Tag Archives: daily walk

Genesis 11 – God’s Choice

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Abram might not have been my first choice to start an entire nation of people who would be known as “the children of God.” He came from a long line of idol worshippers, he was an older gentleman married to a wife who couldn’t even have kids. But he obeyed God, and I am blessed today because he did.

God doesn’t always nudge the obvious choices into service. We look at the outward appearance. God looks at the heart. His ways are not our ways. His choices are not always what we would choose.

Don’t ever think you are too insignificant, or too uneducated, or too shy or untalented for God to do something amazing in and through you. Obey Him. Follow His lead. Get out of His way and watch what He can do with the abilities He’s given you.

Exodus 5 – Never Too Late

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Enoch was 65 when he began his walk with the Lord. The Bible seems to link the birth of his son Methuselah with this change. Enoch, you’ll remember, had a walk so real with God that he didn’t die. God took him away.

I’d like to picture God and Enoch were walking together in a meadow where Enoch took one step on the ground, and the next on streets of gold, without missing a beat. I’d like to believe the transition from flesh and blood to his eternal body was seamless and natural.

I know that 65 seems old to many people. But when you lived to be 782, maybe 65 didn’t seem all that ancient back then. I don’t know. But I think there is a lesson for all of us here.

I don’t know how old you are. I do know that if you are reading this, your heart is still beating, and it’s not too late to begin your walk with the Lord, or to pay more attention to your walk with Him. It’s not too late to enjoy that sweet fellowship with your Savior.

Enoch seems to have been challenged to change when he became a father. What challenges you to walk with God? My sisters’ children makes me want to be a godly example to them. My unsaved friends make we want to represent Jesus well. The reality of what Jesus did for me on the cross makes me want to love Him like He deserves.

So I spend time in His Word every day. I pray. I listen, and pay attention to His nudges. I count everything a loss, except for the privilege of knowing Him. Like  Paul, I die daily. Then my prayer is, “Not my will but Thine be done.”

My walk with my Savior is not where it could be. Some days I neglect Him, then wonder why I can’t feel His Presence. But one thing I know, it’s never God’s fault if I feel that way. He wants to walk with me more than I want it for myself.

Whether you are 16 or 66 or 96, it’s not too late for you to take that walk with God. Get to know Him by reading what He wrote to you in Scripture. Spend time with Him.

I was raised in the C&MA church and sang a lot of A.B. Simpson hymns. I want to leave you with the words of one of my favorite hymns of his that speaks to our walk with God:

'Tis so sweet to walk with Jesus, 
Step by step and day by day;
Stepping in His very footprints, 
Walking with Him all the way.

'Tis so safe to walk with Jesus, 
Leaning hard upon His arm,
Following closely where He leads us, 
None can hurt and naught can harm.

Step by step I'll walk with Jesus, 
Just a moment at a time;
Heights I have not wings to soar to, 
Step by step my feet can climb.

Jesus, keep me closer, closer, 
Step by step and day by day;
Stepping in Thy very footprints, 
Walking with Thee all the way.

(Chorus)
Step by step, step by step, 
I would walk with Jesus,
All the day, all the way, 
Keeping step with Jesus.

December 28 – Intentional

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Revelation 1-5

Whenever I read John’s Revelation, I always pray that my focus would not be on the horizontal, but on the vertical. Not on the material pictures painted here, but on God Himself. And when I do, I can almost join that worship service I read about and sing with the angels, “Holy, Holy, Holy! Worthy is the Lamb!”

God speaks to us Christians through John about the role of the church; the pitfalls, and the promise. I hear Him tell us not to just go through the motions, but to serve Him with the same love we had when we first believed.

I hear Him tell us to stay true to Scripture and reject Satans’ lies. I hear Him say it won’t be easy, that persecution will effect Christians all over the world.

Don’t accept false teaching, He tells us. Wake up and live this Christian life intentionally. Hold on. Be passionate and effective for the kingdom.

God tells us He will discipline the disobedient Christian in order to save them.

And, for those of us who overcome, we will receive the best prize ever – God Himself: the crown of life, the power and authority, the Word, the morning star, JESUS!!

