“I will go before you and make the crooked places straight ...” Isaiah 45:2

Dearly beloved in Christ,

Greetings to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In our life there are so many areas which need to be set right. Only when the path is set right, it will facilitate easy passage. When the road has too many bends, it is difficult for travellers and it might result in accidents. There was one such road that caused a number of accidents. The people agitated for a better road. The government then made it straight. After that there were no such accidents. Think of that. Because the road was set right, many accidents were avoided. This is true in the lives of people too. To live a happy live, there are so many things to be set right, not only in the social life but also in the spiritual life. It will help us to lead a good life in the right path. When we set the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ before us, He will go before us and set right all the crooked things. He is such a loving God.  You should acknowledge that there are things which are crooked in your life that need to be set right. If you are careful to set them right consciously, you would have success and blessings in life. Let us examine in the light of the scriptures the things that are to be set right in our lives. We should also accept the role the Lord God has to play and yield to Him. He will go before us and make the crooked places straight.
THINGS TO BE SET RIGHT
1. THE WAY “It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect.” Psalm 18:32

David narrates his personal experiences glorifying God. We take effort in several things but we are not successful. But look at the experiences of David. The Lord sets right his way and exalts him in the midst of others and makes him occupy high places. Dear child of God, you should know that it is the Lord who makes crooked things straight in our lives. If He does not do that, there would not be peace in life. We will have to strain ourselves. In vain we labour. For a long time we would be in turmoil. Once I had accepted to do ministry in a place. I thought it was an easily approachable place. I started the journey. The place was just 75 km away, but the road was terribly damaged. The distance could be ordinarily covered in just one and a half hours. But as it was ravaged with rain water, it took us three hours to cover the distance. So our ways in life should be properly laid. Travel on road became troublesome as the road was not well laid. In our spiritual journey also we need a good way. It is the Lord God who makes our journey on this earth quite comfortable and enjoyable. As He made straight all the crooked things in the way of David, he was anointed the king at the right time and was blessed. The Lord God not only makes crooked ways straight but also guides us in smooth paths. That is why the psalmist prays, “Teach me Your way, O LORD, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.” (Psalm 27:11). God who can take you in such good paths is still alive. You may have difficulty in deciding which way to take in small or big matters. The Lord will teach you the right way. You may not know the perfect way, the way to happiness and peace. The Lord will help you by teaching and guiding in the right way. Thus He will bless you. The Lord who assured us, “I will go before you and make the crooked places straight” will also teach the way. This will greatly help you to lead a happy life. Further, Psalm 5:8 says, “Leadme, O LORD, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; Make Your way straight before my face.” He makes the way straight; He guides by teaching; and He leads in righteous paths.

2. SPEECH

“Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.” Mark 7:35 

Equally important to walking in straight paths of righteousness is speaking the right things. Many suffer loss and other impediments to blessings due to their evil words. Tongue should be groomed to speak only good things. The Bible says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Prov. 18:21). You can inherit blessings as well as curse through it. Our tongue should speak of the words of the Lord and glorify His name. If it is not trained to do so, you may have to lose your very life. Life as well as death are in our words. The man who was dumb was made to speak and he began to glorify God. Our Lord thus can mould us to speak good.

3. HEART

“A stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not set its heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful to God.” Psalm 78:8 Heart is another important item to be set right. The Lord can do that too. Our heart is wicked and crooked. It is the seat of all evil thoughts. Anything evil has its origin there. Dear child of God, if our heart is good, our words will also be good. The mouth speaks out what originates in the heart. Out of the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks. Jeremiah 17:9 states: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. .  .” If the heart is good, the whole body would become good. The transformation of the heart is important for a man to be of good use in society. People with evil hearts bring about disaster in the society through their words.

4. LOOK

“Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you.” Prov. 4:25

Our eyes should look straight. This is very important. Our Lord is serious about it. Nothing is away from His watchfulness. The Lord says, ‘Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lord has performed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, that He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks.”’ (Isaiah 10:12). Our look will be judged and punished. Our eyes look at evil and sinful things. They hanker after detestable and abominable acts. In You-tube they view such areas as pornography and indecent things. There are so many people who spend a lot of time over it. That is why the Lord wants that your look should be straight. As you view good things and purify your thoughts and speak good things, there would be blessings of the Lord in you.

WHOSE WAYS WILL BE SET RIGHT?

1. The Redeemed of the Lord

“Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses. And He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city for a dwelling place.” Psalm 107:6, 7

Whom did the Lord lead by the right way? They were the redeemed of the Lord. Man needs deliverance in various areas of life. Many live under constant fear. They need deliverance. The Lord Jesus Christ delivers us from the bondage of fear and transforms us into bold persons. A man fearful of his enemy cannot overcome him. A life offear results in undesirable acts of cowardice and spoils the person. The Lord Jesus Christ sets us free and gives us true freedom (John 8:36). Deliverance is essential. He leads those who are delivered. To walk in straight paths of righteousness, we need deliverance from fear, from the devil, from traditional practices, from the habit of drinking, etc. The first requisite to be led by the Lord is deliverance. Many want deliverance but are not able to enjoy freedom. Let us seek deliverance and be blessed.

2. Those Who Acknowledge the Lord

“In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Prov. 3:6

How is your way? The Lord will direct us in the right paths when we yield to Him. We should commit our way to Him. We should give room for Him to act by accepting His ways. His way should be our way. Those who are engaged to be married usually spend a lot of time to talk to each other. What would they enquire? They enquire whether the other person has taken his or her food, whether the other one is going to bed, similar trivial matters. They think of each other and talk. This is intimacy. All their thoughts are about the other person. The Lord also expects this from us. Many live with evil thoughts, and have no fear of God. They find it difficult to accept Jesus Christ. But if we commit ourselves in the presence of the Lord to walk in His ways and acknowledge Him in everything, we will be blessed.

