Walking With God

 If your life was summed up in one sentence, what would it be? 

There is a man in the Bible whose life is summed up with the words "Enoch walked with God."

If you put your name in Enoch's place, would it be true? Do you walk with God? What does it even mean to walk with God?

Here are some thoughts to think about. Let's compare walking with God to going for a walk with a person.

Who do you go for walks with? A friend or a stranger? Usually we only go for walks with someone we love and know--a friend or family member. If you walked up to a random person on the street and asked them to go for a walk with you, they would think you were strange! Walking with God means you know and love Him.

Since God is light, then walking with God means walking in the light. Confessing and forsaking sin, not hiding your sin or putting the blame on others.

Imagine walking with a friend in complete silence! When you go for a walk, you also talk. But you don't chatter none stop and give your friend no chance to talk. Walking with a friend requires both talking and listening. Walking with God involves both talking to God (prayer) and listening to Him (reading the Bible).

Imagine asking a friend to go for a walk with you, but you are in one town and they are in another town. Would that work? No, you have to be in the same place to walk together. You have to be close!  Walking with God means being close to God.

Walking with a friend means that you are not walking with others. So that might mean being different. People may laugh or mock you. But it's better to walk with God and be laughed at than be the ones who are not walking with God.

If your friend invites you to go for a walk with them, you need to go where they are going. And so walking with God means that we must obey Him and go where He leads.

Would you go for a walk with someone you don't trust? I sure wouldn't! And walking with God requires trust and faith in Him.

Would you walk with a friend while worrying how to please someone that you are not with? Walking with God means living to please God, not other people.

Walking with a friend also involves keeping in step with, not lagging behind or running ahead.

Enoch never died, God just took him to heaven (Heb 11:5) While those who walk with God will still have to die, they have no need to fear death. They will finally see in person the one they have been walking with on earth!

Nothing more important

Do you have a relationship with God? If you do, what are you doing to grow and cultivate it? Close relationships take time, effort, and energy. They don't just happen! Make sure your relationship with God is number one on your priority list.

I like to look up word definitions, similar words and opposite words. It helps challenge my thinking.

One definition for cultivate is 'to help the growth or development of.'

Some similar words are 'encourage, forward, further, nurture, promote, advance'

The opposite words are always interesting!

'abandon, destroy, ignore, neglect, idle, laze' 

You can cultivate your relationship with God through prayer, meditation, singing/Christian music, journaling and most of all through His Word--the Bible. Anything that helps the Bible come alive to us can also help us like sermons, good books, podcasts etc.
 

Prayer...

 This week's devotional is on prayer again--a different aspect of prayer. You probably already know it, but I find that it's easy to forget what we already know! I needed the reminder and maybe you do too. I filmed this at night, so it is not as good quality. But it is school holidays right now, and I have less time to myself. So it will have to do!

Trust and Obey

Two simple words that I get reminded of every now and again. It pretty much sums up the Christian life. Trusting God and obeying God. They can both be very hard to do sometimes. Sometimes it is very hard to trust God when we can't understand or see what He's doing. And it can be very hard to obey when we don't know that the results will be, when there's a cost involved or when it's something we simply do not want to do. But as the old hymn says, there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. Are you trusting and obeying?

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,

What a glory He sheds on our way!

While we do His good will, He abides with us still,

And with all who will trust and obey.

Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet.
Or we'll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

 

If You Wait until You can do it Perfectly...

Last week I started mowing our lawns. My 6 year old son asked if he could help. I let him, thinking he'd get tired of it pretty quick as we have large lawns. But he surprised and impressed me! He kept on going until he had done at least half of them.

He didn't do a perfect job. I had to go over places he had missed and I finished up around the edges. But he did his best and he did a good job. He didn't wait until he was able to do it perfectly. He'll get better by doing it.

Sometimes the only way we learn how to do things is by doing them! If we wait until we know how to do them, it never happens. But if we just start and do what we can do, we figure it out by experience along the way.

Before I started this blog, I didn't know how to start a blog. A friend later said to me "I wouldn't have a clue how to start a blog." I thought, 'I didn't know either. You just google 'how to start a blog' and follow the instructions step by step!'

Is there something you believe God wants you to do but you don't know how? Don't wait until you can do it perfectly. Try taking the first step!

 

Stay Close...

 This morning I was busy doing housework and Johan was working outside with some of the children. I put Lydia (our five year old daughter with Down Syndrome) outside in the sandpit to play. Sometime later, I noticed one of our neighbors out the kitchen window. I presumed he had come to talk to Johan about our chickens, as he had kept an eye on them while we were away for Christmas. I also saw Lydia standing by him and I thought, 'She's not in the sandpit anymore, I better check he shut the gate.' I checked the gate out the lounge window and it was shut.

I was horrified when one of the children came inside and told me that our neighbor had seen Lydia down the road and he had brought her back for us! Oops, for once I had forgotten to check that the gate was shut before I let Lydia play outside. 

