ABOUNDING IN OUR WALK WITH GOD

The last teaching was an introduction to what we would be looking at in this section. One thing that stood out for me clearly from what God was saying to us is that God is calling us to be more so that we can do more. You see, the “being” is superior to the “doing”. The being is superior to the doing. If you see anything being done anywhere—in any expression of life, whether ministry, career, or business—you must understand that there is a “being” behind it. The quality of the “being” behind the doing speaks volumes.

Behind every great work, every great exploit, or any great thing anybody is attempting to do, there is a personality. There are people behind it. The quality of those people speaks to what has been done. That is why I believe God is calling us not just to do more. Our emphasis will not be on doing more first. The emphasis will be on being more. If you are more, you will do more. If you know better, you will do better.

What we see in men’s lives or the outcomes of their lives can be traced to the capacity they have built—the personality that God has helped them to grow in. When Jesus called His disciples, He called them to be with Him first so that He might send them. For Jesus, it was not the sending first. The emphasis was that they might be with Him.

Later, when people saw the boldness of the apostles, they took knowledge that they had been with Jesus.

Acts 4:13 KJV

 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

The only thing the observers could attribute that boldness to was the fact that these men had been with Jesus.

Walking with God

Tonight, I want to stay with the first point captured in our passage from Sunday: our walk with God. Let us read the scripture again:

1 Thessalonians 4:1 KJV

 Finally then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.

How you ought to walk with God is the focus. Tonight, I want us to look at walking with God—how we can abound and increase in our walk with Him. Apostle Paul was speaking here to show that God expects us to be more, to increase, and to abound more and more in our walk with Him.

Let us look at Colossians 2:6.

Colossians 2:6 KJV

 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:

The verse does not end with a full stop; there is more to say about walking in Him.

Colossians 2:7 KJV

 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

It Is one thing to receive something; it is another thing to continue to walk in that which you have received. In this context, as you have received the Lord Jesus Christ, you are told to “walk ye in him.” The Bible explains further what it means to continue walking in Him: you are to be rooted, built up, and **stablished** (established).

The Four Dimensions of Growth

The word “rooted” here means I should continue to grow my roots in Christ. The next phrase is “built up,” followed by “stablished in the faith.” He adds, “as ye have been taught.” Even when a man says he has received Christ, that reception came by what was taught. Anyone receiving Christ is a product of what is being taught.

Apostle Paul’s central focus in 1 Thessalonians 4 is to abound more and more. He says that just as you received from us how to walk, you should abound more and more. In Colossians, he explains how that walk looks: you will be rooted, built up, and stablished. You will walk continually abounding, which means growing and increasing.

The will of God is that at all times, believers are meant to continually walk in the Lord. Walking in Christ means that you grow. You get rooted, you are built up, you are established, and you are abounding. God does not expect you and me to stay on the same spot. He does not want us to remain the same after we have received Christ. Some people receive Christ but do not walk in Him, meaning they do not grow. The expectation is that each day we are getting more rooted, more built up, more established, and abounding more and more.

This is the only methodology or framework for anyone in Christ to be more. As you are rooted more and more, you are getting better. As you are built up on a daily basis, a better version of you will emerge.

The Polishing Power of the Gospel

When the disciples were with Jesus, people noticed they were unlearned or untrained. But being with Jesus swallowed up their inadequacies. Their limitations were swallowed up. Before they met the Lord, they were crude men. Christianity is not just about knowing Greek and Hebrew; it has a way of polishing us. Without Christ, many of us would be very crude.

Christianity helps even our physical presentation and our habits. Some people did not know how to dress well or conduct themselves, but the gospel adjusted them. I know fathers of faith today who were not highly educated—one was a bricklayer—but receiving Jesus and continuing to walk in Him produced a polished expression that a graduate could not easily match. They have traveled the world and speak with grace because they continued to walk in what they received. They grew in capacity and maturity.

If you look back at your primary school classmates, you will understand what Jesus has done in your life—how He has beautified, repackaged, polished, and refined you. I attended an alumni meeting and saw how habits like smoking and drinking had aged some of my old peers. Walking in the Lord automatically begins to shape our lives. Our lives are aligned, and a better version of us emerges. Our cravings and tastes are readjusted because we have received the Lord. We are getting better, bolder, and more confident.

Growing up, I was a stammerer for a long time. I remember a moment in my secondary school literary society where I was asked to read and I was stumbling so much that they took the book from my hand and gave it to someone else. It felt as if the ground should open and swallow me. But look at me today. By the grace of God, I stand on platforms I once couldn’t imagine. Jesus makes the difference.

