The Path of Life: Walking in the Loving Presence of God

By Lisa N. Robertson and Korie Robertson

“This book should be your next read! I give The Path of Life my highest recommendation.”--Lysa TerKeurst, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Uncover joy on your path of life. God has a path for each of our lives--a path full of adventure, challenges, and joy. Biblical paths are not all that different from the paths we encounter in our world today.

Finding God’s path is not a mystery. Throughout the Bible, God makes it clear that He will teach us, show us, speak to us, and guide us on this path. Lisa Robertson is passionate about walking alongside women to uncover the mysteries, symbolism, and truths about the path of life. Perfect for fans of Lysa TerKeurst and Priscilla Shirer -- this book blends sound, Biblical teaching with heartfelt wisdom.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: May 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9780785223597

Lisa N. Robertson

Lisa Robertson is her daughter-in-law, married to Alan, often referred to as the "beardless brother," though, truth be told, he sports a short one these days. The Robertson family lives in West Monroe, Louisiana.

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Praise for The Path of Life

"Lisa Robertson is one of my dearest friends and has one of the most delightful and vivacious relationships with God. She has walked her various life paths with God in gracious, honest, insightful ways that have inspired me and helped me grow. If you’re looking for a mentor to help you know how to face all that’s ahead of you with a sense of peace and wisdom, this book should be your next read! I give The Path of Life my highest recommendation."

—Lysa TerKeurst, #1 New York Times bestselling author and president of Proverbs 31 Ministries

I am so pleased that Lisa Robertson has written this book based on Psalm 16. Lisa’s love for Jesus Christ is an inspiration to many and she has much wisdom to offer anyone seeking to travel on The Path of Life.

—Nicky Gumbel, Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton, England

"One of the most frequent questions that clergy hear is ‘What does God want me to do?’ With lucid prose and engaging personal stories, Lisa explains how the Scriptures answer that question. Recommended for clergy to share with their flock, The Path of Life will encourage, guide, and bless those who want to do God’s will."

—The Reverend Andrew Buchanan, Senior Pastor, Galilee Church, Virginia Beach, Virginia

"Lisa has known my family almost my entire life. Sometimes when you have an ‘adventurous path’ as a young man, especially one that can seemingly take you away from God’s plans as I did, those memories can either hurt or help you. In my case, I remember my parents loving me throughout the entire journey. Lisa has profound wisdom for everybody, parents and nonparents alike, as we all endeavor to love people better through this journey called life. I highly recommend The Path of Life."

—Carl Lentz, Senior Pastor, Hillsong Church NYC

The path of the Christian life is relatively simple, but our experience on it is not. Lisa helps bring clarity and wisdom to the twists and turns we all face on our journeys with the Lord.

—Katherine and Jay Wolf, cofounders of the nonprofit

Hope Heals; coauthors of Hope Heals

"Our journey starts with a first breath and then the first step. We may take the high road, the low road, or the road less traveled. Robertson guides us via the Bible’s GPS on this amazing path of life. Enjoy the journey, for the destination is eternal. Read The Path of Life and reap the fruits either side of the path."

—Nigel Mumford, international speaker, author, founder of By His Wounds, Inc., and Priest Associate for Healing, Galilee Church, Virginia Beach, Virginia

"No matter what path you find yourself on—whether it’s filled with surprises, hardships, or joy—you’ll find your touchpoint in this book. Drawing on more than forty years of marriage, parenting, and following Christ, Lisa Robertson curates a wealth of scriptural insight and real-life stories that point us toward the best path of all: the path of life!"

—Jodie Berndt, bestselling author of Praying the Scriptures for Your Children

© 2019 Lisa Robertson

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked CEV are from the Contemporary English Version. Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.

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Scripture quotations marked TLV are taken from the Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.

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ISBN 978-0-7852-2359-7 (eBook)

ISBN 978-0-7852-2356-6 (TP)

Epub Edition March 2019 9780785223597

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019933672

Printed in the United States of America

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Please note that endnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication.

This book is dedicated to

Tim, who makes our path together such an

awesome adventure every day. The first time

we went to church together, I flipped open my

Bible and happened to read this verse:

Oh, magnify the LORD with me.

And let us exalt His name together.

(Psalm 34:3 NKJV)

I didn’t know we would be married, but I was sure we

would always be friends. And I love that we are both.

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

1. The First Step on the Path

2. The Surprising Path

3. The Difficult Path

4. Prayers for the Path: Ask God

5. The Parenting Path: Getting Started

6. The Parenting Path: Letting Go

7. The Path of Change

8. The Path of Joy

9. The Narrow Path

10. Potholes on the Path

11. The Path of God for You

Acknowledgments

Appendix

Questions for the Path of Life

Notes

About the Author

Foreword

KORIE ROBERTSON

Before I tell you how incredible this book is going to be and how awesome Lisa is, can I tell you the story of how we met?

It was in the most unlikely of places: a limo on the way to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. I know that sounds a bit like a humble brag and I guess it kind of is, so please forgive me! It was 2014 and God had done immeasurably more than we could have asked or imagined with a little television show about our crazy Louisiana family. He had taken our meager offering of a prayer at the end of every episode and placed our show in millions of homes in America and more than one hundred countries around the world. And on this night, we were heading to dinner with the president! My mom’s first comment when I told her we were going was, Good thing I taught you table manners!

We climbed into the limo and Lisa and her husband, Tim, were there, looking beautiful and dashing in a gown and tux. Willie’s tux pants that I brought for him didn’t fit, so he was wearing black jeans, a white shirt, a black jacket (without a tie; he claimed you couldn’t see it anyway because of his beard) and his red, white, and blue bandana. I’m pretty sure he was the only one there in jeans and a bandana. I, at least, had on a gown, so hopefully they would let us in!

We knew of Tim and Lisa. They were the Robertsons—of the 700 Club Robertsons! That’s pretty much all we knew, but that in itself was a big deal. Their family has done incredible things for the kingdom of God through their television network and the many great works they do around the world; so we knew of them, and were excited to meet them.

Once in the limo, Willie and I argued on the way there whether or not we would actually get to meet the president and First Lady. I had envisioned it like a giant meet-and-greet line where everyone walked past, shook their hands, and maybe got a photo op. They all informed me that there would be three thousand plus attendees at this event . . . that wasn’t going to happen. We all had a good laugh about my ignorance and were on our way.

As soon as we walked into the Washington Hilton, a secret service agent walked up to Willie and me, leaned in, and whispered, Mr. and Mrs. Robertson, the president would like to meet you. We were whisked behind the curtains to a small room where President and Mrs. Obama were standing along with a few other people: Conan O’Brien (who was the host of the night), his beautiful wife, and Nicole Kidman were among them. Despite Willie wearing denim to a formal dinner, this night was turning out to be pure magic!

The president and First Lady couldn’t have been more kind and gracious. They told us they watch our show on Air Force One and thanked us for the positive values we were portraying on television. As we walked away one of the president’s aides gave Willie a box of presidential cufflinks. We walked back out to our table in a state of shock to find Tim and Lisa waiting to hear about our exciting little detour, and a lifelong friendship was born.

Have you ever heard the term lagniappe? It’s a Louisiana-French word we use around here that means something given as a bonus, or a special gift. It’s like the piled-high icing on top of the cupcake, the gravy, the extra little bit of good stuff that you didn’t know was coming, or if you knew it was coming, you didn’t expect it to be that good.

Well, I’ve always said Lisa was my lagniappe from this special night. We got to meet a lot of famous people at the dinner, even shake hands with the president and First lady, but meeting Lisa was that bonus, that extra-special gift that God handed out to me that I didn’t see coming.

On this night, we were on the surprising path that you’ll read about later, but since meeting Lisa, I’ve walked down difficult paths, come across potholes, been on tough parenting paths that put me on my knees, and even questioned the path that God was taking me down. Over the last few years, Lisa’s words and prayers at just the right time have taught me and encouraged me along my journey.

It would have been easy for her to write a book about the ways God has blessed her family, but this is simply not that book. The Word of God pours out of her because she has spent a lifetime seeking Him. She has chosen to walk in His ways, and has experienced all the paths she writes about. Yes, God has blessed their family, but as with most of us, Lisa’s deep understanding of His truth comes from the difficult things He has brought her through.

