posts” seem to be all the rage, but I must admit that I miss the good old days where we saw pictures of kids at ball games, family gatherings, and puppies and kittens. I hasten to add, ...

“In prayer it is better to have a heart without words, than words without a heart” (John Bunyan). The psalmist knew this when he cried out, “You are my God!” This psalm has been termed an “individual lament,” in which God is called upon to help with need (v. 1), affliction (v. 7), and enemies (vv. 14, 17). The writer knows that he is devoted and faithful to God, so he confidently expects God to an...

Corrie ten Boom, the tiny woman of towering faith who survived the Nazi Holocaust, once said, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” This is one of several important spiritual principles we find in 2 Kings 6. The point is that God will deliver His people through whom He chooses and through whatever circumstances they face. Let’s learn from Elisha’s narrative about the ways Go...

Lists—everybody has them. We have lists for groceries, favorite songs, and birthdays and anniversaries for those we love. Paul likes lists! We see in Ephesians 5 a list of behaviors that are proscribed for the serious follower of Jesus Christ. I know. Many of us do not like lists of Do’s and Don’ts, because we quite often resist any perceived intrusion upon our freedom. Nevertheless, I want us to ...