Are You Ready For A New Road?

Are You Ready For A New Road?

Good Morning Friends,

I came to Southwest Florida in the late 1960’s before I-75 connected us to the Interstate Highway system. This road expansion was a catalyst that changed Naples from a sleepy fishing village into one of the fastest growing communities in the nation for a time. People from the Midwest followed I-75 to paradise on the Southwest Florida coast just as people from the Eastern states followed I-95 to Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. The effect spilled over into Collier County as straight six lane roads were built and Alligator Alley connected us to the East Coast. Now after forty years of construction and reconstruction much of the inconvenience and noise and dust and slow traffic has been replaced with splendid roads and a few places where new roads are desperately needed. We have to prepare and plan for the road to Christmas as well for a baby changes everything. Having Christmas visitors does too. The countdown is nearing its end. Ready or not, God might just come on a highway of holiness right through your living room. Are You Ready For A New Road?

Scripture: Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins. A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Isaiah 40:1-5 (NRSV)

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, ‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” ‘

Luke 3: 1-6 (NRSV)

Message:  Jesus is calling us to prepare our hearts for His second coming not just the first. The first time He came in stealth mode as a baby to a poor family. For His second coming the event will be unmistakable. Here in our deserts and swamps we need to prepare for the coming of the King as to Jerusalem. We need to plan for God returning to take up residence. So today we need to get rid of every obstacle in our hearts and in our lives that stand in the way of us receiving Him. Today we need to listen to the voice calling us to repent so that we might see God’s glory revealed. We need to listen for the signs of spiritual life and grace of His unfailing love in our lives for His judgment is coming. Friends, prepare for the power and the presence of Jesus. He is coming again as the risen Lord. 
Our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer is a God of change and thankfully He makes us useful instruments for the Spirit to move in us and into the lives of others in the process. Here we see how God connects, changes and transforms us now much like He did then in first century Israel. Just as the building of the Roman Roads allowed for the spread of our faith, extending a peace beyond that of the Pax Romana, we too have new roads to pave. So let us think about this highway we are traveling on the road to Christmas…let us be building with each step we take…let us be meditating on the fullness of time… let us realize that God wants to come hauling truckloads of blessings and that we just need to help build the road. Playtime is about over. Praise time is about to begin.

Pray we rejoice in the building of new roads. Pray they be highways of holiness. Pray we make straight highways connecting points of need to points of revival. Pray we prepare for the Lord. Pray that God has His way in our lives. Pray we experience a time of refreshing, renewing, restoring and rejoicing as the people return to the Word of God, by the power of God, according to the plan of God, under the direction of God so we might all receive the blessings of God.
Pray this season we rediscover the blessings of giving. Pray we shine like lights in a dark world. Pray we show love. Pray we become more holy. Pray we declare the truth. Pray Jesus prepares our hearts so that we never be lukewarm about the work of His church. Pray we repent. Pray we are readied by grace for His return to take up residence in our hearts. Pray we prepare for Christ coming to be God with us.

Blessings,

John Lawson