"Ponder the Path"

"Blessed is the man whose strength is in the LORD; in whose heart are the ways of them." (Psalms 84:5) If it were as easy as just thinking about it, then it would not be all that special. But it's more about discipline and commitment to staying on the path. You know what the path is, so you commit to staying on it, and then you discipline yourself by not doing those things that cause you to stray to the left or to the right. But there is a second part of doing this, one that requires giving everything over to the Lord, and then committing all of your life to Him. We cannot do it without Him, but we also can't do it without commitment and discipline; it's just that simple, if you want to consider any part of that as being simple. I think it comes down to having a plan. You know what your weakness' are, so plan to avoid anything that makes you weak. You know what you need to do to be stronger, so plan to do what it takes to be strengthened. And, most of all, you know where you need to be to be victorious, so don't let yourself be anywhere else! That's what you call having a plan; when you see the path you must be on, understand what you must avoid, prepare to do what keeps you focused, and be very cautious of where you are at, at all times. Basically, the main point I see within this verse, is that of putting into practice what you believe. If your strength is in the Lord, then guess what, you must live by God's ways and not by your own; otherwise you are putting your own strength as being stronger than the Lord's. That is a very seriously bad place to be! We have no strength; and when we start comparing the strength of the Lord, to what we think is our strength, we are way out of bounds. Ponder the path before you, commit to that path, discipline yourself to do all that is necessary to stay on it, and then give that plan to the Lord. And then there is one other little thing, repeat...
"So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under the obligation of the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!" (Galatians 5:16-23) NLT