Reading Revelation and not thinking it’s a history book, or a futuristic prediction, makes it alive and personal today. God wants us to be active Christians, obedient, loving, and alert so that others can know Him, too. I don’t think the book of Revelation is so much a book of the future. I think it’s a book for today, right now, with important lessons for us to follow.

My intention is not to offend those of you who study this book and look for material interpretations. I certainly don’t intend to criticize you if God is directing you in that way. I am telling you how He is directing me. And I don’t want us to miss the messages He has for us for today, to make us stronger and more effective workers in His Kingdom. I think we can all agree that  all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, correction,  so that we are equipped to do what God wants us to do as we live out our salvation at the end of 2016 and into the new year.

Today, as I read His Word, I believe God is asking me to be intentional in my walk with Him. And He promises it will be worth it, when I realize He Himself is my prize!

December 27 – Walking In Truth

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2 John; 3 John

John uses the term, “walking in truth,” several times in his last two letters. So I’ve been sitting here thinking about my own walk, the truth I live by. Here are some things that came to mind:

In the beginning God created… (Gen 1)

The virgin shall conceive and bear a son… (Isaiah 7:14)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us… (John 1)

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one can come to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:5)

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  (I John 1:9)

For we believe that Jesus died and rose again… (I Thess 4:14)

If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again… (John 14:3)

That’s the Truth I’m walking in. It’s the Truth that defines me, strengthens me, encourages and blesses me. It’s the only Truth by it’s very nature. I pray you’ll be walking with me in Truth today.

 

December 26 – No Time To Sin

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I John

Can you be a Christian and still hold on to a sin or two? Does being a Christian involve accepting Jesus, then putting Him on a shelf and continuing life as usual? I would suggest you read John’s first letter and ask yourself what Scripture has to say about that.

This is serious business. I’m afraid we’ve come to believe Christianity is something you put on on Sundays. But John tells us No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. (3:6)

The key to Christianity must be abiding in Christ. So how are you doing?

Do you pursue Jesus by spending time with Him in His Word, and by praying? Are you aware, and do you welcome, His Presence every minute of every day? Do you love Him above all, and share His love with others? Are you more like Jesus than you were yesterday?

I think if those things were true in each of us, we wouldn’t have time (or the desire) to continue to sin.

December 23 – Faith Is A Glorious Reality

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Hebrews 11-13

Faith. Being sure of the things we hope for. It’s believing in things unseen.

We all exhibit faith every day. I’ve heard it compared to breathing. Oxygen is unseen, yet when we inhale we are confident our lungs will fill with air. Some say it’s like trusting the chair you’re about to sit on is strong enought to hold you, or expecting the light to go on when you flip a switch.

I guess there is a measure of faith in those examples. But faith in God goes deeper.

Hebrews tells us that faith in God can prompt a man like Noah to build a big boat and believe it’s going to rain when it had never rained before. It can make a man like Abraham to pack up his family and move to a foreign land, or Moses to stand up to a king and lead thousands of people through a desert. It can allow a woman dying of cancer to demonstrate joy and peace.

We who know Jesus have put our faith in the God of the Universe. And, really, we’re putting our faith in a sure thing. Hebrews 13:8 tells us Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Putting our faith in God might not make sense to unbelievers. And sometimes it can be scary even to believers. But faith in God can be the most natural and glorious reality there is.

Dear God, I believe. Help my unbelief. I have faith in you for my salvation, for Your care of me, for my future, for my today. Help me to keep my eyes on You, to truly trust You for every detail of my life, because You can be trusted.

December 20 – Action!

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I Peter

Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ( 1:3)

Peter’s first letter is full of action verbs. This Christian life is to be lived, played out in what we do rather than sitting comfortably in a pew once a week.

I was born into the Zehner family. I didn’t do anything to become a Zehner. And nothing I did made me more or less a Zehner. But there were some things I did, some choices I made, to get me to the Zehner woman I am today.

I learned. To walk and talk, to add and subtract, to do the dishes and dust, to care about others. Oh I had help along the way. Parents and teachers and friends helped to mold me as I yielded myself to their instruction. But even that had nothing to do with the fact that I am a Zehner. It does have a bearing on the kind of Zehner I am.

