Genesis 5:21-24
21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: 22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: 24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
Genesis 6:8-9
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
JUST KEEP WALKING!
INTRO:
Enoch and Noah have something in common, in the fact that they were both delivered from the perils and trials of their world.
With Enoch, God took him out of the world.
With Noah, God destroyed the world around him.
But, in both cases, the Bible tells us, these men found the mercy and grace of God, not because they did any great thing, or were heavenly superstars, but the Bible simply says this about both men: “..they walked with God.”
Now, this may not seem like much, but in study and prayer lately, it has been impressed upon me that those who will be victorious are not the ones who are perfect, or never struggle, but those who in the midst of trouble, discouragement, persecution, ridicule, family problems, peer pressure, in the midst of every conceivable hindrance just keep walking!
Maybe not leaping, or bounding through the grassy vales, maybe not scaling mountain peaks, maybe not making a whole lot of progress, but people who will just keep walking with God!
I.)OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD HAS ALWAYS BEEN DEFINED AS A WALK!
Romans 6:4
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Romans 13:13-14
13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
1 Corinthians 7:17
17 But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches.
2 Corinthians 5:7
7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
Galatians 5:16
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
From the time we begin our relationship with God, it is ordained that we walk and not sit still!
It is the intention of the Holy Ghost that we be continually progressing in the Spirit!
Isaiah 40:31
31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
We are to continually be moving toward a goal! Some fly, some run, but most of us walk!
Whatever we do we must keep moving forward.
Our Christian walk has been defined as a race.
Hebrews 12:1
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
However, this race is different than other races, for in this race it is not the fastest runner that wins!
Solomon said that the race is not always to the swift!
And Jesus said, This race is going to be won by those who endure to the end!
The winners will be the ones who ignore the distractions, and muscle cramps, and opportunities to quit and just keep walking!
Just keep moving forward!
We have all heard the story of the tortoise and the hare!
Why did the tortoise win the race?
Because he was faster?
No, of course not, but because he just kept plodding along!
The hare was running circles around him for a while, but soon lost his interest in the race and sat down to take a nap.
But, the old tortoise just kept walking!
I may not be running, I may not be leaping, but I am enduring!
I am just going to keep walking!
II.)IN GENESIS 13, GOD GIVES ABRAHAM SOME GREAT PROMISES.
Genesis 13:14-18
14 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: 15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. 16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. 17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. 18 Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.
God said, “Abram, I will give you everything you are looking at, but in order for you to possess it, you have to walk through the land!”
•Now, what is the one thing that could have kept Abram from occupying the land?
What would have kept him from seeing the promise?
The only thing that could have stopped him was if he would have quit walking!
Because, as long as he kept walking, he kept gaining new territory!
God said, “As much land as your foot touches will be yours!”
•Now, I will tell you this today, that the enemy of our soul cannot take away the promises of God!
•But, if he can discourage us to the point that we stop walking, he has accomplished his purpose!
As long as we keep walking, victory is ours!
We may have some hardships to overcome, we may have to walk through some unpleasant places, but as long as we keep walking we will get through them eventually!
•David said, Psalm 23:4
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
I am not going to stay in this valley, I am only walking through it! If I stay here I will die, so I will just keep walking!
•Psalm 138:7
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.
God, I am in the presence of enemies, but I am still walking!
•Job 23:11
11 My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.
Job 23:11
11 My feet have closely followed his steps;
I have stayed in his way;
I did not turn aside.
(NCV)
I didn’t understand what God was doing, or where He was taking me, but I just kept walking!
Sometimes I have to walk through the darkness, through the desert, through the fire, through the prison cell, sometimes my journey is not always pleasant, but I am going to keep walking!
The ones who get the victory are the ones who just keep walking!
III.) I PROMISE YOU THAT WHEREVER YOU WALK YOU WILL NOT WALK ALONE!
God will walk with you through every trial, every temptation, every problem!
•Take a look at the three Hebrew boys.
Daniel 3:23
23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
The goal of the enemy was to knock these young men down!
To get them off of their feet. Just to make the fall down and stop progressing!
But, look at what happens when God steps into the fire!
Daniel 3:24-25
24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. 25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
•You can walk in the furnace that was designed to knock you off of your feet when God is with you!
•You can walk through the valley of the shadow of death that was designed to destroy you when God is with you!
•You can keep walking when your enemy is trying to destroy you as long as God is with you!
No matter what happens, or where your journey takes you, just keep walking!
God will be with you!
IV.)IN 600 B.C. THERE WERE A GROUP OF ISRAELITES TAKEN CAPTIVE BY THE BABYLONIANS.
Now within this group of captives, three groups emerged from the total number.
a.) There were those spoken of in Psalm 137:1
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
This was the group that just gave up. They remembered how things used to be, and just sat down and surrendered to the enemy.
b.) There were those who changed their names and tried to blend in with Babylon.
c.) And then there was the group of which Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Daniel were a part.
Those who refused to quit praying to their God, those who refused to bow to an idol, those who refused to eat of the King’s meat!
Those are the ones who found favor in the eyes of friend and foe alike, the ones who just refused to quit walking!
This was the group that walked back to Jerusalem when Cyrus released them!
It was no stretch to walk back to Jerusalem, because they never stopped walking with God in Babylon!
I want to be a part of the third group, you need to be part of the third group, the ones who just keep walking in spite of trouble!
The ones who may be knocked down, but get right back up and keep walking!
V.)THERE WAS AN OLD TACTIC USED BY THE ENEMY IN YEARS GONE BY.
You can find it in Judges 1:6
6 But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.
Without your great, or big toe, you cannot walk. There is no concern about you ever being a problem again, because you can’t march!
The enemy doesn’t have to kill us to make us ineffective; he just has to get us to stop walking!
In more recent times, armies would take sharpened sticks and drive them into the ground, pointed end up.
When the soldiers marched through the field, they would step on these sharpened sticks, driving them through their feet. At that point, there marching days were over.
This is why Paul said in Ephesians 5:15
15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
Walk carefully, watch where you are going!
The enemy would love to plant things in your path that would cause you to stop walking!
Watch where you are going!
Part of the armor of God that Paul mentions is this: Ephesians 6:15
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Your probably asking; Why do I need to protect my feet?
There are no vital organs contained in the foot!
People lose feet and continue to live for years and years!
So, why worry about my foot?
You have to make sure that you keep walking!
•I must protect my feet, because what really matters is not that I am a spiritual giant, or that I make it through life without falling, or sinning, but what really matters is that I just keep walking!
•What really matters is that no matter how many times I fall, I get up and keep walking!
•What hallmarked Enoch, and Noah, and Abraham, and all of the other great people of the Bible?
Was it that they were perfect?
No, it is that they “…walked with God”
They never gave up, they kept pressing forward!
•I wonder if anyone would like to renew their marching orders today.
•No matter how bad the situation seems.
•No matter how bad you think you’ve messed up.
•The only thing that God expects us to do is;
JUST KEEP WALKING!
Credits; This message was taken from a sermon written by Micheal Phelps
