LIFE DIRECTIONS (Part 4)  

How to Stay the Course in a World Adrift in a Cesspool of Self-Love

and a Church Apart in Cultural Confusion.

(2 Timothy 3:14-17)

Can you be sure you are going the right way in life?

Have you ever received directions from someone who used fast food landmarks as directional signposts? I once overheard this style used when a man asked for directions to the nearest post-office. Before I could suggest Google, an overjealous onlooker offered the Giggle version.

“Drive down this road past Wendys and Sonic. There will be a Kentucky Fried Chicken on the right. Just keep going. In two more blocks, you will pass Weezy’s Café. They have the best chicken fried steak in all the world. When you get to McDonalds, go two more blocks to Pizza Hut.

You should be able to see the Whataburger on the corner. I love that double-decker Monterey cheeseburger. Makes me hungry just giving you directions. Well, if you see Chick-fil-A, you have gone too far.

Go back to Whataburger and pull into their drive-through and ask them which way to go. They still have one of those old Yellow Pages Phone Books. I had one of those with a Two-dollars-Off coupon to Jack-n-the-Box. Do you want me to tell you how to get there?”

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We need trustworthy life directions that are relevant and reliable.    Thankfully, there is a source full of Wisdom, Authority, and Sufficiency.

Grab some food from somewhere and stop off at 2 Timothy 3:14-17.

1. God’s Life Direction Map is WISDOM (Review).

The sacred (holy, Godly)) writings are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (v. 15).

WISDOM IS THE GOD-GIVEN ABILITY TO SEE, UNDERSTAND, AND LIVE LIFE FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE AND FOR GOD’S PURPOSE. 

• God’s Life Direction Map is AUTHORITATIVE.

All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (v. 16).

• All refers to totality, completeness, and oneness. Every word, and every verse, no exceptions.  
• Scripture is the written Word of God speaking to us.
• It is a perfect transcript.
• It is inspired-the actual words of God.
• It is inerrant—absolute truth with no errors.
• It is infallible—always relevant, always reliable, always reality.

THE SCRIPTURES ARE THE VOICE OF GOD TO THE SOUL OF MAN.

The #1 Textbook is a gift from its Author, the One who created your life and gave you the perfect map for your life directions. It is God’s written words of trustworthy truth.

• He is the God of truth (Deuteronomy 32:4).
• Jesus is “the truth” (John 14:6).
• The Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of truth” (1 John 5:7).
• Jesus said, “God’s Word is truth” (John 17:17).

It should not be surprising that the adversary to our lives attacks us by insinuations that God’s Word is not truth and not the best Life Direction Map. From the beginning, the leader of this world’s self-love rebellion asked, Truly, has God said? Why are you allowing God to decide what is best for your life? (Genesis 3:1-5).

Think about it. It is inconceivable that the God of Truth would give His people a book they could not trust.

God’s Life Direction Map is AUTHORITATIVE and VALUABLE.

Only God has the (i) Position and (ii) Power to control everything according to His plan for your life to gain the greatest (iii) Profit to accomplish your greatest (iv) Purpose.

God’s Word is the only source of Everlasting Treasure that is of greater value than all the gold in the world (Psalm 19:10).

The wonderful thing about God’s sovereign greatness is his endless goodness. God created and controls this world for our greatest good. We are the ones who PROFIT (gain in value).

All of God’s Word is Profitable. It is the real and lasting treasure of the highest value. Where do we see its worth?

God’s authoritative Word is filled with Wisdom principles and precepts, guidelines and guardrails concerning every relationship in life and every practical matter you will face in daily life.

• The #1 Textbook is like a road map right-side up.
• It is like an instruction manual for a new computer with the manufacturer’s explanation as to how to operate the equipment for maximum benefit.
• God created us. He provided an instructional manual and an up-to-date life map.
• That makes it PROFITABLE (beneficial, useful, valuable, of the greatest worth). It yields advantageous returns and winning results. It provides what is vitally needed to reach the goal.

What is the goal? To live and love like Jesus.

How does that happen? We follow Jesus in God’s Word. We learn it, believe it, and continue to apply it.

• It is profitable for TEACHING: Instruction in how to live and the direction to go. Teaching implies listening, learning, and study. Do not be more familiar with the fast-food menus than with the wisdom found in the #1 Textbook. God’s Word is food for your soul. Feast frequently and fervently.
• It is profitable for REPROOF: Instruction in how not to live and where not to go. Stop! That is the wrong direction.
• It is profitable for CORRECTION: Instruction to restore us back to the previous correct position when we did what we were not supposed to do and went where we were not supposed to go. Turn back!
• It is profitable for TRAINING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS: Instruction on how to reset our eyes back on the goal with renewed power to stay the course.

All Scripture is profitable for teaching (what is right), for reproof (what is not right), for correction (how to get right), and for training (how to stay right with eyes fixed on the goal) in righteousness.

What is righteousness? It is the life and love of Jesus. God’s Word trains us how to stay the course of following Jesus. How? Jesus lives and loves through you (Galatians 2:20).

God’s wisdom has power because “God said it.” As in Genesis 1, God spoke and brought life from nothing. God’s Word produces salvation and value to life where none existed.

• God’s Life Direction Map is SUFFICIENT.

So that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (v. 17).

It is the only source for POWER to transform and equip your life for GOD’S PURPOSE.

“So that” calls attention to purpose for the man of God (the person who belongs solely to God).

What is the PURPOSE of all Scripture is God-breathed?

For you to be complete, fully equipped for every good work.

Complete, fully equipped forms a phrase used to describe a rescue boat fitted out with all the necessary materials for any needed mission. God makes you a Love Boat to help misguided travelers.

God’s Word provides everything you need to know for everything you will face in the future. For every decision. For every demand.

What are good works? They are the words and actions of God’s love pouring through you to others. Jesus lives inside you to lead you to others He intends to love through you. That is your life purpose.

God does his good works in the world by his Word and gives new life by his Word and awakens faith by his Word. Jesus is the Living Word of God in you (John 1).

Without God’s Word, there would be no life and no purpose. The Word of God is to life directions what air is to our breathing, vital and valuable.

THE KEY TO RELEVANT AND RELIABLE LIFE DIRECTIONS IS CONFIDENCE IN THE WISDOM, AUTHORITY, AND SUFFICIENCY OF GOD’S WORD.

EYES UP! STAY THE COURSE!

CONTINUE TO LOVE FIRST AND LOVE MOST!