The Narrow Path

"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

Take Heed Lest You Stumble

We are in the final seconds of the last days, and the majority who say they're on the narrow needlelike path that leads to eternal life are in a strong delusion and deceived. In Matthew 24:24, it says, "for false messiahs and prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect." That means the manipulative potency of deception these days will be great enough to sway those who have known the satisfaction of walking with God. This is not new knowledge; it was prophesied that there would be a great falling away in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. Additionally, Jesus prophesied that at the time of His coming, half of the church won't be ready from Matthew 25: Parable of the 10 Virgins. The five wise virgins had extra oil, and their lamps were burning when the bridegroom came to receive them, but the other five unwise virgins did not have their lamps lit due do a lack of oil and were absent to get more. By the time the five unwise virgins came to the marriage feast, the door was closed to them; it was too late. I've been in that place of being unwise and in deception, even after having a radical encounter with God. I was so hungry for God's audible voice again that I would chase it anywhere I could find it. I'm talking about going to revival conferences, listening to YouTube prophets, church-hopping, and sermon gorging. This shotgun assault toward God covers a lot of ground, however, without the precise accuracy of God's word, this chaotic striving is only idolatry disguised as intimacy. I favored quick gratification over surgical mortification, meaning that I was pursuing a feeling through encounters rather than devoting myself to learning the language of God's heart which is obedience. My first call to quickly obey God came by a vision in the night a month after I had that supernaturally radical encounter with God. I saw the words "TURN FROM YOUR SINS, REPENT NOW" suspended in the air above my bed, and, despite my best efforts, I still fell prey to my besetting sin of pornography, and I tried to be delivered from the spirit of sexual perversion through all my searching as well. In my experience, bouncing from one thing to another, restlessness is a symptom of rootlessness. Lord Jesus knew people would receive His gospel with joy, but their hearts would be too hard or consumed by being in the world that the true revelation of the grace and knowledge of God never matured enough to having strong roots in Jesus Christ. I'm sure those who received and believed it at that point would call themselves Christians too. The nature of the gospel seed is to take root in the heart for the purpose of delivering, healing, and transforming so the clutter between the hearts of man and God is purged. Of the four soils, or hearts, in the Parable of the Sower, two of them received the word, but in poor soil, one never even go beneath the surface, and one penetrated deep enough to produce those deep roots then going on to have good fruit. I'd argue that the 50% of the soil that was poor and the 50% of the virgins who were unwise represents the full picture of those who claim to be Christian, but never entered into the realm of intimacy with the Father based on His terms and not their own. However, to the five wise virgins who cultivated oil and the quarter portion of soil that was good, those who are chosen and walking in the Spirit have a peculiar presence about them.

Walking in the Spirit

In the midst of utter turmoil expressed in every aspect of their life, those walking in the Spirit remain firm, unshakeable, and immovable because they know that their life is not their own; they know to Whom they belong to. By natural disposition, identity is often based on race, tribe, or socioeconomic class, but, by the Spirit, those who forsake the temporal world are adopted into an everlasting status of being seated with Christ in heavenly places. That is the root precedent by which their true character is established. They don't love their lives even until the point of death, but by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony, they stand firm against the schemes of the devil; having girded themselves with the full armor of God day-by-day and ever growing in the grace, knowledge, and understanding of the love of Jesus Christ. They'll strive to see the Holy Spirit touch every living soul through their own lives, offering themselves up as a consecrated living sacrifice, taking up their crosses daily, and working out their own salvation with fear and trembling. They're always full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, long-suffering, and self-control, giving cheerfully to those in need. With meekness and gentleness, they steward the gifts of God, and with zeal they take territory away from the devil and into the dominion of the living God. Their Bibles are falling out the seams because of constant study; searching the scriptures for the face and heart of God. Their back and knees lose cartilage over their fervent prayers without ceasing, and their lives are marked by perfect peace that comes from the Prince of peace. Their trust is fully, entirely dependent on the presence, love, power, authority, and voice of God and no weapon formed against them shall prosper because they have been given authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt them. Above all, their life is marked by an all-consuming fiery love of Jesus Christ, forsaking all love for this world and finding full satisfaction in the presence of God.

