I have recently completed my two volume book, This is the Way; Walk in It. This work
is a series of essays on how to walk in God’s way, whether you turn to the left
or the right. God continues to guide us if we seek Him and follow His direction
and lead. God’s word, the Bible gives us His directions and through the Holy
Spirit we receive more clear illumination if we trust in Him. In fact the “Counselor,
The Spirit of the Truth…will teach you all things and will remind you of
everything I have said to you (speaking of Jesus)” (John 14:15,17,26).
The Holy Spirit will “Guide us in all truth” as John 16
tells us. So what is a Christian to do in this world that is getting darker
every day, as we seem to lose our moral compass? We are to “keep walking.”
How are we to keep walking? God tells us in the Bible
concerning His words. “Teach them; talking about them when you sit
at home and walk along the road; when you lie down and when you get up” (Deuteronomy
11:10). God is telling us to continually be speaking His words and to be
teaching them to our children and children’s children. Proverbs 4:20-22 tells
us concerning God’s Word, “My son, pay attention to what I say, listen
closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your
heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole
body.” These words tell us to “Come all who are thirsty, come to the
waters…so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me
empty, but will accomplish what I desire and the purposes for what I sent it” (Isaiah
55:11).
God is saying that, “His divine power has given us all we need
for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us to his own
glory and goodness” (2Peter 1:3). In this chapter He is telling us
about His great and precious promises as given in Scripture so that we may
participate in His divine nature and escape the corruption of the world caused
by evil desires. All we need to do is ask God and He will give it to us. “This
is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask where the good
way is, and walk it, and you will find rest for your souls” (Jeremiah
6:16). We are always at a crossroads of some sort where we need to make a
decision for the next step. God will give us the direction. “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” (Isaiah 30:21). This is the theme
verse of my book, This is the Way; Walk
in It. We are always to be listening for the still small voice like Elijah
finally heard in 1 Kings 19:11-13 when he obeyed God and went out to stand on
the mountain. He was exhausted from running away from King Ahab and Jezebel. He
was to stand in the Lord’s presence when He passed by. He could not hear Him in
the earthquake or strong wind, but only in the “gentle whisper.” The same goes
for us.
“We can ignore even pleasure.
But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures,
speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse
a deaf world.”
This quote is from C.S. Lewis’ book The
Problem of Pain. We need to be listening; God does speak. The psalmist
says, “Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did at
Meribah” (Psalm 95:8). This is a psalm written by a Levite calling
people to prayer and worship. It is a reminder that the Israelites had hardened
their hearts against Moses and God in the desert. They were stiff-necked and
did not listen or obey. As a result all of that generation but two died in the
wilderness. We too are often in the wilderness of life and need to listen to
God so as to get through. That is why God wrote so much about trouble and His
guidance. Psalm 23 is perhaps the most familiar verse regarding trouble, “even
though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death you
shall fear no evil for I am with you, my rod and my staff they comfort you.” That
is the story of life, walking through the valleys. We will be in them most of
the time and we need to heed God’s call to us when we are walking and that we
will get through, so don’t fear.
I
could write much more on “Keep Walking.” Suffice it to say, you can find more
in my blog, www.greatisgodsfaithfulness.com
every day. I deal with the exigencies of life and God’s guidance through
them. So keep walking in 2016, Immanuel, God is with you.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts.