Many times, you will hear children of God say, “I don’t understand why the Lord brought me this way. Why has this happened in my life? Why do I have to go through this valley?” Have you ever felt like that? Those are the times when you need to walk roads of faith.

The Word says, But without faith it is impossible to please him [the Lord] (Hebrews 11:6). That scripture should ring in your heart again and again. It isn’t enough to have faith; it has to be used, or you can’t please God.

There are many roads to travel in life—some are roads of self; some are roads of the world, and some are roads of God. Everyone has free choice, and many people choose to follow their own roads and leave the Lord out. Because of that, many people end up being scarred, bruised, warped and damaged. They may finally decide to take the Lord’s road and receive salvation; and that salvation makes them new on the inside, but it doesn’t immediately straighten out all the messes they have created along life’s road.

That doesn’t mean you should never get saved because as you continue to follow God’s roads of faith, He will help you to come out of all the damage you have done. Salvation cleanses your soul and makes it new, but it can’t erase your past from your memory or immediately take care of all the bad situations you have created. You have to continue to bow to the ways of the Lord, and He will take care of everything in His time.

How you were brought up formed so much about the ways you think and act. The only way you can change those things is to seek God until you take on the mind of Christ. You may think it is impossible to have that mind; but the Bible says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5). The Lord will never tell you to do something you can’t do.

Some of you have tried so many ways of the world, and you changed roads again and again. You had ambitions you wanted to fulfill, but you never asked God which way you should go or what you should do; so you traveled many wrong and dangerous roads that left you bruised, battered and ruined. When you finally got on the right road, the Lord had to pick up the many pieces of your life and try to put them back together again.

Beware of the Permissible Roads

With Jesus in your heart, there are many roads of faith you can travel just as there are many roads of the world you can choose from. There are permissible roads of faith and divine roads of faith. The permissible roads can lead to Heaven, and God will allow you to travel them; but you will have many troubles along the way that God never planned for you. Only the road of God’s divine will is the perfect road for you and the one God has ordained for you.

Now, God’s divine road will include suffering. Jesus said, In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16:33). When you walk God’s divine road, you too can be an overcomer; but you have to be willing to suffer for Christ’s sake. You have to be willing to go the extra mile for Him daily. Then you can expect God’s best. If you travel God’s permissible road, you will receive some of the blessings He has for you but not all of them; and your life will not work out like the Lord planned it to.

Christians who travel God’s permissible road may feel the presence of God at times, but they are not winning many souls because they are not fishers of men. Any testimony they have is not very effective; and most of the time, they don’t even share one. They seem to have an excuse for anything the Lord wants them to do.

When you walk God’s divine road, you don’t make excuses. You are an instrument of the Lord, and you are on duty for Him twenty-four hours a day. The Lord can depend on you and use you to fulfill His purpose.

Will You Suffer for Christ?

The Bible contains examples of people who walked God’s divine, faith roads, and you must study them. Abraham, Moses, Noah, Paul and John the Baptist are just a few. They all suffered as they walked those roads, but they won. The Bible says, If we suffer, we shall also reign with him [the Lord]: if we deny him, he also will deny us (II Timothy 2:12). If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together (Romans 8:17).

That suffering does not mean dealing with sicknesses and diseases. It refers to suffering trials, reproach and persecution for Christ’s sake. The Bible says, But he [Jesus] was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).

Jesus does not want His children to be afflicted with anything, so look to Him and get rid of those sicknesses and diseases. The Bible says, Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth (III John 1:2).

Make the Right Choice

When Jesus was on Earth, He chose to walk God’s divine path for Him. Will you make the same choice? I’m sure some of Jesus’ family members turned against Him, and He was shut out of people’s company. You will experience that too. Jesus was put to shame, and you will be too.

When you are willing to walk your road of faith, you will look at the world through the eyes of God and the anointing of the Holy Spirit; and you will see that it’s all vain. Study Ecclesiastes, and you will see that the writer called so many things of this life vanity. He summed it up by saying, Vanity of vanities; all is vanity (Ecclesiastes 1:2). Only the things you do for God are without vanity.

