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Mark 10:52, Acts 17:6, Ephesians 5:15, John 20:21

You shall walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long… – Deuteronomy 5:33

God instructed Moses, “you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do.” – Exodus 18:20

Mark 10 Bartimaeus…

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6

The Spirit tells us in Amos 3:3 that two cannot not walk together unless they have agreed to do so. You cannot walk with God until you have first submitted to God, until you have agreed that you are in need of a savior and turned your life over to Him and decided in your heart to go His way, following Him.

We either walk with God or we don’t. We have to decide if we are going to grow in our relationship with God (Reaching  Up) and if we are, out of that relationship, we need to be Reaching  Out.

The Church, you and I, has been called to go into the world and make disciples, teaching them (those of the world) all that Jesus commanded. We have also been called to love God and place Him first in all our relationships, to love him with all our heart, soul mind and strength.

Our love for God is seen in our obedience to the Word and will of God! Jesus said “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

The Great Commandment and the Great Commission = love/obedience. When you come to accept the gift of grace found in Christ, your first act of obedience should be to be baptized as soon as possible. Peter, right after receiving the Holy Spirit, said, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself” (Acts 2:38-39).

The problem is that there is very little repenting today. Repenting means that you turn from your sin to God! The moment you accept Jesus as your lord and Savior, and repent of your sinful ways, you are saved from your sin and saved, or sanctified, to God. You have to choose to step away from sin, to turn your back to it and turn to God in love. Your very next step of obedience should be baptism (Repent and be baptized)!

After that, you are to walk with God continually. Your whole life is to be God centered! You are, at the moment of conversion, to be a Christ follower.

You do that by being obedient to what you know of the Word of God, by taking action in the knowledge you have, now, in the moment we are in. Grow…

Matthew 7 – Foundation is obedience/doing. The Holy Spirit in James 1 tells us, to “put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness (Repent) and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing” (vs. 21-25).

For we walk by faith, not by sight. – 2 Corinthians 5:7

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?  – Micah 6:8

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. – Galatians 5:16

Your focus as a Christ follower, and doer, of the Word is to be God to your neighbor. Your actions show what is most important in your life, what your priorities are, and what you truly worship. What you believe is seen in what you place value in, where your time is invested, where your energy and effort is placed, and where your money is spent. Is it Christ and His kingdom? Jesus said, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” – Matthew 12:30

In Acts 17 – Paul & Silas in Thessalonica –after reasoning– persuaded. “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also…,” if we want to see communities turned upside down then you must take your next step of obedience. Repent of your past sin and mistakes, turn to God, and walk with Him.

God sent His one and only Son into our world, to the community of man, that we might be saved.  Jesus  turned the communities He walked in upside down, He had the Pharisees in a tizzy, the common people and the gentiles flocked to Him, He fulfilled the word of prophecy, and, in fact, was the Word made flesh, the one and only Way to get to the Father!

It is this Jesus that hung on a cross for you, who died for you, who rose on the third day for you, that is calling you to walk with Him in repentance and obedience. I don’t know what your next step is, but I do know this: You have one. God will never be finished taking you deeper in faith. There is always a next step. If you have not agreed to walk with God, then where are you headed?

We must be walking with God for life—from conception to the grave. It is up to us (the Church) to give the people in our communities the Hope found in Jesus Christ.  We must be reaching up AND reaching Out. 

Digging Deeper

• Are you walking with the Lord?
• How are you growing in your relationship with God (Reaching UP)?
• How are you reaching out to your neighbor with the gospel of the Kingdom?

Further Reading: Mark 12:30-31, Matthew 28:18-20, Matthew 7:21-23, 24-27, John 13:14, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Galatians 5:16, Ephesians 5:2, Exodus 18:20, Leviticus 18:4, Deuteronomy 5:29, 33, Deuteronomy 6:18, 24, Deuteronomy 10:12-13, Deuteronomy 32:46-47