A Little Walk With God

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

So what about the work that you do? Do you realize that it all belongs to God? Do you give it to Him to let Him use it in whatever way He desires? Do you begrudge Him your time, offerings, energy, job, family, whatever tasks you might do in His name? If you do, remember Paul’s words. “Whatever you do, do it as if for the Lord.” Everything belongs to Him anyway. We are only tenants in this little dot of space. He owns it all and allows us to enjoy a bit of it for our pleasure for a little while. But never forget that during those few years we are here, we are just tenants. We just pass through. Remember the story. Don’t be caught like the tenants Jesus describes.

Read it in a year - Psalms 57-59

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.

Do we really worship Him when we go into our churches or do we just go through a routine every week and say we do? Do we let anything take the place of our worship of God or take the place of our service to Him? Do we sully His name by calling ourselves Christians and then acting like everyone else instead of acting like Jesus? Do we take time to talk with God on a regular basis without asking Him for something, but just talking to Him as you would your father or a friend?

How about honoring our parents? Do we give them the respect they deserve? Do we slander others and so destroy their reputation without real cause? Do our eyes wander lustfully to someone other than our spouses? Do we take home pens and paper from work or use the office resources for our personal projects? Do we cheat at solitaire? Do we try to keep up with the neighbor when then get a new car, new shutters on the house, new plants in the yard, or anything that looks interesting that we want?

Those are just the common ten commandments God tells all of us to keep, you know. He gives each of us personal commands and convictions to keep us protected from the temptations Satan throws in our path. But do we listen to Him? Do we do what He tells us to do or do we take matters into our own hands and think we know whats best and make our own decisions without consulting Him.

Read it in a year - 2 Samuel 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.

I wonder what Jesus would say about our conversations today if He dropped into our churches and social groups and homes as we talked about our brothers and sisters. When we begin to belittle our fellow denominations or we start talking about the televangelists or we demean all faith healers when one or two are found to plant fake victims of disease or illness in the audience, are we doing what these chief priest and elders did?

I think we might be. I think Jesus might just ask us to answer a few questions that would cause us to stop us in our tracks, back away slowly with an embarrassed look on our face, and run back into our holes. You see, if people are doing good in Jesus’ name, it’s not our place to figure out their internal motive. If they are doing so for their personal gain, that’s for God to sort out. If they accept funds and use that money to satisfy their own greed and avarice, they will answer for it before God. We don’t need to worry about it.

Read it in a year - Exodus 25-28

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.

I’ll have to admit, I’ve never looked at plant and have it wither at a glance. It takes me a little longer than that. I’m just terrible at keeping plants alive. When I plant things they die. But to wither a thriving tree in a single glance? I haven’t done that. Or even a bush or a blade of grass. Do I have enough faith?

But then again…maybe I do. What does it mean to have the kind of faith Jesus talks about. Could I do something or let God teach me something that could wither a fig tree? Over the years I’ve learned about different chemical, poisons, mechanical reactions, that God allowed me to learn over the course of my education and career that in a pretty short time could wither a fig tree. Does that count? Well, God put me through the right training and experiences to enable me to do it.

And how about moving mountains? Can I tell a mountain to throw itself into the sea and it happen? We certainly have the equipment, explosives, moving capability to do that today. Does that count? Some would say you can’t move a mountain. I know you can because of what I’ve seen happen in large construction projects. It might take some time, but I know we can move a mountain from where it sits today and put it into the ocean. Is that faith? It is. Is it faith in God’s ability? Yes.

Read it in a year - 2 Corinthians 9-10

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 learn from the priests and the scribes who approached Jesus, don’t get in God’s way. Don’t worry about who is in the limelight when God is doing good things. It doesn’t matter if the miracles are happening on the platform or in the back of the crowd. When God is on the scene, stand back and watch Him work. Don’t get in His way. Just get on board.

The second thing we learn from Jesus’ words is that children can be pretty smart. They don’t hold back what they think most of the time. Some time that embarrasses us when they tell the person in front of us in the grocery line that they are fat or they stink, but children usually are pretty preceptive and at a young age, haven’t yet learned to hold their tongue. So they just say what they think.

