Morning, how are you doing? Doing good?
Good to see you Vivid matte. My name is and I bet most of
you, but my name is Rashad pastors here.
And if you're new, welcome, if you returning, welcome your
regular good to see you again and yeah, it's 2023.
Oh man, God is good. I don't know about you but often
times when a new year starts or a new Endeavor is being pursued,
I have like one gear. Go is either like kind of like a
golf cart like it's either go or nothing right and so I don't
know how you're entering this new year, you might be entering
it in go mode. Like I got so many things to do
so many things to accomplish and I want to be that lifeguard who
says Walk Don't Run. In other words, how I want us to
start our year is not running crazy after goals, not running
crazy after everything that we want to achieve and leaving.
No room left for God. Are you with me?
Yeah. And the matter of fact, I want
to I want to kind of inverse our approach to the new year and
Wanted to spend it focusing on how we're going to walk with
God. Rather than what are the things
that we're going to run after? And I know that feels
counterintuitive. It feels counterproductive for
the productive person in the room.
Why would I enter the year and slow down?
I need to enter the year and go faster.
The fiscal year is coming to a close.
My semesters coming to a close. I'm about to graduate and it's
easy to Rush and spin and try to get through stuff.
And we want to flip that and say, let's slow down and be with
God, or with me. And I just, I just want to say
this as somebody who works for God, right?
That it's easy to like, what am I going to do for God this year?
What are all the things I want to accomplish?
What do mother, Pastor friends want to see me do on Instagram
and all these things and I just felt like I I heard from God
over break, like walk with me. And see like what's this pastor
Donny? Like, I've never heard a sermon
on evoc before, it's very short, obscure passage, which we will
get into. But Eugene Peterson says, says
this. He says, I know I can't be busy
and pray at the same time. I can be active in.
Pray, I can work in pray but I cannot be busy in pray.
I cannot be inwardly rushed distracted or dispersed.
Who has felt spiritually distracted.
Who's felt spiritually rushed, who's felt spiritually,
dispersed, as they enter this new year.
And so what you're not going to hear as we talk about walking
with guys a list. Not going to hear a list of of
what you should do, what you can do, like it's not going to be a
list of can dues should dues, but it's going to be a posture
of being with God. It's going to be a to be
posture. What does God want you to be?
Want you to be with him? You with me, we got real quiet
and we want everything to come from that posture.
Bob storage, one of my favorite books is called secret secrets
of the secret place as this. Those the wisest thing you'll
ever do in this life is draw close to God and to seek him
with your whole heart. Here's one thing that I've
realized the longer that I've walked with the god that
spiritual maturity happens in the slow and in the steady.
Right. It did this.
It's a journey. Not a conquest and I know as I
played football listening, I'm about Conquest like we're going
to destroy this. I'm gonna destroy spiritual
disciplines this year. I'm gonna destroy being with
God. This year is like listen, I get
it, but I want to see this is it's slow its steady.
It's a seed, like many said, it's a step and I just want to
encourage us. This de start this year as we
take a step. Towards God you with me and so
what better example than a talk about a man who lived 365 years
talking about slow and steady and 300 of those 365.
He walked deeply with God and so we use this word walk today.
And here's what I want you to hear attentiveness and
intentionality. Miss.
When we say that he walked with God, we're talking about, he was
attentive and he was intentional.
And so, when I think about walking as opposed to driving or
taking the bus or taking the train, when I walk a couple
things happen, I get my steps on my, on my, on my, on my watch.
Now that's a joke that I do. But here's here's a couple of
things though that happened, I realized and have to recognize.
I'm not going to get very far. If I choose to walk rather than
drive or hop the bus that it's, this is going to be a slower
Journey that I'm not going to accomplish everything that I
wanted to do. Because the purpose of walking
is different too. I notice a lot more.
When I walk there, becomes an increased appreciation to the
things that I thought that I was familiar with.
Are you with me? Yeah yeah and and for that to
happen, I have to simultaneously.
