A Little Walk With God

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

Jesus is returning. He’s coming back and when He does, something dreadful will happen to those who have pointed the finger at the wrong people. Those non-believers will feel the wrath of God. Jesus says there will be suffering like no one has seen since the beginning of the world. When He begins to defend His children.

Think about that for just a minute. No suffering like that since the beginning of the world. Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Not as bad as this. The Nazi annihilation of the Jews. Not as bad as this. The hurricanes like Andrew, Katrina, and Ike. Don’t hold a candle to the suffering God will pour out. Sodom and Gomorrah. Nope, not like the suffering that’s coming. Even the flood in Noah’s day will pale in comparison to the suffering the world will endure at the end of time.

Jesus gives us warning. We’ve read the words many times. They are available for anyone to read and hear in almost every language now. No one has an excuse. The time is ripe for His coming. All the signs are playing out before our eyes. I don’t want anyone to miss their opportunity for salvation, but many are asleep and just pretend it isn’t going to happen.

But Jesus said, “Be alert and remember how I have warned you.”

Read it in a year - Psalms 105-107

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.

Lots of books tell us about the end times. Lots of authors write thousands of pages telling us what it will be like and when it will come. What we should expect, what to look for, who the anti-Christ is, what the political climate will be, how we can recognize just when all these things will happen. I don’t know how many times “the day” has been predicted during my 62 years of life. But I don’t think He has come yet. There’s still a lot of His saints still here and it’s been a lot longer than the seven years of tribulation that would have happened if He had already come. If those predictions were true, we’d be in the 1,000 years of peace. I don’t see any peace around the world, so I guess all those prophets must have missed it.

So we don’t need to worry about any of those things. We just need to be ready. Jesus is coming again. He tells us all the things that will happen so we know the time is getting close. It gives us hope. It helps us realize it won’t be much longer. The birth pangs show that the labor is almost over. A new heaven and earth are about to come into existence. We don’t need to worry, just be ready.

Read it in a year - 1 Chronicles 20-24

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.

Jesus knows the difficulty all of us have because of the influence we grow up with. He grew up in the middle of it, too. He heard those same stories from the businessmen and merchants and builders. He heard the same stories from the priests and neighbors and all those people who took stock in material things instead of heavenly things. He knows how easy it is to get our eyes off of the heavenly and get awed by the size and splendor of the things men build. But they are just things. They have no permanence. Just think about the seven wonders of the world. Only one of the seven remains, the pyramids in Egypt. But even those have been looted and are crumbling into the sands of the desert. All the others are gone.

The same will happen to all the material things we think we last forever. They won’t. Nothing will last except our eternal soul and the things we store up for ourselves in heaven. And what are those things? The good things we do for other people and the praise we give to God. That’s it. No more. Everything else will be gone. Jesus reminded His disciples and us of the transitory nature of all the marvels the world throws at us to tempt us. As beautiful and magnificent as even the temple, the house of God, it would soon come crashing down. Be awed by the right things. That’s nothing the world has to offer.

Read it in a year - Numbers 13-16

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.

Jesus admires the woman and her gift. Not so much those who want the fanfare for their “generosity”. He says they have already had their reward, the praise of men. But what is that worth? I’d much rather have the favor of God. When we do things to please men, we lose because we can never please everyone. And the next time, they will expect more anyway. But when we do things to please God, He knows our heart. He knows the motive behind the action. He doesn’t care about the size of the act, but about the heart behind the act. But remember He does know the heart behind the act.

God will be thrilled when He gets “C+” work from His “C” student. But don’t expect Him to get very excited when He gets that same “C+” work from His “B” student. He expects us to give Him our all, to work hard for Him, to commit everything to Him. After all, He is God and He deserves it. Don’t sound your trumpet, just do it.

Read it in a year - 2 Timothy 3-4

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

How am I supposed to watch Jesus and be like Him?

It’s really an easy answer again. He left His word with us. His spirit inspired men to pen His instructions and those letters, those scriptures, have passed down through the generations. There are more and older copies of the Old and New Testaments than any other ancient book. And remarkably, well, not so remarkable, God did it, the oldest manuscripts all the way to the most modern all say the same thing. The scribes who copied and preserved God’s word were so meticulous in their work that manuscripts from 500 years apart in production are identical in content.

So just read His word. See what He has to say. Read the stories of His life as recorded in the gospels. Observe how He treated people, how He taught and shared the message of God’s love and hope for all who would listen. Watch how He dealt with sin as He forgave those who came to Him. He never condoned their behavior, but He forgave them and built relationships with them.

Then read the letters from His Apostles and disciples to the earliest churches. Read the instructions Paul gave his proteges. Listen to the words again and again until they become part of you. Follow Jesus’ example in thought, word, and deed. That’s how you emulate Him. Just read what He has to say and then do it.

Then carry on a conversation with Him every day, several times a day. Get in the habit of asking Him the direction He wants you to take. If you truly want to follow Him, He will guide you. God has a funny way of getting involved in our lives when we ask. He’s a good Father. He’ll give you advice. Just ask.

So who do we follow, Jesus and that’s good enough for anyone. In fact He’s the only one to follow.

Read it in a year - John 13-15

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

Jesus didn’t declare the scribe okay with God, but instead said, the kingdom is closer than you think. You see, Jesus had been preaching around the countryside and His message was that the kingdom of God is at hand. He also said He was the light of the world. He also said no one comes to the Father in heaven except by way of Him. Jesus had gone about the countryside preaching, teaching, healing, and most important, forgiving people of their sins when they asked Him. The scribe, it seems, has not asked for forgiveness.

