Walking with Him Daily: A Daily Walk Through the New Testament

By S. Beau Waldrup

For most people, reading through the Bible from cover to cover can seem like a daunting task. Likewise, finding practical application can sometimes seem even more difficult. W[Book titles are set in italics.]alking with Him Daily: A Daily Walk Through the New Testament is a tool to assist you in your journey. This book will help you take one chapter at a time, pulling out both a focus scripture and a practical application to apply the chapter to your life. Through this, the Holy Spirit will speak to you and draw you closer to God and to the mission of the Gospel: to love God more and to love others more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9781643008479

Book preview

Preface

This book is a compilation of daily doses of scripture designed to help Christ’s followers walk through the New Testament of the Bible one chapter at a time. This walk is dedicated to helping followers connect with Christ on a daily basis. He is our rock, He is our master, and He is our loving Father. A daily walk with Him will help you find the true meaning of the word faith.

Forsaking all, I turn to Him!

Day 1

Read: Matthew 1

When Joseph got up from sleeping, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her.

—Matthew 1:24

Joseph was a righteous man, and when the angel of the Lord came to him and commanded him to do something, he did it. No questions, no discussion, no hesitation—he just did as the angel commanded.

How is your obedience in your life? When God speaks, do you obey?

First things first, you must be in a place that you can hear Him. Like Joseph, he was a righteous man first, and then the angel of the Lord spoke to him. Second, you must be ready to do as God commands. Like Joseph, we should not question what God is asking us to do but get up and go.

Are you ready to respond to God when He commands you?

Day 2

Read: Matthew 2

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been outwitted by the wise men, flew into a rage. He gave orders to massacre all the male children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, in keeping with the time he had learned from the wise men.

—Matthew 2:16

The total disregard for life shows the true character of Herod. He was willing to do whatever it took not to lose his crown, as he feared a new king being born.

Little did he know that Jesus was not to be the king that he thought, but He was to be the King of all. He would not reign here on earth but would suffer for us, die, show His power over death by coming back to life, and then reigning in heaven for all eternity.

Praise God for His Son!

Day 3

Read: Matthew 3

And there came a voice from heaven:

This is My beloved Son.

I take delight in Him!

—Matthew 3:17

God was proud of His Son, Jesus, and after His baptism, He confirms this verbally and publicly.

We should use this as an example of how our children need to be affirmed. They need to hear that they are loved ever so much. They also need to hear that we delight in them and cherish them. They should not only hear this in private, but they should be affirmed in public as well. We should show the world (in front of them, mind you) that they are loved and cherished.

Lord, give us the words to say, and show our children how much we love them and are proud of them—the way that You are of Jesus.

Day 4

Read: Matthew 4

And He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.

—Matthew 4:21–22

Jesus’s disciples were prepared to leave everything they knew in order to follow Jesus. They left their jobs and their families in order to serve Him for what He called them to do.

How is your resolve? How is your willingness to drop everything for Him? If the old hymn is true about us, All to Jesus I surrender/All to Him I freely give, then we should be willing to do what He asks us to do and, like the disciples, immediately follow Him. No questions, no testing, no arguing or running, but immediate action to follow what He says.

Consider your response to Jesus today. How would you respond when He calls you to action? Are you ready to drop everything?

Day 5

Read: Matthew 5

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

—Matthew 5:48

Wow! How impossible is that? Can we really be perfect? God has called us to be. Jesus said right here to be perfect.

So how can we do this?

Only with the strength of Jesus living in us and through us can we be made perfect. The flesh is imperfect by nature, marred by sin. But Jesus is perfect and has called us to allow Him to work in us for our lives to be made perfect. The be here is the continual act of becoming—in other words, continually strive to be perfect. So we should strive to live our lives every day more holy than the last by allowing Jesus to take control.

Lord, give us the strength today to give life up to You so that You can make us perfect, as You are perfect.

Day 6

Read: Matthew 6

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

—Matthew 6:33–34

How many times we forget that God, in all of His power and grace, will provide for us?

This is a lie that Satan has told us: You must take control. In actuality, we must release control. When we take control and worry about what is coming, we don’t let God’s foresight guide us. We tell God We can handle this when, really, we can’t see beyond the now.

Release control to God today. Ask Him to show you what this means for your life, and when He does, give it up to Him. Allow Him to guide you in every aspect of your life. Releasing control will allow you to live worry free.

Day 7

Read: Matthew 7

Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So you’ll recognize them by their fruit.

—Matthew 7:19–20

How is your fruit production? Jesus warns us that if we are not producing good fruit, then we are not saved from being cut down and burnt up.

Consider this: If you are a Christian and not living the way you should, if you are not living the way you should, are you producing fruit? And if you are producing fruit, would it be considered good according to God’s definition of good?

Step up your game, Christians! Step up and live according to the way that Jesus called you to live. Step up and produce the way that God intended you to with fruit that is good and pleasing to Him. You can do this; you can produce the good fruit with Jesus living in you and through you.

Step up today!

Day 8

Read: Matthew 8

But Jesus told him, Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.

