2006-06-18 Communion Dedication – Baldwin Christian Church 

Psalm 119:133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. 

This is a plea to God. 

How often do we plead with God to guide our every move? 

How often do we plead with Him to restrain our sinful pride? 

It easy for me to ask myself, “What would Jesus do”, and then make my next move based on what I think Jesus would have done.  In that process, I feel that I have honored Jesus, and I expect that He will bless the steps I’m about to take.  By considering Jesus, I’ve placed Him first in my decision-making process, so I just go on, feeling good about what I’ve done. 

That sounds good, but does that sort of decision-making process “order my steps in His Word”?  I have asked myself “What would Jesus do”, and ordered my steps by my word, by the thoughts that come to my mind.  How close have my steps been to where He was directing me?  Think about it.  Do you remember ever coming across a passage in the Bible that surprised you a little bit?  Then you said to yourself, “I didn’t know that”.  “What I’ve always thought about that, and what I’ve been told about that, was wrong.”   Up to that point of your life, when God’s will was revealed to you by a revelation in His Word, how many times in the past had you based your decisions and actions on what turns out to be a false premise?  You always thought you were doing what the Bible said, but all the while, you were leaning on that mistaken understanding, that falsehood, and thereby ordering your steps (marching) by your own words, or by the words of some man.  It’s happened to me. 

So how often does your decision-making process begin with opening the pages of His book, asking Him, “What would You have me to do”, and just start reading? 

How often do we ask Him to keep wickedness from ruling our lives? 

If you are one who pleads for Him to order your steps in His Word, you are one who “gets it”; you are one who understands your relationship with God, and your reason for being alive today. 

Luke 17:7-10

But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?  Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.  So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants:  we have done that which was our duty to do. 

The Spirit gives us unction; He nudges us and motivates us in the right direction.  By Him, we can know the will of God, but He gave us this Bible to read, to guide our steps, to nourish His presence and power in us. 

Wickedness and sorrow will play a part in everyone’s life.  Some is the result of our own sins, and some results from the sins of others.  The question is, will wickedness and sorrow (iniquity) have dominion, and rule over your life?  When it comes, will it dominate your attitude, your outlook, and negatively affect the way you respond to God’s commands?  It is impossible for wickedness to have dominion, to be lord of your life, if you are pleading with God to order your steps in His Word, and doing your part by reading it and letting it guide your every step.