A Little Walk With God

A daily devotional through the recorded words Jesus spoke while He walked alongside us. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com.

In the end, when time finally comes to a close and the last tick of the clock has sounded, you will discover the cost has been infinitesimally small compared to the reward you receive. Despite the sorrow you might experience here, there will also be indescribable joy. An inner peace that can only be explained by the presence of God Himself living inside you. You will find that God really does meet your needs. Not your wants, but your needs. We often get our wants and our needs confused in our materialistic world, but God never does. He knows what you need and provides it at just the right time when we stay in the center of His will.

God also gives you opportunities to serve others as you serve Him. He puts you in places and situations at just the right time to share what He is doing in your life so that you can introduce Him to others in a way that allows His spirit to stir their hearts and so allow them to come to know His saving grace as you do.

Are the costs worth the prize at the end? Absolutely. But don’t be surprised by the cost of being a Christian. It will never be an easy life. God never told anyone who stayed in His will that He would make life easy for them. But He always promised it would be worth it. And it is. Trust Him. He never breaks His promises.

Read it in a year - Acts 21-22

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A daily devotional through the recorded words Jesus spoke while He walked alongside us. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com.

The host understands people have things to do and he would not have been angry had those guests sent their regrets when the invitations came out. The problem was their broken promise. They promised to come. Their RSVP said yes. But they made excuses and didn’t show. It’s the broken promise that made the host angry. The same is true today when those simple invitations go out. Be polite. You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. You can say no, but say something. Then keep your promise.

I know, there are lots of other things you could say about this parable that Jesus gave us. Those who heard it understood some of those subtle innuendos, too. They knew Jesus was talking about them and that He referred to their coming absence from God’s banquet table if they didn’t change their ways. But just for a moment, think about the easy thing to see about the story Jesus tells. Be polite. Answer those RSVPs that come this time of year. Then keep the promises you make.

Read it in a year - Revelation 1-6

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A daily devotional through the recorded words Jesus spoke while He walked alongside us. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com.

Doing good doesn’t have to cost you anything. Maybe you know a young mother that needs some respite from her kids. Or an elderly person that just needs some company. Maybe some volunteer house cleaning for someone that is getting over an illness or a loss. How about some handyman work? What kind of skills do you have that you can just give to someone who needs it.

I think God gives us talents and skills and experiences to help each other, not necessarily just for personal gain. Sure, we can earn a reasonable living with the skills He has given us, but He has also given us those gifts to share with others so they can understand the love of God given freely to those around us. After all, He gives us His grace freely. He shed His blood for us and forgives us when we ask. Why wouldn’t we give ourselves in service to others since He has done so much for us.

So now the only thing left to do is keep your eyes open today for the opportunity to do some random act of kindness for someone today expecting nothing in return. Just do something good. You’ll enjoy it, I promise.

Read it in a year - Ecclesiastes 11-12

see the whole year's plan here

A daily devotional through the recorded words Jesus spoke while He walked alongside us. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com.

And besides, He’s right. If you sit at the head table and someone more important comes in, someone gets bumped. That’s just the way it is. Protocol puts the ranking people at the table. If you happen to be at the end of the table, guess what? You’re either sitting by the kitchen door or on the floor. All the other spaces are full and you get left out. That’s certainly no fun.

So the right answer? Remember that we all put our pants on the same way. The round tables in the middle really do have more fun at parties and banquets than the head table. Don’t ever envy those guys sitting up there that get their food first. I’ve been there too often and it’s not a good place to be. Trust me.

Read it in a year - Psalms 137-139

see the whole year's plan here

A daily devotional through the recorded words Jesus spoke while He walked alongside us. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com.

We have opportunities every day to reach out and show God’s love to others. You don’t have to adopt someone or take someone on as a full time project to show God’s love, but He might ask you to. All of us can smile and give a warm touch. All of us can be kind instead of rude. All of us can share the fruit of the spirit where we go. Whether at home, in the office, or on the freeway, there are opportunities to let God’s love shine through you today. Don’t miss those opportunities. You never know when that special moment is the one that God uses to touch the heart of one of His children and transforms them by the power of His spirit.

What a marvelous gift that would be if you could be part of rescuing a lost soul instead of a lost pet. Helping a wayward soul find their way into the kingdom instead of helping a dog find its way into a house. What a difference it would make if instead of spending all that time and energy and effort saving animals, we would spend that same time and energy and effort introducing people to the One who can save their soul.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against helping animals. I have two dogs myself, one of which is a rescued dog. But lets make sure we keep people and animals in the right perspective this Christmas season. Let those ASPCA commercials tug at your heart strings, but let them remind you of the many people who need rescuing at this time of year.

Read it in a year - Nehemiah 1-4

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A daily devotional through the recorded words Jesus spoke while He walked alongside us. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com.

Jesus said we could have the same boldness when we talk about the kingdom of God, though. He said if we will allow His Spirit to inhabit us and give Him control of our lives, He will give us the words to say when we face kings and authorities and are dragged into court on account of Him. We don’t need to be afraid of the times. It will get tougher for Christians in the coming years. The Bible predicts it. But we don’t need to cower or fear. Jesus promised He will never leave us or forsake us. He will be with us to the very end.

