How To Walk With God

[0:00] Amen. That as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more! Amen.

[0:18] I want to talk this morning about finding fulfilment in life. How to find fulfilment. We all want to have a life that's fulfilled, that's full and that's abounding, that's meaningful.

[0:31] And finding fulfilment in life is something that we all really want to have and experience personally. And really and truly it's found in meeting the maker and designer of our life.

[0:43] It's finding Christ, it's finding the fulfilment that only knowing Christ can give and experiencing relationship with Him. And learning how to walk and to please God and to abound more and more.

[0:57] Now we all learn how to walk when we're a youngster as a toddler. I'm sure you've all got toddlers in your family circle that are still learning those first few steps. Maybe they haven't taken those first steps.

[1:08] Maybe they're just still learning how to stand up, let alone to walk. And for the Christian too, for every one of us, it's learning how to walk. How to walk with God.

[1:19] And that's the first thing we're going to look at then, is how to walk with God and exhort you by the Lord Jesus. See, in Romans 6 verse 4, it talks about walking in newness of life.

[1:31] Walking in newness of life. When we become a Christian, it's a new way of walking. It's as if we're like a butterfly. That starts life as a new creature. The Bible says, if any man is in Christ, he's a new creature.

[1:44] Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. And becoming a Christian means a turnaround. It means a complete radical change. A complete transformation. A complete change of direction.

[1:56] And this kind of walk with God starts with those first steps of trusting Christ. When there's a change in our walking, we will want to live up to who we walk after.

[2:09] And it tells us in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 7, that we walk by faith. We walk not by sight, but we walk by faith. It's as if we take a higher direction.

[2:20] You know, as the song goes, we tread on higher ground. You know, there's something that sets us apart from the average everyday pace of life. That we're walking with a new direction, a heavenward direction.

[2:33] With a heavenly hope. With an eternal hope. And we walk by faith. We walk as we trust in Christ. That whole walk of faith starts as we put our trust in Him. The Bible says that if any man receives Him, to them gives him power to become the sons of God.

[2:49] Even to them that believe in His name. And when we start that walk of faith, that newness of life, there's another thought. Is that we walk worthy of God. That's 1 Thessalonians 2 verse 12.

[3:02] That ye should walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto His kingdom and glory. God wants every one of us as believers, as God's people, to walk worthy of Him.

[3:15] To walk worthy of God. What does that mean? How can I walk in a manner that is worthy of God? That is honouring to Him. That is going to glorify Him. A manner that is worthy of Christ.

[3:26] We can all ask that question, can't we? Of our day by day. Of our day to day decisions. Are they decisions and directions that would be pleasing to the Lord?

[3:37] The choices that we make in our life. Is it walking in a manner that is worthy of God? Or is it something that will bring shame to the name of Christ? Is it something that will bring a reproach?

[3:48] When you say that you are a Christian, but your words don't measure up with your actions. When there is a conflict there. That when you are saying you are a Christian, but your life is proving otherwise.

[3:59] And when there is that new walk, people are going to notice that you are walking in Christ's footsteps. It tells us that in 1 Peter it talks about walking in His steps. Treading in His steps. And when there is a new walk, it is going to bring changes within and without.

[4:13] Not only is there a change in your heart as you trust Him. As the Bible says you are given a new life, a new heart, a new start. It shows in your walk in the way that you live day by day.

[4:25] In the day to day life that you live. And there is a transformation that God's Holy Spirit effects in us. As He works in our lives and as we grow to want to have God's best for our lives.

[4:38] And not settle for second best. It is going to mean a life with victory and power as we walk worthy of God. And Romans 8 verse 1 tells us. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.

[4:54] Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. There is a complete diametric change there. A complete change of direction. As the Bible tells us about the word repentance.

[5:05] It means a complete U-turn. A complete about face. That we stop walking after the flesh, but we start walking in a manner that is worthy of God. We start walking after the Spirit.

[5:16] And God's way of walking means that we are going to make some wise choices for our lives. It tells us in Colossians 4 verse 5. Walk in wisdom toward them that are without redeeming the time.

[5:30] When we start walking in a manner that is worthy of God, we are going to walk in wisdom. We are going to have heavenly wisdom. And that goes much more than, as we know, just being brainy or smart or knowing things.

[5:43] And having knowledge or having information. We are living in the information age, as we know, where we are getting besieged with all kinds of information. And if we tried hard enough, we could fill our minds like an encyclopedia with lots of facts and information and knowledge.

[6:02] But walking worthy of God is a walking in wisdom. It is having that wisdom. And the Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Becoming a Christian is really being wise.

[6:15] Having wisdom in what really counts. And it is much more than knowing things. We can know a lot of things and be very brainy, but lack wisdom. Who knows people are very smart.

[6:27] They got all the letters after their name, but they don't have Christ in their heart. And what a shame, what a tragedy to lose out by not having that real heavenly wisdom of knowing the Saviour, of knowing life in Christ, knowing life that is worth living.

[6:42] And God's way of walking is going to impact on every dimension of your life and mine. In terms of our relationships, in terms of our dealings with people. And it is also going to be a growing in a relationship with our Heavenly Father.

[6:58] A growing closer to Him. We see in Ephesians 5 verse 1, it talks about walking in love. Ephesians 5 verse 1 tells us, Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children.

[7:13] I know some of our folk when they pray, they say, Dear Father. And we love to say Father, don't we? Abba, Father, Daddy, as the Hebrew word Abba means.

[7:26] You know, we cry out. And God has put that witness in us that we're children of God. We want to cry out and call Him Father to know Him, who is our Heavenly Father. The one who has designed our lives and made us what we want to be.

[7:40] And it goes on, verse 2 of Ephesians 5, And walk in love as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.

[7:56] Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children, and walk in love. God's way of living is a walk of love. Not only the love that we experience from our relationship as we are adopted into God's heavenly family, and become His dear children, sons and daughters of the living God, but also as brothers and sisters, as God's people, we've got a wonderful fellowship, a wonderful union of others who love the Saviour, and who love His name, and we can walk in love as Christ also hath loved us.

[8:31] And God's way of walking is a huge shift from darkness to light, from gloom to glory, from shame to victory. It's a new walk. It's a new life. It's a new direction.

[8:45] And 1 John 1, verse 6 tells us that if we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.

[8:56] But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.

[9:08] We can't walk in darkness and have fellowship with Him. God wants us to walk in the light, in that holiness that He is, in that person that He is, to know and experience Christ, who is the light of the world.

[9:22] He comes and shines His sunbeam of glory, that dazzling glory of who He is, into our very souls, and comes and takes up residence in there. And we can walk in the light. It's a complete change of direction and of relationship.

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