Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

Archives for January 2015

Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

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We’ve discussed similar topics on this site before, but it seems that every couple of months I start hearing this question repeated over and over again. Perhaps the evil that occurs so frequently in our world prompts the question. Perhaps it comes from years of being given no or unsatisfactory answers to the question. Regardless of the reason, I am repeatedly frustrated and amazed that so many otherwise learned and respected Theologians and Pastors continue to struggle and give out such bad teaching when it comes to the question of why bad things happen to good people.

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How Can You Improve Someone’s Life?

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I recently heard Andy Stanley speak about goals and resolutions. His premise was instead of making plans how we can improve ourselves over the coming year, we should instead determine how we might improve the life of someone else. That’s a great shift to get our thinking off of ourselves and onto others. I guarantee you will have better results and greater happiness in your life if you consistently focus on serving others more than yourself. It’s the model Jesus taught, and therefore the one we were created to live. Everything we do should be with the goal of helping others, and our New Year’s resolutions or life goals should always be formed with this in mind.

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Ask For Wisdom

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I heard something recently that really struck a chord with me: “When you pray, don’t ask for more blessings. Ask for wisdom to use the blessings you already have.” If you are anything like me, so much (too much!) of our time in prayer is spent asking God for things we need – or at least perceive that we need. I don’t know if this malady is exclusive to American Christians, but I suspect it is not. Still, in our culture of constantly wanting more, and success being measured by what we have, it’s easy to slip into the bad habit of always asking. We need to spend more time reflecting on and utilizing the blessings God has already bestowed upon us.

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Brave

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As I was writing this morning, I was listening to Nichole Nordeman’s song, “Brave”. I actually was beginning to write on a different topic I had sketched out when the words of the chorus really hit me:

“So long status quo
I think I just let go
You make me want to be brave
The way it always was
Is no longer good enough
You make me want to be brave.”

The song goes on to say “If you believe in me, that changes everything.” Wow. When was the last time you recognized that not only does Jesus love you, but He absolutely, unequivocally, and without hesitation believes in you? He designed you to do the work He created you to do (Ephesians 2:10), and He harbors no doubt you can get it done. It doesn’t matter who hurt you in the past, let you down, held you down, or laughed in your face. The God of the Universe believes in you. Does anything else even matter? [Read more…] about Brave

Expressing Love

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Love, whether it is given or received, is experienced through action. Intending to love someone is not the same as loving them. Feeling you should love someone out of guilt or obligation is not love. Neither intent nor compulsion results in love. Only through our actions are we able to demonstrate love to another. Only through the actions of another are we able to feel their love for us. We can mentally and gracefully believe that someone loves us, but unless they act out their love towards us, it simply isn’t real. If we are serious about loving Jesus, it follows that we will express that love through our actions.

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