Often in Scripture, our relationship with God is described as a walk. Sometimes we’ll use the phrase “we are on a journey.” This idea goes back to the relationship Adam and Eve had with God in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:8 - “God, as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day.”

Main Points:

1. When I preach funerals, I’ll often say, “The best gift you can give your family and friends is the assurance that you are in Heaven. Let your legacy be that you loved and served Jesus faithfully. Leave behind the powerful memory that you were someone who walked with God.

2. The Bible teaches us as believers to walk in love, walk in the light, walk in wisdom, and walk in the Spirit. These instructions remind us that the Christian life is not static. It’s not stationary. There is no place to stop. There is no plateau of spiritual growth. There is no place of arrival, where we can stop growing in our relationship with God. We must keep walking.

3. So, today, let’s get out our walking shoes. Let’s spend time with Jesus. Let’s journey with Him. Let’s grow in our relationship with God. Today is a good day to grow spiritually.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Micah 6:8 - “walk humbly with your God.”

2 Corinthians 6:16 - “As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

Genesis 5:24 - “Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.”

Hebrews 11:5 - “By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.”

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Have you ever encountered someone who simply wouldn’t listen to wise advice? Or what about you? Have you ever refused to listen to words of wisdom? The Bible calls this decision "foolish."

Main Points:

1. The Bible teaches us that a foolish person is the one who leaves God out. In fact, Psalm 14:1 - “The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.” According to the Scripture, the fool either doesn’t believe in God, or they don’t consider God and his ways. They leave God out. The fool doesn’t follow Godly wisdom or advice. The fool leaves God out of their planning and goes their own way.

2. Charles Stanley wrote, “Wisdom is the capacity to see things from God's perspective and respond according to scriptural principles.”

3. I believe that to gain wisdom, we must have humility. As long as we think we know better, we’ll neglect Godly wisdom, whether it comes from Scripture or a trusted friend. When we humble ourselves, we are declaring that God knows better. We are acknowledging our weaknesses and our limitations. We are trusting God to lead us to make the right decisions.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Proverbs 12:15 - “The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.”

Proverbs 28:26 - “Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.”

Proverbs 14:12 - “There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death.”

1 Corinthians 3:19 - “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.”

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Today, you and I will face things that will threaten our faith, especially our faith in God’s protection. You might be worried about your marriage, the decisions your children are making, the future of your career, the economy, or even your physical safety. You might be worried about your retirement account, the increase in crime in your neighborhood, or an upcoming medical test. There are so many things that threaten our faith in God’s protection.

Main Points:

1. First, remembering God’s past protection inspires us to believe God will protect us in the present and future. Remembering what God has already done inspires confidence in God’s future faithfulness.

2. Second, David knows the power of verbalizing his faith. He worships out loud. In Psalm 27:6, David says, “I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.” By writing down this Psalm, he is declaring what he believes about God. In doing both of these things, he is encouraging his own soul in the Lord.

3. You and I can do this today. No matter what you are facing, put your faith in God and in His power to protect you.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Psalm 27:1-2 - “The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, In this I will be confident.”

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The presence of God is an amazing thing. To think that God is with us is incredible. God is omnipresent. He is always with us. In fact, He promised to never leave us or forsake us. But if that is true, why don’t we experience more peace? The answer is that we are not always aware of God’s presence.

Main Points:

1. J. Oswald Sanders - “Peace is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of God.”

2. Most often, we are more aware of our fears, anxieties, problems, and struggles. These present difficulties occupy our thoughts and emotions. We can let them take over. But when we are consumed with fear, worry, and anxiety, we are less consumed with thoughts about God. So, the issue is not about God’s location. The issue is with our awareness of His presence.

3. So, let me ask you: How aware are you today of God’s presence? Are your thoughts focused on the Lord? Have you spent time with him today? Have you read His Word and allowed it to speak to your soul? Have you made time to worship and pray? Spending time with God is the most important thing you will do today.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Philippians 4:6-7 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

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Remember this: our hope in God isn't just a wish or a dream, but a sure confidence that what God says will happen. Every other hope will disappoint. Every other hope will come up short. God is the one who never fails, he never leaves us, and he never forsakes us.

Main Points:

1. Today, I ask you to let the Word of God penetrate the dark place in your soul. Let the light of God’s truth illuminate your situation. If you feel hopelessness, despair, discouragement, or depression, receive this Word from the Lord.

2. Just because you can’t see him, it doesn’t mean God is not at work in your life. Just because you don’t recognize it at the moment, it doesn’t mean there is no way out. Just because you don’t feel him, it doesn’t mean the Lord is not with you.

3. Discouragement, despair, and hopelessness are not God’s will for your life. Let his truth fill your heart and mind. Meditate on His Word. Let God restore your hope.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Psalm 34:17-19 - “The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.”

Psalm 113:4-5 - “For the Lord is high above the nations; his glory is higher than the heavens. Who can be compared with the Lord our God, who is enthroned on high?”

Matthew 19:26 - “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

1 John 4:16 - “ We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.”

Psalm 25:3 - “No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame”

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I’m fascinated with the idea that we are to love God with all of our minds. The Bible sees the mind as a place of our thoughts, judgment, and intention. Our minds allow us to be rational, weigh evidence, make decisions about right and wrong, and to develop opinions. Our minds allow us to worship, praise God, love, repent, and trust.

Main Points:

1. Why is it important to consider loving God with our minds? Because during a typical day, we constantly use our minds to make decisions. How many thoughts pass through your mind every day? Several studies have shown that we think around 6,000 thoughts per day. Our mind is a huge part of who we are.

2. Loving God with our minds is critical because our minds are connected to our emotions and our actions.

3. God gives us the power to change how we think, so through even our thoughts, we are loving and honoring God.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Mark 12:29-30 - “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’”

2 Corinthians 10:5 – “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Colossians 3:2 - “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

Romans 12:2 - “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Colossians 1:9 - “So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.”

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Know this: God always has a next step for us. Until we see Jesus in glory, God is not finished with us. This work of ongoing spiritual growth and development is called sanctification.

Main Points:

1. The basic meaning of "sanctify" is to set apart to God, for His use. This work of “setting us apart” is the ongoing spiritual growth that makes you and me more like Jesus.

2. Sanctification is the work of God in our lives to call us away from sin, ungodliness, and worldliness, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, enable us to live holy and righteous lives that reflect Christ.

3. Salvation is a momentary act, bringing us from spiritual death to life. It is exclusively God's work. Sanctification is an ongoing process; it is dependent on God's ongoing work in our lives, but it also requires our continuous fight against sin.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

1 Thessalonians 4:3 - “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified.”

Romans 8:29 - (God is) “conforming us to the image of His Son.”

Ephesians 2:8-9 - “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 - “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. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.”

Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.”

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It’s always better to listen to the caution of the Holy Spirit and to guard our hearts against pride. If we do not live in humility before the Lord. God himself will humble us, and it is not pleasant.

Main Points:

1. What is Humility? Humility is an accurate estimation of our self-importance in relation to God and others. Humility is having a right view of yourself because you have a right view of God.

2. Humility is not thinking too highly of yourself. It’s also not thinking too low of yourself. It’s having an accurate estimation of our self-importance in relation to God and others.

3. So, how do we humble ourselves? We focus on the greatness of God. In my life, I cannot be prideful, and God be great. It can’t happen at the same time. Either I think God is great or I think I am great. It’s having a right view of yourself because you have a right view of God.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

James 4:10 - “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

Luke 14:11 - “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

“Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” (Romans 12:3)

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