There's no obstruction on this narrow path that the devil hasn't used to keep followers of Jesus bound and stumbling. The world itself invents new ways to sin by influence of old demons. In ancient Greek, the word for demon is "daimōn" which means "to distribute" and/or "to know." This grants the devil and his demons the title of "the ones who know." It's important to note that the devil doesn't have access to all knowledge as God does, but the kingdom of darkness is run effectively by information and hatred for God. Every lust, evil desire, and temptation is meant to bring about the full wildfire of sin within the flesh, or carnal nature of man. As there's the gospel seed which contains the message of give up your life for Jesus, there's also the demonic counterfeit seed which contains the message of do what your heart desires. "Each person is tempted by their own evil desires and enticed. Then, after desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death" James 1:14-16. Since the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but made effective and mighty by God to dismantle strongholds, that means that putting on Christ is our only defense, not only against demonic spirits who know how to cause us to sin, but also our own deceitful hearts. Lord Jesus empowers each believer by gifting His Spirit to live on the inside of us, and as we adhere to the ministry of His Holy Spirit, we won't gratify the desires of the flesh and be double-minded.

To walk in the Spirit is to come to the knowledge that God with all divine wisdom, power, and glory intentionally chose to reveal Himself to us made out of dust because He's inexpressibly loving and generous. We accept this by faith because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. So, it is impossible to walk deeper in the Spirit of the Lord outside of God showing us deeper inside Himself. With a repentant heart, what self-examination, abasement, and accountability are needed to reach this point of going deeper. It is strenuous, but what satisfaction and delight is there to be had in giving God that which costs us nothing when He's given us everything? The cost of walking in the Spirit is time, attention, and breath. With our time we show our priorities, our treasures, and where your treasure is, so your heart will be also. With our attention, we set our mind on things above and not on things of this world, and as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. With our breath, we speak life back to God as an outward expression of His internal workings on us because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The natural heart of man is deceitful and if there's anything that diverts off the narrow path, then it is a heart that has become hardened toward God. "Guard your heart above all else for everything you do flows from it" Proverbs 4:23. I implore us to soak in the word of God with the Holy Spirit, turning our ears to wisdom, and applying our hearts to understanding and to cry out for insight and search for it as hidden treasure so we may know the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. The hour is late, and the Lord's coming is sooner than we think. We must keep in step with the Holy Spirit.

Broad Path Believers

There is no greater enemy to walking in the Spirit than the un-crucified, un-surrendered, and un-mortified habits of the flesh. What the flesh desires are against the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires are against the flesh. To be carnal is to be unregenerate, spiritually deaf, and worldly. The works of the flesh are, "sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."

The main target the devil aims for when it comes to the church's relationship with God is the individual heart. With that being said, I believe the hardest heart is the believer who reads their Bible through their flesh and not by the Spirit that leads them into a more transformed life that looks like Jesus. Whatever is dead can neither speak or listen, give or receive, be changed or moved, and the heart that is hard is one that has been made dead to the Lord. One of the most dangerous places for a believer is to remain in a place of unrepentant sin and a worse spot than that is defending iniquity without conviction from the Holy Spirit over those sins. For that reason, God's own people have the potential to create in themselves the hardest kind of heart. It's not the decade long drug or porn addict, the atheist who rejects and judges God as being cruel, or the used, broken and abused individual with numbing trauma. Those are the very people Lord Jesus sat with because one touch from Him results in those chains of bondage to be shattered in an instant. My testimony is of one who rejected their own self because of the guilt and shame of idolatry, witchcraft, sexual immorality, and drunkenness, but where sin abound, grace abound all the more. As deep as the darkness I was in, I was met with a greater Light. I can speak firsthand that the heart of the addict, idolater, spiritualist, and sexually immoral is hardened by sin, but it is also called to repentance which is only possible if God the Father draws them to God the Son. Then once brought to the feet of Jesus, that's where the true journey begins. The will of the Lord is that He loses not one of those who have been given to Him, and I'm a witness that He will do all He can to keep that from happening.

