Sometimes we go through life, praying very hard for something that matters deeply to us and we wonder why God doesn’t answer. Sometimes, we feel like God is far away in way-off-distant Heaven. And sometimes, we feel as if God doesn’t care about what we are going through. When we hit these snags in life, it’s usually a good idea to stop and take a self inventory of where we are spiritually. Are we living obediently? Are we radiating Christ? Do we spend time in Bible study and prayer? Do we walk God’s statutes, keep His commandments, and do them?
The “If…Then” promises
God told Israel that IF they walked in His statues, kept His commandments, and do them, THEN they would see the blessings of God in their lives. We can’t go through life living any way we want to and expect God to bless the mess we make in the process. We have to live obedient lives to Him and to His commandments…and dowhat His Word says.
My dad once used a sermon illustration about a woman who decided that everything she came to something in the Bible that she didn’t like, she’d just cut that section out. We can’t name and claim all the promises and choose to ignore all the warnings and commands. God is an “all or nothing” God. It only takes one sin for you to become a sinner – and it doesn’t matter if that sin is telling a small lie or committing a felony. Only one sin and we are out of fellowship with God.
Walk in My Statutes
If we want to walk in God’s statutes, we need to know what they are. Here are five statutes that God gives us in His Word:
Love God (with your heart, soul, and might) Deuteronomy 6:1-9
Listen to God’s voice and His commandments. Exodus 15:25-26
Seek God entirely; focus on His commandments. Deuteronomy 6:1-9
Do what God considers to be right; walk in God’s ways; commit no wrong. Psalm 119:1-8
Obey God’s laws, testimonies, and righteous rules. Ezekiel 26:26-27
Keep my commandments
So we are to walk in God’s statutes, but we are also to keep His commandments. Aren’t these the same thing? When we look at the original Hebrew words, we can see the differences between the two: The word “Statute” is the Hebrew word Choq (Strong’s: H2706) It is a condition or civil enactment from God, an ordinance, a limit, or something prescribed. The word “requirement” could be used to define choq. So, a statute is a decree, requirement or boundary that God set in place for our good.
The word “commandment” is the Hebrew word “Mitsvah” (Strongs: H4687, from H6680) which means “a commandment of men or God, a commandment out of a code of wisdom. If we go back to the root word, “Tsavah” (H6680) we find a more helpful definition. Tsavah mean “to lay a charge upon”, “to command”, “to charge”, to give orders”, or “to appoint.” Using this, we can then see that a commandment is an order to do something, or a charge given to us to watch over and keep, and to follow.
Do Them
It’s one thing to read the Bible and know what it says. It’s a whole other matter to keep His commandment, and something else entirely to actually do what the Bible says. But James 1:22 says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” It isn’t enough to just know God’s Word. You have to do it. Satan probably knows the entire Bible from memory including the Table of Contents and dictionary and the concordance in the back. He doesn’t even need to glance at the maps in the back because he’s been roaming the earth seeking whom he can devour since the Garden of Eden. He probably knows it in every language and in every translation. But he will still spend eternity in hell. Knowing isn’t enough.
Walk. Keep. Do.
Only when we walk in His statutes, keep His commandments, and live obediently to His Word can we expect for God to bless us. When we are living according to His Word, then we are walking in His will and we will do what He’s planned for us to do. Whenever we are in God’s Will and walking in His way, then we can be assured that His blessings will come – even if we have to go through a trial or two first so that He can teach us something new.
What does your spiritual self-inventory look like today: Are you walking in His statutes, keeping His commandments, and doing them?
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Our Verse Mapping download is FREE and includes 6 pages: 3 pages of instructions for using the template and the 2 page template, plus the cover page. If you’re looking to go deeper into God’s Word, learn more about God and develop a stronger spiritual life, Verse Mapping will help you dig into the scriptures. As you apply God’s Word to your life, you will develop a more intimate knowledge and relationship with God.
For America to see revival, 2 Chronicles 7:14 says we are to seek God’s face. Jeremiah tells us that we will find Him when we search for Him with all our hearts.
God, Love and Marshmallow Wars is a book that includes 365 daily activities and takes you on a guided journey through Biblical principles about Godly marriage that you can then apply to your marriage, as well as helping you talk through concepts that can help you develop a solid relationship. Inside you will find simple, quick activities that include:
Scripture to memorize and meditate on.
Conversation Starters.
Concepts from the Bible on Godly marriages.
Romance Builders.
Relationship Builders.
Personal reflections.
Date ideas.
