CHAPTER 1
THE MEANING OF OUR EXISTENCE IN THE WORLD
Why does mankind suffer? Why did God make us so weak and fragile? Why did God allow us to be placed in such seemingly hopeless circumstances?
God wants to teach us a simple lesson, a lesson that will stay with us throughout eternity. We only have a very short time to learn the lesson.
THE VOICE SAID, CRY. AND HE SAID, WHAT SHALL I CRY? ALL FLESH IS GRASS, AND ALL THE GOODLINESS THEREOF IS AS THE FLOWER OF THE FIELD:
THE GRASS WITHERETH, THE FLOWER FADETH: BECAUSE THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD BLOWETH UPON IT: SURELY THE PEOPLE IS GRASS.
ISAIAH 40:6-7
I remember when my dad turned eighty years old. I asked him if he had ever thought that he would ever reach eighty years old when he was a boy. He answered me saying, “It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was fifteen years old.”
I replied, “It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was fifteen years old either.” At the time, I was over forty years old, half an average person’s life span was over, and it was then that I realized just how fast time was passing me by. It was then that I realized how fleeting my life was and if we ask any older person, time seems to go faster and faster the older we get. I realized then that someday, if God blessed me, I would live to be an old man breathing my last breath and while looking back over a very long life, all my time on earth would only have been a blink of an eye.
If we fail to learn this one lesson, we will be forever lost and separated from God. However, if we learn this one lesson, we will be joined with God forever, and we will have all eternity before us!
I am not going to keep you in suspense. The one lesson we must learn before we die is this:
GOD LOVES US … AND HIS “WORD” WAS, IS, AND FOREVER WILL BE, ABSOLUTELY RELIABLE!
THE GRASS WITHERETH, THE FLOWER FADETH: BUT THE WORD OF OUR GOD SHALL STAND FOR EVER.
ISAIAH 40:8
We suffer hurt because we have left the protection of God’s everlasting arms. The reason for all the suffering in the world is mankind’s unbelief, or lack of trust, in God and His Word. It would appear that any child could learn this lesson: THE WORD OF OUR GOD SHALL STAND FOREVER; however, it is the most difficult lesson in the world to learn. The whole purpose of this book is to show you how to learn this one lesson or how to Walk in the Spirit. My hope and desire is that by the end of this book, you will begin travelling on a journey of excitement and wonder and faith, and by the end of your journey, you will be radically transformed into the very image of Jesus Christ, who is in Himself, the express image of God the Father. See 2 Corinthians 3:18 and Hebrews 1:3. You will be agreed with God and you will walk with God.
Many modern day Christians tend to believe that after a person accepts Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior, the battle is over. They are right in one respect, our battle against God is over! Once we confess the LORD Jesus as our Savior, we have passed the biggest hurdle in our relationship with God. We are no longer in outright rebellion and battle against God. We have seen the light, God has delivered us from the bondage of our enemy the devil. It is the first step on our journey to the land of promise and like the old Chinese proverb states: Every journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
However, even though we are no longer in outright rebellion against God, we are involved in a battle and we still have a long journey ahead of us. We have simply switched sides and directions. We now have acquired a new adversary and our war is with our flesh and against the Devil. The Devil will stop at nothing to prevent us from reaching our ultimate destination. There are literally armies of angels and devils battling over our souls. We have taken the first step on our journey and we have a long road ahead of us, we have a specific destination. Like the children of Israel, who fled Egypt, escaping bondage is not the end of the journey, it is just the beginning, we still must reach the promised land. Listen to Moses’ description of the promised land:
AND IT SHALL BE, WHEN THE LORD THY GOD SHALL HAVE BROUGHT THEE INTO THE LAND WHICH HE SWARE UNTO THY FATHERS, TO ABRAHAM, TO ISAAC, AND TO JACOB, TO GIVE THEE GREAT AND GOODLY CITIES, WHICH THOU BUILDEST NOT,
AND HOUSES FULL OF ALL GOOD THINGS, WHICH THOU FILLEDST NOT, AND WELLS DIGGED, WHICH THOU DIGGEDST NOT, VINEYARDS AND OLIVE TREES, WHICH THOU PLANTEST NOT; WHICH THOU SHALL HAVE EATEN AND BE FULL;
DEUTERONOMY 6:10-11
If our own salvation was the end of our journey, I expect once we publically declared Jesus Christ is our LORD and that God has raised Him from the dead, a fiery chariot would come sweep us away and take us to heaven. However, we know that is not how it works. After we are saved, God expects us to bear fruit, not of our own works, but by trusting in His Word and relying totally on the life generating work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The destination for all believers is a place of perfect peace, perfect rest, and perfect trust in God. The end of our journey is our perfect and absolute assurance of God’s love, His might and our total reliance on the power, sustenance and the absolute authority of Jesus Christ.
FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD RUN TO AND FRO THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH, TO SHOW HIMSELF STRONG IN THE BEHALF OF THEM WHOSE HEART IS PERFECT TOWARD HIM
2 CHRONICLES 16:9
The Promised Land is a place where God provides perfect protection. It is a place where God provides for our every need. It is not a place where we earn our living by the sweat of our brow. It is a place of abundance. It is a place of faith, joy, hope, and love. It is a place where we stop relying on ourselves and start relying totally on God. It is a place where God gives us the desires of our heart. It is a place where we have a deep and intimate relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE.
JOHN 3:16
We see that the action verb required in order to attain everlasting life is believing!
Believing in What? Believing in the Son! We must believe that God gave His Son for the world because He love us! Who did God give His Son too? Whosoever believeth!
GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS, THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS.
JOHN 15:13
We understand that God loved us enough to give His only begotten Son, and we also see Jesus Christ loved us enough to lay down His life for us.
What more evidence do we need of God’s love?
We need to have an absolute belief in God’s perfect love for us. The beginning of Wisdom is the fear (reverence) of the Lord, but the end of Wisdom is the love of the LORD. Once we understand the perfect love of God, we can boldly approach Him and request the desires of our heart. Our final destination is the very throne room of the Almighty. The final destination is our total reliance on God! Our final destination is the Holy of Holies. It is the place where our spirit and the Holy Spirit co-habit and live forever.
The destination we are walking to is not a physical place, it is a spiritual place; however, arriving at this spiritual place will absolutely change our physical circumstances. Our physical situation will mirror our spiritual situation. When we Walk in the Spirit, we will reach our spiritual promised land in many different physical places and among many different peoples. We will reach the Promised Land whether we are living in Asia or Australia or South America or Africa or Europe or North America. Listen to the Word of God:
IF YE “WALK” IN MY STATUTES, AND KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS, AND DO THEM;
THEN I WILL GIVE YOU RAIN IN DUE SEASON, AND THE LAND SHALL YIELD HER INCREASE, AND THE TREES OF THE FIELD SHALL YIELD THEIR FRUIT.
AND YOUR THRESHING SHALL REACH UNTO THE VINTAGE, AND THE VINTAGE SHALL REACH UNTO THE SOWING TIME: AND YE SHALL EAT YOUR BREAD TO THE FULL, AND DWELL IN YOUR LAND SAFELY.
AND I WILL GIVE PEACE IN THE LAND, AND YE SHALL LIE DOWN, AND NONE SHALL MAKE YOU AFRAID: AND I WILL RID EVIL BEASTS OUT OF THE LAND, NEITHER SHALL THE SWORD GO THROUGH YOUR LAND.
AND YE SHALL CHASE AN HUNDRED, AND AN HUNDRED OF YOU SHALL PUT TEN THOUSAND TO FLIGHT; AND YOUR ENEMIES SHALL FALL BEFORE YOU BY THE SWORD.
FOR I WILL HAVE RESPECT UNTO YOU, AND MAKE YOU FRUITFUL, AND MULTIPLY YOU, AND ESTABLISH MY COVENANT WITH YOU.
AND YE SHALL EAT OLD STORE, AND BRING FORTH THE OLD BECAUSE OF THE NEW.
AND I WILL SET MY TABERNACLE AMONG YOU: AND MY SOUL SHALL NOT ABHOR YOU.
AND I WILL WALK AMONG YOU, AND WILL BE YOUR GOD, AND YE SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
LEVITICUS 26:3-12
WALK. 3212. Yaw-lak’; a prime root. To walk (literally or figuratively); causatively to carry (in various senses): - x again, away, bear, bring, carry (away), come (away) depart, flow, + follow (-ing), get, (away, hence, him), (cause to, make) go (away, -ing, -ne, one’s way, out), grow, lead (forth), let down, march, prosper, + pursue, cause to run, spread, take away ([-journey]), vanish, (cause to) walk (-ing), wax, x be weak. (The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D., Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984.)
Do you see that we must walk in God’s commandments; we must carry God’s commandments; we must get God’s commandments.
Is this some type of legalism, or does it mean that if we carry a Bible every place we go, we are safe?
No … God wants us to have an intimate relationship with Him. God wants a deep, personal relationship with everyone. God want everyone to trust Him. Listen to what God says:
AND THESE