Friends, we’ve moved from a Year of Movement, to a Year of Trusting in the Lord… and it seems that a natural ‘successor’ to Trusting In The Lord, is to receive Revelations:
By God’s glory revealed, our direction will be shown – to us, as individuals, as a congregation, and as the body of Christ.
By God’s grace manifested, our discernment will be realized – in our plans and our plan ‘B’s, in our actions and our reactions.
Sure as we are prepared internally against all falsehoods and half-truths, so we are also protected externally, from all deception and distractions.
And finally… we will find ourselves soaking in the waters of Life – Revelations.
Okay. Before anything else I just want to disclose that in preparation for what I’m about to write here I asked ChatGPT for help. At first I asked for the AI to help me out with positive ‘synonyms’ for the word ‘Revelation’, complete with their meaning – or what’s supposedly setting each word apart from the other.
Then I had the brilliant idea of asking it to add what it thought were Bible verses applicable to each synonym. Then I had it convert its results into a table so it’s easier for me to read and process. Then I asked it to add something else to the table – what it thought were direct opposites, or ‘antonyms’ to the words it generated in that table.
Then I thought, I’m putting too much thought into this endeavor.
At first, it was pretty exciting. I mean, beyond having our congregation expect just ‘revelations’, I suppose my intention was to paint a more vivid picture, more likely to be appreciated. The AI did come up with: Realizations, Epiphanies, Discoveries, Insights, Enlightenments, Illuminations, Awakenings, Unveilings, Disclosures, Clarifications, Revels, Breakthroughs, Prophecies, Manifestations, Teachings, Exposures, and Visions. I thought this output was pleasantly overwhelming… then, as I went deeper into it, well, I found out it was just overwhelming.
So I don’t know if I’m going to go any further down that road, or if I’m going to mention any of it this coming Sunday. I mean, it’s already taken a lot of my time and thought yesterday and left me with nothing except this realization and reminder, so it’ll just take second priority at the very best.
I do want to go back to some Scriptures on the matter that I said I’d be going through, to supplement what we have to share at this critical start of the year.
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Friends, we’ve been telling our kids to memorize these specific verses… and we really should keep on doing that. However, for the sake of the theme of this year, notice how, once again, trust precedes revelation – or, in this case, the Lord making our paths straight. The Teacher (whom we assume is King Solomon) also specifies: On top of trusting in the Lord ‘with all (our heart)’, we’re not lean on our own understanding – it’s not that we shouldn’t depend on our own understanding, but we’re not to ‘lean on’ it. That is, we are free to make considerations based on our understanding, but it shouldn’t be our priority. The indirect implication also gives us a picture of what it means to trust in the Lord: It means that we ought to ‘lean on’ Him – It makes sense, especially when we consider that He is our Foundation on whom we stand, the Anchor of our souls.
So as early as the days of Solomon the people were told and reminded: Trust in the Lord, lean on the Lord, and acknowledge Him – and in the process, we can have faith that He will ‘make straight (our) paths’.
Now on the pulpit, I’ve been very eager in saying that we acknowledge Him in all our plans, and He will ‘direct our steps’ and ‘establish our thoughts‘… and I’d like to clarify on this right now, correct my quotation:
Proverbs 16:3 of the KJV says, ‘Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established‘; The ESV says our ‘plans will be established.‘ So that part of what I say is okay, I suppose.
However, ‘Direct your steps’ is quoted in Proverbs 16:9 of the NKJV: “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.”;
It’s actually in Psalms 37:23 where we see a form of trust as a condition of sorts, preceding our steps: “The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way;”… BUT the KJV specifies: ‘The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and He delighteth in his way.‘
Look I get it, I may be putting too much thought in this as well, but I think I see a silver lining as we put all of this together.
We see that when we trust in the Lord – that is, when we commit our works to Him, our thoughts AND our steps shall be established. In so far as our original premise, that trust precedes revelation, this is solid.
However, we shouldn’t forget one more thing, especially since we’re now under the New Covenant that proclaims that all who believe in Christ as in right-standing before God, and are therefore, ‘good’: That as we have been made new creations with new hearts, and hearts that plan our way, our good Father delights in said ways, and on top of this, our steps are established, and ordered by the Lord. In lesser words, Christ has guaranteed that our Father delights in our new heart and our ways, and He establishes and orders our steps.
