Deuteronomy 13:4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. Walking after the LORD sounds so easy an idea that many are tempted to say the same words without truly understanding the import of such words; easier said than done as adage says. Many have attempted to walk with the Lord using their own minds, intellect, brains; standards and all their strength but this does not work because God has a very particular way of doing His things. Human knowledge and strength can not match God’s strength and wisdom, that is why He clearly says in Isaiah 55:8, 9; “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

It is unfortunate that many Christians do not take these verses with seriousness they deserve, many have read it, many have preached about it. Today I would like to speak to a seriously well intentioned Christian to re-evaluate the last verse because it carries the secret of walking with and after the Lord. Many think that if they change their lifestyles they are walking after the Lord; this is just an iota of what it takes to truly walk after the Lord. The verse again says seek the Lord while He may be found, which means that to say that you’ve found God requires preparation, both spiritual and physical. Though God is Omnipresent, He is not obvious to all people, it takes a particular relationship for you to see Him or feel His presence

Stopping riotous lifestyle, reforming personal mannerisms, mending your ways with friends and relatives is positive but only a small cog in the wheel.  Others think that by giving large offering, going to church, helping the poor, all these are good but not important as forsaking ones your ways and thoughts. Solving problems using humanistic methods is what God is against, He is telling us that as long as we continue using humanistic approach to solving our problems; as long we use our humanistic standards to measure good and bad, we are at logger ends with Him.

Being at logger ends with God is a very dangerous position to be in because all human efforts are bound to fail, and we become enemies with God. Many have endeavored to please Him using their own thoughts and ended up dead as a dodo; remember the sons of Eli during Prophet Samuel’s time; remember how king Saul failed because he thought that pleasing his soldiers and leaders was more important than obeying God’s commandment to completely annihilate the Amalekites and destroying all their possessions; he chose the best of everything and destroyed what was un appealing to his eyes; remember the sons of Aaron also in Leviticus chapter 10, well the list is endless. No one can afford to have God as an enemy, that I can assure you my brethren.

Ananias and Sapphira pretended to be what they weren’t, by pretending to be serving God by giving out their property but they did not have genuine fellowship with other disciples and they paid with their lives, Jesus called all Pharisees children of the devil because they pretended to keep all the law while they broke some of them, pretending to be pious while the were hypocrites in their hearts. They pretended to be truthful but their truthfulness was only outward.

James 4:4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Dear brethren, friendship and the reasoning of this world; believing in the self; all this makes one an enemy with God and this earns one total condemnation. Walking after God means total distance from the systems of this world, no rationalizing and reasoning with the Word of God, believing with out doubt as it written in Mark 11:24, Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. This principle is alien to the people of the world because they have no faith in the Word of God, they need to test and try everything they hear and see before agreeing with anything and everything. Jesus took lots of trouble to explain this important key to people but they still struggle in their unbelief and perish in the same state.

When people trust themselves and don’t regard God as God, He lets them corrupt themselves in a shamefully terrible manner, a manner not befitting a living being as written in the epistle of Romans 1:21-23 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

Everybody in this world must in one way or the other acknowledges the presence of God in whatever tongue they use. Whether confessed knowledge or assumed knowledge it doesn’t matter but the truth is that all human beings know there is God in whatever name they call Him. Believing or not believing is another matter all together, because the Bible says that even the devil knows there is God and he trembles.

When people know God and fail to acknowledge His supremacy, glorifying Him for the good things He has done in each and everyone’s individual life, He abandons them to their futile thoughts because He makes futile all the wisdom of men. People continue wandering about life without purpose, sometimes they experiment with everything and anything that could offer them a purpose but the do not succeed and never will. Some seek peace and solace in drugs, alcohol and all sorts of degenerative habits yet when the drug substances wear off, they find themselves in worse situations than before.

Have you ever wondered what is wrong with world today? Where people are rising against each other for no apparent reason, because they think they are wise than everyone else, in their own wisdom God darkened their minds. What God has darkened, no matter how much knowledge they ingest, it leads them further astray from truth than before. Knowing and fearing God is the beginning of wisdom, so says the proverbs. Not just knowing, but believing God and acknowledging Him for all His goodness.