Building Spiritual Capacity

Being built up means you have a higher capacity in the things of God, the things of the Spirit, and the work of ministry. It speaks to your confidence In facing life and your audacity in God. It talks about your ability to be a blessing and a vessel in the hand of the Father.

God can actually depend on you to reach out to men. We are clay vessels, but there is a treasure in this vessel that makes the difference.

2 Corinthians 4:7 KJV

 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

As you are built up, your words begin to carry weight. You speak the wisdom of God and words of solution and encouragement.

Being **stablished** talks about your stability. It means no wind can pull you away from the grip of the Lord. The storms of life will come, but you will be standing firm. You are glued to the Father, and your heart is knitted with Him.

If a man is not rooted, he is shallow. Shallow-ness is not the order of your life. There is a prophecy for the end times that the love of many shall wax cold.

Matthew 24:12 KJV

 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

But for us, that will not be our testimony. Our love should be “more and more.” Our passion should be “more and more.” Our hearts should keep burning for the Lord as we walk in Him. We are growing and increasing so that when Jesus comes, our testimony will be “more and more.”

The Danger of Philosophy and Tradition

Colossians 2:8 explains why being built up and rooted is so important:

Colossians 2:8 KJV

 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Either our life is built after Christ, or it is going down the drain after the culture and philosophy of this world. We are exposed daily to the traditions of men, and the essence of those things is to “spoil” you—not necessarily to destroy you physically, but to make you lose your ground a“d your passion.

If you are not walking continually in Christ, you will not be grounded. You risk being led astray by “high-sounding nonsense” that comes from human thinking. Without being rooted and built up, a man is at risk of being derailed or distracted by human logic and the world’s system.

God expects us to be increasing more and more, and the way to know a man is abounding is that he is rooted, built up, and stablished. Such a man is not easily swayed or captured by the wisdom of this world.

I don’t want the culture of this world to change your persuasion. Some believers travel abroad and become slaves to the culture of the world, and suddenly the things they once believed sound “old-fashioned” to them. I am not talking about simple cultural adjustments like wearing warm clothes in a cold climate; I am talking about your core persuasion.

We must not subscribe to culture; we must subscribe to Christ. If you are planted in Christ, you will know that what you have received is Him, not Nigerian culture or Western culture. Some people find liberty in recklessness, but that same grace keeps us in check.

The only way to escape the philosophy of this world is to keep growing in Christ. Once you are rooted and **stablished**, you are in a safe place. The possibility of being carried away becomes very limited.

Continuing the Journey

God wants us to continue walking because His expectation is “more and more.” More in our desire to study the Word, more in our passion for His work. Some people reach a place of comfort or wealth and suddenly feel that serving God is for “jobless people.” Their philosophy changes. I don’t want you to reach a point where your passion is nose-diving and you are merely telling stories of how you “used to” serve God. I don’t want to tell stories of how it “used to be.”

Colossians 2:9-10 KJV

 For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.

There is a place where we can access the fullness of God, and that is when we continually abide and grow in Him.

Consider also Ephesians 4:1:

Ephesians 4:1 KJV

 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,

And Colossians 1:10-11:

Colossians 1:10-11 KJV

 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;

Walking worthy means you are fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

Finally, 1 Thessalonians 2:12:

1 Thessalonians 2:12 KJV

 That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.

When someone is walking in the Lord, the evidence is that they are grounded, rooted, built up, stablished, abounding, and pleasing to the Lord.

Walk vs. Work

Jesus called His disciples to be with Him (their walk) so that He might send them (their work). Our walk with the Lord is superior to our work for the Lord. Often we are carried away by our work for God at the expense of our walk with Him.

Our work for the Lord is an outflow of our walk with Him. If we can **be** more, we will **do** more. Doing more will not be a challenge because it will be an expression of who you have become.

Depth and Foundation

Being rooted speaks to depth. We must take root downward to bear fruit upward.

Isaiah 37:31 KJV

 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:

Just like the foundation of a skyscraper, the depth of the foundation determines what the building can carry. Being rooted speaks to our depth in the Word of God.

The light from God Is progressive. This does not mean the truth changes, but our understanding of it grows. We might have had a sincere but limited understanding in the past—like misinterpreting the word “simple” in Psalm 119:130—but as we grow, we get greater illumination.

Psalm 119:130 KJV

 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

The goal is to understand the principles so that you can gauge and test everything you hear against the truth of the Word of God.

There is no “new Jesus.” He is the same. But our path should be shining brighter and brighter.

Proverbs 4:18 KJV

 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.