But, well, while we’re at it – it doesn’t stop there. I venture to say that when we place our trust in the Lord for specific instances in this finite existence, yes, our thoughts on the matter shall be established, our steps and considerations in the circumstance shall also be established… but lest we forget, Solomon also indicates that He will make straight our paths.
Let’s integrate eSword. One thing we can consider in all this is that, again, when we acknowledge Him (that is, the grace and glory of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in all our ways – ‘course(s) of life’ or ‘mode of action’ – He is faithful to establish (to be or to make right, pleasant, prosperous) our (more literal) paths (roads, ways, highways).
So while, by default, our steps (and all that precedes and follows them) are made under the watchful eye of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, when we find ourselves intentionally trusting Him – that is, committing our way to Him, and acknowledging Him in all our plans – He will direct our paths; but it’s not merely that He directs US down the path, but He ALSO makes the paths straight.
How does all this change what I say on the pulpit? Well, I’ll say that through Christ, God delights in our heart and ways, but when we acknowledge Him, He will establish our thoughts, our plans, and our steps… He will make our paths straight.
Gosh, and that’s not all from this portion of Scripture: Far from it. Check out the next couple of verses.
7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.
Proverbs 3:7-8
Not only do we trust in the Lord and receive revelation, but here we also read: Fear the Lord, and it will be healing. Or, fear the Lord and receive healing.
Is this terror of the Lord? No, if we take the rest of the verse we have clarification – What it means to fear the Lord (though His greatness and glory truly are terribly awesome) is to not be wise in our own eyes AND to acknowledge that it is our God who is wise… and it’s not only for us to turn away from evil, but to turn to Him. To fear the Lord in this context also means to trust in Him: To turn, to RUN to His wisdom and understanding.
And, see: Not only do we receive revelations, but we receive healing and refreshment.
2 “Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it—the LORD is his name:
3 Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.
Jeremiah 33:2-3
We continue to build upon what we’re sharing to each other as we start this year.
Let us trust in the Lord. Let us lean upon His understanding, first and foremost.
Let us acknowledge Him in all our ways. Let us commit our works to Him.
Let us fear the Lord – that is, let us not be wise in our own eyes, but consider His wisdom first and foremost;
Let us turn away from evil, and turn to Him.
Here, we read, that as we turn to Him, let us also call upon Him…
…For He is the One who makes our paths straight. He is the One who not only directs us, but prospers and corrects/rightens our roads; He is the One who makes our ways pleasant.
He is the One who establishes our thoughts, our plans, and our steps – our preparations (past), our intentions (future), and our present actions (present).
And not only does He answer with healing to our flesh, and refreshment to our bones…
But here, we read that He will tell us great and hidden things that we have not known.
All of this encompasses the revelations that we, who trust in Him, would receive.
And lest we forget, we trust Him, and we receive more revelations… but, also, as we receive the revelations, we find more cause to trust in Him.
I think there’s more for us to write about regarding this. But I think I’ll stop here. It’s not necessarily another set of 2025 words again… but I think it just helps that I get all of this down, just so there’s some progress before this coming Sunday.
By God’s glory revealed, our direction will be shown – to us, as individuals, as a congregation, and as the body of Christ.
By God’s grace manifested, our discernment will be realized – in our plans and our plan ‘B’s, in our actions and our reactions.
Sure as we are prepared internally against all falsehoods and half-truths, so we are also protected externally, from all deception and distractions.
And finally… we will find ourselves soaking in the waters of Life – Revelations.
Revelations imply the following:
He is the One who makes our paths straight. He is the One who not only directs us, but prospers and corrects/rightens our roads; He is the One who makes our ways pleasant.
He is the One who establishes our thoughts, our plans, and our steps – our preparations (past), our intentions (future), and our present actions (present).
He answers with healing to our flesh, and refreshment to our bones…
He will tell us great and hidden things that we have not known.
Let’s keep at it.
God bless us all greatly!
8635/365000
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
Leave a comment