Even If i Walk Alone

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

Psalm 119

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When I was younger and reading through the Bible, I used to dread when I came to Psalm 119. It’s the longest chapter in the Bible, and I still remember groaning when it came up for that days reading. I’ve always had a checklist personality, so when something takes a bit longer to cross off my list, I quickly grow impatient. As I’ve grown to love God and His Word more, I have come to appreciate Psalm 119 to the point it is now one of my favorite chapters, and I get excited when I turn to it.

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There is so much packed into this single chapter. Almost every verse holds a complete and self-contained nugget of praise, worship, wisdom, or instruction. I think you could read Psalm 119 every day for the rest of your life and never plumb its depths.

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The Privilege of Prayer

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As I was praying today, I became overwhelmed with a sense of awe. Not for the first time, I was struck by Who it was I was talking to and what an intense and incredible privilege it is to speak to my Creator. When we pray, we are talking directly to the God of the Universe. We are conversing with Jesus. Who are we that we should have such a privilege? I know what my life has been. I know what I deserve, what we all deserve.

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I deserve to be cast out of His holy presence forever and to never have the privilege or right to come before Him. I am an unholy man before an all-holy God. But He looks beyond that. He sees me as His child, and because of the blood of Jesus, I am clean and blameless in His eyes. He invites me to sit at His table and speak with Him. Do you understand the enormity of this?

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Well Done

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I want to live a “well done” life. Jesus taught if we spent our lives using the talents and mission He gave to us for Him, when we face Him in Heaven He will say, “Well done good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). It is to this we should aspire. It is for those words we should spend our lives. I don’t want to live my life for Jesus in a casual or half-hearted way.

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Along with the teaching of having our lives found to be good and faithful, Jesus also gave the warning many would come to Him and He wouldn’t recognize them (Matthew 7:22-23). Despite their protests and proclamations of what they had done on His behalf, He will turn them away. They are those who did not hold fast to Christ. They wavered in their devotion.

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What Has Your Attention?

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It is not uncommon for church services in Haiti to last 4-6 hours. Contrast this with the typical Western church service which is typically tightly scripted to last for an hour or an hour and 15 minutes. Anything beyond this time and people begin to bristle. We have other things to do after all. When Pastor Kyle Idleman visited Haiti, he inquired of a local pastor as to how he was able to keep the attention of his congregation for so long.

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The pastor replied simply the people in Haiti had nothing else to do. While he said this with laughter, I believe he hit on an incredibly simple, but important, truth. Believers in Haiti spend extended time worshipping God because they have nothing else in their lives competing for the attention they give to God.

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Begin Your Day

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I believe the way you begin your day significantly impacts how the day will go. It cannot be overemphasized how much your first choices each day impact how the rest of it plays out. Our first thoughts and actions will decide how we treat our spouse, our family, our friends, and our co-workers. They will determine whether we will put God first, and they will dictate whether we honor God by taking care of our own well-being.

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As people who aspire to live their lives wholly devoted to Christ, this means beginning each day talking with Him. We need our marching orders and to attune our hearts to His. No one begins a long journey without first consulting a map or their GPS. We need direction, and our roadmap is found in Jesus Christ.

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