—Matthew 8:22

This line from Jesus may seem to us to be rather insensitive, but Jesus is merely trying to point His disciples back to what matters. What mattered at that time was that Jesus was there and that the disciples should follow Him above all.

So how do we apply this to our lives today?

One thing that this leads us to is that when Jesus calls, we need to do two things. First, we need to be sure of what His call is; and second, we need to wholeheartedly pursue that call above all else.

Sometimes, the price for following Jesus can be high from an earthly perspective; but in reality, nothing is too high as compared to Jesus.

Day 9

Read: Matthew 9

Then He touched their eyes, saying Let it be done for you according to your faith!

—Matthew 9:29

Jesus healed through the faith that others had in Him. You see, time and time again in the Gospels that if someone had faith, they received what they desired; and those who did not were sent away.

What does this tell us about the desires we pray and ask for?

If we truly have faith that God can and will deliver us, He can choose to through our faith. Have faith, Christian! Have faith that defies logic.

Day 10

Read: Matthew 10

You will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be delivered.

—Matthew 10:22

The world has no love for God. If you associate with Jesus, as we are called, then you can expect to be rejected by the world. The price though is worth the eternal reward.

Day 11

Read: Matthew 11

At that time Jesus said, I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, because this was Your good pleasure. All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son desires to reveal Him.

—Matthew 11:25–27

One of the key issues with our society is that we believe we know enough. With more knowledge, faith is eroded, and it seems harder and harder to come to know and to rely on Jesus. But that in itself is the essence of faith. It defies the reason of what knowledge that we have and gives all to our God who created us and knows more than man can ever know. The more you learn, the more you know. Recognize that man’s ability will always be limited as compared to God, and as such, He requires our worship and faith.

Day 12

Read: Matthew 12

Anyone who is not with Me is against Me, and anyone who does not gather with Me scatters.

—Matthew 12:30

Jesus makes it very clear that we can either be with Him or against Him. We can either be moving toward Him or away from Him. There can only be one master in our lives, but as for me, I will choose the Lord.

Who do you choose today? Who is your master, and who will you follow? Choose today because the lack of choice denotes that you are against Him.

Day 13

Read: Matthew 13

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea. It collected every kind of fish, and when it was full, they dragged it ashore, sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but threw out the worthless ones.

—Matthew 13:47–48

At the judgment, we will be sifted to separate the good from the worthless. The worthless will be discarded, and the good will be brought into the kingdom of heaven with Jesus.

Make sure to understand today what it takes to be one of the good ones. Jesus requires our faith. Jesus requires us to have a faith that is alive and producing fruit. Jesus requires that He is first in our lives. Rid yourself of you, and put Him first in your life. Don’t look back and find yourself as a worthless fish.

Day 14

Read: Matthew 14

Come! He said.

And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid. And beginning to sink he cried out, Lord, save me!

Immediately Jesus reached out His hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, You of little faith, why did you doubt?

—Matthew 14:29–31

Many times, I look at this scripture, and I say to myself what little faith Peter had. Why would he not trust that Jesus would take care of him? Then, I realize that Peter took one step more than most do: he got out of the boat.

Your faith can never be tested or proven true unless you get out of the boat. You must remove yourself from your comfort zone and go wherever Jesus is calling you to go, as He called Peter out of the boat. So what is He calling you to do today? Are you following His calling on your life? If not, get out of the boat!

Day 15

Read: Matthew 15

But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a man.

—Matthew 15:18

The heart is the controller of what you say and what you do. What you put into your heart is what will come out. Have you ever noticed that as you hang out with certain people, or as you watch a TV show more, you find yourself starting to talk like the show or those people?

What you put in will be what comes out. As you fill yourself with things that are God pleasing, then the thoughts, actions, and words you have will be God pleasing, but as you fill your heart with junk, you will find that the thoughts, actions, and words you have will become more and more less pleasing to God. Protect your heart. Filter what comes in so that what comes out is pure in the sight of God.

Day 16

Read: Matthew 16

Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it. What will if benefit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?

—Matthew 16:24–26

What does it mean to take up your cross and follow Jesus? What does it mean to deny yourself? Does it mean to get rid of all physical items and live like a pauper for Jesus? Maybe, does it mean to leave the place you know and go to some foreign land? Maybe, does it mean that you should take the focus from yourself and put it on God?

Yes! When our focus is on God and not on ourselves, we will desire to deny ourselves physically if God asks us to, or we will follow him to a foreign land if He asks us to. Don’t forget your focus. Focus on God, hear His words, and follow Him wherever He leads.

Day 17

Read: Matthew 17

Then the disciples approached Jesus privately and said, Why couldn’t we drive it out?

Because of your little faith, He told them. For I assure you: If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. [However, this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting.]

—Matthew 17:19–21

It is hard for us to fathom that faith as small as a mustard seed can move a mountain. What does that say about our faith? Is it as big as it should be? Can it be bigger? What can we do to grow our faith?

As Jesus said, we can only get this type of faith except through prayer and fasting. Take time today to spend with