Let my heart coming to a walking pace as well and have to have my
walk changed my heart realized there's a different purpose that
we're looking to accomplish in this space and time.
Right now, you were through me. So whenever I move into a
neighborhood are moved to a new city and first thing I do is I
walk it and I mean I'm not a country persons don't get that
at all but I do but I will. Walk to the student to know my
surroundings and to connect with God.
And so I'm take a different street to go down different
Ally, find a secret passageway or something.
And I'm just like God, like what are you?
What are you doing here? What's what's your heart for the
city? Tell me about this neighborhood.
Tell me what you're up to help me to help me to see my
neighbors and things that I didn't.
That I might not have noticed by driving by, by moving at the
pace of the speed of light. Then I do it over and over
again. I walk it.
Walk it like a talk. It a walk it out.
Now you can't get out of here and walk like at Target, how
many ways? And because we live in a world
where we can hop on a jet and be on the other side of the world
in the same day, we live in the world, we can hop on a train and
being five of the most biggest cities in America.
We can hop on a spaceship and go to another planet like
preaching. That's going to be the norm.
Maybe I don't know, debatable, but I'm just saying we're after
it, like in that stick to Pace of our world and that pace can
creep into a relationship with God.
Or we went to rush things with God.
Dick. Do you feel it?
You're like, I know it should be with God.
I just needed to speak to me five minutes.
That's all I'm allowed in right now.
And it is not that five minutes isn't bad.
Just like how you're entering the five minutes.
You can't even be present with God in that moment.
So when are our imagination to shift in what God finds
compelling and what God finds compelling is not necessarily
your accomplishments what God finds compelling according to.
This passage has people who walk humbly with him.
Genesis five, we have a list. You look at is the list of
people that who have lived and died.
Nothing else is said about them except that the duration of
their life and their genealogy and then we come to Enoch and
verse 21. Enoch appears in this genealogy
and in verse 22, it says Enoch walked Faithfully with God.
This is this is important that the author that the rider that
God wants us to see about this person.
Enoch and so walk here is, I'm a mess to stop but the Hebrew word
hits payout, she's a ban, I really but anyways.
All right now, Fremont is an intense action performed in
relationship with someone else. In other words Enoch walked in
Fellowship Up with the God and God walked in fellowship with
Enoch. That both parties both Enoch and
God were pleased and how they were walking together.
Is it denotes intimate Fellowship?
Almost to the point of to live with its one commentary says So
here that like Enoch walked with God, Enoch lived with the god,
Enoch was in a pleasing relationship with God for 300
years. So, think I want you to think
about people that you've walked with in life, either physically
or metaphorically. I friend a mother espouse, and
when you walk with someone it's not usually out of Duty is out
of relationship, you don't want, here's the thing you don't do
you walk with your spouse or your roommate or your friend,
are you kidding and interview them and get all formal with
them. Right?
And sometimes when we talk about walking with God, that this
formality comes in where you think like, I have to be like a
robot W and I have to tell God what I think he wants to hear
right now. And God is I actually want to
walk with you and I want you to be yourself.
When you walk with someone that you were in relationship with
you saying, how are you doing? Like what do you like?
What do you like? What do you what do you care
about, man? Isn't this walk?
Beautiful? All right.
Are you enjoying what you're experiencing?
How are you feeling? And you do it for connection.
You do it because you want to grow closer.
Not because you're looking to do the next thing.
Man, listen to the podcast and tell me, you got to hear that
part over again. And sometimes I'm, I can be
guilty this where I'm walking with my family like a, we got to
be the first person to that to that ride with me.
The first person in that Park, we're gonna be the first person
in a Slurpee, like, I mean, you know, enemy just like, we got to
get there. We got to get there.
We got to get there and then you look back at your pictures.
That go all. Wasn't that great.
And I go, but was I there? Come on somebody.
We walk with God, to grow closer to him, not to get to the next
thing. He will, God is pointing out by
saying Enoch walked with him is not to show.