When you are close to death, will you look back on your life and see that not much of it counted for God? The things you thought you had to do may no longer look important. Food, clothes, houses and entertainments won’t matter anymore. Why did you put so much stress on those things when you could have been preparing for an eternal home in Heaven filled with joy and peace forevermore? You could have been helping others to go there too.

If you want the blessings of the Lord, you have to be willing to go the extra mile for Him. Many people may think you are crazy for working so hard, but it will be worth it to have God’s best for your life. Yes, you may be able to squeak into Heaven without following God’s divine road; but you will miss many blessings, walk through unnecessary valleys and fail to be ready when Jesus comes. Do you want to barely make it into Heaven; or do you want to hear the Father say, “Well done, my faithful Child. Enter into the joys of the Lord”?

Give All to God

You may think that when you walk in the divine will of the Lord, you won’t have many troubles; but the truth is that you will have more than ever. You may think that if you fast a lot, you will get rid of the devil; but in reality, he will just try to torment you more. The more you serve God, the more battles you will have to fight.

Young David was a shepherd, and he spent many hours and days by himself watching his sheep. If that had not been so, he may have been just like his brothers. The Lord had David all to Himself, and David was pleasing God and walking His divine path.

Sometimes, the Lord has to separate us from family and friends in order to make us what He wants us to be. Some may consider you to be odd or a black sheep in the family; but many times, those who aren’t considered to be much in the eyes of the world are great in the eyes of God.

After I was saved, I didn’t want to be just an ordinary Christian. I wanted God’s best, and I wanted to be used of Him; but when you choose that road, there is a lot of dying to self that must take place. You can’t just go to the altar and say, “God, I surrender all. I will do anything for you.” You have to put those words into action.

Unfortunately, God has to make some of you miserable before you will really give your all to Him. You have to endure some nasty storms before you will really seek refuge under the wings of the Lord. Be merciful unto me, O God...in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast (Psalm 57:1). You have to feel the need of God before you will truly hide yourself in Him. When the bombs of life begin falling all around you, and there is no human hand reaching out to help you, you must say, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust (Psalm 91:2).

After much suffering in mind, spirit and body, you will finally take on the Lord’s humble spirit of humility and say, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest (Luke 9:57). Sometimes, it takes a lot of work on the Lord’s part to get us ready to follow Him as we should.

God Will See You Through

Some of you cry to the Lord, “If you loved me, you wouldn’t let me go through all this.” That’s not so. It is because He loves you that you are going through so much. Christ was the Son of God, and look at all He had to go through. If God would not spare His own Son from trials and persecutions, He won’t spare you.

Jesus came to Earth to be your elder brother. There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). He will be right by your side through every trial and every valley. He said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee (Hebrews 13:5). He will hold your hand as long as you keep your hand in His.

Some of you think you are so special, and you think you know how God should treat you. You think He should hover over you and protect you like a doting mother; so when He decides to take some of the feathers out of your nest and let the thorns stick through, you don’t know what to do.

When you walk the divine roads of faith, God will give you exactly what is best for you every day. If it’s a day for tears, He will let something come your way to bring those tears. If it’s a day for laughter, He will bring circumstances your way that will make you laugh. If it’s a day for digging deep in Him, He will allow a situation that will make you go deeper in Him. If it’s a day to climb a high mountain, He will prepare you to do that.

The Bible tells of many men of God who endured much, but the Lord said we would not be tempted with more than we can bear. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it (I Corinthians 10:13).

Abraham went through so much as he climbed that mount to sacrifice his only son. Think about how much the devil must have been tormenting his mind as he took step after step. Abraham loved his son so much, so think about the agony he must have been going through as he raised the knife above that young, innocent boy.

Does God Get Glory from You?

Abraham had great faith; and the Bible says, But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6). The Bible also says, He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength (Isaiah 40:29). If you’re not receiving from God, being encouraged in the Lord and being anointed by His mighty power to do the work He has called you to do, then you are faint in heart.

