Walk Worthy

1 Thessalonians 2:12

That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.

We are called to walk worthy of God. What exactly does that mean?

Well, from reading scripture, we know it means following His commands. However, does that mean just following His commands sometimes? No! We are to live in a way that we would not be ashamed if others knew. We should not have to put on a show in front of some people. We should not fear embarrassment that others would discover a thought, word, or deed we have done.

Yes, we are sinners, but we must be ready to confess our sins and not hide them. We are to strive for perfection/holiness because that is what we are called to achieve.

1 Peter 1:12-16 KJV

12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. 13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

May we all strive to walk worthy of God. May we all strive to follow His commands at all times. May we live a life that is not full of shame and embarrassment at our actions. May we confess our sins to God and others.

Honest with God

Luke 22:42-43 KJV

42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

Most people have a hard time being honest with God about their feelings. We are either ashamed of them or think God doesn't care about or feelings and only our obedience. Here we see that He does want to hear.

Christ was honest with His father about how he was feeling. The key though is He didn't whine and complain. He simply stated His feelings and then acknowledged that God's will was great than His feelings. Christ transitioned from full honesty to full faith.

Do you see what happened next? God sent an angel to strengthen Him. The Father didn't scold Christ for His honesty; He strengthened Him for what was to come.

We need to be fully honest with God. We need to not only be honest, but we need to accept that God may call us to do something against our feelings and that is okay because if He calls us to something, He will strengthen us to do it!

Walk in Them

Ephesians 2:10 

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

We've looked at this verse not too long ago, but I would like to look at it in a different way today. Before we focused on the fact that God created us. Today, I would like to focus on the word, "walk".

What are we to walk in?

      The good works that God before hath ordained.

How are we to know what those good works are?

      By reading and studying the Bible.

One clue we can gather from the verses around this one is that most likely the good works will look different than the world around us. We are to walk in these good works after we have received new life through Christ Jesus.

Walked on Water

Matthew 14:29 KJV 

And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

"walked on the water"

I find this so amazing. How exciting it would be to walk on water!

What is deeper, however, is more amaing.

It took great faith on Peter's part to walk on the water. When he took his eyes off his Lord, he began to sink.

This poses a great lesson for us. We must keep our eyes on Christ. We can not let oursleves get distracted by the things of this world. Focus on Christ and always walk toward Him.

Walk in the Way

Isaiah 30:21 KJV

And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

"This is the way, walk ye in it." (emphasis mine)

God's Word tells us exactly how we should walk. All we need to do is pay attention and follow His commands.

What I find interesting is that the voice is heard from behind, not in front of us. Most leaders lead from the front, but God doesn't always lead that way. He leads by guiding us gently. He leads even though we turn from the right or the left and are niether in front or behind Him. No matter where we are, we can hear His voice if we listen. He never leaves us; He is always there.

Walk Honestly, part 2

Romans 13:13-14 KJV

13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Luke 21:34

And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

chambering - a bed, marriage bed, adultery
wantonness - unbridled lust, promiscuous, offensive sexual behavior
envying - zeal in pursuing something
surfeiting - the "buzz"

I wrote on Romans 13:13-14 before, but I am digging deeper this time.

Envying is often equated to jealousy, however, it can also mean a zeal at pursuing or defending something. This could be having a passion for something so much that it is your focus and you put all other things aside to pursue/defend this thing.

It also speask about not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh. Most people automatically think of sexual lusts (which in many cases it is), however, it is really just a desire or longing for something forbidden. God calls us to live for eternity. We are not to be of this world, yet I see many Christians more worried about/desiring for things of this world over eternity. This would be "lusts of the flesh."

We can then look at Luke 21:34. Here ist speaks of the same thing. What I see is the comparison of the "cares of this world" to "surfeiting and drunkenness."

Most alcoholics drinkto drown their sorrows (the cares of this life), but what I want to focus on is that when someone is drunk (or even buzzed), their senses are numbed; they don't think clearly, and they do and say things they normally wouldn't. Doesn't the same thing happen when someone is focused on the cares of this world? They will say mean and hurtful things to their friends and family. They will look down in judgement towards anyone not doing what they think they should be doing. They start accusing others of what they perceive instead of seeking understanding.

We are to put on Christ instead of making provision for the flesh. We are to fulfill Christ's calling, not the lusts of the flesh.

