Tag Archives: the highway to hell

Be a Positive Trend Setter in 2023

Posted on December 31, 2022 by expressyourself4him

One of the major choices you will have to make in life is if you want to go with the flow or become a trend setter? Jesus touches on this subject near the end of his Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7:13-14. The analogy Jesus uses is based upon who you walk with in life. Are you following the masses on the highway to hell? Or as Robert Frost once penned are you taking, “the Road Less Traveled?” Jesus appears to be referring to Psalm 1:1-3 as who you surround yourself will dictate the choices you make in life.

When Enoch was 65 years old, Methuselah was born. 22 Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God after the birth of Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 So all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 And Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God; and he was not, for God took him [home with Him], Genesis 5:21-24.

After the earth’s first family got off to a rough start with one scandal after another, the first trend setter came 7 generations after Adam. According to the passage above, Enoch wasn’t like most of the men on earth. While others were trying to please their peers, Enoch had his heart on habitually walking with God. Rather than a casual relationship, Enoch daily prayed and drew closer to the Lord. This example set by Enoch appears to have inspired Noah to become a positive trend setter in an evil society.

But Noah found grace (favor) in the eyes of the Lord. 9 This is the history of the generations of Noah. Noah was a just and righteous man, blameless in his [evil] generation; Noah walked [in habitual fellowship] with God, Genesis 6:8-9.

Apparently, everyone but Noah was heading down the highway toward hell. The life and example set by Enoch had been forgotten by followers of God. Rather than take the less traveled path, everyone but Noah went with the flow in a society becoming morally bankrupt with each passing day. Sound familiar? As bad as the media and news makes America and the world sound today, it only takes one trend setter in 2023 to alter the course of history. May the lives of Enoch and Noah inspire you to make a difference in 2023.

by Jay Mankus

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Forsaking the Straight Road

Posted on April 4, 2022 by expressyourself4him

Straight is one of those words that has evolved over time. When I was in Junior High School, this slang expression was often used to question a boy’s sexuality. As an adult trying to get a 75-year-old house ready to move into this summer, straight is the process of aligning, plumbing and squaring up your measurements. From a biblical perspective, straight coincides with following God’s commands, decrees, and precepts. Yet, free will gives each human being the choice to do what they want or feel is right.

Forsaking the straight road they have gone astray; they have followed the way of Balaam [the son] of Beor, who loved the reward of wickedness, 2 Peter 2:15.

The origin of straight dates back to the Old Testament when God gave Moses ten standards to live by in Exodus 20. While being questioned by the Pharisees in the first century, Jesus breaks the commandments into two separate categories, Matthew 22:34-40. The first four deal with loving God with all of your heart, soul and mind. The final four commandments focus on loving your neighbor as yourself. According to Peter, Balaam forsook the straight road by failing to love his neighbors.

Enter through the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and spacious and broad is the way that leads away to destruction, and many are those who are entering through it. 14 But the gate is narrow (contracted [k]by pressure) and the way is straitened and compressed that leads away to life, and few are those who find it, Matthew 7:13-14.

During one of his famous first century speeches, Jesus compares the straight road to a narrow path. Robert Frost alludes to this in his poem The Road Not Taken. Unfortunately, human nature and peer pressure persuade most people to proceed down the highway to hell. This decision doesn’t take much thought or sacrifice. However, when you start to feel empty inside, void of any meaning and purpose in life, enter the narrow way. The quicker you make a U-turn back to God, the more fulfilling your life will become on the road called Straight.

by Jay Mankus

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The Hunger Pains

Posted on September 26, 2013 by expressyourself4him

 

In the 2012 movie sensation, The Hunger Games features an annual made for television competition for 24 contestants ranging from 12-18 years of age.  If chosen, a boy and girl represent one of 12 districts in the nation of Panem.  These select few are taken to the Capitol for training before taking part in this fight to the death event, with only one survivor.  Set in a futuristic North America, the Hunger Games serve as punishment for a previous rebellion and to control future attempts.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S9a5V9ODuY

In the spiritual world, there is a similar game, To Obey or Not to Obey.  Many individuals suffer from a grass is greener on the other side disillusion.  Not satisfied with their own gifts, life and talents, people hunger for a new identity, hoping the emptiness inside their hearts goes away.  Subsequently, a growing number of participants wander down the highway to hell, Matthew 7:13, unaware of the destruction awaiting each soul.

Over the past few months, my hunger for writing has eased up, resulting in a lower audience at Express Yourself 4Him and fewer readers.  This loss of appetite correlates with a decreasing time of reflecting on the Bible.  Whenever I partake in a full course meal of Bible study, prayer and worship, my hunger pains for the world subsides.  Yet, the more I neglect my spiritual condition, these desires for the world multiple.  Therefore, be careful what you wish for or you might find your heart on the wrong side of the fence, Matthew 6:21-23.

by Jay Mankus

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