Are you walking worthy?



In 1966 my grandfather James Hamrick preached a message to Grace Baptist Church in Ellaville, Georgia titled “That we should walk worthy of the Lord”. He based his sermon on 1 Thessalonians 2:12.

The plea from the Apostle Paul stressed a life worthy of our calling.  We ought to look and live different from the world and look more like Jesus.  There is a wide road and a narrow one.  We make a choice to follow, trust and obey.

Grandpa took time to wrestle over the word, worthy (axiws).  He bullet pointed his thoughts:

·        Deserving

·        Meriting

·        Trustworthy

·        Fit for service

·        Suitable and usable

John 3:16 shows we are unworthy of his love, but despite that he extravagantly loves us.  He demonstrated his love that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus is worthy, entirely worthy(kataxiow) of praise.  When we receive him as Lord and Savior, we are made Holy and worthy.  Ephesians 5:1-2 states walk as his dear children.  We are to grow up and mature in our worthiness.  We live into our call and our namesake.  The world, our flesh and the devil vie against our assimilation and transformation into our new identity in Christ.

The Apostle Paul in Colossians states that our “lives are to please God”.  In Corinthians he says, we have been bought with a price and no longer live for ourselves, but to God. We do this not because we are worthy, but because HE is worthy.  We live and act in such a way that He deserves from us, not in a way we deserve.  What really matters to God is our relationship and He has shown us great love and commitment.  We return that love by abiding, obeying and aligning our lives to Him.

By doing so, we are counted worthy by God to be his children and a citizen of his kingdom.  Ask yourself, are you walking worthy? Take time to examine your life and ask God to search your heart.  When he does, he is gentle, loving and kind enough to reveal it to you.  Read, mark, and inwardly digest the Scriptures.  Seek after God with all your heart and keep His ways.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Strategies for overcoming anger (part 2)

Last week we first looked at recognizing the roots of anger.  It is important to know the root so that you can respond appropriately instead of reacting destructively. Once you determined the root, how do you overcome it? The Bible gives us lots of examples of people who have gotten angry and it turned to sin and destruction. We can learn from their mistakes. Cain and Able, Jacob and Esau, Moses and the people, and Pharisees and Jesus are all stories that end poorly.  Anger itself is an emotion that acts like a warning light so we can respond well. Most people react instead of respond. This is not a game of semantics. Have you ever played the game, flinch? It is a boy thing. Initially we react to someone trying to smack our hand. Eventually you learn to respond and find ways to avoid the smack.  We know we will get angry at some point. We need to train ourselves how to respond to various anger triggers. James says that we should be quick to listen, slow to s...
Read more

Establishing a rhythm of prayer

Relationships grow deeper and stronger when communication is happening regularly.  Because of good communication the depth of the relationship results in trust, commitment, and even shows our vulnerability. My marriage to Rosanna is evidence of that. Our ability to communicate is not just limited to marriage, but also to our relationship to God. This then is an example to our children and others as a visible testimony.  We all suffer from the effects of brokenness which affects all of our relationships especially to God. Our sin separates us from God and our communication lines are cut. He doesn’t hear our prayers. Only God can repair that brokenness and open the lines of communication. When we turn from our sin and put our trust in Jesus’ work on the cross and make him boss of our life.  He will restore the relationship. Prayer is communication with God which includes speaking and listening.  Why do we pray? We pray because Jesus expects us to and wants us...
Read more

One hour of prayer guide

THE PRAYER CYCLE This is a guided pattern for spending an hour in prayer. It is helpful to enable people to understand various aspects of prayer and to increase their capacity for prayer. The intention is to spend five minutes on each segment. 1. Praise: Start your prayer hour by praising the Lord. Praise Him for things that are on your mind right now. Praise Him for one special thing He has done in your life in the past week. Praise Him for His goodness to your family. 2. Wait: Spend this time waiting on the Lord. Be silent and let Him pull together reflections for you. 3. Confess: Ask the Holy Spirit to show you anything in your life that might be displeasing to Him. Ask Him to point out attitudes that are wrong, as well as specific acts for which you have not yet made a prayer of confession. Now confess that to the Lord so that you might be cleansed. 4. Read the Word: Spend time reading in the Psalms, in the prophets, and passages on prayer located in the New Testament....
Read more