What can be said about the believer who has professed and believed that Jesus is Lord, outwardly doing the works of the ministry, have been surrounded by anointed teachings and other men or women of God, and serving as instructed in the Word, but they're lacking in love? Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the inward. Duty without intimacy is religion and the kingdom of God is not built by Pharisees, but by the children of God. These are the kind that Jesus says they wash the outside of the cup, but the inside is filthy. Their hearts have drifted from the love of God whether by the deceitfulness of sin, the stubbornness of their pride, or the comfortability of life's pleasures. There's so much sweetness, instruction, and refreshment in spending time with God. The beautiful thing about having a relationship with the Lord is that it's not at all about performance that results in stress and superficiality because it's all an act. God does not care about our perfection; He cares about us getting into His presence. Doing the will of the Father is the defining factor that determines being on the narrow path. In Jesus's words, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and, in your name, perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" The will of God is that we bare our soul out to Him as He did for us in the ultimate fashion because He laid down His life for us on the cross. Laying ourselves down for God is not a one-time thing for us. We must die to ourselves daily because by nature we're selfish and by thinking of ourselves less and of God more, we'll look more like Jesus who is the epitome of being selfless.

Stay Rooted

The only way we will stay afloat these days and especially in the days to come is by having a deep, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He's always standing at the door knocking so that we can let Him in, and He will supply us with everything we're lacking whether that's healing, correction, or comfort. The conditions He presents to us as we come into a relationship with Him are rooted in surrender and intimacy. Surrendering our old ways of thinking, what we "feel" is right, and how we go about our daily lives is like working out a muscle because there will be heavy tension that will tear and rip at what was there previously, but, in the end, it will get lighter and easier to let go and to choose Jesus because He's always the better choice. The only taxing thing about surrendering everything to the Lord is the flesh screaming to regain control, but the only power the devil will have over you is what lies you believe and what you entertain. Read your Bible and renew your mind daily because there's not one lie the devil won't use to discourage, tempt, or deceive you in a greater measure today. With that, there's not one lie that cannot be confronted by the truths found in the Word. To surrender is to listen more than we speak and wait to behold the glory of God which is the manifest presence of Jesus Himself. “The person who knows my commandments and keeps them, that’s who loves me. And the person who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and make myself plain to him” John 14:21. There's no greater time than today to spend time with the Lord and to get orders from our commanding officer while getting to know Him more. He's right there waiting for us, and He will restore all things by the word of His mouth, amen!

Scripture(s):

Ephesians 2:6 - And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.

Revelation 12:11 - They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

Ephesians 6:11 - Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

2 Peter 3:18 - But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Romans 12:1 - Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship.

Luke 9:23 - Then he said to them all: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me."

Philippians 2:12 - Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence - continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling."

Galatians 5:22 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

2 Corinthians 9:7 - Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 - Pray without ceasing.

John 14:27 - Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Proverbs 3:5 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

Isaiah 54:17 - No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me," Says the Lord.

Luke 10:19 - Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

1 John 2:15 - Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

James 1:14-16 Each person is tempted by their own evil desires and enticed. Then. after desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.

Isaiah 58:11 - The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones. You shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

Psalm 8:4 - What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?

Romans 10:17 - So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

1 Corinthians 2:10 - But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

2 Samuel 24:24 - Then the king said to Araunah," No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing." So, David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

Matthew 6:21 - For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Colossians 3:2 - Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Psalm 150:6 - Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!

Jeremiah 17:9 - The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?

Proverbs 4:23 - Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 2:2-5 - Turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, indeed if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

Galatians 5:25 - Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Galatians 5:16-17 - So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.

Romans 8:13 - For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if you live by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

Galatians 5:19-21 - The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this ill not inherit the kingdom of God.

Romans 5:20 - Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.

Romans 2:4 - Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

John 6:44 - No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

Hebrews 3:12-13 - Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart or unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

1 John 2:16 - For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - is not of the Father but is of the world.

Matthew 7:22-24 - Many will say to Me in that day,' Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them,' I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.