The comparison to thisis Ephesians 5:18,

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

We are to act this way while being filled ith the Spirit. This means we are to pour out love, comapssion, and understanding instead of jusgement, accusations, and contempt. We are to be so filled with the Spirit that He flows out of our mouths.

Walk and Please God

1 Thessalonians 4:1-2 KJV

1 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. 2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.

walk = peripotaeo - to make one's way, to live, to regulate one's life, to conduct one's self

Here we are encouraged to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to God. We know His commands and need to live by them. When we do so, we will abound (have abundance).

We do not need to wonder how to have a better life; we just need to follow God's commands. Wehne we do, we will learn that those commands are there for our good and not to be mean.

Prayer and Obedience

2 Chronicles 15:4-7 KJV

4 But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them. . . . 7 Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.

Christians often say that if God's people would just pray more, then He would hear and answer their prayers. At times, I have even thought that more prayer was the answer; however, the more I read and study my Bible, I see there is more needed than just prayer.

Here we see that the people are toldto seek God. This is usually done through study and prayer. What we also see is that just a few verses later it says that "your work will be rewarded." What work is this talking about? Wouldn't this workbe the doing of what God calls us to do? Our obedience?

You see, just praying and asking God for help won't always be enough. We have to be obedient and comply with what He has called us to do.

If we go back a few chapters to 2 Chronicles 7:14, we see that not only are we called to pray and seek, but also, humble ourselves and turn from our wickedness. These are not just suggestions! We need to be obedient.

While I agree that God's people need to pray more (prayer is often a last resort instead of a first line of defense), I also believe we need to be more obeident.

More prayer and more obedience!

Walk Uprightly

Psalms 84:11

For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Proverbs 2:7

He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.

uprightly=tamiym, strong's #8549
     complete, whole, entire, sound

uprightly=tom, strong's #8537
     integrity, completeness

We are to alk completely with God. We are to give Him our entire life and be completely His.

This means that we can't just trust Him with our eternit, but we trust Him with our present. It doesn't mean that we only spend time with Him on Sundays and Wednesdays, but we give Him every day. It doesn't mean that we only pray when we need something, but we commune with Him always (1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV, "Pray without ceasing.")

We can't just pick and choose God, we must give ourselves completely, wholly, perfectly to Him!

Walk Humbly

Micah 6:8

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

According to my footnote, "walk humbly" can also be translated "humbly thyself to walk". This puts a little different twist on it for me.

Often, we want to do things our way; we want to be in control. Here we are told that we need to be humble ourselves to walk with God. We are not in contorl, instead, we are in commune with God. It also helpus us to understand that to walk humbly is a verb and not just an adverb. We have to do something-humble ourselves.

Other examples of how humbling ourselves is an action are Luke 18:14 and Philippians 2:6-8.

Luke 18:14

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Philippians 2:6-8 KJV

6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Since it is an action, how do we go about humbling ourselves? Here are some ideas from Kyle Idleman in his book, the end of me.

• To humble myself, I voluntarily confess sin.

• To humble myself, I give sacrificingly and anonymously.

• To humble myself, I treat others better than myself.

• To humble myself, I ask for help. 

[H]umbling yourself is not beating yourself up or believing you should be treated poorly.

Would you add anything to the list of ways we can humble ourselves?

Walk in His Truth

Psalms 86:11

Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.

Walk in His truth.

What does that mean? It means to remember His promisses and to walk in them. It means to fear Him and not things of this world.

Psalm 86 is full of the truths we need to remember and walk in.

• God is good (all the time!)-verse 5
• He is ready to forgive-verse 5
• He is mericful-verse 5
• God hears our prayers and attends to them-verse 6
• God answers-verse 7
• There is no other god-verses 8 & 10
• He is great and does wonderous things-verse 10
• He delivers souls from hell-verse 13
• He is full of compassion, gracious longsuffering, merciful, and full of truth-verse 15
• He gives strength-verse 16
• He helps and comforts-verse 17

Live as Conquerors!

Romans 8:31

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:35

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Romans 8:37

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

In these days of distress and peril and according to some, famine, these verses are of great comfort to me. God has already overcome this world and everything in it. This COVID-19 is no surprise to Him; however, we need to remember that He has already conquered this!

God is in control. Our time will end when He says it will end. But until that time comes, we need to live as conquerors because that is what we are!