A Little Walk With God

A daily devotional through the Bible speaking with God as Adam and Eve may have in the garden east of Eden. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com

Why do you follow Jesus? He knew that many that crossed the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum that day were following Him only to see more miracles. They didn’t care about His teaching, they only wanted to see HIm turn a small lunch into enough to feed a crowd again. Or to cause a blind man to see. Or make a lame man walk. They followed Him to see some circus act and see what kind of spectacle He might perform in their presence so they could tell their children and their neighbors about it when they returned home.

But why do you follow Jesus?

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready - John 6:22-40

Set - John 6

Go! - John 5-6

A daily devotional through the Bible speaking with God as Adam and Eve may have in the garden east of Eden. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com

Do you stand in the shadow of someone? Do you feel jealous toward someone who has taken the limelight you once had? Did you ever consider that God has given that person their mission and He has something else in mind for you? John ultimately found himself in Herod’s prison and beheaded for preaching the truth to Herod and his wife. God probably won’t ask you to await execution for Him, but He might. Are you willing to stand the test for Him? The day might come when you must do just that, you know.

The real issue, God has plans for you that are yours and yours alone. He has plans for those around you that belong to them. God gives each person responsibilities and task fit for them. You cannot carry their cross and neither can they carry yours. Together, though, His ultimate plans for this world are completed so that His children find eternal rest in Him and the wicked never plague you again. Instead, as John says, they will experience God's wrath.

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready - John 3:22-36

Set - John 3-4

Go! - John 2-4

A daily devotional through the Bible speaking with God as Adam and Eve may have in the garden east of Eden. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com

I talked a few days ago about Paul’s words to you to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Peter gives you a formula to help you in those efforts with the words you heard today. This effort in faith requires character building. God wants you to want Him as He’s told you many times. He wants you to desire to be like him. To be one of His disciples. To be a disciple takes work, devotion, commitment. It comes about by a change of habits and lifestyle. It takes changing your very character. God helps you with the process, but you also play a part in that transformation in your willingness to let Him transform you.

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready - 2 Peter 1:1-11

Set - 2 Peter 1; John 1

Go! - 2 Peter 1-3; John 1

A daily devotional through the Bible speaking with God as Adam and Eve may have in the garden east of Eden. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com

Peter addresses his modern world. Many of his day assumed they would not like this new Christian religion because of its freedom from the rules established by Moses centuries before. So they fought against Peter and his compatriots. They assumed faith in Jesus as the living God-Man, born of woman and of God, could not be who He showed them He was and could not do the things He did even when they saw it with their own eyes or heard it from the lips of eyewitnesses.

Many were afraid of what others might think of them if they abandoned the religion they pledged their allegiance to as children or young adults and feared the isolation from their old religious order more than they feared the living God, as His Spirit spoke to them convicting and convincing them of sin. I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true. Unfortunately, the same conditions exist today.

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready - 1 Peter 2:1-12

Set - 1 Peter 2-3

Go! - 1 Peter 1-5

A daily devotional through the Bible speaking with God as Adam and Eve may have in the garden east of Eden. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com

James hits the nail on the head. The problem with humanity is selfishness. You don’t get what you want and war erupts within you. Then often it explodes in your behavior. Sometimes it even goes global with national policies and global alliances. You are selfish by nature. That’s the problem with every individual, every group, every town, every nation. You want to gratify your wants and don’t care what it might cost others. Envy and jealousy are your hallmarks.

Failure to align with God, though, means declaring war against Him. You can’t live on the fence. You are either fully for God, or fully against Him. There is no middle ground with Him. It just doesn’t work. You see, He is a jealous God. Yes, He wants His way. But His way is good. It is the best thing for you. He knows it is because He is God. He created you and all there is. He will judge you at the end of time. There will be no jury of your peers, because they have also sinned. Only God is holy. So He alone will judge you.

