Our Road With God-Part 1

See Our Road with God Part 2

For a long while now the Lord has had me on a path to see the importance of His purpose for the church-to advance and bring down Gods Kingdom to earth.

Matthew 6:10   your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 11:12  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

The last few years however, He has emphasized the significance of not only His first commandment….

Matthew 6:33   But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness

but also His greatest commandment

Matthew 22:36-37  Teacher, what is the greatest commandment ‘Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind’

The way these 2 commandments –the greatest and the first– work together have continually amazed me the last couple of  years.   When you listen to some of the thoughts of the church family in this area, how these teachings are entwined to one ‘path’ of truth, we begin to realize these revelations can only be from God Himself.  They are beyond important to us, they are Our Road with God.  

 Matt. 7:14 But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. 

While I would like to be able to share what He has been saying to church with these 2 teachings (Part 2),  I felt this blog needed to go out first.   To be honest, many times the Lord has to simplify things for me so I can grasp them.  Years ago at Bible college…I would never admit such a thing…lol, but now I am really appreciative how He ‘dumbs it down’ so I can understand.   Kinda feel, Lord if you  make it simple,  that just means more people can understand…Praise God!

He has laid out these two great truths by showing how many Biblical teachings apply to them, illustrating them by the way of our Road with God.   In this context, let’s looks how many Biblical principles fall under the Lords Greatest and First commandments.

The Fear of the Lord

The beginning of Our Road with God

Our Decision to Serve the Lord

Psalm 111:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom:

Isaiah 11:2-3   The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord ….³  and He (Jesus) will delight in the fear of the LORD.

In reality, the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of ‘everything’.   Jesus delighted in Fearing God because this interacts with the Fire or Glory of God-His Holy Nature.

Hebrews 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

This  ‘fire’ or glory of the Lord can be manifested in 2 general ways.   Through faith in Jesus His son, we are cleansed by the sacrifice on the cross and we can now enter the Lords temple into the presence of God.

Ephesians 3:12   In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

  As ‘sons of God’ (Gal. 3:26) this ‘fire’ radiates with an infinite love…and infuses right into our spirit.   This fire or glory is the most attractive-compelling force in the entire universe.   Awesome cannot describe how wonderful and filling it is to be close to the throne of the Lord.  Moses desired this glorious contact above all request-and only our heavenly bodies will be able to engage in it completely Ex. 33:18-19, 1 Cor. 15:51-56.   The ‘Fear of the Lord’ is a holy reverence-being in the presence of the most sovereign and powerful Being in the cosmos.   Our ‘fear’ however gives way not to panic, but excitement because we are receiving a total invasion of immeasurable fire and boundless love Eph. 3:14-21.

Without our faith in Jesus though, our sins remain and bear witness to our guilt Jn. 3:14-21.   The glory of the Lord-His holiness- cannot abide with sin Hab. 1:13, 2 Tim. 2:13.   That is why the call to turn to the Lord is so urgent.   His Holiness is in battle with sin.   This war will be cease with the wrath of God being poured out at the Great White Judgment Rev. 20:1-15.     Fearing this Lord is this manner urges us to avoid the Lords vengeance and seek forgiveness.   Please see link- Understanding God, Turning from death to life.

Once we choose to follow Him however, Fearing God is not just about encountering an experience with Him, it is also about obedience to Him.  Fearing the Lord is recognizing He is holy and sovereign.   Out of gratitude for His gift of eternal life we should desire to obey Him no matter what circumstances arise in life.  ‘I will follow you Lord-because You alone are worthy to be served…

Revelation 4:11   Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.   Rev. 5:13

2 Chronicles 19:9   He gave them these orders: “You must serve faithfully and wholeheartedly in the fear of the LORD.

This result of this devotion to Him keeps us from returning to our ‘old life’ Eph. 4:22-24.  Fearing the Lord  then not only begins our journey, it also maintains the zeal to continue on our Road with God.

Honesty

The Light to Our Road

John 1:9   The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

1 John 2:8  Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.

Let’s look at the one of the few times ‘true and light’ are used together in the New Testament.

Jesus is the truth and it is always mentioned before light.  Truth precedes light because walking in truth (represented by Jesus Jn. 14:6) is the ‘path’ to God, who is ‘The Glory and Light’ Jn. 1:14, Heb. 1:3, 2 Cor. 4:6.   As dishonesty-lies- oppose the truth and brings darkness, honesty-truthfulness automatically unites us with God because we are sharing in the very nature of the Lord.   When we share in His nature, our unity overcomes any separation from Him  Jer. 23:23-24.

John 3:21   But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Again, the truth before the light.  This time however, the Lord is talking specifically about ‘our walk’.

Notice, whoever lives by the truth-comes into the light.