Group date ideas for you and other Christian couples.
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Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Life is a journey, not a destination.” While each one of us on a journey in life, that journey does lead to a destination – either eternal life in heaven, or eternal torment in hell. But 2 Corinthians 5:7, focuses on the journey. Paul wrote to the Corinthian church and said, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” Every Christian must choose with path their journey will take – the path of life or the path of sight. Walking by faith is like taking journey with a blindfold on and trusting God to get you He’s leading you. But if you walk by sight, then you need to see the path and each step along the way.
Those who walked before us
The Bible provides us with examples of people who walked by faith – people like Abraham, Noah, Joseph, and Daniel. From them we can see what the journey of faith is supposed to be like.
Abraham:
Abraham teaches us that to walk by faith is a journey into the unknown
In Genesis 12, God tells Abraham that He wants him to leave his home and go to a place God will show him. What we don’t see in the Bible is Abraham questioning God about this place. Abraham doesn’t say, “But God, will this place be good for raising sheep?” Or “But God, what shall I pack?” Abraham doesn’t ask “But God, what dangers will be there or along the way?” Or, “God, how will I support myself along the way?”
We also do not see Abraham getting the advice from friends or relatives. (Not that getting advice is a bad thing. In fact, in Proverbs 12:15, Solomon wrote: “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.” For Abraham, he knew that it was God speaking to Him so he did not need the advice of man.) No, the Bible says in verse four, “So Abram went, as the Lord told him.”
He simply obeyed.
Abraham teaches us that to walk by faith, there is often a cost
Think for a moment about what it would you to just pack up and move to a place and not even knowing where you were moving to. For Abraham, it cost him his home, friends, and family. It meant leaving everything behind that was comfortable and familiar to take a step in a place of uncertainty. Not knowing if this place would be close enough to come visit friends and family from time to time or if you’d never see them again.
Abraham teaches us that to walk by faith means we don’t always get all the details
It wouldn’t be much of a walk by faith if God gave Abraham every little detail. It’s the fact that we don’t know that makes it a walk of faith. If God says, “Go” we go and then trust Him to lead us exactly where He wants us to be. Sometimes, God lets us know what He wants us to do, but then gives only the details we need to know in that moment and we just have to trust Him that He will lead us to the next step and then let us know what we need to know then.
Abraham teaches us that obediently walking by faith brings the blessings and fulfillment of God’s promises.
As God called Abraham to go by faith to a place He would show him, God make him seven promises that He would fulfill if Abraham obeyed. We can find these promises in the first three verses of Genesis 12. God said: “I will make you a great nation.” “I will bless you.” I will “make your name great.” “You shall be a blessing.” “I will bless those who bless you.” “I will curse those who curse you.” “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Noah:
Noah teaches us that to walk by faith means we obey, even if we don’t understand.
God told Noah to build a boat on dry ground because God was going to send rain to destroy the earth because of how wicked and sinful the people had become. Up to this point it had never rained before. So Noah couldn’t have possibly understood what rain was and if you don’t understand what rain is, then its likely you don’t understand the reasoning for building a very big boat on very dry ground.
Noah teaches us that to walk by faith means people will laugh in our face and make fun of us
Imagine the scene for a moment. They walk by Noah’s place and notice he’s building something. Someone walks up and says, “Hey, Noah. What ‘cha buildin?” Noah says, “A boat.”
The inquirer looks around him, scratches his had and thinks he’s misunderstood. “A what?” he asks. “A boat.” Noah says.
Again the inquirer looks around. “Did you say a boat?”
Calmly Noah says, “Yes.”
The inquirer’s jaw drops. “Well Noah, are you insane? Why are you building a boat here…on dry ground. There’s no water here to launch a boat.”
Without stopping his work, Noah answers, “Because God is going to send rain and flood the earth to destroy it.”
The inquirer laughs. “Rain? What is rain? We’ve never seen anything called rain before.”
The conversation continues until the inquirer walks away laughing and telling everyone he sees that Noah is building a boat a dry ground because its going to rain. Then everyone has to come by to see for themselves and they all sneer, laugh, and make fun of Noah…and this goes on for years and years until the boat was completed, the animals loaded, Noah’s family safely inside, and the first drop of rain fell from the sky.
Noah teaches us that there is safety in walking by faith
Because Noah obeyed God, Noah and his family was led into the ark and they were the only people to survive the flood and God re-started the human race through Noah and his sons. If Noah had not of obeyed, the rains and floods would have still come, but Noah and his family would have perished along with everyone else. Walking by faith can sometimes seem scary because of the unknowns, but there is always safety in walking by faith.
