Copyright © 2014 Mary L. Lyon.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Inspiring Voices

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.inspiringvoices.com

1 (866) 697-5313

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

ISBN: 978-1-4624-0950-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4624-0951-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014907315

Inspiring Voices rev. date: 08/04/2014

Contents

Acknowledgement

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1 He Walks With Us

Saving Faith

Chapter 2 Introduction

Chapter 3 God Exists and He Has Spoken

Chapter 4 Existence of Sin

Chapter 5 Penalty for Sin

Chapter 6 Finished Work of Christ

Chapter 7 Closing Thoughts

God’s Unconditional Love

Chapter 8 Introduction

Chapter 9 Is Always with Us

Chapter 10 Experienced

Chapter 11 Expressed

Chapter 12 Closing Thoughts

God’s Unconditional Acceptance

Chapter 13 Introduction

Chapter 14 Not As A Result of Works

Chapter 15 God Chose Us

Chapter 16 Closing Thoughts

Reality of Sin

Chapter 17 Introduction

Chapter 18 Obvious Sins

Chapter 19 Sins of the Heart

Chapter 20 Personal Sins

Chapter 21 Power of Sin

Chapter 22 Closing Thoughts

Forgiveness Heals

Chapter 23 Introduction

Chapter 24 Confession of Sin

Chapter 25 Confession of God’s Forgiveness

Chapter 26 Forgiveness of Ourselves

Chapter 27 Forgiveness of Others

Chapter 28 Healing Power

Chapter 29 Closing Thoughts

Christ in Us

Chapter 30 Introduction

Chapter 31 Our Triune God

Chapter 32 The Holy Spirit

Chapter 33 Power Over Sin

Chapter 34 Closing Thoughts

Faith

Chapter 35 Introduction

Chapter 36 Biblical Faith

Chapter 37 Walking in Faith

Chapter 38 Closing Thoughts

Word of God

Chapter 39 Introduction

Chapter 40 Power

Chapter 41 In Us

Chapter 42 Learn

Chapter 43 Closing Thoughts

Prayer in Christ

Chapter 44 Introduction

Chapter 45 What is Prayer

Chapter 46 Purpose

Chapter 47 God Answers Yes

Chapter 48 God Answers No

Chapter 49 God Answers Wait

Chapter 50 Thanksgiving

Chapter 51 Closing Thoughts

Who We are in Christ

Chapter 52 Introduction

Chapter 53 The Problem With I

Chapter 54 In Christ Esteem

Chapter 55 Closing Thoughts

Chapter 56 He Walks with Us

Final Thoughts

About the Author

Dedication

Nancy L. Kearney

January 18, 1948 – April 1, 2014

We will be together again in heaven.

I love you and miss you.

Acknowledgement

There are several people who helped this dream of mine become a reality.

NK – You probably have the book memorized as many times as I read it to you. Thank you for patiently listening to me as I made my corrections.

NB – Our banter made the book better. Thank you reading and re-reading. You were an encouragement to me.

AJ – You have such a creative talent. Thank you for sharing your gift with me.

Inspiring Voices Publishing – Thank you for your assistance and guidance as I saw this dream fulfilled. You were very patient with this new author.

And finally, I thank Him who walks with me through His truths to bring me to this place. To Him be the glory.

Foreword

I have known Mary for 30 years. She used to babysit our five daughters. When she approached me and asked if I would mentor her, I said it would have to happen on the go as she engaged in our family life. Immediately her impeccable character showed up in the ways she gave sacrificially to serve our family. We became very close and our friendship has grown from there.

When she told me she wanted to write a book and told me the book she wanted to write, it didn’t surprise me. She has always been passionate about her walk with God and deeply cares about people knowing and experiencing God’s love for them. I believe it is a book that needed to be written.