As I drank a cup of tea, I thought about how oblivious Lydia is to danger. She had no idea what danger she put herself in when she walked out the gate. She could have wandered onto the road and got run over. She could have been hit by a car backing out of a driveway and so on. Yet she has no idea!

Then I thought, 'I wonder if I'm just as oblivious to danger too.'

The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:8 "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."

Also in Proverbs 18:9 it says, 'The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.'

Just as our fenced in yard is a safe place for Lydia, the guidelines and principles we find in the Bible are a safe place for us. They are all given to us for our good. If we live by them, we can save ourselves so much trouble.

But me and my husband are also a safe place for Lydia. It is fine for her to go for a walk down the road if we are with her. It is safe for her to cross the road when she is holding our hands. If she stays close to us, she is safe just about anywhere.

God is also our safe place. He is our strong tower. I don't mean safe as in keeping us from any physical danger. But safe, as in keeping us safe from Satan and safe from sin. Sin is so dangerous. It can ruin our life, our reputation, our effectiveness,
our future opportunities, our purity, and our relationships. Sin can make us do things we'll regret for the rest of our life. Sin takes us farther than we want to go and it costs more than we want to pay. We have no idea of the danger!

I challenge you as you start a New Year---Stay very close to God! Make time every day to read your Bible and pray. Think about how what you have read applies to your life and then live it. Ask God for wisdom before you make decisions. Follow the guidelines and principles that God has given us in the Bible. Then you will also be safe!

You can watch the video version here!

What's Your Motive?

  Lessons from David and Goliath #4 (1 Samuel 17)

Why do you think David risked his life to fight Goliath? Was it to become a hero? To give himself a big name?

This is the reason he gave Goliath, "that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel." From the way David talks in this chapter, you can tell that David is angered by Goliath defying Israel's God. He mentions it again and again. Love for God was David's motive. He had to stand up for His God. He did become a hero, but that wasn't really a blessing considering the trouble it caused him with Saul!

Are you doing anything for God? Are you serving God in any way? I hope so! But what is the motive behind what you are doing? Is it to make you look good and draw attention to yourself? Is it out of love for yourself? Or is it out of love for God and others? This is a challenging question for me and also for you!

May we be driven first of all by love for God and secondly, by love for our neighbour.

What is in Your Hand?

  Lessons from David and Goliath #3 (1 Samuel 17)

1. David used what he had

When David convinced King Saul that God would help him fight Goliath, King Saul got what he thought David needed. A suit of armor. But poor David could barely move in them! He took them back off and got what he was used to. A sling and some stones. That is what he had killed the lion and the bear with and that's what he would use to kill Goliath. He hit him in his forehead in one go!

Sometimes God uses unusual ways to get the job done. The usual way would be with a sword and a spear. But they are not the only kind of weapons! God is bigger than that.

God can use what is in your hand to do the job He wants you to do. David's trust was not in his sling or in his skills, but he used what was in his hand for God's glory and God blessed it.

This little song sums it up!

Shamgar had an ox goad, David had a sling,

Dorcas had a needle, Rahab had some string,

Samson had a jawbone, Moses had a rod,

Mary had some ointment, but they all were used for God.

What is in your hand? What do you have? What are you good at? What opportunities do you have?

Give them all to God and use them for Him. Then you too will see what God can do!

Not In Vain

 What job has God given you to do right now?

This is a song of encouragement based on 1 Corinthians 15:58

You are Never too Young to Make a Difference

 Lessons from David and Goliath #2 (1 Samuel 17)

1. David was young
When David told Saul that he would fight Goliath, what did King Saul say? "You can't do that. You are too young, and Goliath has been a soldier since he was young." (v33)
What did Goliath think when he saw David come to fight him? He scorned him because he was young. (v42)

What did David think about being young? It seems like he didn't even think about it. He had full confidence that God would help him because God had helped him as a shepherd.

 What did God think about David? David's age made no difference to God. God helped him win the battle because David trusted him and put his faith into action.

Do you ever feel that you can't do anything for God because you are too young? God doesn't think that way. You are never too young to trust and obey God.

There may be some things you can't do because of your age, but there is always something you CAN do. If you focus on doing those things, other opportunities will open up at some point. David learned how to trust God as a he looked after his father's sheep. But before long he had a bigger opportunity. Because he had learned to trust God in the small things he was ready and prepared when the bigger opportunity came.

What can you do right now? Most likely you can read the Bible and learn to pray. That is the most important thing--a personal relationship with God! Learn to pray about all your needs and learn to trust God to help you. If you learn to trust Him in the smaller things, you will be able to trust Him in the bigger things. What opportunities do you have now? Are you using them? 

When you are older, some opportunities you have now may be forever gone. Make the most of your time being young! Ask God to use you while you are young and to open your eyes to what you CAN do right now.

Lions and Bears Prepare You for Goliaths.

