walking with God

God walks alone

Genesis 3:8 NIV84

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Green shoots in the garden branch through Scripture.

God walks with His people.

One of the first thing the risen Lord did was to walk with His disciples.

Luke 24:28–29 NIV84

As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

He opened the scriptures to them and as he did so their hearts burned within them.

The best evidence of our having the truth is our walking in the truth.

Matthew Henry

if we are to urge Him strongly we need to agree two things: The direction and destination of travel

The pace of travel

The direction and destination.

To walk with God you must walk in the direction in which God goes.

Anonymous

Isaiah 30:21 NIV84

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

If I walk with the world, I can’t walk with God.

Dwight L. Moody

The pace

Galatians 5:25 NIV84

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

How do we keep in step with the Spirit?

How can we be sure that we are walking in the same direction towards the same destination at the same pace as our Lord?

One key way is to simply be aware that He walks with us every step of the way. His closeness is not only there to comfort but also to convict. Our conversation will relate to what fills our minds. If our minds are occupied with things that are not godly then our conversation cannot be godly.

Ephesians 4:22–23 NIV84

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds;

Colossians 3:2 NIV84

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Romans 8:5 NIV84

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

God walks with me

The commitment

Ruth 1:16–17 NIV84

But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”