Further In: Walking With God: Devotions, #3

Introduction

I have been a Christian for 44 years. But I haven’t always walked with God. Some of those years I walked away, some I stumbled and bumbled my way, and some I stayed on the path. I like to think that I learned from all of it.

What you are reading now is the third book of devotions that has come out of that journey. Some were written as blogs, some I used as teachings in a ladies Bible study, and some I taught in my local church. Some are short and some a tad lengthy. But I think that they would work nicely for a daily reading. I have included some prayers in the back and there are a few poems I have written scattered throughout.

I have learned along the way that our walk with God is all about choices, some small and some huge. One choice we have to make is to stay where we are in our relationship with Him, or to draw closer yet. Another is to stay shallow or to go deeper still. If you chose to press in and dig deeper, then you will enjoy this book.

1

I Am Yours

You are Holy, Lord.

Your love is excessive.

You are Just, Lord.

Your generosity is extensive.

Who am I, that I caught your attention?

Who am I, that you lavish your affection?

You are faithful, Lord.

Your hand never fails me.

You are powerful, Lord.

Your strength never leaves me.

Who am I, that You would pay my penalty?

Who am I, that You would love me in my frailty?

You are my Father, Lord.

As Your child, I am loved.

You are my Bridegroom, Lord.

I am your beloved.

Song of Solomon 6:3 (NIV), I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine; he browses among the lilies.

Song of Solomon 7:10 (NIV), I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me.

2

Why Make Them Wait?

Do you ever get that feeling like there is some great thing about to take place, kind of like that quiet moment right before the storm? You expect the flash of lighting and the sound of thunder. You expect the show of raw power. We are expectantly waiting for nature to let loose her authority. If you have ever lived somewhere hot, or humid, and you just feel like one nice cooling rain could alleviate the suffering, you know what it means to moan for nature to do her job.

Yet, God says that all of nature is waiting on us…

Romans 8:18-25 (NAS), For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

Verse 22, (NLT), the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.

What exactly is nature waiting for? For us to take out rightful place as sons of God, for us to walk in our authority.

Matthew 28:19-20 (NAS), And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,"

Luke 10:19 (NLT), Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you.

The Father gave Jesus all authority. Then, through His death and resurrection, He passed that authority on to us. Why? To grow the family of God, to make disciples.

Mark 13:34, (KJB), For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. (emphasis mine)

We need to stop letting the enemy distract us, stop being too busy to be about our duties. We need to be busy with the great commission while we are waiting for the bridegroom.

Luke 12:36 (KJB), like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.

We use our authority to cast out demons, heal the sick, change circumstances, call money in, stand in the gap for our loved ones, and the list goes on. Authority doesn’t ask, authority commands. We thank God, but we speak to the situation. Is your child sick? Command his or her body to line up with the word of God, that says by His stripes they are already healed. Command their body to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Is your bank account low, and your bills high? Pay your tithing, thank God for His provision, and then command the debt to leave and money to come. Find scriptures to stand on and speak them out, and over each need. It’s not some abracadabra magic words. It may take some time, don’t give up. God says that we will have what we say. His word is true, and He is not a man that He should lie. If He said it, then we can believe it. We just have to start believing what we say!

The world would be a different place if true followers of Christ walked in their God-given authority!

All of nature is groaning in expectation.

Why make them wait?

Father, forgive me for not walking in my authority. Strengthen me, Lord to do Your will. I will not be timid, but I will be bold. I will soundly rebuke the enemy and his attacks, and give all glory to You.

3

His Word Is Settled

Matthew 24:35 (KJB), Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

I am so glad that I have the Written Word of God!

The more I read and study His word, the closer I get to Him, the more I find out about who He is and how He sees me. His word is a plum line for my life. If I hear any voice that doesn’t line up with His word, I ignore it, or rebuke it.

A good Pastor or Teacher uses His word, without watering it down, or changing it. They do not leave out parts and skip over others, never taking it out of context to make a point that is their own doctrine and not the doctrine of the Lord.

His word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, (Psalm 119:105). It is sweet! (Psalm 119:103). His word is true and they stand forever, (Psalm 119:160).

One of the greatest aspects of His word is that it is settled in Heaven.

Psalm 119:89 (NAS), Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.

(NIV), Your word, LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.

(International Standard Version), Your word is forever, LORD; it is firmly established in heaven.

(ESV), Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.