God is to be your strength both spiritually and physically; however, some of you believe the Lord is your strength only spiritually. Then you say, “I have a great ‘go ye’ in my soul, but I am so weak in my body.” That should not be. You should say as Paul did, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me (Philippians 4:13). God gave Paul both spiritual and physical strength. It looked at times that Paul was enduring more than a human could take, but God always gave him what he needed to come out with victory.

The only way God will get the glory out of our lives is through persecutions, trials and temptations. During those times is when we learn to depend completely on the Lord. Paul got to the place where he could say, Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities [persecutions], that the power of Christ may rest upon me (II Corinthians 12:9).

Have you come to the place where you can glory in your trials, persecutions and temptations; or are you too busy grumbling and complaining about all you have to go through? Paul gloried in his trials knowing that he was being made perfect in Christ, perfect in faith and obedience.

Only Pleasing God Counts

The Bible says, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps (Jeremiah 10:23). Your steps are directed either by a higher power or a lower power. What directs your steps?

Satan will direct all of your steps if you allow him to, but his road is one of destruction and damnation. It is a road without the approval of God. If you won’t follow Satan completely, he will at least entice you to take a path of disobedience. You may not be sinning, but you won’t be walking with the Lord either. You have to obey the Lord all the time and not just some of the time to be on His divine path.

You can also choose a road of God’s permissible will. As I said, you may not have to suffer as much; but you won’t be blessed as much either. You may find some ease and pleasure, but you will never be filled with the fullness of God. You have to be emptied of self and submit to the perfect will of God as Paul did. He said, I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20). Self must be crucified daily.

The will of the Lord must become your desire and the center of your thoughts. At the end of each day, you must rejoice in the things you did for God and not in the things you did for self. Ask yourself, “Lord, did I walk the road you ordained for me this day exactly as you desired me to? Was I strong in faith, or did I grumble? Were you able to smile on me all day or just part of the day?”

It doesn’t matter how much attention or fame you received from the world on any particular day. All that matters is what you did for the Lord. Jesus came to Earth to be a “nobody” so He could make you and me “somebodies” in Him. John the Baptist said, He [the Lord] must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30). You will never love souls as you should until that becomes the cry of your heart.

God Will Provide

Some of you are so disappointed if others don’t look upon you as a success. You want their praise and approval. You love the material things you have gained. Paul had wealth, education and was highly regarded by many; but when he found the Lord, he realized that all of that meant nothing. Paul declared, Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ (Philippians 3:8).

Getting a good education is fine, but don’t get more than you can sanctify and use for the glory of God; and don’t let it make you think you are better than others. When you leave this world, you will leave all your education behind along with your house, your car, your clothes and anything else you own. Only the things you do for God will last.

You must glory in the Cross of Calvary, in the grace of God, in the fullness of the Holy Spirit and in the might of His power. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart (Psalm 37:4). When you put God first, He will give you a place to live, clothes to wear, food to eat and all the things you need. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33).

When you follow God’s divine road, you won’t be filled with worry and fear. Did the Lord not create the birds and the animals, and does He not provide for them? Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls (Luke 12:24)? Did you ever see a bird that was troubled about what he was going to eat tomorrow? Birds sing on sunny days and rainy days, and so should you.

God Knows Best

You don’t have to look for rainbows in the sky because you can have God’s rainbow of promises every day. It’s a rainbow of divine love, happiness, divine protection and faith. After every one of life’s storms, there’s the rainbow of God’s promises. After every sorrow come His blessings of gladness. After every trial, you’ll find divine victory; so you have nothing to fear or worry about.

Everyone has a special road to walk with Jesus, and nobody can walk it for you—it has to be just you and the Lord. It is the most blessed road for you on this Earth because it is God’s divine road for you. He knows everything about you, and He knows what is best for you.

Did you ever see a fish out on a bank refusing to go back into the water? Of course not. You could offer that fish the wealth of the whole world, and all he wants is the water. That is the place the Lord made for him, and that is where he thrives. Why don’t you see God’s divine road for you the same way? Only on that road will you have victory every day and everything you need on this journey from Earth to Heaven.

