katEver walked on an unpaved, rocky, gravel road? It’s quite uncomfortable right?
My spiritual mentor gave me this parable and compared this to our lives of faith. When we make ourselves like paving a road, then it is easy and we are able to live comfortable lives in the body and in the spirit.
He said, “With a road, too, if you live after making a road, you will travel over it quickly and comfortably. In the same way, if you believe while knowing the Word of the Bible of the time period correctly, you will 100% surely not be shaken.”
We live in an era where we want instant gratification but nothing ever worth gaining in life comes easy. We have to put in the work now for our future success. Life is about sacrificing in the present for the future.
Life is about paving roads; about developing yourself.
When you develop yourself you start to feel like you have meaning and purpose. You start to pave and find your way through the dark forest called life. First though you have to take initiative and start paving it, otherwise you’ll be stuck in analysis paralysis and never get anywhere.
One thing my spiritual mentor told me once that I’ve never forgotten is that our purpose is found within God’s purpose. Having faith doesn’t necessarily mean giving up your will or giving up on your dreams. It’s actually the opposite. It’s about fulfilling your will within God’s will.
Life and faith simply cannot separate. Our lives of faith are intrinsically who we are because everything we do in life is aligned with or comes from that belief.
“You need to conduct your daily life well. This means, “It is a life of faith that we live as we live our lives. It is a life of faith lived within daily life.”
Life and faith are one. So how can I integrate faith into my daily life?
You might be thinking, “Well how do I know where to start?”
Today I want to share 7 key points or aspects of faith that you can focus on in order to make your life according to God’s design.
1. Path of the Heart and Thoughts
Making [and refining] your heart, mind, and thoughts perfectly
Life is about carving and polishing your heart and thoughts with the Word of God. It is to make a heart of love that is good and perfect. Bad, negative, intrusive thoughts keep you from taking action. You need to make your heart and thoughts strong so your mind will be strong.
It is as it says in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
The truth is God’s will is good. So no matter what, as long as you walk side by side with him, he’ll make sure your life turns out well even as you make a few mistakes along the way.
In a world where imperfections are celebrated, the Lord does call us to be perfect, just as our Heavenly Father is perfect.
So it is about making sure your thoughts are one with God- it’s about having thoughts inspired by God, made in his image and likeness. So how do you get good thoughts? It starts with the next path.
2. The path of prayer
Prayer is so important to living a life of peace and happiness. Before coming to faith I did not pray, but I definitely felt this connection to a higher being and I sought truth. I read a lot of books, consumed media that invigorated my understanding of the world and spiritual things, and I journaled a lot. I still do but I especially remember journaling to myself and writing my deepest heart, or just stream of consciousness. I knew the value of reflection.
Prayer is no different- it is a conversation with God. It is a time of reflecting and connecting with yourself and God.
Things shine only after you polish them. In the same way, my pastor shared with me the following words, ”A path shines only if you travel on it a lot after making it. The same is true with the path of prayer.
It is [to pray] prayers of communicating.
Rather than praying consumed in prayer just by yourself, you need to truly have a conversation.
It is [to pray] prayers that receive responses.
It is [to pray] spiritual prayers.
prayers that cast out Satan
pray for your family, church, and nation.”
Starting my day early with prayer really changes the trajectory of my day. Not only do I get a head start on my day but things seem to go more successfully when I pray.
3. Path of the Word.
Words from my pastor, “The Bible [contains] the things that God’s people of mission knew and did. God worked through them to teach people about His Will. Therefore, the Bible is ‘God’s actions.’”
It is mind blowing to think the Bible is God’s actions. I’ve also heard the Bible is God’s heart, it’s like reading his diary. Through reading the Bible you get to hear about his story with humankind. Even if you don’t believe in the Christian God- I think the Bible offers a lot of beautiful knowledge and philosophical insights as well.
Reading God’s Word, studying/researching about God, and learning more about faith is very important. It is upon this foundation that faith is built.
4. Path of love [with God, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Son, and the Lord.]
It is to absolutely love the Absolute Beings who created Heaven and Earth and all things, the Absolute Beings who created you– God, the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Son – and to believe in Them and live together with Them while being delighted.
It is also important to live a life of loving those around you and caring for them with the Lord’s heart and love.
Mark 12:30-31 “30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[a] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] There is no commandment greater than these.”
5. Path of faith.
It is to live with the path of faith polished to the point of shining. If you want to have absolute faith, you must listen to the absolute Word. Only then will you believe without doubt.
Romans 10:17 “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”
A lot of people struggle believing in God because they fail to read the Bible in detail. I used to think the Bible was a fictional book or a book full of fairytales.
One thing that always troubled me was the concept of age in the Bible. It does not make sense.
When it is said that the people in the Bible lived 930 years or 960 years, people cannot believe it and instead doubt saying, “The Bible is written incorrectly.” But my pastor explained in terms of age calculation in the present time, 930 years is 77 years, and 960 years is 80 years. When seen historically, too, age was calculated by the moon in the old days when they did not have a modern calendar.
So in that I was able to understand the concept of ages in the Bible.
When reading the Bible we need to consider the social and historical contexts. We also need to look at the Bible considering modern science and technological advances.
Only through studying the Word diligently can you make your faith strong and come to understand the Bible clearly. It will no longer be just a book of fairytales but a book of truth.
6. Path of praise and art
Only if you live after making [and refining] the path of praise and art will you live comfortably while always giving glory to God.
Think about how do you give glory or praise God in your daily life?
My favorite form of worship is praise and writing. I love journaling, singing songs, and listening to music. I also like dance, photography, and videography. Even content creation can be a form of glory to God.
Through creating art you come to see God’s word come to life because you are taking. It is called recreation. God made the first creation, it’s up to us to make the second creation, or recreate using the things he has made and blessed with in this world.
7. Path of thanksgiving
It is important to live a life of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving has the power to dispel all negative thoughts. If you live giving thanks to God, reflecting daily on everything He does for you, you will live a happy life.
My pastor said
“God will give you things only if you give thanks. If you do not give thanks, He will give you only the basic things. God has established miscellaneous other things as the path of thanksgiving, too. You will go near to God only if you give thanks.”
I completely agree. When I live in thanksgiving God blesses me even more and I find my days are brighter.
Here are some practical ways you can offer thanksgiving and also document the things you are grateful for:
- Make a gratitude list
- Make a photo album or scrapbook
- Journaling
- Sing a song to God
- Testify to your friends and family about the ways God is working in your life
Finally I’ll end my blog with this quote:
“You will be comfortable only if you live after making the path of the heart and thoughts,
live after making the path of prayer,
live after making the path of the Word,
live after making the path of love,
live after making the path of faith,
live after making the path of praise and the arts,
and live after making the path of thanksgiving. Like a person living after making a path, each of you should live after making various paths with the rest of the things, too. Only then will your life be comfortable.”
