Even If i Walk Alone

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

Archives for January 2024

Turn Off the Noise

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To live lives wholly devoted to Christ, we have to turn off the noise. The noise is everything that keeps us from focusing on Jesus. The news, entertainment, jobs, relationships, and above everything else, our cell phones—it’s all noise. Over the last twenty years, we’ve gone from a world where only a few kept a smartphone in their pockets to a world where everyone has a smartphone in their pockets.

turn off the noise,discipline,focus,lordship,surrender,priorities

Every day we all observe people who can’t seem to look away from their phones. Too often, we are those people. If we can’t turn off the noise in our lives, we won’t be able to sense the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

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What’s Your Plan?

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What’s your plan to grow in your knowledge of God and His Word? How’s it going? As I write this, we’re almost a month into a new year, and I’m guessing scores of resolutions have already died a quick and quiet death. How’s that Bible reading plan progressing? Are you on track? How about getting up early so you can spend some quiet time in prayer with the Lord?

what's your plan,Bible study,discipleship,commitment,prayer,priorities

Are you still making it out of bed into the cold, dark morning? History and experience say things probably aren’t going so well. I’m actually ahead on my Bible reading, but falling woefully short in other areas. There are legitimate reasons we fall off target. But, the truth is, we are all trading our heartfelt commitments for things that are far inferior and worthless.

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Two Ways to Live

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There are two ways to live. You can follow God’s perfect way as revealed in His Word, or you can subscribe to the wisdom of man. Every single one of us will choose one of these two ways to plot their course through life. Choosing God means abandoning your life to Jesus. It’s a path of surrender and few will go this way. The alternative is to rely on the wisdom of man.

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This path is wide and you’ll find plenty of company along the way to share your journey. Neither way will be free of struggle. Life in this world comes with a heavy dose of pain, discouragement, and defeat. The choice between the two ways to live, then, comes down to your motivation, not whether one path is easier than the other.

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What Sin Is

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Each of us wrestles with the problem of sin. To understand how to win this battle, we must first define the terms. What is sin? Sin is any violation of God’s Law (1 John 3:4). We know everyone is guilty of this (Romans 3:23). Holiness is the goal because our lives are supposed to look like Jesus. We can’t look like Jesus when we are continuing to indulge in the same sinful patterns that we always have.

what sin is,commitment,discipleship,priorities,sin

None of us can live a sinless life; only Jesus was able to accomplish that. But each of our lives should move closer to that ideal every day. God’s law is unchanging, and He has plainly stated what violating His law involves (Mark 12:28-31). When we love anything more than God or when we do not love others as much as we love ourselves, we are sinning. There is no vagueness about what sin is.

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You Are Enough

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There is an electronic billboard near me that frequently displays the simple message, “You Are Enough!” I suppose it’s a nice sentiment, meant to be encouraging to the morning masses driving by, but the lie it purports is both deceiving and damning. You are not enough. Neither am I. There is nothing any of us can ever do to be close to being enough.

you are enough,surrender,salvation,commitment,purpose

If any of us were enough, Jesus would not have had to die on our behalf. The truth is, every human being is woefully inadequate. All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). If there is to be any hope for us, we must spend the rest of our days getting rid of all sense of self-sufficiency and surrendering to the surpassing sufficiency of our perfect God and King.

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