 Lessons from David and Goliath #1 (1 Samuel 17)

We have been reading through 1 Samuel in our family devotions and we have just finished the story of David and Goliath. I couldn't help but see lots of lessons in this story for teenagers/youth. So I am planning to share them one or two at a time. Read the story for yourself for the full benefit.

1. David's challenges as a shepherd prepared him for Goliath.

"David said...The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine." 1 Samuel 17:37

David was a shepherd boy. Growing up I was a farm girl. I helped my dad a lot on our family farm. I had my heart set on being a missionary so shifting cows and pulling weeds to me seemed very unimportant. I wanted to do stuff that really counted! I regret that I didn't realize that anything God has given us to do is important! 

Do you feel like what you have to do right now is unimportant? Are you looking forward to the future when you can do what you are dreaming of? Marriage? Motherhood? A Career? Missionary? Some kind of Ministry?

What are you doing right now? Schoolwork? Work? Learning an instrument? Learning to cook? Helping with your siblings or helping your parents? Whatever you have to do right now is IMPORTANT! David's time as a shepherd was preparing him for bigger things. The skills he learned and his relationship with God was preparing him for Goliath.  Would he have trusted God with Goliath if he had never learned to trust God with lions and bears? Would he have been able to kill Goliath if he hadn't first learned how to use his sling to kill wild animals? 
Whatever you have to do now is preparation for the future. Will you be like David and make the most of your 'shepherd boy' time? Or will you waste it dreaming of when you will 'fight Goliaths'?
Whatever is in front of you right now--no matter how monotonous or unimportant it seems to be--give it to God. Give yourself to God and ask Him to teach you to trust and know Him NOW. Ask Him to help you to be faithful in what you have to do now, so that you will prepared for future challenges.
The Bible says "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much." Luke 16:10

Dare to Be a Daniel

(Lessons from Daniel)
Read Daniel chapter 1
"But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself." Daniel 1:8
Daniel and his three friends found themselves in a place where their faith and obedience to God were put to the test. Would they stand up for what was right and risk getting in trouble or would they go along with everyone else?
Could they say no to what was wrong?
At some point in your life you will also be put to the test. You will have to choose like Daniel whether you will go along with the crowd or obey God. It might be at school, at a job, when you leave home, at university or even just at home with your family. You don't have to go far to feel the pressure to be like everyone else.
If you have grown up in a Christian family, you are very blessed! But that will not save you. You need to have your own faith and commitment to God that Daniel had. You need to purpose in your heart that you will be true to God and say no to what's wrong no matter what the consequences are.
God honored Daniel for what He did. God blessed him and his friends. You don't lose by obeying God. That doesn't mean that everything will always be easy. Hard times will come. But there is nothing better than being on God's side.
It is not easy to be different. It takes courage. But Daniel is proof that it is possible. He is also proof that God honors those who honor Him.

Seek Ye First

(Lessons from the Widow of Zarephath)
And Elijah said unto her...make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son." For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.1 Kings 17:13-14
What comes first in your life?
Elijah was God's messenger who was speaking God's words. So for the widow to obey his words and bring him some food first, she was obeying God and putting him first. That took faith and obedience.
When she put God first, her needs were taken care of.  Her food supply did not run out, as they would have otherwise.
And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.1 Kings 17:15-16
God had given us a similar command and promise.
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things (food, clothes-basic needs) shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33
If you put God first, He will provide your needs.
Is God first in your life? Is He your top priority? How do you know?
Let's try this test. This covers just four areas of your life.
1) Decisions.
How do you make decisions? Is it based on what will make you happy? Is it based on what others will think of you? Or do you pray about it, ask for God's wisdom and guidance, and base your decision on what He shows You? Are your decisions based on what God thinks and wants?
2)Relationships/Marriage
How do you begin or end relationships? Is it all based on you--what you like, think, feel etc.? Or do you pray about it, for God to show you the right mate in His time? Does the way you act in relationships honor God? Do you ask Him for wisdom?
3) Time
How do you spend your time? Is God in your schedule?
Do you squeeze Him in if you have a space and if you feel like it? Or is your time with Him important--a necessity? Do you pray about what God wants you to do with your time?
4) Career/Job/Future
How do you decide what you will do with your life?Is it all about what you want? Or do you pray and find out what God wants you to do? Are you willing to be whatever God wants you to be?

How do you do on your test? Is God number 1 in your life?
The widow woman was much better off when she put God first. For her it was literally a matter of life and death! You will also be blessed if you will put God first. It is the way you were created to live! Living for yourself only brings emptiness. Living for God brings joy!

Consecration

I heard this quote in a sermon awhile back. Consecration is not giving what I have to God---it's taking my hands off what belongs to Him. I hadn't thought of it quite that way before!
What about you? How do you see it? 
Is it your life? Your money? Your time? Your dreams? Your talents? Your hobbies? Your body?
Or do you see it as God's?
I heard another sermon on consecration and it was described as 'filling the hand of God.'
We need to put everything in God's hands and remember that it's His anyway.
Is your life consecrated to God? It may seem scary, but the safest place to be is in God's hands.