I want to share this simple little message today about the secret to walking with God. All God ever wanted from you is for you to walk with Him. He is not interested in a Sunday morning relationship. He wants a daily walk with you. That is why in the book of Genesis it says that God came down in the cool of the day. They heard the sound of God walking through the garden coming to walk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. That is how He started. He made us because he wanted a daily walk with us.
If we are not careful.. we become so experience oriented that we become relationship minimized. That it’s all about what happens on Sunday and we forget that God wants relationship with us not just mountain top experiences. That is why Isaiah said that if you wait on the Lord you’ll mount with wings of eagles. You’ll run and not be weary and then you walk.
It’s wonderful when you soar when you are in one of those seasons when you’re mounting up with wings of eagles and everything is going on your way and you are soaring. And any and everybody love to soar. Then there are those seasons when you’re running, you’re running with the fish and you’re busy and everybody is cheering.
You know people cheers runner, people salute runners. You watch the Olympics and they come in to the coliseum when they’re carrying the torch and everybody is cheering the runners but nobody cheers walkers. It’s not exciting. It’s not a big deal when you see a walker. You are saying, now I maybe saying they are not precious in your citizen. Granny might put on her white tennis shoes on and she’ll go to walk in to the mall, she is exercising. But you never see any grand stands’ buy cheek fillet and people clapping and saying at that girl, “Go get them granny”.
Nobody cheers walkers. We cheer runners. We cheer soarers, people who fly, but we don’t cheer walkers but why does granny walk? It is because she got an appointment with a man that is going to check the condition of her heart. And nobody knows whether she is walking or not but the man that checks the condition of her heart. And if she’s been walking everyday it will show up by the condition of her heart when that doctor has that appointment. And one day every one of us has an appointment with God and He is not going to be interested in what you did in the soaring time when everything is good. But what happen on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday, and Thursday. Did you walk with God? It is because if you walk with God it affects the condition of your heart. It’s not about a Sunday experience folks. It is not about coming to church. It is about what happens after these experiences. Do you walk with him? Do you talk with him? Is He the vital part of your family, of your life, of the very atmosphere of who you are and what you’re about? Nobody will know if you’re walking with God, but God on that day.
◑1. I want to say it’s important to walk with God. ↑
(Quick four points I have here.)
◑2. Satan hates when you walk with God. ↓
He will do everything he can. He does not get disturbed if you got a blessing on Sunday and you go high and you run for a little season and then you get weary. But the deal that really bothers the enemy is when he sees someone putting one foot in front of the other day after day. Whatever hits them, they just keep walking by faith not by sight. They are walking, praying, reading that word, and walking with God. Satan hates that. He hates it. The devil would love to stop your walk with God.
So how does he do that?
Peter Jenkins wrote a book in 1973 called <A Walk across America> and it became a bestseller because he had an unbelievable experience. He walked five thousand miles all the way across America. He works jobs, it took him five years to do it, he carried a 70 pound bag pack and he walked throught the Appalachian trail. He walked through the New Orleans and West Texas. And he walks through Rocky Mountains, he walk through blizzards he went through the heat in a 120 degrees in the desert. He was attacked by animals he was attacked by dogs. He was bitten by snakes, he walked and was hit by a car. His dog that was with him was run over by a car. He was mugged one time, he was stabbed one time. He was cheated, he was everything. You name it this guy went through it. And they ask him this question, "What in all of the experiences, a 120 degrees, blizzard, on the other side of that extreme and all kind of things that came against him, “What was the greatest thing that made you come closes to giving up and stopping your walk?” (You know what he said? you’re not going to believe it.) "It was <sand> in my shoes."
I thought he would say the car hit me, or when my dog was run over. You know he said, “The thing almost that made me quit was I would get grinded sand in my shoes and some of those places I would walk for weeks and have to camp out. I couldn’t get any more shoes and that sand would grind, that little sand will get in and grinded. It was just a little thing, it wasn’t the big things. It’s wasn’t the huge things. It was just a little grains of sand.
Same is through in our walk with god. It is not the big things, it’s the little thing. It’s not many people that will stop walking with God because they got bad doctor’s report. They are usually they start walking closer. It’s not the big things of we loss this or one of my family member died. Everyone once and a while somebody will get bitter to God but usually it’s not the big things of some huge adultery or some crazy thing. It’s just a little grains of sand that nobody can see that can get in your spiritual shoes.
Pain and hurt that nobody sees, disappointment, discouragement, worry, fear it begins to grind at you. It begins to hinder your work. Its one thing, it’s little, it is no big thing but because it is not that big it begins to affect your walk. It is the little hurts that wear on us. It is the daily worry. And we are so good on putting a plastic face on and when people ask you. "How are you doing?" "I’m doing awesome brother”. But when we see you walking you (groan)..
