...choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. Joshua 24:15 NKJV (emphasis mine)
In the days of Noah, there was sin rampant on the earth. (Genesis 6:5) Only Noah was found to be righteous. (Genesis 6:8) Why is that? Because he walked with God. (Genesis 6:9) What does it mean then, to "walk with God"? It means to choose every day, every moment to be in continued communion with God. Nelson's NKJV Study Bible describes this verb halak as having connotations "of a habitual manner of life or a constant relationship with God."
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Galations 5:16 NKJV
He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. 1 John 2:6 NKJV
How then can we be righteous in the eyes of the Lord? By walking with Him continually. You must "choose this day", everyday.
How is it that we do not "walk with the Lord"? We do this by bowing down to our sinfulness, our "gods", if you will.
To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal
And compare Me, that we should be alike?
They lavish gold out of the bag,
And weigh silver on the scales;
They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god;
They prostrate themselves, yes, they worship.
They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it
And set it in its place, and it stands;
From its place it shall not move.
Though one cries out to it, yet it cannot answer
Nor save him out of his trouble. Isaiah 46:5-7 NKJV
By choosing each day to walk with God, we are choosing each day to die to ourselves, and our sinful natures. We cannot go wrong if we remember that nothing is outside of God's plan, that there is nothing that God can't do. We can say that about no other thing or person. Won't you choose today, to walk with God? Choose righteousness today, choose it every moment, every minute, and you will become Christlike.
Pray with me:
--Lord, today I pray that you help me to walk with you every minute of every day. That I can be seen as walking with You, in everything I do and say. I pray that I am a Light to Your Truth, and that Your Name be glorified alone. I pray these things in Jesus Holy Name. Amen
There is no "MORE" to this post.
Another excellent post!!!
ReplyDeleteI say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Galations 5:16 NKJV
I've experienced this (as I'm sure we all have) and what happens when I DON'T walk with Him.
Lust of the flesh doesn't mean sex necessarily. It can be anything that takes your focus off of Jesus. In my case, I get carried away with tv - my forensic shows and cooking shows and while those things are not inherently evil, it was an idol because I spent more time doing that than with the Lord. After a period of time, I found myself being short of temper, complaining here and there, losing my patience with people. My desire for spending time with God was diminished severely - I was on dangerous ground. I was not walking with Him every day and it affected me spritually. I grew cold and distant. I'd say I've been through about 3 cycles of this - all of which lasted about 3 months ,which is strange, but then the Lord always brings me back. I got rid of my cable (for about a year) and spent all of my time with the Lord (when I was't working) and I've got to say that was the happiest time of my life!!! I was at the point where all of life's amusements were like a stale piece of toast in my mouth. All I wanted to do was spend time with Jesus. I remember looking at my watching and thinking 'man! I've only got 8 hours to study'.
But time has passed and I just got cable again but I'm trying to curb myself. I just HAD to see them make chocolate covered in wax so that it didn't melt and how smores were made (never tried them) and I wanted to see what Rachel Ray was eating in Alaska. I don't want to slip again - I want to be where I once was.
Thank you again for that post. It is a good reminder for me - I should print it and tape it up somewhere.
Blessings,
Carol
Great post Shalene! Sometimes it's hard to remember that you have to consciously choose to follow, to walk every day. Thanks for helping remember to not just drift along on auto-pilot!
ReplyDeleteCarol and Michelle, Thanks for the comments. Carol: I'll be praying for you as well. Perhaps you should try out Angel TV or one of the other Christian cable providers. (I think you need a satellite, but from what I hear, they're not all that expensive.) Anyway, that's what I'm trying to convince my husband to do. I don't watch TV much at all, but the rest of the family does, so I would really like for their to be family friendly programming on it. (My eldest daughter loves CSI- and now wants to be a Medical examiner because of that show.) :)
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