Book 2 of Musings Interaction With the Lord

Faith is moment by moment interaction with the living God. The purpose of the commandments, both Old Testament and New, is to bring us to this interaction.

It appears that under both the old covenant and the new covenant, many of God's people cannot seem to find God's heart.

Why is this? It is because the Jews and the Christians have turned what is to be fellowship with God into a manmade religion.

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:3)

King David, under the old covenant, knew the Lord and had fellowship with Him. The Apostle Paul, under the new covenant, knew the Lord and had fellowship with Him.

But numerous Jews under the old covenant did not know the Lord. Their prophets denounced their behavior. So did the Lord Jesus. The descendants of Abraham strained out gnats and swallowed camels.

Consider the manner in which God had fellowship with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God spoke to them from time to time and they obeyed God.

The exodus of the Jews from Egypt and their pilgrimage through the wilderness Sinai remains one of the greatest interventions of God in world history. But during the wilderness wandering, and after their occupation of Canaan, the Jews did not serve God satisfactorily.

Sometimes it seemed as though their prophets, and very few others, were the only Jews who served the Lord. The rest did not walk with God or even know the Lord. Yet, the Jews are God's chosen people.

The same has been true of Christians. The writings of the Apostle Paul reveal that the churches of his day contained many members who did not know the Lord. They were yielding to their sinful nature, and Paul warned them they would not inherit the Kingdom of God.

The Jews used elaborations of the Law to avoid having to practice righteous behavior. In place of fellowship with God they tithed herbs. They neglected judgment, mercy, and faith. Today the Law-keeping Jew may refrain from throwing a light-switch on the Sabbath, or push the button on an elevator. Their religion tells them they are practicing righteousness by observing the Sabbath in this manner. But those who walk with God realize that this is not what God meant by keeping the Sabbath.

The Lord Jesus knew God and walked with God. But He healed on the Sabbath, causing no small amount of consternation and anger on the part of the leaders of the Jews. They could not see that Christ was keeping the spirit of the Sabbath commandment when He healed on the Sabbath, because the religious leaders knew their religion but they did not know God.

It is so today. How many Christians know the Lord? How many walk with God and have fellowship with Him?

There are millions of Christians in the United States who are waiting for an unscriptural "rapture." If they were hearing from God they would realize the "rapture" teaching did not come from the Lord.

There are millions of Christians in the United States who believe that because they have "accepted" Christ it is not absolutely necessary that they behave righteously. They have been taught that because they are "under the blood" (an unscriptural phrase) God "sees their behavior through Christ" (another unscriptural expression).

Why can the pastors, evangelists, and other believers be deceived in this manner? It is because they do not know the Lord. They think faith is belief in a system of theology. The truth is, both religion and theology often are deadly enemies of Jesus Christ.

Let us consider faith for a moment. What is faith? The expression "the just shall live by faith" is one of the tenets of Protestantism. "Faith" is defined as belief in a theological position.

Actually, the Scripture itself defines faith. The eleventh chapter of the Book of Hebrews is a lengthy definition of the meaning of "the just shall live by faith."

The eleventh chapter of the Book of Hebrews has little to do with theology or with religion. It is a record of people to whom the Lord spoke and who obeyed the Lord, often when their obedience caused them to suffer.

Let us take Enoch, for example. Enoch is one of the heroes of faith. Enoch walked with God, and God removed him from the earth.

Enoch walked with God. There is no record that Enoch observed any religious ritual. He was unaware of the Law of Moses. He was unaware of the Jesus Christ and the new covenant. But Enoch is used as an example of "the just shall live by faith."

We do not know of any Christian whom God removed from the earth because of his faith. Yet, "faith" is supposed to be the distinguishing mark of the new covenant.

What was there about Enoch that was special, and that revealed true faith?

It is summed up in this: "Enoch walked with God."

From every standpoint, the new covenant is vastly superior to the Law of Moses. We have a better Sacrifice. We have the Holy Spirit. We have the born-again experience. We have the Old Testament and the New Testament to read and meditate in. We have the ministries and gifts of the Spirit.

Enoch had none of these. But Enoch walked with God, and God took him because of his faith.

Perhaps what we call faith is different from the faith of the eleventh chapter of the Book of Hebrews.

The truth is, faith is a moment by moment interaction with the Lord Jesus Christ, and God through Him. All covenants, all commandments, all religious activities, have, or ought to have, as their objective, to bring us to a moment by moment interaction with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Everything we do in church in every service should be directed toward bringing the believer to a moment by moment interaction with the Lord Jesus Christ. If our activities do not have this objective, they are not building faith in us.

How wonderful, how utterly marvelous, it is to bring Jesus into every aspect of our life. Our job, our school, our work around the house, our family life, from the time we get up in the morning until we go to sleep at night should find us looking to Jesus; looking to Jesus; looking to Jesus constantly.

The problem that concerns you right now-have you spoken to Jesus about it?

That sin that keeps cropping up in your behavior until you are ashamed-have you spoken to Jesus about it?

Your plans for an education-have you spoken to Jesus about them?

That boy or girl, man or woman, that you are fantasizing about to the point of idolatry-have you spoken to Jesus about him or her?

Your concerns about your health-have you spoken to Jesus about them?

Your plans for your ministry-have you spoken to Jesus about them?

I do not mean you have decided what to do and then have asked Christ to bless your activities; I mean have you asked for His opinion?

Your plans to make money-have you asked the Lord if He wants you to be spending so much time and effort on this project?

That thing you desire so intensely-have you asked the Lord if it will bring you lasting joy?

Why are you rushing about in your haste to get what you want, when you do not know if it is the Lord's will? Why do you not know if it is the Lord's will? Is it because you are running so fast you do not have time enough, or quietness of spirit enough, to know what He is saying?

Being saved, being a Christian, does not mean you have tacked church attendance on your busy schedule. It means rather that you are learning to have fellowship with Christ. Every aspect of your life, without exception, is to be discussed with Him. If there is something you are doing or thinking about that you are not discussing with Him, then you are not living as a true friend of Christ.

Jesus is intensely interested in you and in all that you do-in absolutely all that you do. There is no part of your daily life that is too small or too large for the Lord to be interested in.

The Bible exhorts us to enter the rest of God. The rest of God is that state of being where you are flowing with the Life of God. Much experience is required before we find ourselves resting in God's vision for our life. But we can begin today by turning over all that we are and do to the Lord Jesus.

Moment by moment interaction with the living Jesus-this is the true Christian faith, the true Christian experience. Religion and theology serve a useful purpose only when they bring us to a daily interaction with Christ. When they become important ends in themselves, they lead us away from Jesus and have the potential to make us adversaries of Jesus.

Seek continual fellowship with the Lord. Walk with God, as did Enoch. This is what God desires. But He has a hard time getting people to understand His simple, straightforward request.

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)

See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright-but the righteous will live by his faith-(Habakkuk 2:4)