◑3. Little thing hinders you, not big thing
Anything that affects your walk is important. I don’t care how little it is. The little things, the daily worry, is the little grains of sand. Do you know the power of sand can strip the pain off of your call? The power of sand can hurt and it’s the little temptations, it’s the little hurt, it’s the little things, it’s the little offenses, it’s the little situations that happen to us and they begin to pile up and more and more and more. And that sand begins to grind and it begins to hinder on our walk. It wasn’t the heat. It wasn’t the cold. It was the sand.
The same is through with us the Bible said in Psalms 42:10 listen to David. “He said it was like a sword in my bones” what? “When they would say daily”, that is the key. “They would say daily, where is your God?” I thought you believed your family has gotten saved. Hey is your family gotten saved yet? How many days have you been praying for them? Daily where is your God? Hey I thought you’re going to believe for healing, you’re not healed. Daily where is your God?
It’s not that one time, its daily. When you deal with something and it won’t leave you alone and God doesn’t take it away instantly and it’s just grinding. And people don’t see the private situation because the sand in the shoe is not visible. If it was some big thing then people would know how to help him but many Christians have sand in their shoe and its hindering the walk. And it’s those little things, the little grains, where is your God? Daily they would say where is your God? Why hasn’t it happen? Where is your God?
In that what happen with Samson, he got sand in his shoes. In judges 16:16 the Bible said that Delilah catch it, pressed on him daily. Sleep with me, sleep with me. If that was a onetime affair, that’s one thing, if it was a onetime temptation that was one thing but it was daily. She daily was tempting him. And what happens is you get the sand in your shoes but its temptation. You’re trying to do good, and you’re to be good. And you get that sand and the enemy begins to press you daily. Why don’t you compromise? Why?
It begins to affect your walk. It was Paul was talking about in 2 Corinthians 11:23. When he lists all of the troubles he talks about how that there’s labors. "I got beaten with stripes, (Listen to it) shipwrecked, beaten with rots, stoned, oh it’s awful. Listen perils in the country, in the city," trouble everywhere. Look at it, problem after problem, sleepless, hunger, thirst that is big stuff. But that is not what got him.
Notice what he says. “Beside these other things which came upon me daily, my deep concern, the burden of the church, the burden and sometimes the burdens of life is the daily thing. It’s not some big deal that you’re going to go do something crazy. It’s the daily thing and if you don’t learn how to... Jesus said, “Come unto me if you’re weary”, if you got sand in your shoes if you’re tired, if you’re under pressure, if you’re under stress, if you don’t know what to do and where to turn and you feel like it’s hard to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. It’s that daily thing that the enemy tries to do to destroy us. It’s what happened to Moses in Exodus 18.
In 18th chapter his father said Moses surely you will wear away. The pressure that is on you will cause you to wear yourself out. That’s what the enemy wants to do. He wants to get some sand in our spiritual shoes, some hurt, some disappointment, some fear, some worry, some kind of pressure, that is there daily and he just keeps it in there and it’s begins to hinder our walk. And he(Satan) wears you out. You wear away systematically. He wears you down.
Psalms 73:2 David said, “I finally reached the place as for me my feet were almost gone”. The sand had gotten in my shoes so bad that my feet have almost lost my walk.
The Scripture said it’s the little foxes that destroy the vine. It’s not the bear it’s not the lion it’s not the wolves that kills the sheep it’s the little fox that just nibbles and nibbles. And it’s those little things that just begin to get in our walk. Those little things like we just begin to lose our hunger for the word of God. It’s no big deal if I don’t read it, it’s that daily things that needs to happen but it’s no big deal if I don’t have a time of prayer and a place of prayer. I go to church on Sunday but it’s the grains of sand those seemingly little things. I didn’t read the word today, I didn’t pray today and another day and another day and before you know it you got sand in your shoes and it’s hard to walk for the Lord. And it’s hard to walk in faith and it’s hard not to let the fear and the pressure and the worry and the anxiety take you over. What is happening? Why am I feeling insecure? Why am I feeling this way? You’ve got sand in your shoes.
Nothing is little if it affects your walk. So if God wants to walk with you and the devil hates to see you walk with God and the way he stops you is not use the big things. See we reason people fall for the big things is they got sand in their shoes and the little things wear them down and in the moment of weakness they do something crazy. Preach Him better and you’ll let Him known right now.
Have you notice this about sand, it’s almost impossible to get sand off your feet in Nike shoes. We went to the beach not too long ago and Trisha bought me a brand new Nike tennis shoes. I love them they were green. And I love to run and I run it on the beach and I pray while I run as my deal. But I wasn’t paying attention just running along praying and the wave came in. It hit my feet and covered my shoes and it put sands in my shoes. It ruined the shoes. I had tried it and tried to get the sand out of my shoes. It is like sand has a magnetic force that once it gets in there it’s almost impossible to remove it. Have you ever gone to the beach and you try to wash, you know you got shower thing, and you try to wash your foot off. It is like magnet sand just by the time you are washing this one, the other one is filled with sand again. What’s the deal? It’s almost impossible if you ever get sand in your shoes. Hurt, pain, disappointment, worry, fear, discouragement.. you can’t get it off. You can try to get it off and there is nothing you can do that will make it stop.
