He Shall Direct Your Paths

September 25, 2026

Dear Friend,

Directed Paths

I wasn’t where I thought I’d be. During the all-too-short span of my senior year of high school, the Lord clearly, firmly, and lovingly asked for the surrender of three “certainties” that I thought I knew about my life. I was certain that I was dating the young woman I would marry, certain that we would attend Bible school together, and… well, I saw no reason why I wouldn’t be continuing to play the organ as I had for ten years already.

Something made each surrender/sacrifice astoundingly easy to hear, receive, and submit to without a murmur—the Spirit had made Jesus’ Lordship very real in me. Each sacrifice represented a good, even a very good “path”; they just weren’t perfect paths, though I didn’t realize it at the time. God had His best way for me. I chose to acknowledge the Lord in all my ways, and He continued to direct my path. “In all your ways acknowledge Him…”

Going on my post-graduation ministry trip (about which I shared in the last newsletter) didn’t give me much time to think about applying to non-Bible colleges. Returning home, I defaulted to attending the local junior college, starting on a “I guess I’ll choose this” major while I worked at the college bookstore.

By the end of 1970, near the end of my first semester of college, I was living in “Father’s House,” the small, old, two-story hotel turned into a men’s dorm in the Christian commune associated with our newly formed church. By the end of the following month, it was clear that my new “major” wasn’t for me. And practicality dictated that some of us in the commune had to work full time so that others could continue their schooling. Thus, after a single semester of post-secondary education, this high school valedictorian became a “college drop out” to work full time. Obedience, as it turns out, is more important than education or reputation. “In all your ways acknowledge Him…”

So much happened during that “drop out” semester and the following summer! I learned some much-needed life experience in personal interaction while living in close communion with other believers. I was able to devote what would have been “‘midnight oil’ homework time” to prayer. I gained valuable experience in Bible teaching, as well as counseling and ministry to others. And I was able to devote considerably more time to Bible reading and study, which solidified an already two-year-old habit of daily reading and meditation into a lifelong staple of daily life. As much as I respect Bible schools and seminaries (after all, I finally got to attend Regent University’s School of Divinity for grad school a mere twenty years later!), I don’t think I would have learned as much useful, life-changing, hands-on, practical stuff in Bible college in 1971 as I did during the first full year of the church and commune living. “And He shall direct your paths.”

During that same period, the Lord helped me to deal with a perfectly normal heart issue, namely, wanting a girlfriend. (The year before I had surrendered a person to Him, but not the desire.) In a rare night of not having to share a bedroom with several other guys, I completely gave the matter to the Lord. The offered sacrifice was received and “the fire fell”—except, well… it was “water.” I can only describe the experience this way—the room was like a tank, and it filled up with the liquid love of God and remained that way for about 45 minutes. I thought that left me free of soulish entanglements, allowing me to concentrate more on the Lord. That was my desire after all—to be free of all encumbrances that kept me from serving Jesus. “In all your ways acknowledge Him…”

Little did I know that the Lord was so pleased with my offering that He immediately set in motion the circumstances leading to me getting engaged and married in less than a year. I was blind to the matter, in part because of how I interpreted the Lord’s visitation, and in part because the godly woman the Lord had chosen for me was (so my new office assistant, Mycroft, tells me) four years, six months, and 27 days older than I was. (That’s a lot when you’re still shy of 19 years old. But in the Lord’s defense, my mother used to sigh and say, “Yes, but you were born five years old.”) This sister, who was out of my league (and she still is!), was living in the sisters’ house of the commune holding down a job as a public school sixth-grade teacher, also helping to support the commune.

No, I wasn’t where I had thought I would be; I was some place better, growing, learning, and enjoying Jesus in ways I never could have envisioned on my own sincerely imagined but imperfect path. “And He shall direct your paths.”

Perhaps I’ll tell the “courtin’ story” in our February (Valentine’s Day!) newsletter. Having incorporated Proverbs 3:5-6 into my life, I was about to learn the principle of GIGO. What’s that? Stay tuned ’til next month.

