Live Free with Josh Howerton - Get Back to the Basics | Ep. 5 | Friday February 10, 2023

Episode Date: February 10, 2023

Maybe you’ve been flying through life and it’s time to slow down and figure out what living life really looks like. In this episode, Pastor Mike shares how to practice the old Godly way and find rest for your soul. Get back to the basics, return to the fundamentals, and walk down the path God has set for you.  For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to The Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a perfect way to point your day. Our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional and that you'll be equipped, empowered, and encouraged as a follower of Jesus to deepen your relationship with God. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit.church slash daily drive. And now let's dive into today's devotional with one of our teaching pastors, Mike Bro. Hey, everybody. Thanks for joining us today. My name is Mike Bro, and we're just spending a few minutes every day of the week, just talking about walking with God. We just been talking about walking a new direction, and if you missed any of the episodes, you can kind of log on and catch up. But we've been saying that if we're going to walk a new direction this year, that we've got to, first of all, map our route. We've got to make a new playlist. We've got to find a parder, and then we just got to keep a steady pace.

And this whole week, this first time together, we've just been talking about mapping our route because the truth is our direction determines our destination and our decisions determine our direction. And the verse we just kind of been hanging in is one from Jeremiah 616. This is what the Lord says. Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old godly way and walk in it. Travel its path and you will find rest for your soul. Now we've been breaking it down bit by bit every day.

And today I want to focus on the second half. where God tells us to ask for the old godly way and walk in it. Now, even though like Interstate 30 or 45 might feel like the oldest road in America, the oldest role in the United States is actually called the old mine roads up in Delaware. Dutch settlers back in the 1600s cut it through to haul copper from the mines up to New York. The oldest paved road in the entire world is in Egypt somewhere south of Cairo. but there is still a much, much older road that's still hanging around. In fact, I like how one translation of this verse says this,

ask for the ancient path. Talking about the road that God has cut since the beginning of time for everyone to travel. And I don't know, but maybe it's time for you to get back on the ancient path, to kind of get back to the basics, to kind of go old school, to return to the fundamentals. I know that a bunch of you listening, especially in the Dallas area, are die-hard cowboy fans. So I hesitate to say this.

I'm a Packers fan, sorry. Also, root for the Bengals and I root for the Cowboys when they're not playing the Bengals or the Packers. Okay, not really. But legendary Packers coach, Vince Lombardi, started every new training camp by holding up a football in his hand and saying to the team, gentlemen, this is a football. And maybe you've been flying through life going so many different directions that's taking you nowhere.

And you just need to slow down and hear God say, this is the path. This is a Bible. This is my word. This is what life is all about. This is what love is. This is what kindness and compassion looks like. This is what inner peace looks like. This is what a healthy family looks like.

I have a friend who is so new to all this, like many of you. She never grew up in church. Never really had anybody tell her about this ancient path, the road that God had cut for us to walk. No one never told it was a better way to walk. My son-in-law, Mike, was teaching through a section of the Bible in, I think it was Ephesians 5, where it says, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ, talked about wives respecting their husbands, talking about husbands, loving their wives, just like Jesus loved the church and laid down his life, talking about kids, obeying their parents and parents not exasperating their kids.

I mean, it's a really cool passage. She said in a small group that night, that stuff is Jesus. genius. If we would just start doing that stuff, our family would be totally different. This stuff is killer. This stuff is amazing. And you know what? It is. It's old school. It's fundamentals. It's the ancient path. It's the road that God cut for all of us to travel. And I'm telling you, gang, it's the best way to live your life. The longest chapter in the Bible is found in Psalm 119. David takes the letters of the Hebrew alphabet and goes through this litany of just how wonderful the old godly path is. is. And this is going to be your homework assignment this week to read through Psalm 119. I read through all 176 verses of it just a couple of weeks ago in a devotional time. And it renewed my desire to walk that ancient path. Let's just listen to a few of them. Let me just rattle off a few. Versus one and three of Psalm 119. Joyful people are of integrity, joyful are people of integrity who follow the instruction of the Lord. Joyful of those who will always.

obey his laws and search for him with all their heart. They don't compromise with evil, and they walk only in his past. Verse 9 and 11, how can those who are young keep their way pure by living according to your word? I seek you with all my heart. Don't let me stray from your commands. I've hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Verse 24, your statutes are my delight.

They are my counselors. Verse 32, I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free. Direct me in the path of your command. for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not towards selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things. Preserve my life according to your word.

Verse 45, I walk in freedom, for I have devoted myself to your commands. Verse 52, I remember, Lord, your ancient laws. I find comfort in them. 105, how sweet are your words to me? They are sweeter than honey. Your commands give me understanding. No wonder I hate every false way of life, because your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light from a path.

Verse 143, as pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands. Your laws are always right. Help me to understand them so I may live. Psalm 116, Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble. And as I read through those, I thought, that's the street right there. That's the street I want to walk down. That really is the best way to live, and I want that for everybody.

body. See, one of the things I love about the ancient path, that in our culture, it is refreshingly brand new for so many people. We had a bunch of girls from ministry who worked with over the house one night. I'm here for a big party, and they're all making a choice these days to walk a brand new direction. They've all come out of prostitution or some form of the adult entertainment industry, and it's so cool to see a lot of these broken women finding a brand new path. Most have known no other life, and now they're on a different street. And the joy of and light in their eyes is so inspiring. Now, they got a long journey ahead of them.

And there's a lot of layers of addiction and dysfunction that are going to have to deal with in order to walk completely free. But for them, just to know, there's like a different path that there really is a different way to do life, a different way to do family, a different way to do relationships,

has just flooded their soul with hope. And I stood there most of the night just fighting back tears, seeing the change in their life. So God says, stop at the cross. and look around. Ask for the old godly way and walk and travel its path and you'll find rest for your souls. I'd encourage you to get on a Bible reading plan this year. Lots of them available on you version, other apps. There are one year Bible is a story. We can help with that at Lake Point.

We can encourage you to, I want to encourage you to get to church service every weekend, just build that into the rhythm of your life. But just get on the ancient path and you will find rest for your souls. Man, have a great week. We'll see you next time. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. For more information, visit lakepoint.combe. Church slash daily drive.