So like Jesus in those days of political and religious turmoil, don’t be afraid of unrest that goes on around you. There will always be political and religious upheaval as long as people fail to follow God. That’s just the way it is. We live in an evil world that will continue to create chaos and turmoil until Jesus returns. But don’t worry, it won’t be much longer. All the signs are coming together. As Galatians says, “…when the set time had fully come…”. He’ll come back to get us.

Read it in a year - Deuteronomy 20-22

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A daily devotional through the recorded words Jesus spoke while He walked alongside us. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com.

But then and now, entrance into the kingdom of God has never been about pedigree. God doesn’t care who gave birth to you. He doesn’t care about your lineage. Then and now, God doesn’t care what church you belong to. These were temple goers. They partook in all the right rituals. They brought their sacrifices and put money in the offering plates. They sang their songs and prayed their prayers. These were not bad people, but for God, these men and women had become the outsiders looking in.

Why? Because they failed to build a relationship with God. They failed to understand He gave His Son out of love for them. They failed to understand the very heart of the message God wanted them to share with the world. The message that the kingdom of God is near and all the commandments can be boiled down to two, love God and love your neighbor. Just do those two things. But in their selfishness, they couldn’t. They couldn’t give up their selfish desires.

So which side of the glass will you be on? Will you sit at the banquet table or be staring through the glass on the outside looking in? Only you and God know the answer to that question.

Read it in a year - 1 John 1-3

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A daily devotional through the recorded words Jesus spoke while He walked alongside us. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com.

Or the kingdom is like yeast when we let God work through us. He places us in a community to do His will in that community and like yeast, the good things we do for others spreads throughout the community. Others see us and watch the transformation in our lives because of His spirit in us. They hear the message He has for them and His resurrection power changes them, too. The good news spreads throughout the community and cannot be stopped just as yeast spreads throughout the dough when it is kneaded. And what does the yeast do to the dough? It makes the dough double or triple or quadruple in size, just as the good news causes God’s kingdom to expand exponentially through those that hear it.

Today Jesus might use one of those room fresheners you plug into the wall as an illustration. The odor starts at the wall when you plug it in, but soon the smell reaches every corner of the room. Or maybe he would like the kingdom to the foam insulation that goes in the walls of new homes. A five gallon canister of liquid is shot into the space between the walls of the house and that small five gallon canister is enough as it expands to fill all the outer walls of an average house with foam.

Whatever example Jesus or you might use to explain the growth of God’s kingdom, it still in part depends on one Christian, transformed by the power of God’s spirit in you, sharing the good news of what He has done with another person. Then that person sharing with one more and so on until the kingdom continues to grow at an exponential rate.

Are you doing your part to grow the kingdom?

Read it in a year - Acts 19-20

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A daily devotional through the recorded words Jesus spoke while He walked alongside us. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com.

And too often in the church today, we are much like those political candidates. Instead of providing the answers to those who come to us in need of forgiveness for their sins, we only point out the darkness in their heart. We know the answers they seek. We know that Jesus can heal their brokenness and clean up their lives. But instead of providing the solutions to the problems they face, we only point out the ugliness we see. We only point out the past mistakes and dredge up every mistake we can find. We look hard to find the weakness and failure and sin when what we should see in others is what God sees…His image, potential, His creation, a child ready for adoption into His family and His kingdom.

Will we ever learn to see with Jesus’ eyes? We can. All we need to do is give ourselves to Him. Let Him be Master and Savior and Lord. When we do, we see things, and particularly people, in a whole new way. Try on those new eyes and see how different things can look.

Read it in a year - Malachi

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A daily devotional through the recorded words Jesus spoke while He walked alongside us. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com.

We forget that some people just aren’t ready to accept what we have to teach them or tell them and need time to think things through. Few parents today know that a hundred years ago, formal education, reading, writing, math, didn’t start until kids were 8 or 9 years old. The thought was their brains weren’t ready for them to sit in a class all day and absorb the information. A kid’s role in life was to play, learn to get along with other people, begin to form their basis for moral and ethical values through their interaction with other kids and adults. Their job was to play, not go to school. So maybe those kids that don’t get it in first and second grade today aren’t slow or behind or learning disabled. Maybe they are right on target and we just miss the boat in how we try to educate our kids. We need to give them another chance and remember that we are not all alike.

And maybe that son or daughter that you’ve been praying for or that neighbor that you know needs God or that co-worker that seems so abrasive just needs a little more nurturing in God’s love to have that eureka moment when it all comes together and suddenly the lights come on. In our instant gratification world, we want everything to happen right now. That’s not how things usually work in nature. Often it’s not how God works things out for us in our spiritual journey, either.

So when you have that urgent prayer need, that loved one that really needs God and you’ve been praying your heart out for them. Don’t give up. Remember the story of the fig tree and the caretaker. Give it a little longer with extra effort and extra care and see what happens. You never know what God will do in that time. You might be surprised at the results.

Read it in a year - Ecclesiastes 9-10

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