Even If i Walk Alone

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

Choosing Sides

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Choosing sides is something we do from cradle to grave. Whether it’s picking teams on a playground or deciding for whom we will vote in a Presidential election, our culture is always pushing us toward choosing sides. Choosing sides reveals something about us. On the playground, it may speak of your popularity. The side you choose in an election shows your political philosophy. As disciples of Jesus, we also choose sides.

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We reject the lies of Satan and align ourselves with the truth and love of Christ. We believe Jesus is the Son of God, died on a cross, and rose to life again. His death provides the way to life for us. No matter what other sides in life we might choose, choosing Jesus is the only side that matters and is the decision that should direct the way we live each day of our lives.

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Distracted by Jesus

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What if we were so focused on the mission of Christ that we could only be distracted by Jesus Himself? We live in a world designed to distract, and few of us are very good at resisting the siren call of a pleasant distraction. It’s always easier to do the more comfortable things than the difficult. Living as a disciple of Jesus will never be easy. If it is, you probably aren’t living for Him.

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Jesus promised us we would have trouble in this world (John 16:33). We often think in terms of persecution or being mocked when we read that verse, but distraction wreaks havoc in our lives and causes all sorts of trouble. Nothing will knock you off course faster than a distraction, and distractions are the killer of all dreams. No one can be on mission and distracted at the same time.

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The Joy of the Lord

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Since the beginning days of the coronavirus and the drama that unfolded in the response to it, the racial tensions that began exploding soon after, and a crazed political environment, the world has seemed to have just gone mad. Every issue seems to polarize us, dividing friends, family, and most disturbingly the church. In a matter of months, what we considered the normalcy of life has been discarded. I’ve seen a lot of dramatic changes in my lifetime, but never ones that occurred so suddenly and were so divisive.

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I don’t know when or if this all ends, or what life looks like on the other side of this seemingly unending tunnel of darkness. But somehow, in the middle of all the chaos and uncertainty, I have found my joy of the Lord increasing. I am more aware of His presence than ever, and despite the anger and confusion swirling around me, I am at peace.

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A Scared World

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When the modern world seems overwhelming, it’s always good to look back on the giants from our past for a little wisdom and perspective. A. W. Tozer once said, “A scared world needs a fearless church.” I’m sure there have been periods in the last couple thousand years where this was truer than today, but it is timely and necessary wisdom we should heed. At least in my lifetime, I’ve never seen the world be more scared.

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Suicide rates are climbing rapidly. Turning on the news will only leave you frightened and depressed (I recommend you turn it off!). Fear is everywhere: fear of a global pandemic, fear of rioting, fear of job loss, fear of economic ruin, fear of government… the list goes on and on. We are living in a scared world in desperate need of hope.

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Dying to Live

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Disciples of Jesus know they must take up their cross daily. But do you understand what that means? No one survives the cross. Not even the physical body of Jesus. The cross is an unequivocal representation of death. To pick up our cross daily necessitates that we die each day. Every day we must completely surrender what we want to do. All our hopes, dreams and ambitions are dead to us. Every relationship is dead. The cross spares nothing.

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As you die to self, the cross strips everything away. We can hold on to nothing. It all goes. Every day. I’d wager few of us live like this. How many of us even pick up our cross? At best, we give it a casual glance before continuing with our plans. Very few of us are dying to live each day. If this is as true for you as it is for me, we are a long way from being able to call ourselves disciples of Jesus.

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