3. Those Who are Dependent on the Lord

“I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight...” Isaiah 42:16

When we allow Him to guide us, He will make crooked things straight. He will continue to lead us daily. When we are thus led, we would have various blessings and exaltation. He will lead us daily and make our spiritual life like a well-watered garden. The soul will be satisfied. He will fortify the body. So let us commit ourselves into His hands to be led by Him according to His power. Then there would be victory and happiness in life. There would also be astonishing protection. Once a brother was led by the Holy Spirit to resign his job. He was in a good job. He was directed by the Spirit to resign that very day. He resigned as per the directions of God and returned home. The very next day there was a police raid in the company and all the officials were subjected to investigation. Some illegal activities were identified by the police and the official were put in jail. It was an export business. They were exporting marijuana (Hanja) hidden in the midst of other items. When we resort to such crooked things, we lose our peace, and happiness. But when we are led by the Lord, our ways are straight and righteous, and we have happiness and exaltation.

As the Lord goes before us, He makes all darkness into light. Has the power of darkness any hold on you? Are your eyes blinded by the wicked acts of the devil? Are you stumbling in evil paths? Commit your way to Him today. He will make it straight. As He goes before you, you will not be depressed nor will you stumble. I can share an incident with you from my personal experience. A young girl was struggling in her studies. It was a troublesome situation. Life became bitter. She had thoughts of suicide in her. The members of the family sought the Lord’s guidance in prayer with a servant of the Lord. The Lord began to guide the girl in a wonderful manner. She was not only delivered but also crowned with happiness. Because the Lord guided her, she was made to stand in her work place by the grace of God. Thus when the Lord leads us, we have several blessings. We are savedfrom evil acts and forces. You can bear witness to the fact that the Lord is good in your life. Once we were ministering in Sri Lanka. That day we had to conduct the evening meeting. But the Spirit of the Lord instructed me to leave the place before evening. So we approached the pastor and told him the fact. He also accepted it. We did not conduct the evening meeting that day. We left the place in our vehicle. But we were stopped at a check-post 15 km away from the place. We were enquired about what was happening there from where we left. We did not know what happened, but left the place peacefully. But we came to know later that there was a clash between two groups and bombs were hurled. Many houses were destroyed. The place where we had stayed was also destroyed. Thus the Lord helped us by His guidance and protected us as the apple of the eye from all destruction. The Lord Jesus Christ who makes crooked things straight and leads us by the right path is present in our midst.

4. Those Chosen by the Lord

“I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways; He shall build My city and let My exiles go free, not for price nor reward,” Says the LORD of hosts.” Isaiah 45:13

The Lord guides those with whom He is present by setting right the way. The way He guides is different and unique. The Bible says, “Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” (Eph. 5:14). Here sleeping indicates life in sin – dead in sin. The soul of these people who are bent on doing sin is dead. Their life is filled with bitterness and sorrows. Dear Brother/ Sister, if you are dead in sin, there would only be struggles and impediments in all that you do. All that you do would end in failure and loss. You willbe engulfed in troubles. Today decide to wake up from this life of sin. Jesus Christ will help you and transform your life. This is important. You should be vigilant as the enemy is around you like a lion to devour you. When we are asleep, he comes and tempts us and sows seeds of weeds. If you are not vigilant, you will have to forego several blessings in your life. You would not know why it happens so. There would be problems all around you. Many are in such situations. If we get up from the dead as He has instructed, if we get up from a life of sins, we will be lifted from the miry clay and the door of death by the redeeming grace of the Lord God. He will redeem you and guide in a way of happiness and righteousness. The Lord creates new paths for us. His ways are special, happy and glorious. For this wonderful life in the Lord, you should pray to the Lord Jesus Christ for His mercy and for His guidance. Then your life will be transformed and blessed.
BLESSINGS OF SETTING RIGHT THE PATH
1. Blameless Life “For the upright will dwell in the land, and the blameless will remain in it.” Prov. 2:21 To live on this earth in an exalted way, we need to set right several things in our life. The ways we take should be good. The Bible says, “And He led them forth by the right way,  that they might go to a city for a dwelling place.” (Psalm 107:7). The dwelling place is a place we very much seek, desire and return. Very often we are led astray. Seeking the right way is a problem. It may cause delay. The Lord will help you to find the right way of blessings and happiness, and guide you in a wonderful way. Acknowledge Him.

2. Blessings Follow

“ The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush andof the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you, and they shall be yours...” Isaiah 45:14

This indicates a life of blessings. Today we constantly endeavour to make our life better by various means and efforts, but end up in failure. We encounter problems and the situation gets complicated. But when you are led by the Lord, the way is smooth, and the things you desire just happen to you making things easy, satisfying your expectation. The Lord transforms and acts in a wonderful way and everything that you do prospers. The Lord thus gives you a good life. So let us try to set right our ways. Let us commit it to Him to make things that are crooked straight: our ways, our heart, our speech, and look. He will bless us. Our house will also be blessed. The Lord has said that He would “rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up.” (Acts 15:16). For this exalted blessing, let us commit ourselves, and praise Him.

May the Lord bless us!

In the service of Christ,

Bro. C. Ebenezer Paul.