{"id":424,"date":"2014-05-14T15:06:57","date_gmt":"2014-05-14T19:06:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/?p=424"},"modified":"2015-02-21T18:44:43","modified_gmt":"2015-02-21T23:44:43","slug":"staying-on-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/2014\/05\/14\/staying-on-course\/","title":{"rendered":"Staying on Course"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201c\u2026O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.\u201d Isaiah 3:12<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

Our family enjoyed several FUN days in the TN Mountains and, although getting away was great, it is also nice to be home-sweet-home! It has been almost 33 years that my Honskins and I spent our honeymoon in Gatlinburg and since that time we have made a few trips back with the kids.\u00a0Our first stop? – downtown Gatlinburg with all the shops, including the candy stores where\u00a0we watched taffy being made!\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t long until we ventured to the go-karts where my main job was cheering them on and taking pictures, of course! After they had raced on the different tracks for a little while, one time of racing proved to be a time of testing as well. As the lead person pulled out, he made a right turn instead of staying left. Whoever was directly behind him followed suit, as did the next person, as did the next person………as did Anna.\u00a0 Caleb and Bethany, who were the last ones in the line-up, just watched all those people going the wrong way as they proceeded left. Their cries of, \u201cAnnnaaaaaa!!!\u201d were too late as little sis had already reached the point of no return.\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

That incident came to my mind when I read in Isaiah this morning. \u201c\u2026they which lead thee cause thee to err\u2026\u201d Isaiah 3:12<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 For whatever reason, that first person in the line of go-karts went the wrong way. Whether intentional or not, the results were several people following him including his own family and our Anna. Although I cannot speak for the others, I do know that Anna had some go-karting experience but, what little knowledge she had did not keep her from making an obvious wrong turn.\u00a0 As she\u00a0turned right with the rest of them, did her \u201cgo-kart knowledge\u201d holler, \u201cThis is the wrong way!!!\u201d? \u00a0Maybe\u2026I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

In this day of increasing compromise and falling away, how vitally\u00a0important to stay in\u00a0close fellowship with the Lord on a daily basis,\u00a0through prayer and Bible reading\/meditating.\u00a0We cannot depend on last week’s or last month’s time of fellowship with the\u00a0Lord\u00a0to get us through today.\u00a0And\u00a0then, how careful we must be to THINK<\/strong> before making any decisions. THINK<\/strong> \u2013 What does God\u2019s Word say about this? THINK<\/strong> \u2013 Who am I following? THINK<\/strong> \u2013 How will this decision affect me in 5 years, 10 years, etc. THINK<\/strong> \u2013 How will this decision affect those that are following me?…my children, my grandchildren, my friends, those that may look up to me?\u00a0 THINK<\/strong> – Would I like to be found making this decision when the Lord comes back? <\/b><\/p>\n

It is not easy to go opposite \u201cthe crowd\u201d. As Bethany and Caleb watched everyone in front of them make that\u00a0wrong turn, they may have experienced a moment of hesitation\u2026a moment of questioning themselves as to what direction to take. So often is the case when making decisions in life. As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us as our Guide. But even though, from God\u2019s Word and the Holy Spirit\u2019s promptings, we KNOW<\/strong> what we should do, our own human nature will often cause us to look at what everyone else is doing and follow suit. No one likes to be different. Many times, there is a false sense of security in numbers but, as in the go-kart incidence, that security is often short-lived as a wrong turn becomes apparent down the road. <\/b><\/p>\n

As those that turned right at the race track finally got turned around, they were no longer in the lead. Their mistake had cost them. Likewise, in our Christian life, we will make wrong turns from time-to-time and with those poor decisions we will suffer loss. Far too often, as in the case of the Dad that was in the lead, we cause others to follow us in our bad choices. But, there is good news!! I John 1:9 says, \u201cIf we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.\u201d<\/strong><\/em> When we, in humility, cry to God for mercy, He is ready and willing to put us back on the right track\u2026headed in the right direction! <\/b><\/p>\n

The next time this family goes go-karting, I think Anna will be extra careful. With all the teasing she has received from her siblings, I\u2019m pretty sure she will stay on course no matter who else veers\u2026at least I think so. When we, in our Christian lives, find ourselves having to turn around and back track, let\u2019s not let the experience be a total loss. Let\u2019s determine, by God\u2019s grace, to learn from our mistakes. As we turn to God\u2019s Word for counsel, let\u2019s determine, next time, to THINK<\/strong> before we act.<\/p>\n