I love how in life, and in her writing, Lisa doesn’t shy away from the hard paths, disappointments, the time her family had to forgive the seemingly unforgivable, the moments she questioned if God is actually real, her own parenting fears, the struggles within the church, and the times of waiting on answers. I also loved reading of her triumphs, the times God gave clear answers to her prayers, the times she didn’t waiver even though she couldn’t see clearly God’s plan, the way she has learned to pack gratefulness in her bag for all life’s paths.

Don’t you love it when you find that friend who simply walks in the path God has for her and cheers you on in yours? She has done that for me and will do that for you in these pages. I’ve had the great privilege to know her, laugh with her, and learn from her over the years. You’ll get that privilege in the pages of this book. May it be the lagniappe your soul needs as you read and discover the path God has laid out for you and know more fully His goodness and grace in every step.

Introduction

I first noticed the path of life when a wedding gift was delivered to our house. A handwritten note contained this message: Tim and Lisa, May God bless your marriage. Love, The Ditchfields, Psalm 16:11.

I have long forgotten what the gift was, but I have never forgotten the card. When I looked up the verse and read it, the words resonated in me, and they have become a truth that guides me.

You will make known to me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. (Psalm 16:11 NASB)

The first time I read this verse, I thought about the variety of ways God had guided my life. The questions lingered: Is there a path that God has for me? Can I find it? Will I take it? What does this verse mean to me?

After our wedding in Denver, we moved to Massachusetts, where we quickly encountered questions about where we would live, where we would work, and which church we would attend. Each of these decisions shaped our path. With each one, the questions remained the same. Is this God’s best path for us? Is this the next step? Whether the decisions were easy or difficult, the words of Psalm 16:11 continually guided us.

There are three powerful promises in this one verse. First, God will make the path known. His path for me is not hidden or a secret. If I look for it, I know I will find it, simply because He promises to make it known to me. My path is always there. This is not complicated if I focus and pay attention to God’s leading in my life.

Second, when I am in His presence, I will discover fullness of joy. The promise is short, simple, and powerful: I will be filled with joy when I am in God’s presence. Being joy-filled means that there is no room for other things, like worry, anger, fears, or frustrations. Fullness of joy comes with the confidence that God’s love, plans, and presence fill my life. This does not say that I will find joy only if I look for it, behave myself, or earn it. Joy is there because God’s presence is there.

The third promise is pleasures forever in His presence. What stands out here is the amazing generosity of God. Two words used in this verse—fullness and forever—give a sense of being complete. When something is full, there is no room for lack. Forever means forever. Not just a minute or a day, but forever! These promises hinge simply on my willingness to follow God’s path for my life. He will show me the way and fill my life with His joy and eternal pleasure. I may have been young when I read these words, but I wasn’t stupid. Seeking all that God has for me continues to be the goal of my life.

As I moved from one stage of life to the next, the theme of a path of life stood out to me as I read the Bible. The path of life is created by God just for you. As you already know, this path is not just straight and narrow. God has a path for each one of us, and along our paths we are certain to experience a wide variety of different terrains. It won’t take long before we discover some difficulties. There will be times when our paths will be full of surprises.

Surprises on the path might be filled with joys and challenges. Many stories throughout Scripture illustrate the different kinds of surprises God has for His people.

Have you ever thought about how you might respond to a burning bush? Or what if you saw men in a fiery furnace walking with an angel? (Some believe it may have been Jesus in the furnace with the three Hebrew children.) Another surprise: Esther, a young Jewish orphan girl, becomes a queen? Jesus was full of surprises too: He turned water into wine and fed thousands with just a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. And He topped it all off with His spectacular resurrection. Pay attention and look for the surprises He has for you!

Prayer is important for our travels along the path. Throughout the Bible, we meet people who pray the same prayers that we pray when we ask God for help, guidance, wisdom, patience, and forgiveness. Like

Reviews for The Path of Life

[laura · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There’s so much wisdom in this inspiring book! I highly recommend it!