2-11-2023        JUST A CLOSER WALK WITH THEE

 

Genesis 17:1    When Abraham was 90, the Lord appeared to him and said “I AM the almighty God.  Walk before Me and be perfect.”

Gen. 5:21-24   Enoch walked with God ….  and was not for God took Him because he walked with God.

Matt. 6:32-34  (For the Gentiles seek after these things [earthly, physical needs]) Your heavenly Father knows you need all of these things BUT you first of all seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of these things (natural needs) will be added to you.  Don’t worry about tomorrow, it will take care of itself.  It is enough to be concerned about the evil that faces us today.

Gal. 5:25                      If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit

John 4:23         The hour comes and is even now when the true worshippers will worship

                        the Father in Spirit and in Truth for the Father seeks such to worship Him.

Just a closer walk with thee

Grant it Jesus is my plea

Daily walking close to thee

Let it be, dear Lord, let it be

I am weak, but thou art strong

Keep me Jesus from all wrong

I’ll be satisfied as long

As I walk, let me walk close to thee

 

Through this world of toil and snares

If I falter, Lord, who cares

Who with me my burden shares?

None but thee, oh Lord, none but thee

 

When my feeble life is o’er

Time for me will be no more

Guide me gently, safely o’er

To thy Kingdom’s shore, to thy shore 

God tells Abraham to walk before Him and be perfect or, if you will, do His (God’s) will.  Or should we rather say walk with Him?   Now in the Old Testament, walking with God was difficult because God is in heaven yet Enoch found a way to do so.  The implication is that he walked in God’s will.  However, we do know that God did come to earth to commune with Adam (Gen. 3:8).  We may consider that the third “angel” that visited Abraham was not actually an angel but would have been Father or Son because Abraham worshipped Him.  But being that Jesus is the incarnation of God’s Word, was this third ‘angel’ Jesus (Gen. 18:1-33)?  We know that Jesus is Emmanuel (God is with us – Matt.1:23).  We know that Jesus is the Word of God (John 1:1-18).  We know that God spoke and all things were created (Gen. 1:1-31).  We know that God is love (1 John 4:8) and Jesus has become that personification of that love which God loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish but have everlasting life (read the whole passage – John 3:14-21). 

So, Jesus tells us that if we love Him we should keep His commandments (John 14:15) and what are His commandments? Only two, which is actually one commandment but which contains two parts.  That commandment is to love!  “A” love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength (Mark 12:29-30).  And “B” to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31).  Why?  Jesus explains that on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matt. 22:40).  The “10 commandments” and all the law (all 600+ adjustments) are based on God’s love for us and everything the prophets spoke to Israel (and us) is grounded in God’s love.

God, the Father, is love.  Jesus is Father’s manifestation of Himself to us in this world.  Jesus told the disciples “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father (John 14:9).  So we see that God is love and that Jesus is the manifestation of love in this (our) world.  So, to walk with God is to walk in His love.

So, how do we walk in love, closer with God?  How does the song start?  “Grant me a closer walk with you, oh Lord, daily”.  The Ten Commandments are a description of God’s love so even in the Old Testament, God operated in love.  Today, we ask Jesus into our heart (John 3:16, Rom. 10:9-10) so we can abide in that love.  We continue then by asking God to help us to walk closely with Him and then believe He will do so.  Whatever we ask, we believe God can and will do (Mark 11:24). We also recognize that we are human (duh!).  We realize that we are weak and unlikely to succeed (on our own) so we ask Him to help us ‘toe the line’, walk the straight and narrow (Matt. 7:13).  Personally, I have discovered that as I ask for His help, God is faithful to help me and in that I find then I am satisfied in all that He provides for me.  I know that the enemy (Satan) will try to trip me up every chance he gets and I know that should I stumble or even fall(and skin my knee), even though most humans could give a ‘rat’s derrierre’ whether I do.  Though I see that though the world may not care much about me, my God has not left me.  He is still is with me and He shall never forsake me (Heb. 13:5).  He’s always there to pick me up.  I just need to listen, then be obedient to what He says.  I live in the knowledge that as I keep Jesus’ commandment to love and seek God’s companionship, my place in eternity is secure.

Jesus says that if we know Him, we know the Father (and vice versa) (John 14:7).  So (again) what does walking with God mean?  Walking in LOVE.  We glorify His name (Psalm 86:12, Isa. 12:4-5),we give thanks to God for all that He does (Psalm 75:1, Phil. 1:3-5), we seek His counsel in all things (Psalm 139:1-24, Prov. 3:5-6) and we are obedient to His will (Deut. 11:1, Luke 11:28).  When given the choice on whom he would follow, Joshua said “… as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Josh. 24:15).

Walking with God is all about our relationship with Him.  He IS our best friend and we can share anything with Him.  As Jesus dealt with the woman caught in adultery, He didn’t condemn her but said “Go and sin no more.” (John 8:3-11).

Walking with God is like our ‘natural’ relationships with our parents, our siblings, our friends.  That relationship doesn’t ‘just happen’.  It takes effort (work) on our part to make it work.  As we endeavor to walk with our Lord by continuing to seek and do His will, we discover that He has always been there, drawing us closer to Himself.

Walk before God?  Walk with God?  Walk in love!

Amen