Even If i Walk Alone

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

Take Up Your Cross

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Jesus said whoever would follow Him had to deny themselves and take up their cross daily (Matthew 16:24). How many of us are doing this on a day to day basis? How many are willing to deny ourselves the comfort, security, and entertainment the world is telling us we deserve? Isn’t it true we want a version of Christianity that doesn’t involve the cross? We like the idea of being a Christian but dislike the sacrifice it requires.

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The notion of a loving God makes us feel comfortable, but His wrath makes us go another way. There is no victory without struggle, but we want our cake and to eat it too. We want all this world has to offer and a little Jesus on the side. This is not the life Jesus called us to live as His followers.

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Gratitude

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Gratitude is a most overused word while at the same time being a highly underutilized attitude. We live in an age where gratitude is hip and chic. We have gratitude apps and journals, gratitude groups and books filled with gratitude prayers. In a culture where stress is as omnipresent as the air we breathe, many have embraced the concept of gratitude without ever letting it penetrate their hearts. Of course, for Christ-followers, gratitude begins and ends with Jesus Himself.

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When someone gives their life in place of yours, saying you feel grateful may be the understatement of the century. Knowing Jesus, although perfect and without sin, took on all our sin so we might stand blameless before a holy God demands more than our gratitude. It demands our lives.

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The Love of Jesus

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Bruxy Cavey once said, “Humans long for unconditional love, but market a false self to get conditional love. Hence, our true selves are neither known nor loved.” And this is the rub of our lives. We want to be loved but we are afraid to be loved. We want to be known, but we are afraid to show our true selves for fear we will not be liked. It’s why Jesus is so attractive. He accepts us just as we are and does not condemn us (John 3:17).

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He loves us not in spite of what we’ve done, but because of who He is. The truth is you will never find unconditional love on this earth. I think you can get very close with a spouse or a mother’s love for her child, but as humans, we will mess it up. There will always be reminders of how we’ve been hurt or grudges we just can’t seem to completely release.

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Controlling My Reactions

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I struggle with controlling my reactions. When someone says something to offend me, or does something unscrupulous, or even holds an opinion diametrically opposed to my own, my reaction to those people can get me in trouble in a hurry. I want to be loving and given time to formulate my words, I do my best to say things that build people up, not tear them down (Ephesians 4:29).

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But at that moment of a split-second reaction? I don’t fare so well. I know I’m not alone in this as it’s easy to observe the way others react as well. Still, I know controlling my reactions is important to living a life that looks like Jesus.

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The Rich Young Ruler

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I’ve written about the “rich young ruler” a few times before but reading about the plight of our persecuted brothers and sisters brought the story to mind again. These days when preachers deliver a sermon on this parable (Mark 10:17-22), they tend to lean one of two ways. Either they will brush aside the command of Jesus to sell everything as specific to the man in the story and not a general principle for all Christians to follow.

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Or they will say a few may be called to do this, but the important thing is we don’t hold too tight to the things of this world and not to pursue riches for our own comfort. I have held the opinion the point of the story is we must be willing to leave everything at a moment’s notice if that’s what God leads us to do, and not to question such a command should it come. I now believe all these interpretations may miss the point altogether.

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