Joseph:
Joseph teaches us that God initiates the walk of faith
Before Joseph has to learn to walk by faith and trust God, God gives him dreams that let Joseph know that God is at work. Joseph didn’t reach out to God and say, “Hey God, why don’t one day in the future, you allow me to be used by you to save my entire family.” Instead, God gives Joseph dreams that hints at what Joseph will one day become.
Joseph teaches us that when God gives us a dream, we need to cling to it and by faith trust God to bring them into full fruition – even when you’ve been rejected, sold out, accused of thing not true, and forgotten.
Joseph’s own brothers threw him in pit. Most of them wanted to kill him, but the oldest came up with the plan to throw him in the pit. He thought that when the other brothers were distracted, he would rescue Joseph and send him back home – but while he was away, the other brothers sold him as a slave.
He lands in Egypt and is bought by Potiphar. Over time, he works his way up the ranks in Potiphar’s house until he catches the eye of Potiphar’s wife who wants to sleep with him. Joseph runs away but in the process his outer garment is left in Mrs. Potiphar’s hand. Angry that Joseph would refuse her, she waits until her husband comes home and then claims Joseph attacked her, which lands Joseph in prison.
Sometime later, Pharaoh tosses his chief baker and cup bearer in jail. They have dreams but can’t figure out what they mean. Joseph explains it to them and things happen exactly the way Joseph said. He asks the one restored to his position to remember him and tell Pharaoh that he is innocent and doesn’t belong in jail. But the guy forgets all about Joseph until Pharaoh has a couple of dreams and no one can explain them to him – then the cup bearer remembered Joseph and Joseph was brought out of prison and before Pharaoh
Joseph teaches us that when we walk by faith, God is always with us
Over and over again in the story of Joseph’s life, the Bible tells us that God was with Joseph. He was with Joseph in Potiphar’s house. God was with Joseph in jail. He was with Joseph before Pharaoh as God revealed the meaning of the dreams to Joseph. God was with Joseph as He gave him the wisdom to plan for the famine that was coming. And God was with him when Pharaoh made him second in command of the entire nations of Egypt.
Joseph teaches us that walking by faith doesn’t always mean the path is easy.
Remember that before Joseph made to 2nd in command, he was hated by his brothers who were jealous of him and planned to murder him, thrown into a pit, and sold into slavery. Just when it looked like life was turning around for him and he was placed in charge of all of Potiphar’s house, Mrs. Potiphar takes a liking to Joseph and accuses him of attempted rape which lands Joseph into prison. There is he is forgotten, until the exact moment in time for what God had placed Joseph in Egypt for in the first place. The path to get to that moment was not pleasant, but it set Joseph up for coming before Pharaoh.
Joseph teaches us that walking by faith means never rejecting God
Joseph had been torn away from his family – a family that had taught him about God. Even when he was sold into another country with very different religious beliefs, Joseph never gave up his own beliefs about God nor did he reject his belief to take up believing in the false gods of the Egyptians. In fact, he was a witness to the Egyptians as he lived a life of integrity and telling others that his God was with him.
Daniel:
Daniel teaches us that walking by faith means not defiling ourselves with sin.
In the book of Daniel, we find that Daniel was taken captive by the Babylonians. King Nebuchadnezzar chose the “best of the best” of the captives who would spend three years training and learning the Babylonian language so that they could serve in the King’s court. These chosen men were given the best food and wine from the kings table, but in verse 8 we see that “Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine he drank.”
God had given the Israelite specific instructions about what they could and could not eat. Daniel may have been a captive, but he still chose not to defile himself and eat what God had said they should not. He chose not to do what everyone else was doing and to honor God’s instructions. Because God has commanded them to not eat certain things, had Daniel done so, it would have been sin for him.
Daniel teaches us that walking by faith means risking it all.
Daniel’s faith landed him in a den of lions. Some of the administrators of King Darius came together to plot against Daniel and got the King to sign an edict that said for 30 days no one could petition any god or man except for the king and if they were caught doing so, they would be thrown in a den of lions. As soon as Daniel heard about the edit, he went to an upper room in his home with the windows opened to Jerusalem and just as he had always done, he prayed three times a day. The administrators eagerly watched and then went back to the king to remind him of the edict he had signed and inform him that Daniel had broken the edict.
Daniel teaches us that to walk by faith means others see God in us.
