Last week we talked about Letting Go and Letting God work out His plan in and through our lives. Today we are going to see how that actually works, in our days, months and years.
So, what does mean to walk with God?
God is invisible, but He is all around us. As Christians we are in Him, and He is In us. We can’t see Him, but we can feel His presence. He often speaks with a still small voice, but He can speak plenty loud if He needs to to get my attention. So, walking with God is living my life while listening for God’s voice. The dictionary defines “to walk with”, is to walk with the aid of something. We walk with the aid of God.
We plan our day, but we consider God’s plan first.
Proverbs 16:9 “The heart of a man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps”
And even stronger is;
Proverbs 19:21 “Many are the plans in the mind of man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.”
So, when I plan my day, it looks something like this;
I have a routine. Your routine is probably different from mine since many of you are still working. You have to get ready each morning and go to work. I am retired, so I don’t have to go to work. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have work to do.
When I wake up in the morning, Debbie is usually still asleep, so I get up quietly and walk to my office. I sit down at my iPad and I open up Facebook. Yes, I know, Facebook is a terrible waste of time, but stick with me. I open Facebook and I look down my timeline for interesting posts from friends and I either comment on them or click like or whatever. While I am doing this, I think to myself I should go and spend some intentional time with God, and sometimes I just get up and go over to the couch in my office and start praying.
Ok, there are a couple of things to note here, first, I usually don’t start with prayer. I browse Facebook, and then I have a conversation with God about needing to spend time with Him, and then I go and pray.
Another thing to note is that I have a physical place where I spend time with God. That place is not in my office chair, it is over on the couch in my office. So I guess point number one would be that first, it is good to pray. I have heard pastors say that you can pray in the morning, or in the evening, but I pray in the morning because it is the start of my day.
Also note that I try to not be legalistic about it. If circumstances don’t allow me to spend time in the morning praying, then that is ok. I desire to have an attitude of prayer and let God speak to me during the day as He desires. I think that is what Paul meant when he wrote;
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Back to my points. I think point two is that it’s good to have a place where you pray. Some people call it a prayer closet, I have a couch. You might do your praying in the car while driving to work, or while driving the kids to school. During one period of my life I had a 30 minute commute, and I would stop about 10 minutes from my house at a certain place to pray and read my Bible. Anyway, you have probably already thought of where your “place” to pray is. Again, don’t be legalistic about it, life can be full of things that interrupt our daily routine, so go with the flow and don’t beat yourself up if you can’t follow the “perfect” routine.
Having spent some time in prayer, the second part of my private time with God is to study His word. Personally I have read through the Bible several times, so my practice is to use a 365 day study guide like “My Utmost For His Highest” (MU) by Oswald Chambers (OC). On my tablet MU presents a daily topical study with several Bible verses. Following the study, there is a link to a section of Old Testament (OT) and New Testament (NT) verses and OC finishes up with a line or two of his wisdom.
I would also like to note that because of Marc’s “How to study the Bible Sunday school series”, I normally click on the link to each Bible verse in the study which takes me to BibleGateway where I can read the chapter around the selected verse to make sure I understand the context. Then the back arrow takes me back to the study and I can continue reading. This helps me to be sure I have a good understanding of the verse, and that it is being used in the right context. I do this for each verse that is included in the study, and I usually get quite a bit from one of OC’s short studies.
After the topical study, I go to the Bible verses link to read for the day. Now, I will confess that since I have been using this form of study for several decades, in the early years I would read both Old and New Testament, but this last few years I scroll down and read just the New Testament verses. After all I am not being legalistic about this. I enjoy that God usually shows me something from those verses.
And finally I read the few lines of wisdom from OC at the end, and I am ready to start my day.
Now, I suspect some of you might be feeling a little overwhelmed because this might seem like a lot. Again, I try not to be legalistic. There is no need to feel guilty if you don’t find you have time for all of this, sometimes I don’t either. Rather, think of it as a gift from God when He does give you time. Study can alternatively be done at lunch time, or maybe just before bed. That is entirely up to you.
My next activity in the morning is to have breakfast. Debbie is usually up by now, so we have breakfast together.
After breakfast I usually go back to finish up with Facebook. I am finding that God does in fact use Facebook to allow me to minister to others. Not every day, but often I am allowed to put in a word that helps someone. I enjoy that, and I find it encouraging that God can work even through a computer. Facebook can actually be a ministry.
Ok, that was preparation for the day.
Now I want to talk about preparation for ministry.
One definition of ministry is; Acts of service to others under God’s authority or direction.