But here is the deal here is my last point.
◑4. Jesus never designed for you to wash your own feet.
Jesus said you come to me. You bring me all the stuff that is piling up in your life and stressing you out worrying you silly and stealing your sleep and making you wake up in the middle of the night terrified at what your future hold. I want to tell you what, that is not the voice of the Holy Spirit that putting fear on you and putting worry on you about your future. And Jesus is standing with a towel and a water basin and saying is you stressed out and you can’t get rid of it. Bring it to me and let me wash your feet. Are you heavy laden? Do you not know what you are going to do and where you are going to turn? Bring it to me and let me wash your fear away. Let me wash that anxiety, depression. Let me wash it away.
And then all I ask of you, Jesus would say, after I wash you and I wash your feet. Would you have to turn around and find somebody else that is just as stressed and got a lot of sand in their shoes as you have. And you must let them know you can’t quit, you can’t give up. I refuse to let you quit. You are going to stop this walk. You are going to keep walking by faith. So let me wash your feet because I have been there, I have been where you are. Do you hear me right now? God knows where you are. And here is the beauty of the body of Christ. Here is the beauty of the church.
When Jesus washes you, he cleanses your feet and I promise you he can remove the sand the hurt pain of offends, of depression, of anxiety, of torment, of worry, of you know all the stuff that just builds up and starts to bug as down in our walk.
And he says when I do that for you, I’m going to send people your way. And they are in this room today and they are in Orange County in that room and they are listening to me by television all over the world. And some of you have tuned in today and you feel like I can’t take it anymore. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I can’t hardly put one foot in front of the other. And we can out our plastic religious face on but the truth is there are people that are hurting. Their shoes are filled with sand and they don’t know if they can keep going. And all I want to say to you is Jesus is begging you today to bring it to him. Let him wash it.
And then we need to have an old fashion Holy Spirit foot washing in the church when we turn to our brothers and sisters that are struggling. And those of you who have made it through you need to be their foot washer. You need to help them get that sand off that they can’t handle by themselves. You need to be their encourager.
I remember we grew up in an old Pentecostal church and I remember dad use to have an old fashion foot washer. It’s just a little church. I remember I dreaded it because it was nasty. I mean they literally had, they would take one because they wanted to be real spiritual. And finally somebody got the revelation, “Let’s get seven pail of water” but at first we use to just do one. And they would bring out a little bucket of water and the women would leave because the women had to go in their room because we were holy. And the man had to stay in their room. And I remember my dad use to wear what I call preacher-socks. They would come all the way up through here and they were see-through, they lack socks and pants would wear. You know what I’m talking about. He wore some shoes like that too and some suits. He is a preacher, come on.
He would be ashamed of me this morning. But I remember my dad, I remember him sitting on that chair and one by one he would ask to men, because we didn’t have that big church, might have been thirty or forty men there, and he would start their feet and he would start weeping washing their feet. Maybe it’s possible spiritually this morning that there is people all around you that have sand in their feet and we don’t have to have a pail of water. Could it be that spiritually you could get such a burden for somebody beside yourself and you could wash their feet? The feet of that husband that is so stressed out. That wife that just had at her wits in with her kids and homework and cleaning and crazy and schedules and so much stress we carry. And we go through the weekend and we just kind to do church and go right back to that empty life that really doesn’t have the walk with Jesus that we need. And so the sand just keeps building up in our walk. There needs to be some service where we stop everything. We say, “Lord we have to get into your presence”. And then we need to wash one another’s feet spiritually and I don’t know what you are walking through and carrying but I’m telling you we are not going to give up. We are not going to give up. God has hope for you today we walk by faith and not by sight. (2Cor.5:7)
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You can walk by faith and not by sight right now.
The secret to walking with God is a daily relationship with Jesus Christ. I know many of you are under such tremendous pressure from the things that life can put on us. It can just wear you down and wear you out. That is exactly what our enemy wants. He wants to wear you out and cause you to become depressed and discouraged and to give up. He wants us to have some hurt or some disappointment or some fear or worry in our life that just so waste us down that we have just begin to stumble and fall and kept walking with God. It’s that kind of pressure daily that hinders our walk. But if you will come to him as he is every day he will encourage you to keep on walking he will wash your feet he will release you from those things that just keeps pilling on trying to weigh us down with those heaviness of life.
You can have that kind of peace today. You can have confidence in your walk with God and it begins with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Why don’t you receive Him today? That is why we are here. That is why we preach. I don’t have any other reason to be here except to say to you that Jesus is the answer and He loves you and he died on the cross for you.
Just say Lord Jesus I receive you today as my savior. Wash me. Wash my feet. Wash my life. Cleanse me in your blood. In Jesus name Amen.
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