\u201cPonder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.\u201d Proverbs 4:26<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cTrust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.\u201d Proverbs 3:5,6<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

~ Rachel ~<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201c\u2026O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.\u201d Isaiah 3:12 Our family enjoyed several FUN days in the TN Mountains and, although getting away was great, it is also nice to be home-sweet-home! It has been almost 33 years that my Honskins and I spent our honeymoon in Gatlinburg and since that time we have made a few trips back with the kids.\u00a0Our first stop? – downtown Gatlinburg with all the shops, including the candy stores where\u00a0we watched taffy being made!\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42 It wasn\u2019t long until we ventured to the go-karts where my main job was cheering them on and taking pictures, of course! After they had raced on the different tracks for a little while, one time of racing proved to be a time of testing as well. As the lead person pulled out, he made a right turn instead of staying left. Whoever was directly behind him followed suit, as did the next person, as did the next person………as did Anna.\u00a0 Caleb and Bethany, who were the last ones in the line-up, just watched all those people going the wrong way as they proceeded left. Their cries of, \u201cAnnnaaaaaa!!!\u201d were too late as little sis had already reached the point of no return.\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42 That incident came to my mind when I read in Isaiah this morning. \u201c\u2026they which lead thee cause thee to err\u2026\u201d Isaiah 3:12\u00a0 For whatever reason, that first person in the line of go-karts went the wrong way. Whether intentional or not, the results were several people following him including his own family and our Anna. Although I cannot speak for the others, I do know that Anna had some go-karting experience but, what little knowledge she had did not keep her from making an obvious wrong turn.\u00a0 As she\u00a0turned right with the rest of them, did her \u201cgo-kart knowledge\u201d holler, \u201cThis is the wrong way!!!\u201d? \u00a0Maybe\u2026I don\u2019t know. In this day of increasing compromise and falling away, how vitally\u00a0important to stay in\u00a0close fellowship with the Lord on a daily basis,\u00a0through prayer and Bible reading\/meditating.\u00a0We cannot depend on last week’s or last month’s time of fellowship with the\u00a0Lord\u00a0to get us through today.\u00a0And\u00a0then, how careful we must be to THINK before making any decisions. THINK \u2013 What does God\u2019s Word say about this? THINK \u2013 Who am I following? THINK \u2013 How will this decision affect me in 5 years, 10 years, etc. THINK \u2013 How will this decision affect those that are following me?…my children, my grandchildren, my friends, those that may look up to me?\u00a0 THINK – Would I like to be found making this decision when the Lord comes back? It is not easy to go opposite \u201cthe crowd\u201d. As Bethany and Caleb watched everyone in front of them make that\u00a0wrong turn, they may have experienced a moment of hesitation\u2026a moment of questioning themselves as to what direction to take. So often is the case when making decisions in life. As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us as our Guide. But even though, from God\u2019s Word and the Holy Spirit\u2019s promptings, we KNOW what we should do, our own human nature will often cause us to look at what everyone else is doing and follow suit. No one likes to be different. Many times, there is a false sense of security in numbers but, as in the go-kart incidence, that security is often short-lived as a wrong turn becomes apparent down the road. As those that turned right at the race track finally got turned around, they were no longer in the lead. Their mistake had cost them. Likewise, in our Christian life, we will make wrong turns from time-to-time and with those poor decisions we will suffer loss. Far too often, as in the case of the Dad that was in the lead, we cause others to follow us in our bad choices. But, there is good news!! I John 1:9 says, \u201cIf we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.\u201d When we, in humility, cry to God for mercy, He is ready and willing to put us back on the right track\u2026headed in the right direction! The next time this family goes go-karting, I think Anna will be extra careful. With all the teasing she has received from her siblings, I\u2019m pretty sure she will stay on course no matter who else veers\u2026at least I think so. When we, in our Christian lives, find ourselves having to turn around and back track, let\u2019s not let the experience be a total loss. Let\u2019s determine, by God\u2019s grace, to learn from our mistakes. As we turn to God\u2019s Word for counsel, let\u2019s determine, next time, to THINK before we act. \u201cPonder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.\u201d Proverbs 4:26 \u201cTrust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.\u201d Proverbs 3:5,6 ~ Rachel ~<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[33,10,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guarding-from-sin","category-restoration","category-wisdom-discernment"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4o6C2-6Q","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2070,"href":"http:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424\/revisions\/2070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}