The Narrow Path

 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you. By God's blessing, we have now moved to an independently hosted website. Here you will find a page for each devotional with the corresponding video.    https://followingintheway.com/ It also has an archives feature which is much easier to navigate. If you would like to receive a daily email to notify you of when new devotionals are uploaded, please send an email to contactthenarrowpath@gmail.com and we will add you to our mailing list. Keep checking the new page, as we are adding new features every few months. May our Lord Jesus Christ bless you and those you love. The Narrow Path https://followingintheway.com/

  Saturday, January 6, 2024 Psalm 18 Isaiah 66:18-24 Ephesians 4:1-16 Continue in God’s presence. Earlier in this week, we read in Ephesians about this wild thing God is doing, opening up the family of believers from the people of Israel to include people of every nation. Now Isaiah tells us the same thing: the distant coasts, where they have never heard of God’s fame nor seen His glory, will be told of the good news of Jesus. Out of these places God will take priests and Levites. We should feel very comfortable with the idea of God calling people out of other places – that includes us, and two and half thousand years after Isaiah’s prophecy, we can see how this part definitely came true. When it comes to priests, that gets a little more tough to chew on. Certainly we have an order of ordained people that we call priests, but our modern version is nothing like what Isaiah had in mind. These are men in the order of Aaron and his sons, who would go into the T

  Friday, January 5, 2024 Psalms 15; 16 Isaiah 66:10-16 Ephesians 3:14-21 In your presence is unbounded joy. I think it is well-established that of all the New Testament authors, John is the best at the art of the written word. But sometimes Paul pulls out of his analytical mindset, looks towards the glory of Jesus, and comes out with some bangers of his own. This part of Ephesians is one of those places. Paul bows his knees towards the Father (pater) in heaven, from whom every family (patria) in heaven and on earth takes its name. The rest of the chapter follows with a deeply Trinitarian blessing: from the family of the Godhead, to the family of us believers. God the Father is rich with glory. These riches He gives to us through the Holy Spirit in the form of spiritual strength. And so we have the glory of God’s strength. But there is more: this leads to the dwelling of Christ in our hearts by our faith. Glory; strength; faith. This is not a one-off o

  Thursday, January 4, 2024 Psalms 11; 12 Isaiah 66:1-9 Ephesians 3:1-13 Is a country born in one day? Many ingredients go into making a country. Most of them revolve around an abstract idea; a grand vision of purpose. That then feeds into a national culture, which is the practical application of that vision. There is also the need for some land (but if the land is currently occupied by another nation, that is not a problem that cannot be solved), and then a group of people to live on that land, sharing the vision of purpose, and expressing that vision in their culture. This might sound like a big job, and it is. “Nation building” is a popular phrase amongst politicians and public servants, yet this building project seems to be a case of one step forwards followed by two steps backwards. Who ever heard of a nation brought forth all at once? Rome wasn’t built in a day. But for God, nothing is impossible. The building of ancient Israel may have seemed to us to

  Wednesday, January 3, 2024 Psalm 9 Isaiah 65:1-16 Ephesians 2:11-22 A dwelling place for God. When we say that God is three in one, we touch on something mysterious. Perhaps one day we might understand precisely how it works. But for now, for practical purposes, for something to actually pick up and make use of, we can most definitely understand what to do with it. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are each a distinct Person. Each one has their own self-identity. At the same time, they hold such unity of purpose and opinion, they are one. Three equal Persons, one undivided union. So when Paul comes along in today’s section of Ephesians, he is at pains to get us to understand the unity into which Christ has brought all those who love Him. To start with, he speaks about the circumcised and the uncircumcised – a flimsy distinction, because it is based on a mere operation of the flesh. A deeper distinction existed, and it was a much more important differ

  Tuesday, January 2, 2024 Psalms 5; 6 Isaiah 64 Ephesians 2:1-10 Observances: Basil of Caesarea (d. 379) and Gregory of Nanzianus (d. 389), bishops and teachers; Eliza Hassall (d. 1917), pioneer of missionary training and CMS (Australia) We are all the work of your hand. If you know nothing about statues, you will at least know of Michelangelo's David . It seems strange that a piece could hold public fame for so long, but if we think about it theologically, then it’s endurance makes sense. Consider what the artist intended it to be: a display of pure Renaissance ideology. An era when men began to imagine themselves as artists and engineers, and their own being their life’s work. Anyone could be anything, and this is what Michelangelo is saying with his statue. Behold, the perfect man, formed from rough rock by the hands of a self-driven man. The irony here is the subject. While Michelangelo may have called his statue David simply to ensure prompt payment