Walking with God # 4
We’ve been teaching on the series of walking in the presence of God. Last week we started on “Walking in the Mercies of God.” Today I want to continue where we left off last week.
I) Last week we said that God is motivated by his mercy and love. It’s a central theme that runs throughout the entire Bible.
A) One of the definitions to the Word “MERCY” is “GOODNESS.” We serve a good God.
1) The mercy God and God’s goodness are inseparable. It is the mercy of God that brings about God’s goodness.
a) And as we found out last week God’s goodness and mercy endures forever and His mercy follows you wherever you go.
B) Now you might be thinking that if God’s mercy is following me and it’s His mercy that brings all God’s benefits into my life, then why am I not experiencing all His benefits.
1) There is a simple answer to that question. It’s not enough to have God’s mercy directed towards you. Like everything else in the Christian life, it’s your faith that activates God’s mercy and brings it into manifestation.
a) The Bible is full of promises for believers. You have promises of healing, abundance, peace, safety, deliverance, and so much more.
(i) Yet many, many believers will never see the fulfillment of these promises to any great degree because they have never developed faith for those promises. “Faith is the key.”
b) In (Ephesians 2:8) tells us that we are saved through the avenue of faith. (Ephesians 2:8) says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”
(i) According to (Colossians 2:6-7) we must live the Christian life in the same way we were saved. (Colossians 2: 6-7) says, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk he in him: Rooted and build up in him, and stablished IN THE FAITH, as ye have been taught.”
(ii) In other words, you successfully LIVE the Christian life the same way you started it, “IN FAITH.”
c) (Romans 1:17) gives us that same truth. It says, “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, that just shall live by faith.”
2) This is the main reason why so few Christians experience the blessings of God and his abundant mercies.
a) They have never developed their faith to receive those benefits or walk in them.
(i) Many times the area that’s hindering believers in receiving what God has for them is that they have a wrong concept of God.
(ii) We see God as mean and wrathful instead of as seeing Him as our tender loving Father.
b) It’s no wonder that we can’t stand in faith when we see God in this light.
(i) Your concept of God may not be a God of wrath but it still can be wrong and hinder your faith.
(ii) Sometimes we just don’t feel like were not good enough to receive what God has for us.
c) Well there’s good news, you can change your concept of God and start having faith that he wants to bless you. HOW? By hearing the Word!
(i) (Romans 10:17) says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”
C) Last week I gave you basically just a sampling of what the Word has to say about God’s mercy. We saw scripture after scripture stating how God’s mercy endures forever.
1) We gave to you (Psalm 145:9) which declares that God’s mercy is overall His works. And we saw in (Psalm 23:6) that God’s mercy is in hot pursuit of you.
a) We need to meditate on Vs. like these so the will get them so deeply planted in our hearts.
b) As you hear the Word of God concerning God’s mercy, faith in that mercy will begin to emerge. Only then are you going to begin to see in fullness the mercy of God in your life.
(i) Let me say this before we go on, your mind and the Devil will be telling you how unworthy you are for God to be doing anything good in your life.
(ii) Unless you get a solid revelation of God’s mercy, the Devil will be able to rob you of your confidence before God.
(iii) Anytime you step out and do anything of spiritual value; the enemy will bring up every mistake that you ever made. That’s why it’s so important that you get this truth established in your heart and mind. And once you do, the devil doesn’t stand a chance.
c) Don’t go around declaring how unworthy you are to walk in God’s presence and receive His promises. Instead, say you are worthy because God has declared you so.
(i) The Bible says that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
2) You need to realize that God doesn’t see you the way you see yourself. If you’re born again, you’re washed in the blood. When God looks at you He sees the blood of Jesus. When he’s looking at you, he’s looking at Jesus, because you’re in him. The Bible says you’re one spirit with the Lord.
a) If the Devil tries to bring up your past sins to make you feel unworthy, say to him, “I’ve confessed that sin and it’s under the blood and the Bible says if I confessed by sins, He is faithful and just to forgive my sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness.” (1 JOHN 1:9)
b) The book of Ephesians gives us some powerful insight to just who we are and what belongs to us if we’re found in Christ. (Born again)
(i) (Ephesians 1:3) says, “We are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.”
(ii) (Ephesians 1:7) says, “In whom (in Christ) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”
(iii) (Ephesians 1:11) says, “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance.”
(iv) And (Ephesians 1:17) says, “We have been given the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.”
II) Reading and hearing the Word concerning God’s mercy is a very important step. But in order for you to develop faith for God’s mercies, you need to take another important step and that it is to MEDITATE on the Word.
A) Turn with me to Psalms 1:1-3.
1) Meditating on the Word of God simply means dwelling on or pondering on the Word of God. You can be doing this anytime, or work, washing dishes, driving the kids to school and even when you lay down at night to go to sleep.
a) As you meditate and think upon God’s Word over the course of the day something powerful begins to happen. God’s Word begins to take root in your spirit and faith is produced.
b) Let me give you a few Psalms that describes God’s mercy and His plan for you. The scriptures would be good to jot down and meditate upon them.
(i) Remember when were talking about the mercies of the Lord, we’re not only talking about His mercy, but also His goodness, His lovingkindness, and His blessings.
(ii) (Psalms 25:10) says, “All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his commandments and His testimonies.”
(iii) (Psalms 31:7) says, “I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast know my soul adversity.”
(iv) (Psalm 86:6) says, “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.”
(v) (Psalm 103:8, 11, 17) says, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, plenteous in mercy. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him.”
c) Here again we see God’s endless supply of his mercy toward you. Remember His mercy is His goodness, His lovingkindness and His blessings toward you, and you can not out run them.
