He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted upon his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. Psalm 24:4 Walking with God requires living holy because God is holy. According to the Scriptures, two can’t walk together if they do not agree. When we live holy, we are in agreement with God. The Lord spoke with Abram thus: “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.” Genesis 17:1 “Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? So he that goeth in to his neighbour ‘s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.” Proverbs 6:27-29 Moreover, only a man with a pure heart can effectively and acceptably walk with God. The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, but God is able to remove this wickedness. This is why everyone must surrender his or her heart to God for spiritual surgery through genuine repentance. The Scripture says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. If we confess our sins to God, He is faithful to give us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. God also promises: “And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and I will give them an heart of flesh: that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” Ezekiel 11:19-20 Jesus Christ said that we cannot serve God and Mammon. Also, the Bible enjoins us not to love the world and its vanities. Failure to heed this scriptural injunction is lifting up our soul unto vanity. The love of money can hinder our Christian walk with God. It makes Christians do such things as swearing to false affidavits. May the Lord deliver you from anything that works against your walk with God in Jesus’ name. Using 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, pray that God will enable you to shun anything that will hinder your walk with Him.

Isaiah 28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. Walking with God requires knowing His ways. There is no way you can walk with God if you do not know His ways, this is because God is invisible and yet only walking with Him guarantees safety and prosperity. Another thing about walking in His ways is that His ways are more often not our ways: The Bible says: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 “And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee….” Deuteronomy 8:3-4 The above passage shows that people of God should not disobey God because of what they will eat or drink. Many today are on their way to hell because of what they will eat, drink or put on. This was the truth that guided Jesus when the devil wanted to bring Him down with food in Luke 4:4. Jesus taught his disciples, re-assuring them that as long as they walk with God in His ways through His words, all their needs would be met. He said: “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Matthew 6:25 Beloved, I encourage you to begin to walk with God by His Word from today, and you will experience His Almighty benevolence in Jesus’ name. Prayer: Father, please help me to always trust and take you by Your infallible Word in Jesus name.

God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you. (Exodus 3:14, NIV) We serve a great and mighty God! He is the Creator of the universe, the one who spoke the worlds into existence. He’s called the Great I AM, and He’s saying today, “I am everything you need. I am your strength. I am your wisdom. I am your protection. I am your provider. I am your way maker. I am your problem solver. I am your dream giver. I am your victory!” David put it this way in Psalm 138, “Though I am surrounded by troubles, You will bring me safely through. Your fist is clenched against my enemies. Your power will save me.” Maybe you feel like David today. You’re surrounded by all kinds of difficulties. You’re tempted to just settle right where you are. You need to get your fire back! Instead of focusing on how big your problems are, focus on how big your God is! He is everything you need. He is the Great I AM, and He is the one leading and guiding you into victory in every area of your life! Prayer: Father, I choose to focus on Your greatness today. Thank You for being the I AMeverything that I need to live the life of victory in Jesus name. Amen.

Glory in the Lord; O worshipers of God, rejoice. Search for him and for his strength, and keep on searching! Psalm 105:3,4 (TLB) Jerome, one of the early Christians, said, “Ignorance of the Bible means ignorance of Christ.” Job once said, “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” Jeremiah said, “Thy words were found and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.” To read the Bible one needs a “quiet time.” Christian students often ask, “How do you maintain your spiritual high? What do you do on a daily basis?” I tell them about my “quiet time.” Some days it is in the early-sometimes late-morning, sometimes evening. Without it, my Christian life would be a wilderness. Isaiah said, “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” (Isaiah 40:31). So gain the strength of eagles, as the prophet suggested. Set a time each day when you can spend a few minutes alone with God. Prayer: Dear Lord, teach us to wait upon You, that we may know Your strength.

And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. Genesis 5:24 Walking with God can be highly rewarding if we can pay the price. The price, however, is very easy if we are humble-hearted, after all Jesus said: “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Walking with God takes complete obedience to His Word. Failure to do this brought calamity upon the human race in the Garden of Eden. The Bible says: “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Genesis 2:16-17 The first man and woman listened to the devil, who deceived them by telling them that God’s word was a lie. He persuaded them to eat the forbidden fruit, and as a result, they bungled their walk with God and God’s presence began to frighten them. “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for good, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” Genesis 3:6 This is exactly what is still happening today. People find it difficult to live by the words of the Holy Scriptures because they feel it is out-dated. Some theologians are already saying that the ideals of Christ in the gospels are no longer relevant or tenable in the 21st century! These only remind me of what God said concerning His Word and concerning the latter days; Jesus said: “For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:18-19 Beloved, walking with God is a command that doesn’t just please God but also benefits us greatly. The Bible says: “… that ye may live, and that it may be well you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.” Deuteronomy 5:33