Focus
on Purpose
Focus
on Purpose
If I have faith to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing
Focus
on Purpose
If I have faith to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing
© Focus On Purpose July 2017
Walk With God
“The friend in my adversity I shall always
cherish most. I can better trust those who
helped to relieve the gloom of my dark
hours than those who are so ready to enjoy
with me the sunshine of my prosperity.“
Ulysses S. Grant
The Walk of Intimacy
A couple of weeks ago we began looking at what it meant to "do well." In
Genesis 4:7 God told Cain that if he does well, his 'face will be lifted up'.
In other words, he would have joy instead of being controlled by his anger.
We saw that 'doing well' spoke of righteousness. Righteousness from
God's perspective, is doing that which is absolutely and completely right.
As this brings the impossible standard of perfection to mind, we explored
the Biblical concept of perfection. We then saw that the Hebrew and
Greek words for perfection, speak of being complete, whole, and mature.
We also saw that this flowed from walking in relationship with God,
bringing us into the completeness of who we were created to be.
At the beginning of my blogs, we saw that we were created in love,
through love, and for the purpose of being representatives of God's love
on earth. So, as we walk with God we become completed, whole, and
mature in that love.
In the process of becoming completed, whole, and mature in God’s love,
His love will overflow from us to those around us and we will become all
we were created to be.
Last week we saw that God called Abram to 'walk before' Him. In the
process of 'walking before' Him, God told Abram that he would become
'perfect', or complete.
According to Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon and Brown-Driver-
Briggs, to 'walk before God' means to walk in His Presence.
Enoch and Noah were described as men who "walked with God". Would
you not agree that to walk 'with' God, would also mean walking in His
presence? When you walk with someone, you are by nature, walking in
their presence, not so?
So, we are told:
•
Enoch walked with God. In Hebrews, we also see that he was also
'pleasing to God.'
(Hebrews 11:5)
•
Noah walked with God and we are told that Noah was righteous
and perfect.
(See Genesis 6:9)
•
Abram believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness
(Genesis 15:6)
. Shortly after that, God called him to 'walk before Him’
becoming perfect.
(Genesis 17:1)
Walking in God's presence speaks of walking in intimacy of relationship.
As God calls Abram to walk before Him, He changes Abram's name by
adding the Hebrew letter Hei. In the Hebrew language, the Hei represents
the presence of God.
God gives Abraham the sign of circumcision as a sign of separation from
the rest of the world. His descendants were to be a people set apart for
God, worshipping Him alone. They would be His people, and He would be
their God, a God who fills the temple and lives among them.
Paul tells us that in Jesus, and through baptism, we “have been
circumcised with a circumcision made without hands”
(Colossians 2:11)
,
making it possible to put off the old man that walks in the way of our flesh,
and put on the new man that is being renewed according to the image of
Jesus
(see Colossians 3)
.
Jesus gives us His Holy Spirit to permanently live within us, giving us His
presence, and making us His temple
(See 1 Corinthians 3:16)
. In Jesus, we
become a people set apart for God, who live our lives no longer for self-
gratification, but to lovingly honour and obey Him. As we cooperate with
Him, He transforms us so that we begin to mirror His character and
become effective representatives of Him on earth.
As we walk in the intimacy of relationship to which He calls us, He will
become the all-consuming affection of our hearts; not that we love others
less, but we become so completely drenched with His love that it
pervades every other relationship and every aspect of our lives, lifting
them to completely different dimensions.
In Isaiah 41:8, God refers to Abraham as His 'friend.' The Hebrew word
used here is 'Ahav' which is the Hebrew word for love. The Hebrew script
for Isaiah 41:8, speaks of Abraham being a lover of God - that's not just a
casual acquaintance, but a close, meaningful, intimate, relationship.
It was in this strong bond of loving relationship that Abraham was
prepared to sacrifice his son, Isaac, because he trusted God completely.
This depth of trust can only take root in the rich, fertile soil of a deep,
intimate, love relationship.
Jesus said to His disciples that He no longer called them slaves, but He
called them friends. God longs for the same depth of relationship with us,
as He had with Abraham.
He removed the obstacles to such a relationship, proving the depth of His
love for us, by giving us His Son Jesus to die for our sin.
It is only in the intimacy of this relationship with God, that completion and
righteousness can be found. It was for this purpose we were created - to
live in an intimate relationship with our Creator, mirroring His love-
saturated nature to His creatures on earth.
So, what then, is Righteousness?
We will look into this next week, but until then, take a look at your own
walk with God.
•
John tells us that perfect (complete and mature) love drives out
fear.
(1 John 4:18)
Would you agree then, that your level of fear could
be a good measure of your degree of intimacy with God? What is
your fear level saying about your depth of intimacy?
•
If you say you have no fear, but you know that you are not walking
in deep intimacy with God, then check your levels of aggression.
Aggression flows from fear. You see, trust flows from intimacy; it’s
hard to really trust someone you do not know. The more intimately
you know each other, the stronger the bond of trust can be. As
finite human beings, we cannot completely control our
environments and if we do not fully trust God, we will have fear,
and anxiety, which is a form of fear. This fear and anxiety may
cover itself with aggression.
•
What are your common fears? Yes, some fears are especially
designed for our protection, but those are in specific situations, and
not that which brings and undercurrent in your life.
o
Write a list of your undercurrent fears - and also your rip-
tide fears.
o
Think through each of these fears and write down what they
say about your beliefs about God. Be honest here. This list
is for your eyes only and the more transparent you are, the
more you will benefit from this exercise. Ask Holy Spirit to
examine your heart and show you the beliefs that underpin
each fear.
o
Starting with the most common belief that seems to
underpin multiple fears, and working through each fear, one
by one, ask Holy Spirit to show you His truth, the truth that
overcomes and destroys the lie about God, that you have
written down.
o
The Holy Spirit shows you His truth, either by bringing
Scripture to mind, or by your finding Scripture as you read
through the Bible. As a truth is brought to your attention,
draw a line through the lie you have recorded, and next to it,
write the truth the Holy Spirit has shown you.
o
Now meditate on that truth, mulling it over, making it a
frame though which you view God, as well as events in your
life. Note how this truth seems to shine a new light on the
events of your life. What do you now see or feel that you did
not see or feel before? If you look into your future through
the frame of this truth, how does it change the way your see
or feel about your future? Meditate on this truth the Lord
has shown you, until it begins to burn in your heart and
your fear seems to loosen it’s grip, even if just a little.
o
If the Lord brings people to mind during this time, people
who were somehow involved in the forming of the lie, then
you will need to forgive them. Though this may be hard, ask
the Holy Spirit to help you, and remember that forgiveness
does not remove the accountability of the other person
before God. Forgiveness allows God to administer His anti-
venom to your heart, so that you may be healed.
o
Don’t rush the meditation process. Take time each day, and
stay with one truth until it becomes a not a memorized
verse, but a heart belief which dissolves the heart lie that
underpinned your fear. This is not just an exercise for this
week, but it is the beginning of a new journey, a journey of
experiencing God’s love, peace, and presence in greater
and greater measure. Go at your pace, the more thorough,
the deeper it goes.