Look how awesome you know because look how Superior he is.
Look how bad you are. I believe he gives us an example
of Enoch to give us an invitation to say I want to walk
with you. God wants to walk with you and
he wants you to walk with him. Sometimes we hear.
If you've been around the church, long enough, you hear
these phrases, like, how was your walk with the Lord?
How was your walk with the Lord sister?
I was your walk with the Lord Brother.
And, um, and some of us here like I know what you're doing.
I don't like it, man. You judging me right now.
Um, and what we hear sometimes, when we hear that, that phrase
is a how you doing with the list.
How's the list going? How's the, how are the do's and
don'ts going? But we talked about our walk
with the Lord. I want you to hear the heart of
it. Here's the heart of it.
Does God have your attention? It's God.
Have is God. Have your attention?
It doesn't mean that everything is perfect.
Does it mean that you're getting everything you want?
But that The Nearness of God is an anchor for your soul and
turbulence. One commentator says this in the
midst of the chapters rehearsal of the life and death of the
Patriarchs one, man's life stands out as qualitatively
distinct Enoch is described twice as one who walked with
God. It is language that indicates
intimacy integrity and obedience.
And we're not talking about quantity people.
I'm not talking about quantity, I'm not talking about the the
list. I'm talking about qualitative,
man. Does God have your attention?
Does he have your honesty? Does he have your openness?
Can you go on a walk with you? And you say God, here's how I'm
really feeling, he's really how my day is going.
Here's really how I feel about how you responded to my prayers
this year. God wants a relationship with us
and I know that sounds so basic. I know it sounds so simple like
Sunday school class, but it's actually everything.
And so many of us including myself get caught up in, what am
I doing for God? Instead of how am I being with
God? I can do tasks for you all day
long and not connect with you personally.
I can say, I can set stuff up here.
I can do the dishes, maybe I'll do the dishes and not, I can do
things and not be with you. And the the heart of Walking
with God is being with him. Remember the good old dating
days could? We just celebrate, 20 years
people? Let's go.
And sorry if I'm reflecting on The Dating days and I mean, we
did gives, but that's not what. I remember.
Most I did things for my mouth, my now spouse.
But that's not what I remember. Most of all remember, Moses
sitting together in the comments and sharing our hearts.
Asking how was your day? How was, how was class?
What are you looking forward to? I remember the days just calling
to say hi, we use these things called telephone that you stare
into the wall, they had little cord on it.
People every dorm room had one and call.
Hey, it's me. Um, This is what you knock and
God did and we go. I got heat one commentator says
this, the phrase walk suggest that Enoch and God got along.
It means so to get along with somebody, you have to be in
proximity with them to get along with somebody.
You suggest that you're probably in some type of relationship and
Enoch in God or in proximity, and we're in relation ship with
one. Another Amos three says this do
two walk together unless they have agreed to meet.
You can't walk with God and she agreed to meet with him.
You with me, you knock was so caught up with God that God
caught Enoch up, Hebrews 11. It's called like, you know, here
there's a Hall of Fame in sports.
So this is called like the Hall of faith.
And it lists all these amazing people, people that did amazing
things amazing people to in the Bible.
Enoch is mentioned in Hebrews 11.
It says this an 11-5 by faith Enoch was taken from this life
so that he did not Various that he could not be found because
God had taken him away for before he was taken.
He was commended as one who, please God.
Enoch was so caught up with God, he didn't die the god there's
only two people we see in the whole Bible that don't touch
just Enoch and Elijah and God catches him up.
Another writer says this by taking Enoch up to glory, god
wasn't trying to get us impressed with Enoch Spidey nor
God nor was God, saying if you get to be as beautiful as
spirituals Enoch, they'll get translated up to heaven.
To. This was a unique experience.
God used to emphasize a specific point.
God's point was, I love to walk with humans.
Enoch was the first man to truly walk with me?
So I've decided to highlight his example, by doing something
extraordinary, Very with him. I took him up to Paradise to
underscore. How much I value and desire.