Being honest with Our Lord and ourselves is abiding in the truth.   It is nature of heaven and thus God is manifested in us as we abide in Him-the truth.   Whoever walks in the truth arrives  at the ‘gate’ of Jehovah (the Light)  Matt. 7:14.

Making a genuine decision to be honest with ourselves overrides the denial process (dishonesty) that results because of sin.   Truth looks honestly into our soul and ‘turns on the light of God in our life’.   It can be painful and at times difficult, but we can never find the road to life without it.   It is ‘our compass’ to where we are at and where we need to go.   Honesty is a continuum…not only to see where we are in reference to ‘the narrow road’ but brings more light to our hearts as we recognized the falsehoods in our lives.   The greater the honesty, the more sin can be recognized and discarded-left for dead on the cross.  As a result, the Holy Spirit is able turn our former darkness into a glorious walk with Him -comes into His light-above.

Matthew 5:14-16  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel (sin-lies), but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. ¹⁶  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Surrender

 Our Decision to Enter the Narrow Road with God

When we decide to be honest with the Holy Spirit within ourselves, His light will reveal to us areas of our heart that we have not surrendered to Him.   Ps. 51:6 states that our mind, soul-personality has ‘compartments’.

Psalm 51:6  Behold, thou desires truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

When we grow in Him, we are continually needing to surrender ‘our ways’, replacing the old man, becoming the new creature 2 Cor. 5:16-17.   We can truly have victory ‘In Him’ (Rm. 8:37), but until we receive our heavenly bodies there will always be a work to perfect His Holiness on earth Phil. 3:12, 1 Thess. 5:23, 1 Cor. 13:12

Surrendering to the Lord can be viewed as our decision  (our entrance ramp) to enter  the road of God.  Satan and our flesh continually to try take us off this road.   Surrendering our flesh-selfishness is yielding to the Word and the Spirit claiming Lord, Your will not mine Lk. 22:42.   We can see how important these ‘steps of life’ really are-and how they work together. When we become a Christian, if we don’t make the decision to ‘Fear the Lord’ and serve Him in all circumstances because He is worthy to be served, then we get lazy and drift away from the narrow road of God.   We increasing become less honest with the Holy Spirit and ourselves, thus the light upon our path dims.   Our heart starts to become hard, demanding…doing things ‘our way’.   Surrender breaks this cycle-as one brother explains, it cultivates our hard ground (sometimes painfully) and allows the Lords seeds to harvest.   Thanks Joe 🙂 .   As with all the Biblical aspects to our Road with God, surrender is a continuum until we acquire our sinless glorified bodies and are face to face with the Lord.

1 Corinthians 13:12  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

 

Sanctification

IS

 the Road of God

Matthew 22:36-40   Which is the great commandment in the law?   Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

 Jesus, who is infinite is wisdom and understanding, stated this is the greatest commandment.

Psalm 147:5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.

Just wanted to let the magnitude of this verse settle in.

Our Savior is saying we need to come under this teaching and make it the greatest aspect of our Christian walk.  While we will get more in depth in Part 2, the importance of this direction in our lives cannot be underestimated.   We shall see so many verses in the Word fall under this truth.

Sanctification (gk hagiasmos) means purification-maintaining holiness.   Sanctification and justification starts through our faith in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:21  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Sanctification, the  separation from sin continues however throughout our Christian walk.

1 Thessalonians 5:23   May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I have to-want to say I have underestimated what Matt. 22:37 (the greatest command) has meant in my life.  When we are in cooperated prayer or worship, and get a ‘glimpse’ of the Lords holiness, I see how far I have fallen short of this.   I mention this not to ‘bash myself’, but to say any finger pointing in this pursuit starts with me.

The above verse appears to be the most detailed scripture in the Word of God regarding sanctification.   The Lord made this the greatest commandment so we would focus on loving God, as one author mentioned, more that we desire life itself.

To accomplish this task however, the Lord is asking us to ‘dissect’ our entire being-our soul and spirit.   He broke it down for us because He wants to ensure each and every part of our heart (walk) is being transfigured into ‘His Glorious Image’ Rm. 12:2.    

To love Him in every area of our life means to ‘examine’ every area of our life.   It  is painful and can be frightening-for this world many times has become our security.     It means to relinquish (in His timing) bad habits, surrender personal aspirations, enter undesirable environments, crucify selfish desires and wants, control negative emotions and eventually replace them, maintain diligence in our walk, yes-all of the above and then some.   This is the ‘easy part’ however.   2 Cor. 10:3-6 mentions ‘strongholds’ in our lives that we need divine intervention to have victory  (in church lingo- we call them Soul Ties).     We use Divine tools to dig these rooted problems out or our lives (see part 2).

Abiding In Jesus Jn. 15:7,  Keeping His commandments Jn. 15:10, 14:15,  Seeking the Lord with ‘all’ our heart Jer. 29:13  are only a few of hundreds of scriptures that fall under the umbrella of this great commandment.

