Tag: HOW TO WALK WITH GOD

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GOD SEES YOU COMING

I can always spot my youngest son from a distance. I know my boy! His light, springy step and the gentle tilt of his shoulders warm my heart. As he nears, I anticipate his warm, cheerful greeting, “Hi Mom! What’s up?” I have memorized my son’s gait, his unique stride.  

GOD SAW YOU LONG BEFORE YOU WERE BORN

God knows your gait. He saw you coming long before you were born. The Creator of the Universe thoughtfully laid out your path and set your pace. He uniquely created you to convey a facet of His love to the world. God knows who you will meet on the journey and has made provision for each encounter.  

DESIGNED TO WALK WITH HIM

“For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above – spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us]. (Ephesians 2:10)

TRUSTING HIS PATH

God designed your gait for His glory. He sets you apart to walk with Him and plans good things to accomplish both with you and by you. Your path may wind unexpectedly or take a course you did not choose. Trust God’s timing through the twists and turns, and you will arrive on time for every divine appointment.  

HOW TO LET HIM LEAD

During your time with God this week, pray for understanding and prepare your heart to follow His lead. He knows the way. “Your hands have made me and established me; give me understanding and a teachable heart, that I may learn Your commandments.” (Psalm 119:73) Remember His promise: “I am the Lord your God, Who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow.” (Isaiah 48:17)

As you listen for His direction, be on the lookout for those who cross your path. I promise you that today someone needs to experience God’s love through your unique gait, your walk with Jesus. God knows who you will meet on the journey and promises to make provision for each encounter.  

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WHILE THE CAT’S AWAY…

I remember as a student, when the teacher was out of the classroom we children often had a field day. obedience was lip service only. In Neh. 10:28-39, the people publicly commit to keep and observe all the commandments of God. A group of leaders also sign and submit a document committing themselves to obeying the Lord and keeping His laws (Neh. 9:38). The way to hell is paved with lip service and good intentions.

NEHEMIAH RETURNS AND IS HORRIFIED

In Nehemiah 13:4-31, Nehemiah is called back to Persia, for about two years. The teacher is “out of the classroom.” What a surprise awaits Nehemiah when the King allows Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem. The teacher returns and is horrified.

SOMETHING SERIOUSLY WRONG

“While the cat’s away, the mice will play.” The Jews have been busy playing away. The High Priest, Eliashib, sets up Tobiah, archenemy of both Nehemiah and God with a business office in the holy Temple. Tobiah’s designated space is the storeroom dedicated to hold the Temple articles and offerings. During Nehemiah’s absence, the people stopped bringing their tithes and offerings to the Levites. Eliashib is pragmatic and lends the space to Tobiah. Eliashib’s former declarations of reverence and obedience to God are empty words. Denied a living wage from the tithes, the Levites gradually leave their Temple duties and return home to farm. Something is seriously wrong with this picture! Sounds like both mice and rats are playing away.

Nehemiah learns about Tobiah. How could things have gone downhill so quickly? He tosses Tobiah out the Temple doors and restores the room to its designated use: storage of Temple articles and offerings. With their wages restored, the Levites can return to their dedicated service in the Temple.

GOD RELAGATED TO A STORAGE CLOSET

But there is more. Nehemiah looks out his window on the Sabbath and notices people back to their old tricks of doing business on God’s day. What busy people! Treading grapes, transporting merchandise, and buying fish. They forget God is their Provider alone and worthy of worship. Commerce comes first. They spiritually relegate God to a storage closet. Maybe they think, “We have bills to pay, and God surely isn’t going to mind if we stop giving. We must take care of ourselves first and possibly give God something if there is anything left over.” The mice play away without regard of God.

THE MICE TAKE NO NOTICE OF GOD

Nehemiah goes into action. He orders locking the city’s gates at the beginning of Sabbath and unlocking them at the end of Sabbath. Can you hear the resentment of the businessmen? How dare Nehemiah shut down their busiest day? They forget their promise of allegiance to God alone. The mice take no notice of God.

HEARTS RUNNING ASTRAY

Nehemiah also notices the voices of children in the city, but the language is not Hebrew. The language belongs to heathen women again invited into marriage with the Jews. Don’t the people remember what had happened to King Solomon’s heart when he personally entered hundreds of such marriages? His heart ran astray. Nehemiah learns that a grandson of High Priest Eliashib made such an unholy alliance. The kicker is that the wife is Sanballat’s daughter. Sanballat was an even worse enemy than Tobiah.

Repeatedly Nehemiah prays in this chapter. Listen to the anguish in his prayers. During his previous twelve years with them, the people presented a veneer of goodness and obedience. The teacher was in the room. But once the teacher exits, the students’ true nature appears.

HANDING THE REINS OVER

Sin always crouches at the door. Satan is a roaring lion, the thief and destroyer. It is easy to sign a piece of paper and say one will live for Christ. It is quite another to daily choose to take God seriously and consistently live for Him alone. Unless we hand the reins of our lives over to the Holy Spirit, things go down fast. Don’t be the mouse that plays away. Let the Holy Spirit consistently live and guide in the classroom of your heart.

Click to read more about walking with the Spirit.