WALK WITH HIM
The book of Colossians was written by the Apostle Paul, to the church in Colosse. This was a little different church than the norm. They were having problems with staying on track with serving God. Paul had never been to Colosse, but was hearing some strange reports of deception.
In the NIV version of chapter 2, verse 1 Paul said that he was “struggling” for them. They were doing something wrong, and Paul was responsible for them even though he had never been there.
So rather than giving them a stern word of correction, Paul chose to try and encourage the people.
(Sometimes a little spoonful of honey helps the medicine to go down.)
Likewise there are times when I am out of town that I too “struggle” with what is going on back home. I don’t want you to think that I don’t think about this family when I am away. The fact is I am often stirred by the Lord to pray for certain ones, or perhaps the entire church.
I believe this is healthy for each of us. We all should be –
• Concerned for each other when we go through our week at work, or at school.
• Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit when He causes you to “struggle” for your church family.
Text: Colossians 2:4 thru 6
Let me point out to those who may have a different translation for vs. 6. The Greek translation of the KJV phrase, “…walk ye in Him…” is a word that is too hard for me to pronounce.
It simply means to -
Tread all around, trample on, (and it kind of means) to live with or be occupied with.
You get the idea. But for the sake of this message, let’s all agree on the phrase, “Walk with/in Him.”
I want to try to explain to us more specifically how we can WALK WITH HIM. I believe this message is important for each of us in what each of us are going through.
Speaking to all - Many of us have received Christ as our Savior. As a result of this, we should understand that each of us has been given a set of godly values. The fancy-seminary word for these values is “doctrine”.
We find these values/doctrines printed for us on paper in our Bibles.
We have said many times they are not a list of rules and regulations.
I would prefer for us to consider them as an explanation of spiritual morals.
With Christ we are changed within our hearts for a natural desire for His values and morals.
With these values, or principles, or morals, we decide everyday whether or not we are going to abide in Christ.
We each (individually) have that right to make that choice. No one else can make those choices for us.
We make them on our own.
These godly values and spiritual morals determine how we live.
On the other hand, if we belonged to any other organization we would have a list of rules and regulations that we would have to abide by.
If we wanted to a part of that group or organization, we would have to abide by these rules and regulations.
In this life there are all kinds of rules and regulations for organizations.
There are also state and federal laws that we have to live by. We may not agree with some of those laws, but we still have to live by them.
If we do not abide with those laws, we will have to pay a fine or serve time in prison. Rules may not apply to some, but laws apply to everyone.
Whether we like it or not. That’s life…
So far, have I told you anything you didn’t already know? I’m just warming you up for the deeper stuff.
Consider this. You can buy a car, insure a car, and put gas and oil in a car. But honey when you crank it up and pull out on the street in front of your house, you have no choice but to drive that car according to the laws of the land. Something dramatically changes as soon as you pull that puppy out onto the asphalt.
No matter how much you wanna’ do what you wanna’ do, the state says you have to abide by the written law.
When it comes to being born again, this is where some have missed it with God. Let me explain.
A person will ask Jesus to forgive them of their sins and save them from an eternity in hell. And that’s good.
But sometimes that is where it stops.
In other words, they bought the car, the insurance, and the gas and oil. But they never committed themselves to what the state law requires for driving that car.
Standing in front of the judge in the courtroom they may say Your Honor -
1. I didn’t understand…
2. Remembering all of those laws is too difficult for me.
3. Those laws are too hard for me to live by.
And the comparison here is they may have been a sinner saved by Jesus, and on their way to heaven to spend eternity with Jesus, but they don’t want to WALK WITH HIM.
Like Paul, I “struggle” to tell you this.
There are times when any one of us may make a conscious decision not to live by the godly values and spiritual morals given to us by Christ.
In other words, we want to drive the car, but we won’t obey the law.
You cannot have it both ways.
When you receive the forgiveness of Christ, you must also agree to
WALK WITH HIM.
In these last days, Jesus is calling us to WALK WITH HIM as He once walked with us. (Us being mankind.)
I “struggle” with the deception of disobedience & lawlessness in this world we live in. But the real problem comes when we fail God and the only one we blame is the devil.
If all we want to do is blame the devil, then we are missing the Truth of what is here in Colossians 2.
I sincerely believe –
1. The devil is getting more credit for destroying the lives of believers than he deserves.
2. The devil cannot and will not be able to deceive us unless we are foolish enough to fall for it.
3. We can outsmart the devil and his deceptions when, and if, we WALK WITH JESUS.
4. If we do not WALK WITH JESUS, we will fall away from our faith.
I am here to tell you that it is not the devil who you need to worry about. Oftentimes, it is the people who you allow to have influence on you, and how you live for Christ.
Everyday you and I are surrounded by people who do not want us to live for Jesus. Some people are jealous of what we have with Jesus Christ.
1. Our time with God.
2. Our devotion to God.
We can no longer afford to withhold any portion of our lives, our thoughts, our time, and/or our energy from Jesus Christ.
Jesus wants us to WALK WITH HIM.
Pastor, what more can I do? Should I quit my job, leave my family and bring a bedroll down here and sleep at the altar?
No. WALK WITH HIM.
Walk in the same way He walked.
Jesus walked out His ministry while on this Earth, and so must we.
Jesus was raised in a small town called Nazareth. For 30 years, Jesus did all that He was supposed to do.
• He got up in the morning.
• Dressed Himself as a common Carpenter.
• Ate His breakfast.
• Walked down to the jobsite where He would put in a full day of hard work. Cutting down lumber and driving spikes.
• He built homes, store fronts, kitchen cabinets, or remodeled run down houses.
• Some days He made a little money, and some days He made a lot of money. And some days He just helped out with what was needed.
• And He loved His Heavenly Father all day long.
That’s how Jesus walked.
Then came the day when He stood up and read aloud a passage of scripture from the Book of Isaiah.
That passage dramatically changed His whole life.
The people He thought He knew, turned on Him, and He lost everything He had ever worked for.
Instead of letting them destroy His life, He simply threw His shoulders back, held His head up, and walked on down the road. In spite of loosing everything, Jesus WALKED out the life that was destined for Him by God.
Jesus knew where He was going and was not in the least worried.
His commitment to His Heavenly Father was more important than anything else in the world.
Let me give you seven steps I believe Jesus wants us to walk in:
1. Walk in Wisdom - Col. 4:5-6
"Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man.
2. Walk Honestly - 1 Thess. 4:12
"That you may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that you may have lack of nothing."
3. Walk in the Light - John 8:12
" I am the light of the world; he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
4. Walk Carefully - Eph. 5:15
See then that you walk carefully, not as fools but as wise,
5. Walk in newness of life - Rom. 6:4
"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 walk in newness of life."
6. Walk by Faith - II Corinthians 5:7
"For we walk by faith, not by sight."
7. Walk in the Spirit - Gal. 5:16
"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."
Closing:
The Book of Matthew tells a story of how one day Jesus was approached by a scribe. The scribe told Jesus that he would go with Jesus wherever Jesus went.
The reply Jesus had for the scribe is something we all need to consider when we WALK WITH HIM.
"Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
Truly to WALK WITH HIM means that we go with Him unconditionally and full of faith wherever He will lead us.