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
You might not think of yourself as someone who is in ministry, but God can and does use you wherever you are, and however old or young you are. Whether you are 10 years old or going on 100, if you are still in this world breathing, God has a plan for you. You might be going to school, or college, you might be working full time or part time, or you might be retired like me. Whatever your circumstances just listen for God’s voice and He will guide you to the ministry opportunities He has for you.
Now I want to talk about a specific ministry God gave to Debbie and I. As young people, we both loved riding motorcycles. We enjoyed the wind and that feeling of freedom and power. As teens we used to ride our bikes on Sunday morning because that was the only time Debbie’s parents felt it was safe for us to go out. Motorcycles were probably an important part of what attracted us to each other. Many years later, motorcycles played an important part in the ministry God have us.
Motorcycle Ministry
Most of you know that Debbie and I are members of the Christian Motorcyclists Association (CMA). CMA’s motto is “Changing the world, one heat at a time”. We often say it is “All About Jesus”. CMA members love to ride motorcycles, and they love Jesus. We seek to minister to the motorcycle riding community on the highways and byways.
Debbie and I have been members of CMA for about 25 years. In the early years we would go to secular rallies to minister to those that attended. They were often weekend events that involved tent camping on our motorcycles. I used to say my job was just a way to make money so we could afford to go camping on the weekends. Debbie and I have collectively put over 100,000 miles on our motorcycles. We have attended more rallies than I can count, and we have been given the opportunity to lead people to Christ at those rallies. Participating in CMA has truly been a huge blessing to us.
The upside of all this is getting to watch God work in peoples lives. Sometimes it is by blessing bikes, praying for a rider, helping coordinate the bike games and helping put on a Sunday service. One of CMA’s mottos is “We are here if you need us.” Often we had a great time at these rallies, but sometimes we just got all wet and cold from the rain or tired and sweaty from the heat and we wish we could just go home. It wasn’t always easy, but our presence was always noticed.
Debbie even wrote a devotional for the chapter once called “Sometimes Ministry Stinks” about going and getting sweating all weekend and then riding to our home church on Sunday morning.
Here is a link;
Ministry doesn’t have to be joining a group or an organization. Ministry is an act of service under God’s direction. Like helping someone with homework, taking a meal to a neighbor, making an encouraging phone call or even a hug with “Jesus loves you” is ministry if God is using you to do these thing. It is for everyone at every age. Anyone can be a minister.
Guidelines in Ministry
When you are involved in ministry, there are guidelines. Guidelines aren’t bad. They are there to protect your message and to make ministry more fruitful. This is true whether we are in an organized ministry or not. We are to speak in love, Let our words be like;
Proverbs 16:24 “Gracious words are like honey, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”
Always remember that you are God’s ambassador and not speaking from your own wisdom or agenda. Harsh words or arrogance can damage your witness and maybe the witness of those that come after you.
Ok, you have heard some of the ways God has used Debbie and I, but perhaps you are thinking, yeah, but “I am not ready to be used by God”. If that is you, then let me give you a quick timeline of getting ready in my life.
Getting ready.
I believe I accepted Christ as my Savior when I was about 10 years old, but then I had a 20 year period of wandering around doing my own thing. I was essentially ignoring God. When I turned 30 God finally got my attention and I committed or re-committed my life to Him. Debbie and I started being used in motorcycle ministry with CMA when I was 47, and I consider joining CMA as the point in my life when God really started using me. But It wasn’t until seven years later that I was asked to be the chaplain of UCOA and was privileged to minister to around 300 bikers at the monthly meetings with the Moments God gave me. That ministry continued until I retired from that position when I was almost 70. Today at 73, I still see God using me.
So, if you feel you aren’t ready for ministry, consider that I spent 20 years ignoring God. Then I spent 25 year with God maturing me to the point where He gave me the opportunity to minister to the bikers. So, if you don’t think you are ready for God to use you, consider that God is getting you ready, and He is going to do something wonderful.
And finally, you need to understand that during those 25 years when God was maturing me, he was not only preparing me for ministry, he was also using me, just in a different way than He would later. During those years, I attended a church, and it took God three years to get me to realize I needed to be baptized and become a member of the church. During that time our ministry was focused through activities in the church where we learned what ministry was and how God could use us.
Philippians 1:6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Walking with God is a daily process, and, I truly believe God will use you as much as you allow him to, and that is my encouragement to you. Make yourself available to Him, and He will use you!. And that is something that our world really needs today.
Are you ready?
Tom Zimmer - PhotoBubba - tomzimmer.wordpress.com 
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