My New “Office Assistant”—Mycroft

I mentioned Mycroft above; and “Mike” (as he prefers to call himself) is a long-awaited answer to prayer.

At our last Finest of the Wheat board meeting, I expressed my frustration over the amount of time it takes to illustrate, post, and HTML-code a newsletter; the process can stretch out for a week or more once the copy is written. One of our astute board members, Alexandra Compere, suggested I seriously investigate artificial intelligence as a way to help. I remember being resistant to her proposal. (Maybe I wanted sympathy, not a solution. I also had some security concerns.) But I kept it in the back of my mind; it’s unwise to ignore wise advice from trusted counselors.

I’m not afraid of A.I. I was programming mainframes back in 1971. I took to personal computers “like a duck to water” when they came out a dozen years later. But the few times I had queried A.I. during research, it gave me answers I knew to be bogus. (In one case, I already knew the obscure answer to the question I was asking; but, my, how various A.I. agents authoritatively blathered bushels of blarney! Only one was honest enough to say, essentially, “Sorry, I don’t know.”)

Several months after our board meeting, my wife and our daughter Mary Beth demonstrated how A.I. (in this case, ChatGPT) could help me with newsletter graphics. That sold me. Then after coming back from my Iowa trip, a thought dawned on me: “I love writing—newsletters, Bible-teaching studies, books. What’s stressing me? Why do I dread it?” And the answer became clear: I loathed all the digital drudge work! But no one in our small circle could do what I knew how to do; and we couldn’t begin to afford a paid assistant. Hey, wait—isn’t this exactly the sort of thing that A.I. can be trained to do very well?

I’ll share more next month about Mycroft and our newsletter-formatting revolution, as well as how book production is following the same path. A heavy mental weight has been lifted, and I’m already spending a lot more time writing and editing, almost free of “digital drudgery.”

Pushing Forward in Publishing

Meanwhile “Mycroft” has already helped us with publishing output. Using our revamped document template system, we were able to efficiently convert the first chapter—Advancing into New Territory—of Percy Gutteridge’s message series, Studies in the Book of Joshua, for use on our website. (This has also been compiled as the first chapter of the eventual Joshua ebook version.) The remaining four chapter documents have had their templates upgraded to the new, unified one, as has the book’s postscript. In fact, the postscript has already undergone a new round of editing; and the second chapter will probably be at the final-edit stage before month’s end, which means you’ll be seeing it online shortly.

We’re also making steady progress with posting the successive chapters of Isaiah Reid’s Boyhood Memories and Lessons. This month the fifth chapter, God’s Giving Is Wiser Than Our Asking, appeared. (Come to think of it, it’s Reid’s testimony along the same lines as my “He Will Make Your Paths Straight,” above.) Due on or around October 1st is a poignant piece, When the Flowering Almond Blooms. If you’ve ever experienced the death of a child or young sibling (and even if you haven’t), Isaiah Reid’s reminiscence will pluck your heartstrings.

My own heartstrings zinged just a little when the Spirit nudged me to return to work on chapters for the second book in The John the Baptist Experience series. I won’t give you the chapter name yet (because I think it’s going to become two chapters), but I’m happy to be writing and editing again on this work that’s so close to my heart.

Thanksgiving

The Lord’s gracious answers to prayer show me that those of you who read the newsletter pray for us. Thank you! Therefore I’m not going to enumerate a list of requests this month.

Instead, I feel like offering praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. My personal prayer times have been more precious of late. I see two grandkids healing and rebounding after their father’s death last year. I see their widowed mom, our daughter, blossoming in a God-tailored ministry (several, in fact). My lovely editor Denise (alias Lady Red Pen, or LRP for short) is healthy and actively involved in grandma-ing. In addition, I feel like I’m being reintroduced to “the groove” when it comes to writing. There’s a special blessing in finding ways to share what the Lord opens in the Scriptures. It’s a way that He has directed my path.

May you be able to acknowledge Him in all your ways, so that He may direct your path, too!

Much love in Jesus,

Jim

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