If you are lost in the wilderness one good way to find civilization again is to follow a water source and see where the water is going. People often build structures near water.
"Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise." - Isaiah 43:19-21 ESV
I had an interesting thought about dead ends yesterday. In urban centers they are often created by a need for aesthetics or security. Alleys that go nowhere are often dirty places because things build up there. They are places to put storage or for garbage collection.
"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word," - Ephesians 5:25-26 ESV
The word waters, washes and cuts a path in the wilderness.
" Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:" - Philippians 2:5 KJV
Grace thinking nourishes a marriage and creates a flow and not a stagnant dead end.
People attend Churches and they ask, 'What missionaries do we support?' and the answer is, 'We don't do that because it's not in our budget.' They have reached a dead end.
A couple is dating and one day the concept of marriage comes up and a person says, 'I never want to get married.' the other sighs and realizes they have entered an alley with no exit. It's time to turn around or be trapped.
Jobs turn into dead ends. Many things do.
God's kingdom has no dead ends.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."" - Matthew 28:19-20 ESV
There are always people to win and places to go. God wants to join with us and show us reproduction in the world. New friends. New adventure. A way in the wilderness.
"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." - 1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV
God will give us a way when there seems to be no way.
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." - John 14:6a ESV
Yes. Jesus is our way to the Father and we become people formed by God to declare His praise. The words that come from the Book and our mouths open passages for people so that they can escape what is killing them and enter into the place where they are accepted and loved.
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