What caught me by surprise is how quickly she wrote it. We would talk as she was writing and each day I would get another chapter. It was so clear that this was God’s message he had placed on her heart and she felt compelled to share it with others. It wasn’t hard for her to write it because the message flowed from her own experience of walking with Christ. As she shared the chapters with me, I realized these are the truths that have driven her life for so many years…powerful, powerful, life-changing truths.

She does not mince words, she tells it like it is. Her comment to me more than once was that she did not want to dilute the truth. She hoped to communicate clearly but not at the expense of God’s word. God’s word was paramount. It is His word that changes lives.

Our relationship with God is a walk. In all the years I have known Mary she has passionately pursued God as she has walked with Him day by day. However, as she has grown and matured in her understanding of who God is, she is realizing that the depth of their relationship comes from God pursuing her as He walks with her day by day. Mary was determined that walk would be in the title. As the title unfolded I caught her vision. It is His walk with us.

I encourage everyone to take the time to read He Walks with Us. Your own walk with God will be challenged but it is also a great resource for helping younger Christians as God begins to walk with them. I have already begun recommending this book to other friends and ministries.

May this book bless your walk with God causing you to grow in your intimacy with Him as He walks with you.

Nancy Butkowski

Campus Crusade for Christ Family Life Ministry (40 years)

Author/Speaker

Introduction

The title of this book is how I experience the Christian life. God walks with me. He walks with me through the ups and downs of life. He is always there with me.

When I set out to write a book, I wanted to help others who struggle with the day to day challenges with living. I wanted to write a book about the Christian struggle. Well, once I started writing this is the book that poured out of my heart.

The truths that follow are the strength of His walk with me. These truths help me get through Romans 7 to Romans 8. They keep me grounded in God’s commitment to me as my Father. My hope and prayer is that these truths will help you.

As I wrote this book, I was struck by the strength of the message of God’s forgiveness. We are forgiven children of God. We have an eternal relationship with God the Father. It is a powerful message.

I believe in the relationship that we have with God in Christ. I believe I can come before God and call Him Daddy. I believe God is alive and well in my soul. I believe that God the Father takes me by the hand and walks with me.

I also believe that I am a sinner who presses on until the day I am with Him. Let me clarify, I am a forgiven sinner. As Christians, we are blessed beyond all other people because we have the forgiveness of God in Christ Jesus. Our specialness is His specialness in us.

I hope as you read the chapters that follow you will grow deeper in your love relationship with our God and experience anew Him walking with you. I say with the Apostle Paul, Ephesians 1:17-19:

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory; may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.

Chapter 1

He Walks With Us

The message of this book is about His walk with us. It is about God the Father taking us by the hand and walking with us. It is about God placing His truths in our hearts.

The truths I chose are the ones that have been critical in God’s walk with me. These truths ground me in His love as my Father. These are His truths He uses as He walks with me through the ups and downs of life; truths that support my footsteps as God and I walk together.

I believe God walking with us started in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:8 tells us:

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden…

Adam and Eve heard God walking in the garden. With all the other animals walking about, Adam and Eve knew the sound of God walking in the garden. God had walked in the garden before. God had walked with Adam and Eve before.

Genesis 3:9 reads:

Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, Where are you?"

God knew where man was but I think it is poignant that He asked. I believe it was customary for God to walk with Adam and Eve. God had come as usual but Adam was not waiting for Him. Adam was pre-occupied.

Adam’s pre-occupation was his sin. He knew he was naked and so he hid from God. His guilt prevented him from freely walking with God. Our guilt can keep us from freely walking with God.

I believe in Christ that we have that wonderful intimacy of walking with God restored. God has come to the gardens of our lives to walk with us. God wants to walk with us. He wants to take us by the hand, as a father does his child, and walk with us. I let God the Father take me by the hand and walk with me (I actually sometimes squeeze my hand to give me that physical realization that God is holding it). It is a very secure place for my life.

A very striking image of God walking with His children is God’s presence during the Israeli nation’s wondering in the wilderness. We read of this wonderful testimony in Exodus 40:34-38:

"Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out; but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up. For throughout all their journeys,