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready - James 4:1-10

Set - James 4-5

Go! - James 1-5

A daily devotional through the Bible speaking with God as Adam and Eve may have in the garden east of Eden. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com

As the Son of Man, Jesus felt all the same temptations you feel to yield to quick and unholy gratification of human desires. But the discipline the Father taught Him from an early age through His parents, His rabbis, God's word, and His Spirit helped Jesus keep from falling to the temptations Satan set before Him. Some of that discipline was painful emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Discipline is not always easy or pleasant, but necessary for growth. So even the Son of Man required discipline to withstand the temptations He would face later in His life as He faced the cross.

When suffering comes, think of it as a means to the end. Think of it as a part of the discipline process to make you able to stand just as the Father discipline His Son, Jesus so that He could stand. The suffering may not come from God. It may come as a result of the good you do for others. Remember Jesus promised you would have trouble in this world. But if you look at all suffering as discipline and not try to figure out which is which, you will be less likely to try to seek revenge. You will be more likely to forgive wrongs if you see all suffering as discipline from God. You will find more grace from Him as you struggle through the difficult circumstance of life.

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready - Hebrews 12:1-13

Set - Hebrews 12-13

Go! - Hebrews 12-13; Jude

A daily devotional through the Bible speaking with God as Adam and Eve may have in the garden east of Eden. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com

You think faith doesn’t work? Just listen again to the list of ancient heroes in Hebrews 11 whose success came because of a little faith. They were ordinary people who just chose to believe what God said. Their faith took them to the promises He made to them. God will do the same for you.

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready - Hebrews 11:1-31

Set - Hebrews 10-11

Go! - Hebrews 9-11

A daily devotional through the Bible speaking with God as Adam and Eve may have in the garden east of Eden. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com

Think about Jesus, all God and all Man. Human priests fall short in their ability to approach God because they still fall so short in their insight, intellect, or behavior compared to a holy God. But His Son, God in the flesh, part of the triune Godhead. Perfect in insight, wisdom, and sinless. He needed no intermediary. Jesus could approach the Father on your behalf because He was and is God Himself. Not just good, but God. Jesus could approach frail humans with all their faults because He was and is human.

Jesus. Son of God. Son of Man. The perfect High Priest. Eternal. Sinless. Approaches the Father without hesitation because He is God. Approaches all humanity without hesitation because He is Man. Jesus knows the Father intimately. He knows you intimately. How could there be a better High Priest than Jesus? How could there be a better intercessor for you than Jesus? How could there be a better gift from heaven than the God-Man, Jesus?

So who do you want as your High Priest? Some human with his faults? Or Jesus, the perfect High Priest? Think about it, but it’s not a hard decision.

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready - Hebrews 8

Set - Hebrews 7-8

Go! - Hebrews 5-8

A daily devotional through the Bible speaking with God as Adam and Eve may have in the garden east of Eden. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com

Whether you read God's word or not, He will still be your judge at the end of the age. You cannot hide from Him. God sees everything you do. He knows every thought you think. As His word tells you, everyone and everything is exposed, opened for His inspection. You will have to explain yourself to God one day. And He will examine you according to the precepts explained in His word. He left them with you long ago. They’ve been available to you long before you could read and study them. They were available before He created the world.

If you refuse to take advantage of the many avenues by which you can read and hear God's word, should you blame Him for that? Is He at fault for your failure to heed what has been at your fingertips for all the time you’ve been alive? Is it God's failure or yours when you let His word sit on your bookshelf while you engage in frivolous activity?

Maybe it's time to pick up the textbook and study.

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready - Hebrews 4:1-13

Set - Philemon; Hebrews 4

Go! - Philemon; Hebrews 1-4

A daily devotional through the Bible speaking with God as Adam and Eve may have in the garden east of Eden. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com

Paul knew God could protect him from whatever he faced. He didn’t hold any doubt in his mind. Paul knew with certainty God could do what He said He would. God never fails. When He makes a promise, He keeps it. Paul knew that about Him. His confidence in God was sure. So he could face the trials that came his way. But Paul was just a man. There was nothing special or unusual about him. God didn’t give him some special DNA that enhanced his faith. He just exercised the faith he had. That’s it. That’s why people remember Paul. That’s why Paul was such an exceptional disciple. He just believed, always.

You can, too.

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready - 2 Timothy 1:3-18

Set - 2 Timothy 1-2

Go! - 2 Timothy 1-4