Walking with Jesus

I've been away for awhile for the holidays, but it feels good to get back in a normal routine again. I do hope your Christmas and New Year's holidays went well.

A new emphasis we have in our Region this year is called Walking with Jesus. It is an effort to help our churches and their members begin a deeper walk with God in 2008. Briefly, we ask them to identify one or two spiritual practices they will do in 2008 in three areas of their lives to help them experience a deeper relationship with God. These three areas are spiritual practices, missional practices, and leadership practices.

Going deeper with God doesn't just happen. Like anything else in life, it requires commitment and specific practices. Many of us may have made new year's resolutions, but they won't come to pass unless we take specific steps to make them happen. A new year's resolution to lose 30 pounds won't happen if we continue to eat poorly and do not exercise. The same thing is true of our spiritual lives. Many people say they want to experience a deeper relationship with God, but it never happens because they take no action that will enable that to happen. Walking with Jesus is an attempt to help people covenant with one another to take specific actions that will enable them to experience a deeper relationship with God.

Have you made some definite decisions about how you might grow deeper in your walk with God this year? At the start of a new year you might begin reading through the Bible. You only have to read about three chapters a day to read through the entire Bible in a year. I did it again last year. If the entire Bible seems a bit much maybe you can make the decision to read through the New Testament this year. That is one of the spiritual practices I've identified for myself in 2008. Maybe you want to read one of the classic devotional books this year.

Another spiritual practice I've identified for this year is to pray the Lord's Prayer when I lay down at night and again when I wake up in the morning. That is not the only praying I do each day, but it is a good way to end a day and begin a new one. I usually spend a few minutes thinking about some aspect of the Lord's Prayer as I pray about it. This morning the phrase "Hallowed be thy name" stuck in my mind, and I lay in the bed for a few minutes just worshiping God before getting up.

If you decide to identify some practices in the areas of leadership, missional, and spiritual please let me know. If you need help identifying resources to help you in those practices, contact me and I will direct you to some of the resources we have identified for our churches. Let's be intentional about our Walk with Jesus in 2008.