As we set out to accomplish this however, a true heavenly presence of God starts to manifest in our lives-shared with the unified Kingdom Church Matt. 5:14-16.  There is no substitute for His glory on Our Road with God.  This is why Jesus mentions loving our neighbor after this Holy quest.   It is our eternal food  Jn. 4: 34,  the heavenly light to the lost and brings eternal treasures to our lives Matt 6:19-21.  

Faith

Determines if We Stay on the Road of God

There is nothing the devil desires more for a Christian than to get him off the narrow Road of God.   At times we simply enjoy and abide in the grace of God as we walk  with Him.

 2 Corinthians 9:8   And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

but there are also times of trials-where we feel weak and struggle.

Acts 20:23   I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.

2 Corinthians 12:9   And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.

Faith is being personally devoted to the Lord when the devil; our flesh, circumstances and others try to derail our walk.   As we endure in faith, He gives us the strength to continue on Our Road with God.

James 1:3-4  because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

 

Humility

Our Position on the Road of God

When the Lord began His ministry, only two fishing boats in the Sea of Galilee (out of hundreds) responded to John the Baptist call to follow Jesus Lk. 5:2.   Out of those 2 boats, the majority of His apostles were called-to be fishers of men.   To say they were chosen because they had ‘superior personality traits’  contradicts the teaching found in the Word.   As we read through the gospels, they (as with all of us) had major faults Lk. 9:46, Matt. 26:56, Lk. 22: 54-62.  So what qualities did these men have that others lacked?

1) They persevered.  Yes the faltered, (scriptures above), but when all was said and done, they gave their lives to the Lord  Jn. 6:66-69.

2)  They knew their true position in the sight of their Lord.    When Peter recognized the  Eternal Messiah was personally entering into His life he responded by saying

Luke 5:8   When Simon Peter saw this (miracle of ‘the catch’), he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

Jesus desire was not that He go away from Peter, or that Peter remain a sinful man Jn. 3:16.  The Lord did realize however Peter and these ‘simple’ fisherman would be able to ‘see with their hearts’ the truth about Jesus and the Word-because of their humility with God.         See Listen with Our Hearts, Uniting the Church Through Humility

Peter was broken and awestruck that the Creator of our universe would Personally reach out to him-out of all the people who ever lived!  Humility is simply realizing the truth about Jehovah God and our sinful nature.   As we pursue humility with God, we know that Christ paid an immeasurable price for our sin.   Out of this eternal gratitude humility is embedded within our spirit-for He reaches out to all of us Jn. 3:16.

As we walk with Him- focusing on the Truth-the Spirit will never lie and allow us to ‘glory’ in our own merits-apart from God Jn. 15:5.   Fearing the Lord, being grateful that He ‘keeps us safely in Him’ will maintain our humble attitude  before God and man Ps. 12:7.   Unfortunately, the devil and our flesh are easily attracted to the praises of men Jn. 2:24.  That is why the Lord teaches to stay humble-grounded.   It’s hard to float away in pride if you are sharing  the burdens of your brothers or sisters…lifting them up ‘on our shoulders’.  Paul teaches us  humility through this example.   Phil. 2:3-4  see Be Humble 

Humility instills in us our holy attitude-behavior- with the Lord and others on Our Road with God.

Prayer

Our Directions for the Road of God

The Word gives us a wide variety of reasons we may not be able hear from the Lord.   While on the earth, we simply do not always have an instant line to the Father-so our prayer has to be diligent.   When Jesus was with us, He asked questions  Matt. 15:34, Lk 8:30, John the Baptist struggled trying to understand the purpose of Jesus Lk. 7:20, Paul talked about his weakness Acts 20:23, 2 Cor. 12:9 etc.   Sometimes the Lord allows us to have faith to increase our strength until we get the answers we need.

Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;  in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

We may not be hearing from God however because of a completely different reason.   For starters, we need to make sure there has been a time in our lives where we stopped-asked Jesus into our hearts and truly have His presence inside of us.   Yes, the born again experience. See link   

As mentioned earlier though, we can be on any part of the continuum when it comes to sanctification.   If we have ‘skipped’ many of the above commandments, our hearts start to become numb and it is harder to hear from the Lord.   If we have let ourselves go off the narrow road for a lengthy period of time, than our prayer life can begin to have serious gaps.   It can become very difficult to hear from Him.   Straying from the Lord is never a good idea (an eternal understatement), the consequences can be irreversible Heb. 6:4, Heb. 10:26.

