Show Me Your Ways, O Lord: God's Pathway to a Deeper Spiritual Life

By Robert Morgan

DO YOU DESIRE A DEEPER WALK WITH GOD? Is your heart truly hungry for - A more intimate fellowship with Christ? - A deeper experience of God's presence and power? - A life lived that is more pleasing and more spiritually fruitful for the glory of God? In this book of messages by a humble servant of Christ, you will learn some of the secrets of that intimate walk with God for which you have longed. God has provided the way not only for forgiveness of your sins, but for a real, dynamic, fruitful, God-glorifying walk with Him. "You were created for a deep spiritual life with Christ where you fulfill God's eternal plan and your highest purpose..." In this book you will learn God's pathway to this life. You will learn that God's ways are not your ways, but His ways always lead you to the deeper spiritual life for which you were created. (Excerpt from Endorsement)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 2, 2019
• ISBN: 9781644169612

Robert Morgan

Robert Morgan is a poet, novelist, and biographer. His most recent book is Boone: A Biography (2007), winner of the Kentucky Literary Award and finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award. He is the recipient of fellowships and awards from the Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundations, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, as well as an honorary degree from his alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Since 1971 he has taught at Cornell University, where he is now Kappa Alpha

Book preview

1

God’s Pathway to a Deeper Spiritual Life

How can we get to a deeper spiritual life? We do not get there the way most people think.

In Exodus 13:17–18 we read, And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, ‘Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt.’ But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.

How many people have a problem with God because He does not lead them directly to a spiritual experience? We may come to an altar of prayer asking for something God wants us to have and it can be something for which He does not want us to beg; however, His timetable may be different than ours. He wanted Israel to get to Canaan, and they wanted to get there, but God had His timetable for the journey.

I have met a few people God has taken a short way to a deeper spiritual experience, and He can do that. But God takes very few people that route.

As God leads the way, He usually cannot lead us directly or quickly because we are not ready for all He has, and because we could not handle it if He did. If He gave us our way, we would get discouraged with it and go back. I am speaking of those who want to go the short way. God may take His time about getting you where you want to go and where He wants you to go.

The scriptures tell us God led the people through the way of the wilderness and not the direct route because of the battles they would face. God often leads us the way that looks wrong. God led them by the way of the Red Sea and the wilderness. If we had been with Moses in those days, we might have said to him he was going the wrong way, because he started south and Canaan was north and east! Logically, he was going the wrong way. But, in order to destroy Israel’s enemies, Moses had to lead the people south. Everything about their journey seemed to be the wrong way—the direction was wrong, the way was too long, and the way they went caused them to be hemmed in. But when the children of Israel went God’s way, He opened the Red Sea and their enemies were destroyed. If they had gone the near way, which seemed logical, their enemies would not have been destroyed. Many times, God leads us in the way that seems wrong, but He has His reasons for doing it.

God wants us to get to Canaan—to the promised abundant life He has for us—but it is in our nature to want to make the journey as quickly as we can with minimal difficulty. In First Corinthians 10:11, we read, Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they were written for our admonition. In the New Testament, Jesus used parables as examples; but in the Old Testament, He used the children of Israel as examples. The children of Israel were hemmed in, but God led them there to that hemmed-in-place.

To follow God requires faith because often it does not seem right. God knows all about the way we want to go, and He knows the way that is right. If we will let Him choose the way, He will fight for us. If we choose our own way, we are out on our own. God’s way would destroy Israel’s enemies, but the other way would not. The short route would have discouraged Israel, and they would have turned back to Egypt.

Most people want a direct route to spirituality. If we want a closer walk with God, we must desire it, but that is not enough. We must be determined, and that is not enough. We must be desperate enough to take a leap of faith into the arms of Jesus and trust Him with whatever He does with us. We get to the deeper spiritual life by surrendering completely to God and His way. If we will do that, we will receive what God has for us. God will lead you as fast as you are able to surrender and believe.

John T. Hatfield, a marvelous man of God, prayed and prayed to get a deeper experience with God. He would go to revival meetings and go to the altar and pray until he was feeling good. The next day when his wife would see him coming out of the barn after milking the cow, the cow would have kicked the bucket and spilled milk all over him, and he would be angry. She knew he had not received the deeper walk. There came that time when he finally said, All right, Lord, I’ll do it your way and give up. After that experience, when he went back to the barn and the cow kicked as before. He patted the cow on the back and said, I’m done fighting. I won’t kick you anymore. When his wife saw him coming out of the barn with milk all over him but rejoicing, she knew he had received what he had been longing for.