When the children circled Jesus in the temple courtyard and sang songs of the Son of David, they just expressed what they thought. Unfiltered joy and their belief in who Jesus was. Did they understand the impact of what they said? Probably not. Did they understand the uproar in the city their songs would create? Probably not. Did the children understand the full political and theological depth of their words as they sang? No. We still don’t understand the full depth of their meaning today with our finite minds. But they sang what they believed.

Read it in a year - Luke 3-4

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.

What differences would you make in your church if your focus was making your church a house of prayer. The other programs and processes and services you provide are not necessarily unimportant, but what if you made your focus for everything center on your church being a house of prayer. How would that change things around your facilities?

Does your church, like most churches, let itself get caught up in the activities you plan and the programs you put on your calendars until you forget the most important thing about what you are really about? The church, the temple, the synagogue was always the place where Jesus went each week to worship in community with others to renew His strength in worship with others. This was a place of prayer and worship. It was the place where He joined His voice with those with like faith and prayed for the deliverance of Israel from their bondage from evil, not from Rome, but from evil. For Jesus it was a house of prayer.

Jesus called the temple His Father’s home and a house of prayer and the people there turned it into a den of thieves. How would He describe your church? If you choose, you can make it your house of prayer by your individual action as you step in the door by not letting all the other things distract you, but focusing on making it your house of prayer. Try it this week.

Read it in a year - Jeremiah 37-41

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 He came into the city, riding on the backs of a donkey and an untamed foal. Now that is a miracle. I don’t know if you’ve ever ridden a donkey with an untamed animal tied to it. I haven’t, but I’ve seen others who have tried to ride those untamed animals. It’s usually not a pretty picture for the rider. But Jesus rode into the city, through a crowd of people with His disciples leading the parade. No one was trampled. The donkey and foal apparently behaved themselves. That’s a miracle!

The people waved palm branches, threw their cloaks onto the dusty road, shouted praises, heralded Jesus as King. The din must have been tremendous as the guards came out to settle what they thought was a riot. Still the animals remained quiet and controlled. Now that’s a miracle!

Read it in a year - Job 37-38

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.

In the Christian world, in fact in every religion, we talk a lot about the power of prayer. We hear lots of sermons on how important it is to commune with God. Jesus gave us an example prayer when His disciples asked Him to teach them to pray. They recognized prayer was an important element of strength, even for the Son of God. He spent long hours with His Father making sure He stayed on the right path, renewing His strength, gaining wisdom, protecting Himself from His enemies.

Prayer is vital for the Christian. It’s an important discipline we must learn if we expect to remain a Christian. I don’t think we can maintain our relationship with God if we don’t talk to Him regularly. And that means a lot more than just at mealtime and at church on Sunday mornings. We need to really get in touch with God often.

Read it in a year - 2 Samuel 10-14

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.

Here’s another one of those speeches that got Jesus in so much trouble. “God the Father doesn’t play be the Romans’ rules.” Once again Jesus turned the world’s thought process upside down. Aren’t you supposed to work your way to the top? Aren’t you supposed to take your knowledge and wealth and power and find a position worthy of your experience as you get older? Aren’t you supposed to try to gain those seats of power in your workplace, in your home, at church, in your social circles?

But now Jesus is saying it’s the servant, the slave, the people at the bottom of the caste system that will be held in highest esteem in God’s kingdom. How can that be? These people are the beggars on the streets. You don’t even see them. They are there, but if you keep your eyes up as you should, then they are the invisible vermin that populate the roads and ditches and sewers of the city. Why would Jesus insinuate that these people will be first in God’s kingdom?

Read it in a year - Exodus 21-24

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.

I’m not sure James’ and John’s mother understood that about being in the limelight #1. And #2, the positions were not Jesus’ to give. As the Son of Man, He had no authority to name the people who sat on the seats around the Father’s throne. As the glorified Son of God He might, but He wasn’t in that position yet. Besides, He explained those positions were already promised. But then He talks about the difficulty of those top positions.

Perks? When you wake up in another motel room at 5:30 in the morning and don’t remember what city you’re in today because all the motel rooms start to look alike, travel is not fun. You know someone will be at your door thirty minutes later and whisk you off to breakfast, which will be a business breakfast and the day will run non-stop meeting after meeting until they plant you on another plane or in your motel room after your dinner business meeting at 8:30 that night. Then you get to answer the 300 emails in your inbox before you go to sleep. Perks at the top? Be careful what you ask for. You just might get it.

Read it in a year - Exodus 21-24

see the whole year's plan here