Give God glory that is due to Him with all your heart and you’ll be in the right direction of your walk after Him. If you want your thoughts and hearts to be bright and not darkened, be thankful to Him in all the days of your life. People, in the wisdom of making money and acquiring wealth they have changed the wealth to be their God, they have forgotten that it not out of their prudence that they have amassed such wealth but they have because God has helped gain it for the Bible it the Lord who gives men power to acquire wealth, thereby changing the incorruptible God into corruptible things of this world. The Bible warns us against love of money, not that there is anything wrong with money by itself but the love of the money is what is wrong.

Jesus said it easy for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.  Does this mean all rich people will go to hell? The answer is no. because we have people who are born again Christians who are very rich. How do they do that, it is because they have overcome the love of money. Many people don’t know why they do what they do; the answer again is very easy, go back to the drawing board. The answers to all human beings problems start and end with their Creator, God. When a car breaks down you don’t take it to a doctor or a tailor or a jua kali artisan, you take it to a mechanic or to the dealer/manufacturer.

When a human body breaks down you don’t take to a carpenter to fix it or even a veterinary doctor to fix it but a medical doctor. When a human spirit is broken down to whom do you take it for fixing? When a human spirit is grieved can a witch doctor fix it? When somebody’s soul is tormented can money heal him? The answer is no, only the Maker can fix these problem using His own ways and not of the affected person.

Prophet Daniel said in Daniel 11: 32 those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. Many people have fallen to their destruction in firm believe that they are right when the rest of the world is wrong, these are the people God is plainly saying that He will destroy by flattery.  The notion that somebody is better than everybody else is self serving and deceitful. When nations trust their political systems and forsake guidance of God, such nations end up self destructing, and the same fate awaits individuals as well.

There is a distinct difference between the two kinds of people referred to in this verse, the first is headed for destruction through corruption, and the second is headed for greater better things in life. Daniels lays it all open for those who have eyes to see and who have ears to hear. The secret to greatness is the knowledge of God, not just knowledge but believing in Him with out any doubt whatsoever. Therefore my plea to you is, what is hindering you from believing God? Whatever excuse you might have, He has the right answer for you. Forsake your thoughts, don’t be so clever in your own eyes, or as one Kenyan president said “don’t so clever all over a sudden”

Proverbs 3:7
Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. Allow me to close this devotional today with this encouragement that when you are rooted to this wisdom of God you will never have anything shake you in this world because your foundation is safe in the hands of the maker of the same. Remember King David was a man likes you and me and yet God called him “the man after My own heart”, remember how he walked with Him, he never did anything without consulting God and getting an answer first before acting. The Bible says that David had very wise counselors as Aithophel but he never relied on their advice but always sought God and His servants. This made Aithophel turn against David and go to associate with Absalom, the king’s son to rebellion.

Prophet after prophet served with David, he never trusted himself and he ended receiving a promise from God; a promise that was and still is everlasting, according to 2 Samuel 7:16 and your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” This is the benefit of walking after God, even when trials and tribulations come as they came to David, he never trusted himself even once but always looked upon the Lord for everything, even in heat of the battle, even fleeing from his enemies, and he trusted the guidance of God. Turn from your stubborn reasonableness and trust God and you’ll be safe, walk after Him and in Him always. Jesus said that whoever wished to follow should put down their burdens and pick His cross. This does mean that one needs to come to the end of themselves, end of their tether and seek guidance from Jesus only for He is abundant in grace.

Prayer: Father in the name Jesus Christ I thank you for the reader, I thank for giving me grace to finish this devotion that will be used to change the hearts of many because You have willed it to be so. Encourage and empower your people by your word, let your people be planted where the systems of this world cannot uproot them to the glory and honor of the Holy name of Jesus at the mention of which will make every knee bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. Amen

This devotional was written by Bishop Joseph Koburu Mukiira of Maximum Victory and Joy Worship Centre Nairobi and brought to you courtesy of Journey 2 Joy International Ministries Inc. USA.

©All rights reserved by Bishop Joseph Mukiira