Reverend L. E. Maxwell was the president of Prairie Bible Institute. He was a wonderful man of faith. A young minister and I went to hear him preach at a Youth for Christ Conference at Winona Lake, Indiana. He preached a masterful sermon and pictured the Christian life so beautifully. The young minister with me said, Let’s go up and talk with him.

I said, All right.

The young minister took Reverend Maxwell’s hand and said, Brother, that was a marvelous sermon, but I don’t know how I could ever attain to it.

He said, Brother, you don’t attain to this—you sink to it. You surrender to what you want. If we do not surrender, we will not receive a deeper walk.

Hannah Hurnard wrote a book titled Hinds’ Feet on High Places. This book is a treasure and is an allegory of her life. In the book, her name is Miss Much Afraid and she lived in the valley of Humiliation. The Shepherd would come and talk to her, and she would say, Won’t you take me to the heights where I can skip on the mountainside with You and follow You wherever you go? She had twisted feet and a twisted mouth. The Lord finally agreed to her request. He told her He would give her two companions to go with her. Their names were Sorrow and Suffering. These were the companions who were going to lead her to the high places, and she was afraid of them, but she finally agreed to go with them. They would reach out their hands and help her when she got in a tight spot.

When they started on the journey, they took her the opposite direction of where she wanted to go! Instead of going up the mountain, they started her toward the valley. She told them she wanted to go to the mountain, not the valley. But in order to go to the mountain, she had to first descend into the valley where she had to conquer Pride, Jealousy, and Envy. When she conquered these enemies, she then started on the road to the high places.

She finally got to the mountain where her name was changed from Miss Much Afraid to Grace and Glory, and the names of Sorrow and Suffering were changed to Peace and Joy. Then she could skip on the mountain with Jesus.

Isn’t it something how God leads us? We get to the places He wants us to go, and to where we really want to go, by surrender and believing what He says and going with Him all the way.

Exodus 12:37 says, And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men beside children. Rameses was the best land in Egypt, and Succoth was a barren wilderness as far as the land was concerned. He led them from the best to the worst! What a God we serve! Do you still want to go with Him? Do you still want the journey? Do you still want the deeper spiritual life?

They journeyed from Rameses, the finest city in Egypt and probably in the world. God led them from the top to the bottom in order that they could receive what they really wanted and experience God’s very best! God leads in such a different way than we think in order that we might receive what we really want.

Succoth was a place of desolation. They left homes and went out and lived in tents. Do you still want to go with God? I am telling you the truth. If you want a deeper spiritual life you must sink to it—surrender to it and believe for it. All the while, God is leading you to an amazing, fruitful, fulfilling, God-glorifying life!

Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, gave us the book of Ecclesiastes. He tried everything that man could ever want, and he came to the conclusion that everything in the earth is vanity—accomplishments, all wealth, etc. God’s way does not look right to the natural man, and it is not the way the natural man wants to go. But God’s way will defeat your enemies. God’s way will bring you to your divine purpose and to eternal blessing. When God opened the Red Sea and the children of Israel went God’s way, their enemies were destroyed. If the children of Israel had gone their way, this would have never happened. All of their lives, they would have faced the enemies that they wanted to get rid of. God knows if He allows us to go the short way, we may face certain enemies all of our lives. Do you want to get rid of your enemies? Do you want to go God’s way—to God’s promise and purpose for you? Let God hem you in and then deliver you. God’s way is always best. There is an old hymn with these words: God’s way is best. I will not murmur, although the end I may not see.

Do you still want to go with God? You were created for a deep spiritual life with Christ where you fulfill God’s eternal plan and your highest purpose and where you truly glorify God. Surrender. Go God’s pathway, and you will receive what your heart truly desires.

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You Are the Product of Your Choices: Choose Life

And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:15–17)

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. (Genesis 3:1–6)

In the beginning, God put Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden on probation. They were innocent, but they had to make a choice before they could live holy, and we do too. They were given the chance to choose life or death.

Why do you think people turn away from God and the full Christian life? We might think they do because of carnality. Yes, our inherent bent to sin, our carnality, can push us away from fellowship with God. But Adam and Eve did not have any carnality. There was no drawing in their hearts to the things of the world. They did not have the pull we have, because sin entered the world. They could not make it even though they did not have carnality, and we can’t either. We cannot blame carnality for not following Jesus.

Circumstances of any kind cannot keep you from following Jesus. We might feel that people do not understand the circumstance