"Walk with me" has been the invitation to all the noble and great ones since time began.
If an ordinary individual were told that if he or she prepared himself or herself diligently there would be a welcoming invitation extended to enter the presence of the kings and rulers of the earth, such would accept that invitation with great gladness. No amount of effort would daunt such an individual or keep him from fulfilling all the necessary requirements.
Yet few are willing to make the least preparation to enter the Presence of the Divine Ruler of the Universe, the Great Creator of all. And to God, no individual is just "ordinary". To God every soul is a child fashioned from the very substance of His own divine Being, created with infinite love and designed to fulfill a great and noble destiny.
God's holy invitations, reaching across the ages, have been to all and have stood for always. They are but awaiting man's acceptance of them.
"Come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
"How often would I have gathered you, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings; and ye would not."
"Seek me early and ye shall find me." Or, if you have failed to seek Him early, this invitation remains, "Seek me diligently, and ye shall find me," . . . . . "For all who seek find." . . . . . "Turn unto me and I will turn unto you!"
Most who have professed making such a search have failed to find God because they have sought only to find some church that would appease their inner hunger to actually know Him. In such substitution they have been given a dried crust instead of the divine manna, the bread of life and have not realized the bleak deficiency of those lifeless crumbs.
"This is Life Eternal, to KNOW Thee, the only true and living God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."
Do you know God? Or do you only know ABOUT Him? Do you know Jesus Christ? Or do you only believe that He is the Son of God who gave His life for the sins of the world?
To know God is something quite different than just knowing about Him. Thus to place one's loyalty in some church, no matter how great the devotion and sincerity, no matter how much truth that church contains, is not knowing God. Adherence to some church may not be an adherence to God at all.
Only by seeking diligently to KNOW God can the great promises be fulfilled. God alone must be reverenced, adored and given one's humble allegiance. If you can seek Him best through some church, if you can render your complete devotion to him through certain creeds, then do so. But never let it be the church you worship, nor its prestige you pay homage to. Never permit any man or religion to come between God and you.
"Seek Him diligently and you will find Him." Never be satisfied with anything less than the complete fulfilling of this promise.
Now, let us consider the divine invitation, "Walk with me!"
Have you ever tried to walk with Him? To walk with Him requires only that you get in step with the love and rhythm of the Universe. It is becoming in tune with all that is pure and beautiful and glorious. It is but lifting your vision to the height of His glory as the negatives and darkness are left behind. As your eyes become single to His glory, you will have to begin to take on that glory as you become filled with Light and comprehend all things. This is how one can actually KNOW God. This is how one begins to walk with Him.
Christ said, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me, draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:44). This last day means the last day of his testing, hence the last day of his seeking as he is lifted up in consciousness to abide in the higher realms of Light. This end is the end of his purification. It does not mean the last day of earth, as many have supposed. The whole experience is an individual thing. It is not a point in time. And it is the Father who leads one to comprehend the Christ -- it is the Father who gives one the power to comprehend that "Light of Christ which has been given to abide in every man who has ever come into the world." When one comprehends that Light it is no longer a rejected factor in his life and he will no longer be under condemnation.
After the Father has drawn one to the Son, then that divine Light of Christ will reveal the Father. For, "All things are delivered to me of my Father; and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him." (Luke 10:22; also Matt. 11:27).
From the foregoing it must be understood that the love and power of Almighty God, the Father, will draw one to the Christ. Only this great love can possibly lead one to comprehend the fullness and glory of Christ and His divine Light. And this is the only possible way any man can actually "Know God, and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent." It is the only way any individual can learn to walk with Him.
"The Light of Christ, that has been given to abide in every man who cometh into the world" has been the rejected factor, or the Chief Corner Stone that was rejected by the builders. It has been rejected by each man as he has constructed his earthly tabernacle, his physical body from the elements of the earth. It is this divine Corner Stone alone that can fulfill a man's own perfect destiny of eternal glory. The acceptance or establishment of that Chief Corner Stone contains the powers of all fulfillment and all glory. In it is the power of redemption and overcoming.
"To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." This white stone to be bestowed is the Christ Stone, or "The Chief Corner Stone that the builders rejected." It is the white, translucent stone through which the Christ Light shines forth in its pure power of glorious fulfillment.
Only through this divine, inner Light of Christ, which has been rejected by the builders, can one possibly know God the Father, or have Him revealed. And only through this inner striving to bring forth or contact the Light can one ever hope to know Jesus Christ, Who is its source. Only through divine contact with this inner Christ Light can one KNOW His great, unspeakable Name, the Word of all-power.
"Ask and ye shall receive; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you." This is a special admonition to every individual, and each human being must fulfill it for himself. Every person, of and for himself, must make that divine search. Each must utter his own requests, send forth his own petitions and do his own knocking upon that inner door in order to be admitted into the true sanctuary of the Lord.
This intense, individual searching is not possible for those who are satisfied to let someone else lead them, find their answers and do their thinking -- even their knowing. Knowing is an individual experience and condition. No man can possibly KNOW God for another. If you wish to KNOW, then you must cease to let the blind lead you. You must overcome that same blindness in your own mind. You must begin to remove the blindness of mind by permitting the Light of Christ to come forth, which alone can dissolve that blindness. You must awake and begin to do your own searching, your own asking and your own knocking, for everyone who asks receives.
If you would comprehend "The Secret Place of the Most High", it will have to be through your own mind that divine information is received. Or, if you yearn to enter the great sanctuary of the Lord and kneel in the Holy of Holies before that Altar of the Almighty, then learn to enter into the center of your own soul, through love and gratitude, adoring praise and deep humility, as you worship Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Only in this manner can one be prepared to know Him, or the great TRUTH that will set him free! Only in this way is it possible to know God, the Father and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent.
"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." (Ps. 91:1).
"Hide me under the shadow of thy wing." (Ps. 17:8).
"Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice!" (Ps. 13:7).
As one learns to abide in the Secret Place of the Most High by learning to hold his mortal consciousness upon that ever expanding, inner Light as It is released from within himself, he will be prepared to know God. In this secret place, or Holy of Holies, there is no evil, for no evil can possibly exist there. It is the place of complete protection against all darkness, all evil and error. These negative aspects are completely overcome by and in this divine Light of glory. It is the place of complete and full enlightenment, where one is so filled with Light he comprehends all things. It contains all the powers of divine healing. Just to comprehend it is the complete establishment of that Chief Corner Stone and it is no longer a rejected factor in one's life. When that Corner Stone is established the Light of Christ is released and It becomes the greatest accepted factor and reality of existence. It is the power.
When this inner, Christ Light is no longer rejected, when It is reverenced and brought forth from Its entombment, then it is not only possible to know God and Jesus Christ, Whom He hath sent; it is also possible to "walk with Him".
To walk with God is a glory far beyond anything man has ever realized. If you have yearned for wealth that you might dwell in fine mansions, beautiful resorts, or luxurious hotels; or that you might array yourself in expensive, exquisite apparel and bedeck yourself in jewels; or ride upon the clouds as you go forth to view the wonders of the world, then your desires have been only mediocre, childish whims and empty wishes of valueless import.
As one learns to walk with God he abides in the Holy of Holies, the Secret Place of the Most High, the sacred, glorified precincts of the Sanctuary of the Lord. No mansion or dwelling upon earth can compare with the grandeur of this abode of infinite power and peace. As one walks with God he will be literally clothed in Light, in the divine White Raiment of eternal glory. And I assure you that no apparel in all existence could be more exquisitely beautiful than this. I would fain describe it if that were possible. It isn't. There are no words to reveal its divine, shimmering glory of pure spiritual beauty and breath-taking loveliness. Nor will such a one need to take some physical, mechanical vehicle of transportation to travel forth to view the wonders of the world. With his hand in the hand of God he will view the very wonders of eternity!
Yea, "Abide in me!" . . . . . "Walk with Me!" These are His invitations reaching across the boundless stretches of time, as they span eternity to find an echoing response in your own open, vibrant heart as all things are fulfilled in you.
"Walk with God" and you shall walk in majesty. As you walk thus clothed in Light, love will flow from your garments and in the majestic, everlasting power of the Almighty, you too shall be divine.