The good news is,

1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

If we sincerely go back to Him by the Holy Spirit inside of us, we have His Word He will receive us.   If we are totally honest and surrender to His will, we can get back on our Road with God.  Prayer is our communication to the Lord, our direction in life and foundation of our relationship with Him.   Without this communication, we can lose our way on our Road with God.  See Prayer

Jeremiah 29:13  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Fasting

The Bridges on Our Road with God

Going to have to get somewhat personal here.   I have seen others ‘in the major leagues’ when it comes to fasting.   Quite frankly, the Lord has recently been  ‘encouraging  me’ to be firm-follow through in this area-an ouch moment 🙂 .

If you are taking the time to seek the Lord, discard the ‘junk’ –sin that comes from the world and the flesh-pray etc. maybe fasting is the next step for you.   For me personally, He showed me that all roads, including His-has valleys, waterways, things of that nature that take a supernatural ability to cross over-i.e. bridges.

Fasting breaks the strongholds of the devil and sin that only the Lords supernatural move can break

Isaiah 58:6  Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

Similar to any child, as we grow with the Lord He expects us to accurately use the tools He has provided for us.  Our walk stagnates if we neglect these tools.    As we cannot in the natural realm drive our car over a lake-we have to apply fasting to have the Lord supernaturally help us get to the other side of our spiritual break through-our bridge given by the Lord through fasting.   This is His holy tool and if we do not use it then we may see our spiritual progress fizzle out.   Joel 2:12-14, Dan. 9:3

Note: As far as a spiritual technique, fasting seems to be the most powerful ‘tool’ in Word of God.

Matthew 17:21  this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting 

The Bible states that this provision from the Lord has to done in the right attitude.  Matt. 6:16

Please, use wisdom and seek the God in this area.   Start our with realistic goals, and increase slowly-if there are health issues, work with your Christian physician.    Consistency at times may be more effective than a longer but infrequent fast.

If we stop and ponder for a moment-brothers and sisters united in Spirit-praying and fasting.  Wow…we will see the Power of God move as never before, Praise God! Acts 2:1-47

Fasting  establishes the heavenly  power from God.  It provides the  bridges that overcome  our roadblocks, bringing about our supernatural  spiritual victory.

 Grace

His Strength to Keep Us on His Road

Grace is the Lords provision from heaven that brings His truth and life to us on earth.

While it begins at salvation Eph. 2:8-9, it can include a calling Eph. 3:8, special anointing or supernatural gifts Rm. 12:6, a mighty demonstration from heaven Rm. 15:15-19 – or just a ‘touch’ from God when we are struggling 2 Cor. 12:9.   It almost always follows obedience to the Lord, and is to be desired and prayer for

Heb. 4:16.  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. 

It was sooo important to the Apostle Paul, he stared each Epistle with his blessing of grace for us.  He desires this heavenly provision from the Lord for every one of us.   Simply, grace unites us with the presence of God-our connection to Him.   It can at times be undeserved, but always needed Gal. 1:15.   Grace is ‘His Touch’ on the Road with God.

Kingdom of God

When Our Earthly Road Meets Gods Heavenly Kingdom

The Destination to Our Road with God 

The Bible gives us 2 locations to the Kingdom of God

1) His heavenly throne room Rev. 4, Rev. 10.

2) In a believers heart                  

 Luke 17:21   For the Kingdom of God is withing you 

The problem is-there is a gap between the two…and it is filled with satans illegitimate  kingdom, the god of the air and this world

  Ephesians 2:2   Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, 2 Cor. 4:4

Jesus started the process to eliminate this gap by defeating the powers of the devil

Colossians 2:15    And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.     Eph. 1:19-22  

Either Jesus failed to finish the work-for satans kingdom is still active Eph. 2:2, 2 Co. 4:4, or He is waiting for the Church-His body to unite and  accomplish this Kingdom Advancement.   See 1st 4 articles on the Kingdom of God 

Matthew 11:12   From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been taking if by force.  

We will get more detailed in Part 2, but when the body of Christ actively pursues His kingdom, the Lords greatest desire of His heart will be manifested.   He is  waiting to be united with His children.

Hebrews 10:12-13  But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³  and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.

As His church-the body of Christ, let’s sincerely seek and pursue His Kingdom-to bring in His New age

Matthew 6:10   your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matt. 13:40

Divine Heavenly Love 

As Peter  teaches  the Lords powerful love is received ‘after’ the church accomplishes their spiritual steps, the church receives an outpouring of Gods heavenly  love ‘after’ we follow His divine directives mentioned in  Part 2,  See Christian Walk.

For the Record

I would just like  to mention, the combined dual teachings (the Greatest Commandment and Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God)  directed my purpose and walk as a Christian more than any other teaching in the Word of God. 

Thank you for reading and taking part on Our Road with God.   As we pursue His truth, we have the Lords Word a unified body of believers will share this same road with us- a true mustard seed church that will  reach up to the heavens Matt. 13:31-32

God bless, Bill           See Our Road with God Part 2