The Eternal Dialogue...

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A while back I heard a prophecy: "The evil is going to increase; but I have new and surprising things that will enable you to stand throughout the darkness that is on the horizon." I have been waiting to learn what the "new and surprising things" are. I believe I am beginning to understand.

(7/31/2011). You know, the Bible says Enoch walked with God. Also, Micah tells us we are to walk humbly with God. He has shown you, O mortal, 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)

Have you ever wondered what it means to walk with God? I have.

And then we have the following:

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. (Revelation 3:20)

As I awakened this morning, the expression "the eternal dialogue" was suddenly in my mind. What does this mean? It means we are not to be living in a monologue in our mind, thinking, planning, wondering, scheming, hoping, guessing what we are to do each moment. Rather, we are to be expressing to Jesus all of these ideas, and listening for His comments.

I believe living closely to Jesus is the "new and surprising thing" the Lord Jesus is referring to. The moral filth that even now is appearing in the entertainment world will draw us into its swamp of moral darkness. It already is in so many instances, as we see in the media. If we are to stand in the Lord Jesus we are going to have to be speaking and listening to Him at every waking moment.

"Praying without ceasing" may seem like a grim, forbidding, impossible way of living. Actually it is quite simply done and much preferred to the monologue in which we ordinarily exist—a mental state often filled with problems, worries, fears, dreads, pessimism or unfounded optimism. This present life is no fun at the best of times.

There are those of us who avoid or attempt to avoid all unpleasant duties, responsibilities, and situations. They leave it to the rest of us to pick up the pieces and sweep up behind them. They remind me of the "Artful Dodger" of Oliver Twist (Dickens) fame. You may know a few of these characters.

But most of us plod along on our weary path, trusting we and those who depend on us will survive somehow. You know exactly what I mean.

It is true that we live in the "valley of the shadow of death." Satan blocks out the Light of Christ so our path is not sunny, as it should be. But it is not God's intention that we be so burdened with fears and concerns. As you might expect, He has a better way. That better way is an eternal dialogue, in which He always is with us, bearing our burdens, and showing us the solution to all our problems.

When you think about it, the eternal dialogue is how the righteous live. It is the way of faith, in which we live by the Life, wisdom, strength, and joy of the Lord rather than by our own life, wisdom, strength, and joy. Every day He carries our burdens if we keep looking to Him.

Of course we will continue to be faced with problems. While we are in the world we shall have tribulations of one sort or another. But how much better to be talking and listening to Jesus than to be worrying all the time, experiencing dread when we go to bed and when we wake up in the morning.

Think about the eleventh chapter of the Book of Hebrews. Did you notice there is little or no mention of religious doctrine in this chapter? It is the "faith" chapter. Imagine, we are taught "faith" by people of Old Testament time.

"But we thought we are in a new dispensation in which we live by faith and are justified by faith." Well, we were mistaken. From the time of the righteous Abel, every one of God's true people has lived by faith and has been justified by faith. God found fault with the Israelites because like Cain, they did what the Lord commanded but without faith in their heart.

No one ever has pleased God except by obedience that springs from faith. Faith is the eternal dialogue. It is that of walking humbly with God. We mortals have been designed such that we cannot live joyously except as we walk with God, talking to Him, listening to Him, permitting Him to hold our hand.

But how do I enter such a marvellous way of living? It really is simple, although it has to be practiced all the time. Right now, as you are reading these words, look up to the Lord Jesus. Perhaps He is saying something to you right now, but you have been so filled with your own thoughts you have not been hearing what He is saying.

If He doesn't seem to be saying anything right now, tell Him you want to enter the eternal dialogue with God. You want to live by the words always being spoken to you. You do not want to walk in your own way any longer. You want to die to the monologue in which He is not present in your thinking. You want to acknowledge Him in all your ways, not just some of your ways.

Then tell Him every one of your concerns. Ask Him to orchestrate your day, beginning with what you are doing right now. Commit the smallest details, the most insignificant tasks, to Jesus. He is desirous of hearing about every single one.

That fear or dread of something in the future, describe it in detail. Give it to Jesus. "Carry everything to God in prayer." Do not let one single "termite" gnaw at your mind. Tell the Lord about it. This is what it means to "pray without ceasing," and was the manner in which the embattled Paul lived.

As I said, moral filth and chaos are on the horizon. The present hour is to be one of preparation for us. We are to master the art of the eternal dialogue. We are to walk hand in hand with Christ in every situation without exception.

It is time today to learn absolute obedience to God. It is easy to obey God, once we determine to put all of our intense desires on the altar, so to speak. As long as we cling to anything, clutch any relationship, thing, or circumstance, we will find it difficult to walk humbly with God. But when we let go of every relationship, thing, and circumstance, we will begin to have that song in our heart that only the obedient experience.

In the days of Antichrist, which we are entering now, in order to survive we must "die in the Lord." What does that mean? It means to turn from the monologue in which we make all our own decisions and enter the dialogue in which we discuss all we are doing with the Lord Jesus.

If you are to "die in the Lord" you must be persuaded that God is seeking to bring you to righteousness, love, joy, and peace. Furthermore, He has the power to do just that regardless of your situation.

This is how the righteous live by faith.

When the culture you have been accustomed to, and all the familiar landmarks have been removed so to speak, and your world no longer is as it was, then, if you have been walking with God, you will not be dismayed. Your Rock is still there, upholding you. The wicked may prevail for a season. But eventually they will disappear like dust in a whirlwind. They have no enduring substance, no rock on which they can stand securely.

You will sing and dance on the heights of Zion if you will keep your eyes on the Lord Jesus. He will not fail you. You never will be ashamed.

Remember, for those who walk with God, "weeping may continue for a night, but joy will come in the morning." No power can prevent the sun from rising in the morning. No power can keep you from standing happily before your Lord when the tempest has done its worst.

The night is coming when no man can work. But those who die in the Lord will go on to the Light of the perfect day, and their works will follow them and be brought before the Throne of Almighty God as jewels more precious than any found on the earth.

Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them." (Revelation 14:13)

Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. Psalms (125:1)

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