Walking as Jesus Walked
"By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, 'I have come to know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked." (I John 2:3-6, NASB).
I was praying this morning, and the Lord was speaking to me about walking as He walked. I was considering what this meant: how did Jesus walk? He walked in obedience to the Father, doing what He saw the Father doing. He showed compassion to those to whom He saw the Father showing compassion. He rebuked those He saw the Father rebuking. He healed those He saw the Father desired to heal. He spoke the words He heard the Father telling Him to speak. In short, His agenda for a given day was whatever the heavenly Father's agenda was. He did not live His life according to His wishes. He lived His life according to what the Father wanted, even in going to the cross.
Since I am to walk as Jesus walked, this should be my example. It is not going through the day saying, "what would Jesus do?" and then trying to figure out in my own mind and understanding how Jesus would have handled different situations. It is, in every moment, doing what Jesus did, saying in essence, "Lord, what would You have me do? What would You have me say?", and then doing what He tells you to do. He wants to live His life through us by His Holy Spirit as we live on this earth. When we are His, we do not belong to ourselves anymore. We must lay down what we want -- our desires, our agendas, our wills, and our very lives -- at His feet. When we live, we are to live as unto Him. This means doing what He says to do, and not doing what He says not do, on a day to day basis. If we live and move and minister according what the Holy Spirit is saying to us, we have the freedom and power to walk as Jesus walked. As we practice walking in this way, we do not have to constantly be praying, "what do You want, Lord, what do You want?" in an anxious manner, either. We can rest in Him, for walking by the Spirit comes from a place of abiding in Christ.
How do we come to this place? We come to it by fellowshipping with the the Lord, both together with other saints as well as in our own personal lives. There were times when Jesus withdrew to spend time before His Father and to pray. How much more do we in our frail humanness need to do so! As we learn to hear the Holy Spirit's voice in those quiet times with the Lord, we also learn to recognize it throughout the day. A friend of mine asked once, "How do you learn to hear the Holy Spirit's voice?" In the question is the answer. You learn -- by practice, by listening, and (most importantly) by obeying what He tells you. I have found that this learning does not usually happen overnight, though. It is, like many things in our spiritual lives, a process of learning. Thanks be to the Lord, we have a great and compassionate Teacher in the Holy Spirit throughout this process! He will teach us to hear His voice if we are willing to listen and obey. If you say, "how do I know it is the Lord speaking something to me?" I can say a few things in reply: Does what you are hearing lead you closer to Him? Does it lead you to do and say things He has taught us in the Word? He will never tell you something that disagrees with His word revealed in the Scriptures. If you think you are hearing something that is against what the Scriptures teach and is leading you away from Him, then do not listen. The Enemy does try to deceive us. The longer you practice listening to the Voice of the Holy Spirit by walking with Him, the better you will hear and understand what He is saying, and know that it is Him saying it. Jesus said His sheep hear His voice and follow Him. He wants to speak to you if you are His child. He wants you to know the freedom of walking as He did by walking in the Holy Spirit. The Lord sees our lives and the world around us so much better than we do. When we listen and obey we can do and say things that go beyond our own natural understanding. It is in such moments that we are operating according to the wisdom of God rather than the wisdom of humanity.
Lord, help me today to hear Your voice and walk as You did. My life is Yours to do with as You desire. Thank-you that You lead me, even in the seemingly insignificant things, when I listen for Your voice.