A daily walking relationship with my chosen ones.
When God rewards when it says that God has rewarded when God
has done something, it's to reveal his heart.
So when God says, I've taken Enoch into heaven, this is a
reward. This is, this is an honor, he's
saying because I love when people pursue me, I love when
people walk with me. This is this is a this point
system with the kingdom of God, seek.
All these things seek me and all these things will be added unto
you. Matthew Henry says, Enoch walked
with God as if he were already in heaven.
I remember before I was a Christian and I always knew I
came across when I was 21, I always knew like, okay, God, God
is real. Like course he is.
And I'm sure that I would like to spend eternity with him, but
just not right now. I wanted I want to kind of do my
thing and right before it's time to depart this Earth, then I
want it. Then I want to like say, hey
God, I'm in, I'm done because I want to do my own thing into the
last second. And I wonder how many times in
our lives even our daily Walker. Like I kind of want to do my
thing. And then I'll kind of get to God
leader. And I think God is saying walk
with me first. Pursue me first.
This is the most important and wisest thing that you can do in
your life. Have you ever had a moment where
you said to yourself? You been a moment.
It's an amazing moment where you said to yourself, I wish this
moment would never leave. I wish this moment would never
end. Maybe that was your break
somewhere, warm. I hope this never ends and then
that and then when you're in those moments you don't you lose
concepts of time and task and worries and anxieties and cares
because when you're in those moments you go, this is what I
was made for. This is what I was created for.
And there's a time when you walk with God, where you begin to
experience him in ways you haven't experienced him before
where you go. Oh this is what I was made for.
Oh this is this is really good for me.
Oh this is what you mean. God when you said to walk with
you because you have stuff to tell me and you have stuff that
you want to reveal to me that I would never going to get on my
own trying to do my thing. You with me?
There's there's a moment as we walk with God that we begin to
realize that he just wants us to be.
He wants us to be with him and kind of waiting and his Waters
and allow him to transform our affections and desires and
motivations and like that waiting.
That's what pleases God. Like, that's what pleases God's
heart because what pleases God's heart is when we want him.
Because I know it's easy to think, like, right now, like
what could I do differently? What could I, how could I reorg
straight my week and that's fine, but at the heart of this
is, what pleases God is, when you want him.
Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of
your heart. That's that's that's start word
for the day Delight. That we would delight in God we
go. Thank God actually I want you.
I want to spend time with you. I want to hang out with you.
When God calls Abraham and we'll talk about Abraham in a couple
weeks, he tells Abraham, I am die exceedingly, great reward.
We're not called to follow God to get to something else.
We're not called to God because we're trying to get some more
else. We're trying to attain something
else. All the something else's are
pointing us right. Back to God's heart.
God is not our spiritual, Uber driver.
Come on, right. Just take me where I want to go.
Don't talk to me. I'm going to.
I want to. I'm distractive.
Got my ear pods in this. Take me to take me somewhere.
Drop me off here. I got it from here.
I know where I want to go. Now, this is costing me too much
and your surge price is Lord. Oh, Lord.
Okay. I take joke too far.
All right. Um, the sooner we realize that
God just wants to be with us, Is the path to a deeply formed
life. Because God is God is the pearl
of great price. God is The Treasure of all
Treasures. So if I was just thinking, if
someone told me you're a 7-Eleven and you know, behind
the counter, they have a lottery tickets, right?
If someone said, man in rosi, like the jackpots in there, Like
I would spend everything I had and buy the whole spool because
I know and I'm gonna, I'm gonna be rich, and it's going to far
exceed anything that I give in this moment though.
It might seem foolish. And when God tells Abraham, I am
your great reward, he is saying there's nothing in the world
that out values. What you'll have in me When
Jesus talks about the kingdom of God and he says, like there's
there's treasure in his field. There's a pearl of great price
or saying get by the field. Get rid of everything, because
this is worth everything. You with me, just let me know
that you were with me. All right?