King Darius was immediately displeased and he tried all day to come up with a way to save Daniel, but the administrators said, “You as king now it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no edict or ordinance the king establishes can be changed.” So the king calls Daniel and just before Daniel is thrown in with the lions, the king says, “May your God whom who serve continually, rescue you!”
Daniel teaches us that walking by faith means God will rescue us.
All night, the king fasted and he couldn’t sleep. As soon as dawn came, he went to the lion’s den as quickly as possible. The Bible tells us that the king called out in anguish to Daniel, saying, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you serve continually been able to rescue you from the lions?” Now if it had been me, I think I would have kept quiet at least for a little bit and let the king worry and stew, but Daniel replied, “May the king live forever. My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths. They haven’t hurt me, for I was found innocent before Him. Also, I have not committed a crime against you, my king.”
As long as God still has a plan for us on this earth, He will again and again come to our rescue when we are walking by faith. However, there are times when we have faithfully carried out the walk of faith and God calls us on to heaven to spend eternity with Him.
What does your walk of faith look like?
What does your walk of faith look like? If you look back over the journey you’ve been on, do you see the moment where God initiated and called you out to walk by faith? What has it cost you? Did God give you all the details up front?
Have you yet to see the blessing of God’s promises to you? Do you understand all that God has asked you to do? Who are the people that have mocked you, not believed that God would call you to such as a faith-journey? What safety have you found by walking by faith?
Are you still clinging to the dreams God gave you for this faith-journey? Where have been the times in the journey that you knew God was with you? Can you identify the times where your faith-journey has not been easy? Have you ever considered rejecting God and walking away from the faith-journey He has called you to? Have you ever considered defiling yourself with sin so that you could fit-in with those around you?
Are you willing to risk it all to be faithful to what God has called you to do? Does your faith-journey point others to God? Can you identify a time that God has rescued you?
Life is journey and we are to walk by faith
Walking by faith can be exciting at times, scary at times, uncertain at times, and difficult at times. But God has called us, as Christians, to walk by faith – totally surrendered to His will and trusting Him with every aspect of our lives. Take a few moments and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the areas where you are walking by faith and the areas where you are walking by sight. Then ask Him to blindfold you and lead you by faith where He wants you to go. Walk this journey of life…by faith.
#walkbyfaith #jouney #destination
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God, Love, and Marshmallow Wars
What’s Inside God, Love and Marshmallow Wars?
This book includes 365 daily activities and takes you on a guided journey through Biblical principles about Godly marriage that you can then apply to your marriage, as well as helping you talk through concepts that can help you develop a solid relationship. Inside you will find simple, quick activities that include:
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Concepts from the Bible on Godly marriages
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Personal reflections
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“For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church.” — Ephesians 5:29
Today’s quote from part 24 of the Self-Care Blog series:
As you start exercising, start slowly, such as walking five minutes in the morning and five minutes in the evening. Then each day, add a few minutes and begin to pick up your pace. Work up to a brisk, thirty-minute walk a day.
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For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
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This book includes 365 daily activities and takes you on a guided journey through Biblical principles about Godly marriage that you can then apply to your marriage, as well as helping you talk through concepts that can help you develop a solid relationship. Inside you will find simple, quick activities that include:
Scripture to memorize and meditate on
Conversation Starters
Concepts from the Bible on Godly marriages
Romance Builders
Relationship Builders
Personal reflections
Date ideas
Group date ideas for you and other Christian couples
Available in hardback, paperback and ebook from Westbow Press Bookstore, Christian Book Distributors, Amazon, and Barnes & Nobel. Click the icons below to purchase from your preferred bookstore. Now also available at WalMart online.
Join the community of couples on Facebook who are committed to intentionally growing their marriage and learning how to have a marriage that honors God. Here you can post photos of the different activities as you do them, ask questions of other couples, share how God is using this book to strengthen your marriage, and grow with other Christian couples. We’ll see you in the community.
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Keeping Ministry Professionals and Lay-Leaders in Ministry through Biblical and practical self-care.
“For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church.” — Ephesians 5:29
Today’s quote from part 24 of the Self-Care Blog series:
“For some quick and easy tweaks, try parking at the back of the parking lot at work or the grocery store so that you have further to walk. Try taking the stairs instead of the elevator.” — Julia Bruce
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Revive and renew your spiritual life with this week’s memory verse. Meditate on it, hide it in your heart, and apply it to your life.
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;…the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. — Psalm 19: 7-10
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This week’s memory verse:
2 Corinthians 5:7
For we walk by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7. For we walk by faith, not by sight.
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