From the time I began walking and into the start of first grade, I wore white high-top shoes with steel plates built in on the instep side. This was to keep my ankles upright. These white shoes did not bother me until some of the children began to tease me about wearing “baby shoes.” I asked my dad if I could have “regular” girl shoes and promised if I had them, I could walk with my ankles upright. My father considered this and took me to the shoe store where I was fitted with regular shoes. With my new shoes I took time to walk deliberately, setting my foot down heel to toe, bearing weight on the outside edge of my feet. That indeed helped to keep my ankles in place.
Clumsiness came later at the age of twelve or thirteen, and life seemed slippery. I fell frequently and tended to bump into things. Walking with a heavy step, I definitely did not glide but rather clomped; so my mother decided I should take a local class called Finishing Touches. One of the skills I gained with much practice was the ability to walk gracefully. Part of the training included keeping a book balanced on my head through a day’s activities, such as dressing, eating meals, doing chores, walking up and down stairs, and getting in and out of the car. This disciplined walk changed the awkwardness and clumsiness into a flow with ease of movement.
Although I could walk with my head up and move in fluid motion, my corrected physical walk did nothing to resolve the doubt, worry, fear, and conflicting answers I had regarding how to carry myself in life. I did not know at the time that I was longing to walk with God. I was frustrated by not having solid, dependable answers to stand on. I wanted answers that were firm, that were certain, that did not change or shift on me. Where could I walk that was right and that was sure? Where was that solid ground?
I received answers after having been invited to a home fellowship of The Way Ministry. In a short period of time, I was in our ministry’s Foundational Class learning the answers to my questions. Learning that God’s Word is His will gave me a path to walk on that is clear and distinct. Then my walk in life changed again, this time by God’s great love and grace. It became a wonderful walk on solid ground where the path is always sure and trustworthy.
God’s Word is the firm foundation on which to walk as we make decisions and conduct our lives daily, and we can have great confidence in its trustworthiness. We will look at why the Word is trustworthy and how walking on God’s Word establishes our ways. We’ll also consider examples of some believing disciples who decided to walk on the solid ground of God’s Word and received deliverance in life.
Let’s begin in II Timothy 3:16 where we find a basic foundation on which to build our trust in God’s Word:
All scripture is given by inspiration of God [is God-breathed], and is profitable for doctrine [how to believe rightly], for reproof [when we are not believing rightly], for correction [how to get back to right believing], for instruction in righteousness.
“All” in II Timothy 3:16 means every single word. Each word of God’s Word is significant, important, and adds to the whole truth needed to live successfully. We know that God’s love is huge since He gave us His only begotten Son for our redemption. But God went beyond that to give us His written Word so that we might know how to believe and live rightly. Knowing how to believe and live rightly yields success in life. God desires for us to have a successful life.
Not only is all Scripture God-breathed and profitable, but we read in II Peter 1:20 and 21 that it is of no private interpretation and it did not come by the will of man. Instead, holy men of God wrote it down as God revealed it to them. Because it did not originate with man, the original God-breathed Word is completely true, perfectly pure, and faithfully sure. It has integrity.
Jesus Christ, as God’s Son, spoke many truths of his Father’s written Word. These truths help to build in our minds and hearts the integrity and trustworthiness of the Word. Jesus Christ declared that God’s Word is truth.
John 17:17:
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
The truth of God’s Word is the information center, the resource, the dictionary or encyclopedia on life that we utilize to gain answers to questions (sometimes even to those we did not know we had). The Word gives vision for our lives and direction for our feet on any subject in life. God is the Author of life, and He loved us enough to give us a written manual on how to live it….
This is an excerpt from the January/February 2006 issue of The Way Magazine.
Copyright© 2006 by The Way International. All rights reserved.
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