No matter what translation of the Bible you read Psalm 119:89, it just gets clearer and more concrete. God’s word is fixed, stands firm, is firmly established, it is settled. Have you ever heard someone say, That settles it! What they mean is there is no more questioning, no more argument, no more reasoning, studying, putting up with something less. We can’t argue with His word, can’t change it, can’t shift or shake it. The only thing we can do is ignore it, but it is still there. Ignore the mosquitoes and see how well that works for you.

For me, this is a promise of God that I can stand on. No matter what the circumstances, no matter the situation, His word is firmly established. That’s why we can confidently stand on His word. That’s why at His word things change! They have to.

Jesus told us to pray, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.(Matthew 6:10)

Why? Because His word is His will. Nothing less than His will is done in Heaven. That’s the plan for earth as well. However, we ignore, pollute, and poison His word. Some so called Christians even use it for harm instead of good. They use it to beat people up instead of building them up. They in fact cause people to turn from God, instead of run into His loving arms. What we should be doing is looking to His Kingdom, into heaven and asking ourselves, What is allowed in heaven? If it isn’t allowed there, why would we ever allow it here? Stand on His word. Declare what He has to say.

Jesus, You are the word made flesh! I will strive to do what You say. I will daily read Your written word and be sensitive to Your voice.

4

No Longer An Enemy

Titus 3:3-7 (NIV), At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

We look at the world and think, Oh, my…, but it wasn’t that long ago that we were just like them. In fact, not only were we deceived and foolish, disobedient and enslaved, God says we were His enemies.

Romans 5:10 (KJB), For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

The Good News, for us and them, is that while we were still His enemy, He loved us so much that He paid the price to reconcile us to Him. The New Living translation says we were restored. That’s a big deal. Our sin separated us from God. Nothing else can.

Romans 8:35-39 (NIV), Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? Just as it is written, FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED. But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus became sin, so that we could bridge that gap that our own sin put between us and our Father. Then God, in His love and mercy, went a step further. He made us brand new. That old us has passed away, if we have truly accepted Jesus as our Lord. Now instead of His enemies, we are His children. We are no longer slaves to sin, we are free in the family of God. We are heirs and joint heirs with Christ! We can do what He did while on this earth, and according to John 14:12, even greater things. At Christ’s death and resurrection, He ascended to Heaven and left us the Holy Spirit. Now with His help, the Holy Spirit’s, we can do even greater works.

We just have to believe. Most of us have no problem believing that Jesus did miracles. Our issue is not belief in His power, or ability, it is unbelief in who we really are. We think we are still His enemy, still a slave to sin, still captive in this world, but we are not. We are no longer an enemy to God. As His dearly loved children, He has given us authority! Miracles should be happening where ever God’s children are! We should be seeing salvations, (the greatest miracle of all), blind seeing, deaf hearing, lame walking, addicted delivered, and lives transformed.

It teaches and preaches easier than it is walked out. I know. However, even though I haven’t reached that place yet, I am walking in the right direction. My steps may be baby steps, but they are forward. I am not standing still. Truthfully, the only way to get confident in our place is to listen to what God has to say through His word, through preaching and teaching, and through His Holy Spirit speaking into our lives. Then we stand on it, step out in faith, sure our knees may knock and our stomach may contain a few butterflies, but we do it. One pastor said it this way, So what if you are scared. You still have to do it. Do is scared!

I have done so many things scared! It is even comical to think about some of the things. But, I am growing stronger in the things of the Lord. I used to be shy and introverted (unless I was under the influence of a mood altering substance). I hated new schools, moving, meeting new people or anything that took me out of my comfort zone. I hated all forms of confrontation, even the good, healthy kind. Now, I am not shy. I love meeting new people. I can talk to anyone with ease. I may still get a little shaky if I have to get up in front of a lot of people, but even then, after the initial few minutes, the ease comes. I know that I am doing what pleases God, how can we not be confident in that place?

Don’t you think the rest of the world should know that they don’t have to stay His enemy?

Jesus, thank You for reconciling, and restoring us to our Father. Whenever I feel small, unworthy, or lost, I will remember that I am His child, that He loves me dearly, and that You left me Your Spirit to guide me.

5

Why Run?

Isaiah 30:15-17 (NIV), This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’ Therefore you will flee! You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’ Therefore your pursuers will be swift! A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill."

God gave them a choice. Trust Him, repent, and find rest. In peace and