Real love asks forgiveness from those we hurt, whether intentionally or unintentionally. When we love, we don’t want to wrong others. That doesn’t mean we don’t discipline, that would be cruel and negligent, but we don’t harm. And everyone hurts God. We all sin. We all cause Him pain. We all fail to live up to the standard He sets. We all need to ask forgiveness for our sins of commission and ommission. The kingdom of heaven was close, but one thing was still needed. A repentant heart seeking forgiveness from the God of the universe.

So where do you stand relative to this question? Do you love God and your neighbor? Do you really love them with God’s unconditional love? If so, the kingdom of God is close. Have you asked Jesus to forgive you? He died on the cross for my sins and yours. But our sins are not forgiven until we come to Him in repentance and ask. The kingdom of God is closer than you think.

Read it in a year - Joel

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.

No marriage in heaven? This year my wife and I will celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. That’s a pretty big deal in today’s society. In a current culture where 50% of church goers divorce, sadly, sticking around with the same marriage partner for 40 years is becoming a rarity. I can’t imagine doing anything else. I’ve kind of gotten use to having her around. I’m not sure I could get use to not having her around. She’s pretty special to me. So when I get to statements like this from Jesus, my eyebrows turn up a little.

Does that mean Carole and I will be separated in heaven? Does that mean we won’t know each other or spend eternity together? Does that mean our marriage will be null and void when we both walk through the pearly gates? No. No. And sort of.

We won’t be husband and wife in heaven. Marital relationships will not mean anything after the resurrection. Why? There is really a simple reason. We, the church, believers, followers of Christ, are referred to as the bride of Christ. We will be collectively and individually in an intimate relationship with Christ. Notice I didn’t say sexual relationship. I said an intimate relationship. John says when we see Him we will know Him and be like Him and see Him like He really is.

Read it in a year - Proverbs 20-21

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.

So what do you say to those who want to start one of those stupid arguments with you? What do you do when the ones who think they are so super intelligent start spouting numbers and theories and scientific mumbo-jumbo to tell you there is no God and you must be crazy to believe that stuff.

First, pray for them. They need it. Second, if you feel you really must argue a point (which you don’t, by the way, Jesus didn’t), ask where everything came from originally? Then just keep pushing back, and where did that come from? And where did that come from? And where did that come from? Finally, you’ll probably get them to talk about the Big Bang. Everything started from a spark at the center of the universe. Ok. And where did that Big Bang come from? The Bible says, God spoke. Any better explanation? Squinty eyes, tight lips, gritting teeth. Argument over. Spectators on the sideline laugh at the smart guy.

Third, and this is the one I like best, don’t argue. Just remind them. One of us is wrong. If I’m wrong, no harm done. We’ll both die and there is no judgment, no accountability for our actions, no heaven or hell. We’ll both rot in a grave and turn to dust. If you’re wrong, there’s a pretty terrible price to pay for snubbing your nose at the God you say doesn’t exist. Spectators on the sideline get deadly quiet.

Read it in a year - Psalms 102-104

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.

Sometimes Jesus’ words are just hard, aren’t they? Sometimes I just want to overlook the things He says and pretend He really didn’t mean them. Like these last words. “…if you remember anyone who has wronged you, forgive him so that God above can also forgive you. If you don’t forgive others, don’t expect God’s forgiveness.” I would just as soon not hear those words. I would like Jesus to just forget to tell us that and tell us that God will just forgive us and forget the rest.

Unfortunately, He didn’t. He said it. He made it pretty clear. If you don’t forgive others, don’t expect forgiveness from God. He gave us a few illustrations to make it clear. The story of the king that forgave the servant who owed him 500 years wages and then the servant failed to forgive a fellow servant a few day’s wages. Remember what happened to him? He and his family were thrown into jail until he could pay it all back. That meant forever.

Jesus meant what He said. Forgiveness is why He came to earth. That’s why He put on human flesh and spent thirty years walking beside us suffering the same things we suffer. That’s why He worked and toiled and preached and taught. That’s why He took on the Pharisees and the scribes to help us understand what God really wants us to know about having a relationship with Him. That’s why Jesus took all the ridicule from the religious leaders. That’s why He endured the cross. It was all about forgiveness.

Read it in a year - 1 Chronicles 15-19

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.

How about that house of prayer business? How much time does your church spend in prayer? Most churches I’ve attended lately have a thirty to maybe sixty second opening prayer and a pastoral prayer that lasts about two or three minutes and a closing prayer that will last another thirty seconds to a minute. If the leaders are long winded, you might hear a whole five minutes of prayer in a two hour service. Wow! So much for being a house of prayer.

We live in a pretty sad world. So most of our churches stay locked most of the time because of the fear of burglary. My denomination used to have a Prayer and Fasting meeting every Wednesday night for missions. That prayer and fasting changed to a bible study many years ago because people just couldn’t pray that long and now not very many churches meet at all on Wednesday night. Schedules are just too busy with work, the kids sports practices, homework, pick any distraction you want, it doesn’t matter. Any distraction that keeps you from praying will work. Just don’t pray. That’s the important thing for Satan.

If you go back and look at the habits of the founding fathers of most of the fundamental denominations in existence today, you’ll find they spent several hours a day in prayer. Not bedtime or dinner time prayers, but hours before the day began. Hours during the day. Hours before they went to sleep. They spent a large percentage of their day in prayer. Yet they still found the time to preach, write books, visit their congregation, travel around the world in ships and on horseback. They labored every day in an environment that required hard labor to survive. And still they prayed.

So what’s our excuse? Too busy? With what? What’s more important than talking with the creator of the universe?

Read it in a year - Numbers 9-12

see the whole year's plan here