This is this is what Enoch realized this is what he
realized is sixth after 65 years, God is worth everything.
He realized it in his life Pursuit for the next 300 years
was getting to know God 46 and Hebrews says about you knock and
without faith. It is impossible to please God,
because anyone who comes to him, must believe that he exists and
that he rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
You knocked didn't come to God to make a name for himself.
He came to God because he found out that God can be found out.
He realized that God was the reward and that's what kept Him
coming back. So you can I talk on my kids
often? And so often times I'll tell
them. Hey hop in the car and let's go.
Where we going Dad, how long is it going to take?
But what's our objective? What are we looking to do?
What will I gain? And I don't tell them, I'll just
say just come in. Whoever comes they get to go
every once in awhile, someone of the children will speak up and
go, hey, guys, only good things happen.
When we go with that. Like we go with that, good
things happen. So you might not know what's
going to happen, but we have years of experience, finding out
that good things happen and a lot of times I should have went
What if we begin? To see that God has a good for
us. What if we looked at our walk
with God is like, man, this is good because God actually wants
good things for his children. What if we looked at a walk of
with God is not as guilt or compulsion or duty but a
relationship that God wants to deepen because God purely just
wants to be with you. How would that transform?
How you start your week, your month, your brand-new year that
God just wants to share his heart with you and help you to
realize how loved you are. What if Sit, we use the disc is,
I want you to sit here. I just want to tell you how much
I love you and will let you know that.
I see everything is happening your life and I have good for
you and I'm here. And there's nothing that can
change that to you. Missed your devotions all man.
Yeah, your heaping on Gill, but I'm here and I love you.
What if this is just to get you to the place where you begin to
say, God can we go somewhere? God, can we hang out?
What if this is forgot to shift your heart to say, God can I
spend time with you? It could have said this
Pasadena, knock lived and died but it says that he walked with
God, this is something that God wants us to see.
Walking with him as possible. Walking with him is a beautiful
thing. And I believe that this story is
to whet our appetite for what's possible.
He rewards those who diligently seek him.
He rewards those who seek him out.
This is this is all I have to say today.
Seek him out. This is our a manned mission in
life. I'm not Pastor, I'm not a dad.
My primary identity is a Son of God and I want to be with my
heavenly father. That's where my identity rest.
The God wants to spend time with me.
God is Not trying. To humiliate me or shame me.
He's saying, I want to spend time with you, I want to show
you who I am. I want you to know who I am, and
honestly, by preparing this and spend some time walking, I'm
like God, I don't know what happens in the professional life
of being a pastor or a Christian, but there's too many
moments where I find myself being like stereo and form.
Maleic with you. Why can't it stuck to you?
Like in his tell you like what's really going on?
Like I'm a little frustrated, a little tired, I'm a little bored
on this vacation. I was expecting it to be a
little bit more unsuspecting this.
I was expecting this style, Jutsu change my heart a little
bit more. Why isn't it God?
Oh, man, I was expecting this for my kids, this semester and I
think I was like, that's it. Talk to me, walk with me like
like from the realness and honesty of your heart and invite
me in. See you knock.
What he did was he decided to have this daily postures is God.
I'm here for you. And kept doing it and he kept
doing it. This is that by faith is
impossible to please. God, faith isn't a one-time
thing. It's a lifestyle, which is God.
I trusted you with that in the past.
I'm going to trust you now to trust you tomorrow.
I'm going to trust you next week when the keep coming to you.
And with this Henry now, and says this and the spiritual
life, the word discipline means the effort to create some space
in which God can act discipline means to prevent everything in
your life. From being filled up, discipline
means that somewhere you're not occupied and certainly not
preoccupied to create that space in which something can happen
that you didn't that you hadn't planned or counted on.
And church. I just I want us to be a place
and the people were we create space for God to show up in our
lives. Not from a place of striving or
achieving or working for God's love, but knowing that you loved
by God and moving out into the world from that posture.
Amen.