How Do We Maintain A Walk With God? (by Pastor Mark Parsons)

Last week, we shared on what it means to walk with God. This week, the emphasis is on how to maintain a walk of faith with God.

1.  Search the Scriptures. Jesus said the scriptures testify of Him. (John 5:39) The Holy Spirit will give us revelation, but we must search for this heavenly treasure.

2.  Pray to Him. We are to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17), and we must be devoted to prayer (Romans 12:12). If there is no prayer, there is no communion. If no communion, then there is no walk.

3.  Meditate and Reflect. David said, "How blessed is the man who meditates in God's laws day and night." (Psalm 1:1,2)

4.  Remain Faithful To God Alone. God said, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3)

5.  Receive Constructive Criticism. "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives." (Hebrews 12:5,6)  Remember, He's the potter, we're the clay.

Determine to practice these principles and maintain a steadfast walk with God through Christ Jesus.

NOW GO LIVE IT!

Walking With God - What Does This Mean For Us? (by Pastor Mark Parsons)

 

Wonderful and lasting results take place when we engage in a faithful, sincere and steadfast walk with God through Jesus Christ.

1.  There is no more enmity (hostility, hatred, antagonism) between God and man because it was put to death on the cross. (Eph. 2:11-22)

2.  We are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. What Adam lost (life with God) has been restored through Jesus. We have been brought back into fellowship with God and received the atonement. (Rom. 5:1-11)

3.  We now have an intimate and meaningful fellowship with Him. Christ has been confirmed (established) in our hearts, and we are not lacking in any gift; we are blameless. (1 Cor. 1:4-9)

4.  Progress and growth in our Christian lives. Peter exclaimed, "Like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that you may grow in respect to salvation." (1 Peter 2:2; Eph. 4:11-16)

This is not a walk of carnality or religion, but a relationship with the Living God! Therefore, be determined to set your feet on a course of obedience and walk with Him into everlasting life.

NOW GO LIVE IT!

Walking With God (by Pastor Mark Parsons)

 

Oh, to walk with God and to be pleasing to Him—to love, worship, adore, and obey Him each and every day of our lives!

We read in Genesis 5:24 that “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.”  Again in Hebrews 11:5, “By faith, Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found because God took him up, for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.”

We also learn from Hebrews 11:6 that “without faith it is impossible to please Him…”  Therefore, the message is clear for Enoch’s generation and for our generation today that all mankind cannot please God without faith in the Living God through Jesus Christ His Son.

Satan was active in that time and sought to destroy Enoch’s walk of faith in God.  His evil is present today as well, and he seeks the fall of all true believers in Jesus Christ. Walk in the Spirit; walk in faith; walk in the light; walk in love and in truth; and walk with God through Jesus—and you will be victorious over all evil!

NOW GO LIVE IT!

Mothers of Faith, Children of God (by Pastor Mark Parsons)

 

There is a tremendous responsibility for a mother to raise up a child in the love and admonition of the Living God. (Proverbs 22:6)

I thank God for the example we have in Jochebed, the mother of Moses. We read about her, her husband Amram, and Moses in Exodus 2:1-10. However, in Hebrews 11:23, we discover the reason for her actions -- she moved in faith! "By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict." (NIV)

Although we know little about Jochebed, we can learn much about her faith in God to surrender her child into His hands. She placed Moses in a well-prepared and sealed papyrus basket into the dangerous and crocodile-filled Nile River (symbolic of our present world).

Acting on faith, this mother was moved to release her son unto God's care. She did not know he would be the very man God would use to deliver Israel after 400 years of bondage and enslavement. What a mother of faith, what a child of God!

NOW GO LIVE IT!