WALKING WITH GOD

I heard a quote a while back and thought it to be profound. Speaking of Jesus, it said, “He must be everything to you or He is nothing to you." That prompted me to begin thinking about my own life. I know God loves me with all of His heart and I thought I loved Him with all of mine. To my chagrin, I was mistaken; not about God’s love for me, but of my own love for Him. Let me explain.

I have always wanted to do something for God to further His kingdom. Therefore, when He gave me a writing mandate, I was elated. Given that mandate, I wanted to do the best I could for Him, so I dove into that job with everything I had. The trouble was I put everything into the ministry.

I did, however, consult with God about the job He gave me and I sought Him in prayer, loved Him, thanked Him, and, and, and, but most of the time, it was concerning my writing ministry. I wasn't putting EVERYTHING into just loving Him. Although my heart was in the right place, my focus was all wrong. I wasn’t walking with God; I was running after Him trying to catch up and pick His brain for my next anecdote or Scripture!

In the Valley
When we are in trouble, we should praise God [1], lift Him up [2], worship Him [3], pray without ceasing [4], and stand in the knowledge of His protection from the enemy. We literally can hide in the Lord [5]. God can and does protect us from the wiles of the Devil [6] and He inhabits the praises of His people [7].

This is okay and we should recognize these things but until we can get to the place where we can just praise and worship Him for who He is and disregard the enemy, we will not get to the mountaintop. However, we will be safe and under His wings [8] in the valley [9]. . .but we’ll still be in the valley.

Good News
The Bible says, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me [10].” While you are in the valley, hang onto that. Do not be afraid of what the enemy can do to us. Satan has no power over us; only the power that we give him. Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ [11].

Help My Unbelief
In Matthew 17:17 we hear Christ telling His disciples, “How long must I stay with you? How long must I suffer you?” The one thing that stops the flow of all blessing is our unbelief [12], the unbelief that we harbor in our hearts that nobody else sees. Sometimes we do not even see it ourselves. In other words, I can make all the positive declarations that I want but my declarations will only postpone what I believe. God will protect us in the interim but…

Whatever I believe in my heart to be true—is true to me. God says in His Word that He looks on the heart [13] but He says further on that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks [14]. In other words, we can hide what we believe fairly well with our declarations but eventually what we believe, will come out, normally during a time of stress or when we are in that proverbial valley.

Understand, however, that it is okay to make those positive declarations in the faith because faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen [15]. We need Christ to interpose on our behalf but if we offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name [16], we won’t have to worry about what the enemy is doing, we’ll be walking with God.

Christ Won the Victory
Christ distinguished and removed Satan’s power on the Cross. Granted, we must fight the good fight but why not make the good fight the one with praise. Forget about the enemy. . .period. Just enter into God’s gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise [17].

When we journey to the Holy of Holies [18] to see God, let’s all go there for a visit, not just to run away from the enemy. We are safe in God’s presence, but let’s not worry about whether the enemy is nipping at our heels [19].

God tore the veil when Christ died on the Cross [20] and gave us access to God in the throne room. We can even be in His presence outside [21] the compound. Because of the Cross, we have the capacity to live our lives just like Satan doesn’t exist. Remember, Satan is not a threat, he’s just an annoyance.

We can stand on God’s truth all day but until we can stand in God’s presence, for no other reason than we love Him and not His protection, we’ll take another lap around the mountain. His truth is wisdom, His truth is great and all knowing, and His truth is all-powerful and will not return to Him void [22].

However, His truth will only hold and protect us until we can walk with Him seeking His face instead of His hands. At the risk of speaking from a healing, to walk with God, to seek His face, and have total disregard for the enemy, is a journey; a tough journey sometimes. It’s all about intimacy with God.

Walking With God
Healing is a process and it takes time to walk through the valley of the shadow of death [23]. However, the quicker we get to the mountaintop, the quicker we can take in the view because it’s peaceful and beautiful up there. With the right focus, we can all attain the mountaintop.

In the valley is where we see the footprints in the sand, for it is where Christ carries us. However, as Christians, we long for the day that we not only see one set of footprints but two sets of footprints, as we walk along side of Christ instead of Him carrying us [24]. This is victory and walking with God.
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[1] Psalms 150:6
[2] Psalms 7:17
[3] Exodus 34:14
[4] 1 Thessalonians 5:17
[5] Psalms 18:2; 28:7; 91:2, 9; and more
[6] Ephesians 6:11
[7] Psalms 22:3
[8] Isaiah 40:31
[9] Psalms 23:4
[10] Psalms 23:4
[11] 2 Corinthians 10:5
[12] Mark 9:24
[13] 1 Samuel 16:7
[14] Luke 6:45
[15] Hebrews 11:1
[16] Hebrew 13:15
[17] Psalms 100:4
[18] Talking here about praying through the Tabernacle
[19] 1 Peter 5:8
[20] Matthew 27:51
[21] Psalms 139:7-13
[22] Isaiah 55:11
[23] Psalms 23:4
[24] Luke 9:23