(i) Once you get this truth firmly established in your heart, you’ll want to fellowship and get in the presence of God more than ever before. Because you’ll know that God is not out to get you. More than anything else God wants to bless you.
B) The Bible uses another term, which is very closely linked to God’s mercy and God’s love and that is “COMPASSION.”
1) (Psalm 145:8) links God’s compression and mercy together. It says, “The Lord is gracious, and FULL OF COMPASSION; slow to anger, and of GREAT MERCY.”
a) As you know, Jesus is the perfect representation of the very nature of God. Jesus said in (JOHN 14:9) “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.”
b) We’ve seen so many times in the Word that Jesus is a man of compassion.
(i) For instance, (Matthew 9:36) says “But when he (Jesus) saw the multitude he was moved with compassion on them.”
(ii) (Matthew 14:14) says, “And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.”
2) We’re going to look at more of the compassion of God in just a moment. But you might be asking, “What does this have to do with me getting into the presence of God?”
a) Understanding the compassion that God has for you will totally change your attitude about spending time in His presence. And it’s only in His presence that you can enjoy the benefits of healing, prosperity, peace, power, and COMFORT.
(i) Yes, I said COMFORT. (2 Corinthians 1:3) says, “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all COMFORT.”
(ii) You can walk in that comfort by getting into His presence.
III) Going back to the COMPRESSION of God turn with me to MARK 5.
A) In this chapter we see Jesus meeting the Gadarene demoniac. This is the madman that lived at the tombs.
1) Let’s begin reading here at MARK 5:1-5
a) Satan was in such control of this man’s life that even his physical body was empowered by demons.
2) Now let’s look at how Jesus responded to this situation. MARK 5:6-8
a) Jesus didn’t reject the man or tell him that he has to go and get cleaned up 1st before he can minister to him. No! Jesus ministered to the man in the condition that he was.
b) Here’s something that we can learn from Jesus. Sometimes we want everybody to be so perfect in the Church and when they’re not, we want them to leave.
(i) Our ministry, the church's ministry and your ministry as a believer is to minister to those that are hurting. They may be full of devils and even foaming from the mouth, but it’s our job to minister to them and set them for free.
3) Let’s pick up the story here in MARK 5:11-13.
a) After this man was delivered, he asked Jesus if he could follow Him. But Jesus gave him a mission.
b) Look at MARK 5:19-20.
(i) Did you see what Jesus’ motivation for ministering to this man was? It’s found right here at the end of verse 19, “Had compassion on thee.”
c) Jesus sent him back to his hometown with a message to preach and that message was about “The Compassion of God.”
B) This is also a message that we should be sharing with the world, that God is a compassionate God. But all too often we portray the opposite by our negativism and defeated attitudes.
1) The way people see you, is the way they’re going to see God.
a) If someone knows that you’re a Christian, and all they see is negativism, hate, or anger, they’re going to think that it’s God that has brought this upon you.
b) Sometimes people say, “Well, that’s just who I am and I can’t change.” Don’t give into that that’s a lie of the Devil.
(i) (Romans 12:2) says, “And be not conformed to this world...” The NIV words it this way, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world (that would be the world’s attitude and the world’s way of thinking), but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
(ii) (Romans 8:29) says, “We are to be conformed to the image of His Son.” The NIV translation says, “We are to be conformed to the likeness of His Son.”
c) God wants us to deliver a message of victory a message of His goodness and mercy.
C) Let’s look at another example of Jesus’ compassion. Turn with me to Matthew 20:29-31.
1) These two men made one of the most effective requests to God. They asked for His mercy.
2) Look with Jesus said in Matthew 20:32.
a) This verse should open our eyes to something. Jesus saw that these men were blind, yet He asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”
(i) When we pray don’t just asked for God’s mercy or for his blessings or for help, but be as specific as possible.
3) Jesus said, “What do you want me to do for you?” Look at Matthew 20:33.
a) How did Jesus respond? Look at Matthew 20:34.
IV) I hope that you’re beginning to see that our entire Bible is a revelation of God’s mercy, love, and compassion for us.
A) Let’s look at another example of Jesus’ compassion. Turn to MARK 1:40-42
1) In essence, this man was saying, “Jesus I know you are able to heal; but I’m not sure it’s your will.”
a) This man didn’t know the will of God because he Didn’t have God’s Word. Today there’s no excuse for you are me. We know the Word and we know it is God’s will to heal.
2) Look at verse 41 again.
a) 1st we see that Jesus was MOVED WITH COMPASSION.
b) 2nd, this compassion moved Jesus to reach out to the man.
c) 3rd, Jesus addressed this man’s doubts about God’s will to heal. Jesus said unto him, “I will; be thou clean.”
(i) Jesus had to deal with this man’s doubts before he could receive his healing. Jesus had to make sure that this man knew that it was God’s will to heal him.
B) This is the same for us today. We need to get rid of our doubts before we can receive the promise.
1) Too often were in this same boat as this leper, we know that God can, but were not sure if He will.
2) For years and years the church has told us that God may put cancer or something else on you to teach you a spiritual lesson or to build your character. But that is not the character of God.
a) God doesn’t need sickness and tragedy to teach you anything. He has His Word and His Holy Spirit to teach you whatever you need to know.
b) You need to get this issue settled in your mind and in your spirit forever. You need to know that Jesus’ response to your needs will always be one out of compassion.
WOLCC Sunday, January 18, 1998 From Creflo Dollar’s book “Answers Awaiting in the Presence of God” Chapter 5 and 6