WALK WITH THE LORD

 After a person is saved and knows it, he should unashamedly confess the Lord openly, be baptized and unite with a Bible believing and practicing church.  Is that the end of Christian progress?  It shouldn’t be but sad to say it is in the experience of many Christians.  It is at this point that many Christians begin, like a roller coaster, feeling rapture on the mountains and then despair in the depths.  It is sad that this boom and bust may characterize many Christians for years and ---for some---all their lives.  I confess that this was the pattern of my life for five years after I was saved.  I would miserably fail God and be smitten with heart-rending sorrow.  With the deepest sincerity I would plead with God that if He would forgive me of my sin I would never commit it again.  After an all to short respite in which I enjoyed the Lord’s forgiveness and the sweetness of His presence, I would fall into the same sin---or one even worse.  Some five years later I was still in this cycle when I yielded my life to preach the gospel.  My surrender to preach did not greatly change the pattern. Finally, in the depths of despair I cried out, “Dear Lord, I want to live the godly victorious life, but it is obvious to me that I do not have the power.  If You will give me the help I need then I will live pleasing to You---otherwise I will fail.”  That was just what the Lord had been waiting to hear for five years.  It was at that point I found the ability to say “no” to the world, the flesh, and the Devil, while saying “yes” to God.  It wasn’t all victory and no defeat.  It was more victory and less defeat.  I had not fully learned the secret that the victorious Christian life is achieved only by a daily walking with God. 

Many Christians are looking for an emotional encounter that will forever give them victory in their life from that point forward. An initial commitment to the Lord may be necessary, but the victory is achieved by daily walking with the Lord.  The importance of this daily walk is pointed out from the following statements:

           “…Walk worthy of the calling with which you were called...”  Ephesians 4:1
          “…
And walk in love…” Ephesians 5:1

          “…Walk as children of light…”  Ephesians 5:8 
          “See then that you walk circumspectly…”  Ephesians 5:15

In Galatians 5:16 we have the following wonderful promise:  “
”Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh”.
 

Practice His Presence
The question arises, “Just how do I walk with God in such a way as to become a fruitful and victorious Christian?”    The answer is contained in the words of the Lord Jesus, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”  John 15:7.  If we are to abide in Christ then we must learn to live in constant fellowship with Him.  How are we to do this?  It is by starting each day in fellowship with Him, being conscious of His presence all day long, praying for Him to give wisdom about every decision and to supply every need.  One person described it as “practicing the presence of Christ:.  The poet expressed it with these words in the poem entitled “The Secret

                    I met God in the morning, when my day was at its best,
                    And His Presence came like sunrise,---like a glory in my breast. 

                    All day long the Presence lingered.  All day long He stayed with me, 
                   And we sailed in perfect calmness o’er a very troubled sea. 

                    Other ships were blown and battered. Other ships were sore distressed,
                    But the winds that seemed to drive them brought to me a peace and rest. 

                    Then I thought of other mornings with a keen remorse of mind
                    When I, too had loosed the moorings with the Presence left behind. 

                    So I think I know the secret, learned from many a troubled way,
                    You must seek Him in the morning if you want Him through the day.
 

ABIDE IN HIM
As we walk in prayerful communion with Christ this allows us to bring into play all of God’s power on our behalf.  Just consider some of these amazing promises:

“And whatever you ask in My name, that I will l do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”  John 14:13, 14. 

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”  John 15:7.

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”  John 15:16.

And in that day you will ask Me nothing.  Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.  Until now you have asked nothing in My name.  Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”  John 16:23, 24.

“In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you.”  John 16:26. 

Norman Vincent Peale wrote a book about the power of positive thinking.  Positive thinking is powerful because it bring to pass the best that is in man.  However it doesn’t hold a candle to positive believing.  Positive believing brings to pass the best in man and God together. 

There is another part to the fruitful and victorious walk with God.  Jesus not only said, “If you abide in me”, but He also said, “And my words abide in you”. We must also learn to let His words abide in us. 

READ THE WORD
First, we must read the Word.  How sad it is that many Christians have been saved for years and yet, have never read the Word of God all the way through one time.  Every Christian would profit greatly by reading the Bible through once every year.  I remember with joy that during my first year in the ministry I read the Word of God through twice on my knees.  It profited me greatly then and placed a tremendous foundation under me for the rest of my life.  The Bible can be read through by reading three chapters a day for six days and five chapters on the seventh day.
 

STUDY THE WORD
In addition to reading the Word, we must also study it.  We can study a particular book.  We can analyze a particular portion of Scripture.  We can trace the life story of various individuals through the Scripture.  We can study the historical development of the Bible story.  We can study the various doctrines (or teachings) of the Bible.  We can study the many different subjects discussed in the Bible.  We can study the spiritual meanings of various events, places, and things.  The child of God can be assured from the outset that any of these forms of Bible study will prove profitable both in knowledge and spiritual blessings.  It will also enable the Christian to communicate this truth to others.
 

MEMORIZE THE WORD
Possibly even more profitable than reading and studying the Word of God is memorizing it.  It certainly follows that to memorize the Word is the best means of letting the Word abide in us.  We can memorize individual verses relating to a particular topic such as verses by which you would tell someone how to be saved.  We might memorize portions of Scripture such as the twenty-third Psalm for the blessing they can be to us and others.  Anyone can memorize.  By saying a verse or portion out loud five times each morning and five times each evening for a week the Scripture can be quoted from memory.  It will have to be reviewed periodically to keep it fresh in our minds.
 

MEDITATE ON THE WORD
After we have read, studied, and memorized the Word of God we are to meditate on it.  Meditating on the Word of God is what a cow does to grass.  A cow gathers grass for hours by swallowing it back into one stomach.  Then she lies down in the shade, coughs up a chunk of grass, chews it, swallows it into another stomach and repeats the process.  It sounds disgusting, but we are to get the Word of God into our mind and then chew on it.  It is at this point that God gives us the deep riches of spiritual truth. 

When we are abiding in Jesus and His words are abiding in us we will be victorious over sin, powerful in our witness, wise in our decisions, joyful in our fellowship and radiant in our countenance. 

Walk with the Lord!

Copyright © 2005 Thomas E Berry
Scripture quotations from NKJV unless otherwise noted

 

             
Copyright © 2005 Thomas E Berry
Scripture quotations from NKJV unless otherwise noted

    Copyright © 2008 Truth Helpers Inc.