Nearing Midnight: Walking with God - Terry James - raptureready/rap16.html The year 2015 is already bringing tremendous challenges to the Christians of this quickly fleeting Church Age. Tragically, most within the body of Christ-all born-again believers-are walking in lockstep with the world, not with the God who sent His only Son to redeem them. It is infinitely easier to stroll the broad way, taking the path of least resistance, rather than walking the narrow way that often is fraught with devilishly placed, obstacles of carnal pleasures. Gods children are strangers in a foreign, deceptively dangerous land. It is imperative to understand the minefield and quagmires we must negotiate for our brief sojourn through this earthly life. All of that said, we could not be in safer hands than in those of the Heavenly Father, who also just happens to be Creator of all things. The great comfort is that there is no way He will ever lose even one of us who are in His eternal family. Bible prophecy assures us that ours is a glorious future beyond all we can imagine. We who are children of God, can, however, create some misery for ourselves here on earth by walking contrary to the way He has designed for us to walk. His plans for our lives are perfect, but our headstrong rebelliousness can get us in trouble in the short term. It can, in fact, lead to loss of rewards when we stand before Christ, who paid the price to redeem us. With these things in mind, I thought it good to review some things about walking with God, the right way, as we enter this new year. Lets look at this matter in a sort of Sunday-school lesson outline fashion. God Created Man to Walk with Him Genesis 3:8: And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. Enoch, the Example of Walking with God Genesis 5: 22-24: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. Enoch Pleased God Hebrews 11:5: By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. What Is Involved with Pleasing God? Micah 6:8: He hath shewed thee, O man, what [is] good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Liberal theologians use this exclusively to say that God is love. They dont want to deal with the fact that sin must be judged by God apart from Jesus Christ and His redemptive act on the cross. These commandments can only be followed once a person is saved. God sees all acts before salvation as unclean, apart from being in Christ. Once saved, the Christian is expected to walk as follows: 1. To do justly: This equates to doing righteously. We cannot do justly, or righteously, unless we know God. We must be born into His family (be born again). We cannot please Him without this as a beginning point. 2. To love mercy: To have the heart of God for others. God loved people so much that He sent His Son to die for their redemption. If we have His nature, we are to grow into showing the same kind of mercy. This is a process of transformation. 3. To walk humbly: Always to put others before ones self. Jesus had a servants heart while on earth. Remember that He told Peter that if he didnt allow Him to wash Peters feet, Peter was not His. The first commandment, according to Jesus, was to love God with all our hearts. And the second was very close to that: to love others more than ourselves. The Lord said there were no greater commandments than these two. What Is the Result of Walking with God? 1 John 1:7: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 1. Gods Holy Spirit light: Gods light is the light from the Holy Spirit. It illuminates our minds and transforms us moment by moment into the likeness of Christ. The Holy Spirit gives us the supernatural ability (the light) to discern truth. 2. Becoming one with God: We become one with God, as Christ is one with Him, automatically, at the new birth, but its a growth toward full understanding of that walk from that point. Jesus keeps us clean before Gods throne throughout our earthbound life (He is our Advocate, our Mediator; see 1 Timothy 2:5). The Transformed Life 2 Corinthians 6:16: And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in [them]; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Romans 12:2: And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 1. Believers life transformed: Our lives are transformed moment by moment into the likeness of Christ, the One Perfect Life to have walked in the flesh upon earth. This is a process. 2. Believer must consistently and constantly seek Gods will: We must constantly and consistently seek the will of God. This is what transforms our lives. The will of God is ALL that matters in the context of eternity (is the only thing that will survive this earthly existence). This is what will earn hearing our Lord say: Well done, thy good and faithful servant. What Is the Will of God, in Its Total Context? 2 Peter 3:9: The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 1. His will is that all people come to Him in repentance: When we seek His ultimate will-i.e., we fulfill our purposes to represent Christ, so that the world will see Him, and people will turn to Him in repentance for salvation. 2. His will is that believers seek His kingdom and righteousness: This is Gods kingdom and His righteousness. When we carry out our duties within this divine framework, all the needs of this life, spiritual, and of the flesh, and the blessings that are best for us, will be added unto us, the following Scripture says: But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33). 3. His will is that we fulfill the Great Commission: Seeking His kingdom and His righteousness are tied up in the Great Commission Christ left with us at His ascension to the Father: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen (Matthew 28:19-20). Our Whole Purpose in Walking with God Ecclesiastes 12:13-14: Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. Let our resolution be to do our very best to walk with God for whatever time we have left on this earth-whether in our lifetime, or before the Rapture.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 01:41:33 +0000
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