‘Enoch walked with God.’ Genesis 5:24 KJV

Did the people in Scripture who ‘walked with God’ ever stumble? They did. Did they get off track sometimes? Yes. But when their feet hit the floor every morning, their commitment was to walk with God throughout the day. They drew on His strength, endeavoured to do His will, and aimed towards the goal that He had set for them. Paul writes, ‘I… beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.’ (Ephesians 4:1 NKJV) That means you must know the direction God is leading you in and stay in step with Him. When He acts—you act. When He pauses—you pause. As a believer, your life shouldn’t be compartmentalised into what’s sacred and what’s secular. The Bible says, ‘For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.’ (Acts 17:28 KJV)

You can’t say, ‘In this situation, I’m operating under my own steam, but in that situation, I’m operating according to the Holy Spirit within me.’ The Holy Spirit doesn’t come and go from your life; He is always with you! Here is a Scripture you need to think about: ‘Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honour and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.’ (Revelation 4:11 NASB)

What an awesome thought: you were created to bring pleasure to God! So, one of the most important questions you can ask yourself frequently is: ‘Lord, are my ways pleasing to You right now?’ (See Proverbs 13:5–6). When they are, you will discover that the direction He takes you in is always the right direction; His timing is always the right timing, and the results you get are always the right results.

SoulFood: Jer 4–6, Mt 23:29–39, Ps 55:12–23, Prov 8:19–21

Renungan Hari Ini [The Word for Today] is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright ©

‘Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord.’ 2 Peter 3:18 NIV

When Peter exercised enough faith to get out of the boat and walk on water, he sank and looked worse than any of the other disciples. When he tried to defend Jesus, he cut off a man’s ear. When he promised to be loyal, he messed up big time. When he tried to advise Jesus, he was the devil’s advocate (see Matthew 16:22–23). Eventually, he became a leader in the church—but he got worse before he got better. And his behaviour didn’t surprise or discourage Jesus one bit. Jesus will never stop helping a follower of His who is sincerely seeking to grow. He will always lead us forward in growth; but growth requires risk, and risk sometimes means failure. Jesus knows that, but He never gives up on a student just because he or she fails.

For example, if you haven’t been confronting people when you should, once you start, the odds are that you will do it badly. If you have rarely encouraged people, your initial attempts may be clumsy. If you have never shared your faith, then the first time you do, you may stumble all over yourself. Go ahead and stumble! Failure isn’t about falling down; it’s about refusing to try.

One man told his pastor, ‘If I were God, I wouldn’t put up with someone like me.’ The pastor replied, ‘Then be glad you’re not God, and I’ll be twice as glad—for we would both be sunk.’ As long as you hunger for God, He will work with you and in you. Growing in grace means growing spiritually through the stages of childhood, adolescence, and into maturity. So, don’t give up on yourself—God won’t!

SoulFood: Jer 1–3, Mt 23:15–28, Ps 55:1–11, Prov 8:17–18

Renungan Hari Ini [The Word for Today] is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright ©