Walking With God

The reason behind everything we do: you, close to God, every day.

Why this ministry exists

More Than Knowing About Him

Truth was never meant to stop at information.

Everything on this site points to one thing. Truth matters. His Word matters. But the goal of knowing the truth is to know the One who is Truth, and to walk with him every day.

Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.John 17:3 (NIV)

Jesus did not say eternal life is knowing facts about God. He said it is knowing him. That is the purpose of One Truth Ministries: that everyone who reads, studies, or listens ends up closer to God than when they started. Closer in the morning. Closer at work. Closer in the hard places.

That is what we mean by discipleship. It is not a program, and it is not a level you reach. It is a close, personal relationship with the living God, and it is for everyone.

So how does that relationship begin? It is simpler than most people think. We just connect the dots.

Scripture

John 17:3 · Psalm 73:28 · James 4:8 · Jeremiah 29:13 · Philippians 3:8-10

Connecting the dots

Four Simple Steps

Some people have heard about God their whole lives and still are not sure what the core of it is. Sometimes all it takes is one aha moment. Here is the core, in four steps. Nothing is left out, and nothing is added.

1. God Loves Us and Has a Purpose for Us

Everything starts with love. God did not make us and walk away. He made us for himself, he loves us, and he has a purpose for each of us.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.John 3:16 (NIV)

And Jesus told us what that purpose looks like: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10) A full life is the life God had in mind from the beginning.

2. Sin Separates Us From God

If God loves us, why do we feel the distance? Because of sin. From Adam and Eve to today, every one of us has chosen our own way over his. Sin is not only the big things. It is every way we fall short of who he made us to be, and it puts a wall between us and God that we cannot take down ourselves.

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,Romans 3:23 (NIV)

Now hear the other half, because it is meant to comfort you, not crush you. We all fall short. Every one of us. And it is okay. God never expected us to be perfect. He knows exactly what we are made of, and he loves us just the way we are. That should be soothing. We do not have to be perfect to come to him.

Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.Isaiah 64:8 (NIV)

We are clay, and he is the potter. Cracks and all, we are being shaped and molded. God made us in his own image, so we are meant to reflect him and grow a little more like our Creator. That is a lifelong journey. We are always students, always learning, and we are not expected to know everything. We are trying, and there is reward in that: in acknowledging him and staying in a right relationship with him.

And here is what changes us. When we see the magnitude of what God already did for us, it makes us not want to sin. Not out of fear or shame, but as our response to everything he gave. That reflection of his image is also the light we carry into a dark world, and we will come back to it.

3. The Cross Is the Bridge

The wall has a price, and the price is death. We could never pay it by trying harder. But God did not leave us on the far side of it.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.Romans 6:23 (NIV)

Jesus is that gift. The Father sent the Son as the sacrifice for our sin, because we could not pay what we owed. Without that sin offering, we cannot have communion with God or be right with him. With it, the cross becomes the bridge that connects us back to God and makes us right with him again.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”John 14:6 (NIV)

Notice what Jesus said. Not a way. The way. And the truth. And the life. There is only one way across, and we need the truth to know it. That is why truth matters so much to us, and why this ministry is called One Truth.

4. Our Response

God has done his part. Now we respond. Every promise of God is yes in Christ, and our response is the amen. Salvation is a gift of grace, received by faith, and it cannot be earned. And once it is received, we are not left standing there. God has good things prepared in advance for us to do, and we get to walk into them with joy.

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.Romans 10:9 (NIV)

And with that response comes a new identity.

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—John 1:12 (NIV)

That is the whole thing. God loves us. Sin separates us. The cross is the bridge. We respond. If you have never done this, you can do it right now, right where you are.

A simple prayer

Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. Thank you for loving me, and for dying on the cross in my place. I believe that God raised you from the dead. I receive you as my Lord and my Savior. Thank you for forgiving me and making me a child of God. Help me to walk with you every day. Amen.

These words are not magic. What matters is what you believe in your heart as you say them. If you prayed this for the first time, welcome to the family of God. Tell someone today.

Scripture

John 3:16 · John 10:10 · Romans 3:23 · Romans 5:8 · Isaiah 64:8 · Psalm 103:14 · Genesis 1:27 · 2 Corinthians 3:18 · Hebrews 11:6 · Romans 6:23 · John 14:6 · Acts 4:12 · Romans 10:9-10 · John 1:12 · Ephesians 2:8-10 · 2 Corinthians 1:20

The heart of it

Apart From Him

Say this one slowly. Apart from him, we can do nothing.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.John 15:5 (NIV)

Look at the weight of those words. Jesus did not say we could do less without him. He said nothing. Not one breath, not one good thing, not one step that lasts. Every good thing we have, we have been given, and every morning we wake up is a morning he gave.

And he did not say it to make us small. He said it so we would stop trying to carry life alone and stay connected to him. A branch does not strain to make fruit. It stays on the vine, and the life of the vine does the work.

That is how real God is. He is not an idea we agree with on Sunday. He is the life that everything depends on, and the closer we are to him, the more of that life we know.

Scripture

John 15:4-5 · Acts 17:28 · Colossians 1:17 · Galatians 2:20 · Philippians 4:13

His presence

Nowhere He Is Not

There is no corner of life that God is outside of. No room in your day he does not already fill, and no place you could go where he is not.

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.Psalm 139:7-10 (NIV)

We are not saying that everything is God. We are saying that there is nothing without God. He is over all, and through all, and in all. Paul told the men of Athens that God is not far from any one of us, because in him we live and move and have our being.

Colossians says that in him all things hold together. The chair you are sitting in, the air you are breathing, the day in front of you: he is holding it together. Once you see that, nothing is too small for him, and no part of life is outside of him. The kitchen table, the job site, the drive home, the quiet hour before sleep: all of it is lived in his presence.

Scripture

Psalm 139:1-12 · Jeremiah 23:23-24 · Acts 17:24-28 · Colossians 1:15-17 · Ephesians 4:6

A different way to see it

A Blessing, Not a Burden

Many people picture a life with God as a list: things to do, and things to give up. One more weight piled on a life that is already heavy. That is not what he offers.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)

The more present and practical God is in every part of our lives, the lighter life becomes. A burden is something we carry because we have to. A joy is something we carry because we cannot help it. When God moves from a place we visit to the place we live, he stops being one more thing on the schedule and becomes part of who we are.

And when he becomes part of who we are, we take joy in including him in everything, the big things and the small. That is when one of the most beautiful promises in the whole Bible comes alive.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

Look at the first words again. Do not be anxious about anything. Not most things. Not the small things while we keep gripping the big ones. Anything. It is a plain command, and it is meant as a gift. And we always pay attention to the but. Here is the hinge: in every situation, we bring it to God. By prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, we present our requests to him. We do our part. We trust him, and we hand it over.

And then look at what happens. We do not have to carry it anymore. We do not have to bear the burden. We give it to God, and we are free from it. So what does God do with everything we give him? He promises peace. Not a little peace. The peace of God, which transcends all understanding. We will not even be able to explain why we have it. But we will have it.

That is a threefold promise. First, we give it to God, and we are free from the weight of it. Second, he gives us his peace, a peace beyond understanding, over everything we handed him. Third, that peace stands guard. He gives us protection from our adversary, who would love nothing more than to keep us anxious and afraid. What could be more comforting than that? What better assurance could there be?

Think about the life that opens up. No anxiety. No fear. No running ten different outcomes through our heads when only one of them will ever happen. Nine of them are fruitless, and God does not want us worn out chasing things that will never come. He wants us fruitful. A peaceful life with him gives us room to bear fruit.

This is the revelation of God’s Word. It is how God reveals himself to us, through his promises, and this one promise holds everything we will ever bring to him. It is essential to knowing him and walking with him. It is a promise we get to live in, every single day.

This is something to be excited about. David knew that joy is found in God’s presence. Each day with God is a day to look forward to, not a duty to get through.

Scripture

Matthew 11:28-30 · Philippians 4:6-7 · 1 Peter 5:7-8 · Isaiah 26:3 · John 14:27 · Psalm 55:22 · Psalm 16:11 · Psalm 84:10-12 · John 15:11 · 1 John 5:3

Every part of life

Every Thought, Every Day

This is where walking with God gets practical. His presence is not only for the church building or the quiet corner with a Bible. It reaches into what we think about at two in the morning, what we say when we are angry, and what we do when no one is watching.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)

Taking every thought captive means bringing each one to Christ and letting him have the final word. It is not about fear. It is about staying close. A thought brought to him loses its power to pull us away.

And it does not stop at thoughts. Paul put it simply: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Work, family, money, rest, grief, laughter. None of it is left out. Nothing in life is kept apart from God, and that is exactly why it becomes a blessing.

Scripture

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 · Romans 12:2 · Philippians 4:6-8 · 1 Corinthians 10:31 · Colossians 3:17

Discipleship

Walking With Him, Together

A disciple is a follower and a learner. Not someone who made a decision once and moved on, but someone who keeps walking with Jesus and keeps learning from him, a day at a time. Discipleship is slow, steady, and daily. It is built like a habit, not like an event.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)

Notice how the Great Commission ends. Not with a task, but with a promise: I am with you always. Discipleship is not us working hard for a distant God. It is us walking with a God who is with us, and teaching others to do the same.

That is why we build the teachings and studies the way we do: to be walked through a little at a time, alone or with a small group, until the Word is not something we read but something we live in.

Scripture

Matthew 28:18-20 · Luke 9:23 · John 8:31-32 · John 14:15-17 · 2 Timothy 2:2

His glory in us

Carrying His Light

We are meant to carry the light of the Lord and show it.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.2 Corinthians 4:6-7 (NIV)

We are jars of clay. Ordinary, breakable, nothing special about the jar. The treasure is the light of God’s glory inside it. When people see that light, they should see him, not us. Jesus said, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

That light is the reflection of God’s image in us. It is the very thing God is doing in us that other people see, and it is what gives us an impact on them. Every one of us has a testimony, and it is built by what God has done in our own life.

That is why we can all share this beautiful love: God loves you just the way you are, and you do not have to be perfect to come to him. Everybody can relate to that. And you are the only one with your testimony. Unless you tell your story, it will not have the same impact from anyone else, because you lived it. That is what makes it personal, and that is what makes it relatable.

Here is what many people miss. Until we realize that we want to give him the glory, we do not realize the true benefit of the relationship. A full life is a life that gives glory to God. Giving him the glory is not a chore we do to please him. It is where the fullness of the relationship shows up, and where we find what we were made for.

Scripture

2 Corinthians 4:6-7 · Matthew 5:14-16 · Psalm 66:16 · Acts 1:8 · John 10:10 · Psalm 115:1 · Isaiah 43:7

Where it all leads

Back to One

Follow every thread on this page and it ends in the same place. Bring every thought to him. Let his presence fill every part of life. Give him the glory. And we end where we began, with God, and in oneness with him and with each other.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.Ephesians 4:4-6 (NIV)

It is a circle. It starts with God, it runs through us, and it returns to him.

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.Romans 11:36 (NIV)
Scripture

Ephesians 4:4-6 · Romans 11:36 · John 17:20-23 · Revelation 22:13

FROM HIM. THROUGH HIM. TO HIM.

Keep walking. The teachings and studies take each of these truths deeper, a little at a time.

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