I was born into the family of God. I didn’t do anything to earn that privilege. I simply asked God to forgive me, and accepted His gift of grace that HE bought for me. But there are some choices I made to get me to the Christian woman I am today.

Let’s look at some of the action words Peter used to describe our walk:

prepare your minds, be holy, conduct yourselves in fear, fervently love, put aside malice, long for the word, grow, taste, come, believe, abstain, submit, honor. Be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, humble. Bless, suffer, rejoice, glorify God.

In my walk with the Lord I have chosen to read His Word every day, to pray, to worship with other believers, to use the gifts He gave me in service to Him and others. I choose to live a lifestyle that honors Him. I choose to resist the devil by staying close to my Savior.

I don’t do these things to become a Christian. I do them because I am a Christian.

Dear ones, people all over the world are celebrating the birth of Jesus, whether they want to believe it or not. It’s Christmas. It’s a great time of year to put our faith into action. I pray that you will read 1 Peter today and let God speak to your heart about what you could be DOING to demonstrate Jesus in your life. Many hearts are ready to hear about what the birth of this Baby really means.

Let’s show them by our own actions that what we have in Jesus is so much better than what they have without Him.

 

December 18 – It’s In There

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I Timothy

I guess I’ve never realized how much Paul’s letter to Timothy is anything but “politically correct.” In fact, it’s not all that modern church correct, either.

I pray you will read this book today and ask God to speak to you about homosexuality, about eternal security, about local church leaders, about helping the needy, about “knowledge”, about judgment, and about Jesus. He might speak to your heart about drinking wine, your attitude toward money, or godliness.

It’s all in these six chapters. And I pray that as you read the words God inspired Paul to write you will be challenged to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance,and gentleness, and to “fight the good fight of faith.” (6:11-12)

Grace be with you.

December 16 – It’s Not An Easy Road

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Ephesians

The Christian life is not a walk in the park. It’s hard. It takes effort. It’s a conscious decision to put on the armor of God, to lay aside our former selves, to serve, to be rooted and grounded in love. It’s a daily, sometimes moment by moment choice.

Read Paul’s letter to the Ephesians today and let your heart soar at the benefits of being adopted into the family of God through the blood of Jesus. Read it and be challenged to make that daily effort to draw near to God who loves you, and wants to pour out His blessings on you.

There are so many wonderful verses in this book. Here are a few that jumped out at me today:

1:7-8a  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.

1:13  In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation – having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise

2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

The emphasis above is mine. But as I read these verses I am reminded what blessings are mine because of Jesus. And my heart overflows.

As you read, pay special attention to Paul’s heart recorded in chapter 3:14-21. Here’s a glimpse:

…that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

I pray with Paul, that God will give you a spirit of wisdom, and a revelation of who He really is.

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of HIs calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. ( Ephesians 1:17-18a)

The Christian life might be difficult. But it is also a road that is strewn with blessings. May you walk in the Light today. And be blessed.

 

December 15 – Best Boss Ever

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Colossians; Philemon

Do you like your job? Your answer to that question might depend on the work itself, whether it’s challenging or rewarding. It might have to do with the hours you put in, your coworkers, your boss, your salary and benefits.

In my 37 years in public education I can say there were times I loved my job, other times. not so much. For me, my outlook had a lot to do with who the superintendent and/or principal was at the time.

And there’s the rub. I was working for the wrong boss.

Colossians 3:23-24:

Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

I always prepared my best lesson to teach the day I knew my principal was going to observe me. But what about the other days, when God was doing the observation?

You, too, might put your best foot forward when your boss is within earshot. What about when the boss is away?

Here’s a suggestion. Do your job as though your Heavenly Boss had clipboard in hand, looking over your shoulder. The difference between this Boss and any human boss I’ve ever had is that God loves us absolutely. He wants us to do well at our jobs so that we represent Him in a positive light. He wants us to be successful so that people will recognize Him in our lives. He wants us to demonstrate His joy, His love, His honesty to our coworkers every day.

I believe that if we go to our jobs every day knowing that we are working for the Lord, we’ll have a better attitude, we’ll enjoy the days more, we’ll do our best work, which might be noticed by our earthly bosses and coworkers, and probably make our jobs so much better.

God gives us the ability to be the workers He wants us to be. He truly is the best boss EVER!