It's easy to look down on something as simple as a fish and say, “Well, it has no intelligence.” But I declare that animals have more intelligence than some humans. There are those who will go to a restaurant and order something they know is not good for them or doesn’t agree with them, and then they sit there and eat it anyway. How ridiculous! That little fish would never do that. He eats what God intended him to, and he gets along just fine. The devil causes people to do such foolish things. He doesn’t have to destroy many people because they destroy themselves.

Dare to Be Different

The kind of people God can use are those who lose sight of everything but God and the things that count for eternity. Unfortunately, many people don’t put much stress on their eternity until they are much older. I found my place in the Lord when I was a teenager; and shortly after that, I began to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I had loved following the ways of the world; but after I was saved, I wanted to do what God wanted me to do. I sought Him day and night, and I didn’t think about the cost. I was determined to walk the way of the Lord’s despised few. We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised (I Corinthians 4:10). Is that the cry of your heart today?

Not everyone can be a preacher or a missionary, but we can all please God. Will you choose that road? Racial prejudice in this world is awful and should never be, but prejudice against those who serve God is even worse. When you serve God, family, friends and people of your own race can turn against you. It can be a lonely road; and that is why the Word says, When my father and my mother [or anyone else] forsake me, then the LORD will take me up (Psalm 27:10).

If your husband or wife does not serve the Lord, they may always be criticizing you or trying to change you. Some of your coworkers may do all they can to make things more difficult for you, and some people will actually hate you. All of that can be hard to take, but the Lord said He will look out for you. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him (Isaiah 59:19). The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe (Proverbs 18:10).

Let Your Light Shine

You may claim to be a Christian, yet you say you are never persecuted. One reason may be that you are hiding your light under a bushel. Jesus said, Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16).

Perhaps you are not being persecuted because you act just like those you are around. Fitting in is not being a testimony, and it won’t win anyone to the Lord. Only when you take your stand for God will people take notice; and, yes, you will be persecuted when you do that.

The same deceiving, destroying devil who lived during the Early Church age still lives today, and he is out to get every child of God he can. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8).

Do you boldly proclaim that you believe in the whole Bible and the healing power of Jesus? Do you tell others that you believe in signs, wonders, miracles and healings; or do you look for the nearest corner and stand there afraid to open your mouth?

The saints of God described in the Bible gave their all to follow the Lord without compromise. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith (Hebrews 11: 35-39).

Could you have lived in one mind and one accord with those saints of God? Many so-called Christians have tried to walk God’s road of faith while compromising, and they found it didn’t work. They wanted to receive the benefits and blessings that come from walking that path; but they wanted to follow God their way, not His way. You have to take your stand in God’s holiness and righteousness, not yours.

Roads of Salvation and Healing

If you are not walking God’s faith road today, you are missing out on so much of what you could have from Him. He will show you exactly where you need to step each day, but you first need to be saved. You can never walk God’s road without being born new.

Lift your hands and say, Oh, God, save my soul. I repent of all my sins. I’m so sorry I have sinned against you. I have come home, and I want to be free. I believe the blood of Jesus washes away all of my sins. Come into my heart, dear Jesus. Come on in. Amen.

If you meant that prayer, Jesus has come. Start praying and reading your Bible. Doing some Bible fasting will help you too. Always know that Jesus loves you, and you are special to God.

Now that you are on God’s faith road, you don’t have to be afraid of anything, including sicknesses and diseases. Be not afraid, only believe (Mark 5:36). The Word of God is in action through this Jesus ministry, and you can have whatever you need. I’m bringing you God’s power, gifts and divine blood; and they set captives free from whatever binds them. Just use your faith and believe.

The Lord said, If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven (Matthew 18:19). You’re one, and I am two. Raise your hand as a point of contact and agree with me as I pray. Lord, I bring the sick and afflicted to you. It doesn’t matter what disease or affliction they may have or how close to death they are. They can be set free right now through the power in your name. Heal! in the all-powerful, blood name of Jesus. Heal! Amen.

Watch every sign of improvement and give God all the praise and honor for what He is doing for you. God bless you.