May 15, 2020 Path through the Narrow Gate

Yesterday the Lord spoke to us boldly telling us to slow down and stop following the crowd. They are rushing towards the wide gate, pushing and shoving the whole way.  The crowds are going in the wrong direction because they have a different agenda, one that is not of God.  God warned us to not follow the crowds, but to go in a different direction, towards the narrow gate.
 
Matthew 7:13-14  Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
 
Why do we follow the crowd?  Why do their voices get our attention more than God’s voice?
Here is an excerpt that the Lord spoke to us this week:
 
Do not follow the voices that you hear that day, do not even go their very way
Oh the voices will be loud, be loud, you see
There will be a great warning, a great warning to thee
That you will not go when the voices are loud and the crowd is going in one way
You will stop and you will stand and you will say that is the way that I will not go this day
The way is the only way, the truth and the light that is in the only Savior, Jesus Christ
Oh do you not see there is a great deception that is coming against thee
 
John 14:6  Jesus said to them, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through Me. 
 
The narrow way is the path the Lord has chosen for all of His people to walk.  A way of holiness and reliance upon the Lord for everything. But in order to walk in His Way, we must be cleansed of our sinful ways.  In His prophetic word the Lord told us six times to clean our hands, and then seven times to cleanse our hands.  

• Clean means to be free from extraneous matter, whatever is injurious or offensive.
• Cleanse means to purify, to remove filth of any kind by whatever it takes: washing, rubbing, scouring, scrapping, purging, ventilation, or removing

I compare these two words to how we physically wash our hands. A child cleans his hands by running them under water to remove the obvious dirt; whereas a physician takes great care and time to cleanse his hands to purify them by whatever means it takes to do that.
 
As we grow up to know the Lord more, cleansing is vital for us to walk in His ways! God promises us that He will be our God and we will be His people if we accept the free gift of salvation by believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior. For all who have done this, we are to come out from the midst of the crowd who have not accepted Jesus and be separate, and not touch what is unclean. God further promises us that He will be a father to us and we shall be His sons and daughters. (2 Corinthians 6:16-18)
 
2 Corinthians 7:1  Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
 
James 4:8  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
 
1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The entire Prophetic Word is available to download in the column to the right: Follow God's Chosen Way