Even If i Walk Alone

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

Nothing Else Matters

by

Today it’s time to take a breather. We have talked a lot about being active for the Kingdom and how salvation is a combination of faith and works. We mustn’t be passive observers on the road of life, but rather active participants in all that comes our way. With all of that said, none of it will matter if we are not doing it for the right purpose and without the proper heart attitude.

Everything we do must be for the reason of making the Kingdom of God a reality here on earth. Jesus prayed that God’s will would be done on earth as it is in Heaven. This is a clear indication that we are not to simply wait around for Heaven, but rather that we should be bringing Heaven to earth. We should be working to provide the paradise experience to all people, right here and right now. Jesus prayed that it would be so and therefore established our mission. Everything we do must now contribute to that mission. This is what it means to follow Jesus. We act because he acted, we love because He loved, and we serve because He served. Jesus modeled ways in which we could begin to make heaven a reality here on earth. There is no injustice in Heaven; there is no hunger, nor sorrow, nor tears. To bring Heaven to earth, therefore, we must work for justice and to eliminate hunger, sorrow and tears. Most importantly we must do all of this because it is what Jesus told us to do.

Our only motive must be Jesus and our only mission must be that which He gave to us. Being a good person for the sake of living in harmony with others simply won’t cut it. While it may look great on the surface, the root of this kind of service is selfishness. Serving others so that you can live in peace finds you at the core instead of Jesus. Rather, when we serve, we must do it because it’s what Jesus would do; it’s what He said to do and it pleases Him. Jesus must be the reason. Jesus must be the motive. In this way, we live honestly and purely before Him. Our hearts are aligned with Him and He will bless what we set out to do.

Being a follower of Jesus means nothing if we are not pleasing Him. We please Him by doing the things He did, and doing them for His pleasure and in His name. It’s not enough to feed the hungry. We need to be broken at the very sight of those in need. We must see them as beautiful creations of God and be compelled to serve them because we love as Christ loved. It’s all about the attitude of our hearts. If our hearts are not broken by the things that break the heart of Jesus then we are living a lie; we are hypocrites. We cannot fully love Jesus until we love as He loves. We must devote the whole of our life to growing into His love and then reflecting that same love to the world around us. As the hands and feet of God, we must be fully aligned with His mission in order to best carry it out. We can’t fake it; if we aren’t doing it for Jesus, we may as well not do it at all.

So what’s your motivation? Are you seeking to live in harmony for harmony’s sake? Are you caring for others out of a heart that breaks for them or out of a sense of civic duty? Are you mindful of what others might think as you engage in activities of service? Forget everything else except for Jesus and His mission. Remember why He came, how He lived and what He has created you to do. Live a pure life wholly devoted to Him, a life that consults Him first and Him only. You can’t be a true follower of Jesus and have motives of anything other than Him. He demands it all, not just a part. Check your motives; beg for more of His love and to have your heart broken by the things that break His heart. Love and serve in the name of Jesus. He is the only way; He is all we need.

God with Us

by

I just finished reading Greg Boyd’s latest book (“Present Perfect: Finding God in the Now“), and I cannot recommend it enough. The book deals with the spiritual discipline of “practicing the presence” of God. Essentially what this means is to keep God first and foremost in our thoughts at all times. I have read Brother Lawrence’s classic, “The Practice of the Presence of God”, and while I loved the concepts he spoke of, I was never able to personally apply them to my own life. Boyd’s work provides plenty of exercises to help you apply this discipline in your own life. I was slightly concerned that the exercises would be “hokey” or that I would feel silly engaging in them, but these fears proved to be unfounded. As I write this I am indeed learning to practice the presence of God in my own life.

Being consciously aware of God at all times is not easy, though the reasons why escape me. We devote our lives to Him, we forsake everything for Him, but we cannot keep our focus on Him? What are we missing, and how weak is our faith that we can’t regularly stay in His presence for an extended amount of time? It makes me sad to realize that had I been with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. I too would have probably fallen asleep (Mark 14: 32-42). We have become self-absorbed and self-indulgent people. We give lip service to God, but turn immediately back to our own endeavors. We are distracted by the slightest interruption or diversion. It is frustrating to me how I can be absolutely devoted one minute and anything but the next.

Being mindful of God in every moment is both restricting and limiting. The restrictions, however, are both welcome and necessary. Being aware of God’s presence as you engage in conversation with someone else not only restricts the words you say, but also alters your attitude towards the one to whom you are speaking. Seeing that person as someone for whom Christ died, someone whom Jesus loves just as much as you, allows us to put aside our judgmentalism and see that person the way God sees them. People cease to be unwelcome distractions or uninvited interruptions; instead they become divine appointments. In case you were unaware, as representatives of God’s Kingdom, every encounter we have is, by definition, a divine appointment.

The choices we make and the thoughts we think are greatly impacted by being mindful of God’s presence. At last, I am truly learning how to take every thought captive. My initial, judgmental thoughts when seeing someone are immediately filtered as I bring to mind the fact the God is in our presence. When practicing the presence, being aware of God in your midst, you are able to stop a negative thought in midstream and redirect it to a God pleasing and affirming thought. Smiles come easier and stress becomes far less frequent or relevant. Temptations no longer seem so inviting. Imagining God in your midst (for indeed He is) makes it profoundly difficult to choose a sinful thought, word or deed. Once we become aware of God’s presence in our lives on a moment by moment basis, our thought patterns are radically altered. We no longer have the ability to slip into a sinful behavior; instead we must now purposefully choose the sinful path. Once we have slowed down the decision making process to a conscious choice, it becomes amazingly simple to reject sin and choose Christ. This is incredibly freeing and the true beauty of practicing the presence. Not only will our lives look more like Jesus, but we will be filled with the purity of walking in His light.

If you let it, this spiritual discipline will radically rock your life. You will find freedom from patterns and behaviors you had long given up on defeating. We have lost sight of the fact that one of the names given to Jesus was “Immanuel”, literally, “God with us”. By practicing the presence we are able to rediscover the truth that God is indeed with us in every moment of our lives. I encourage all of you to purchase a copy of this book. You can do so by clicking here or going to your favorite bookstore. Once you’ve read the book, I encourage you to come back and leave a comment about how it impacted you, and how you’re doing on “practicing the presence” in your own life. Remember God is with you no matter where you are, or what you’re doing. We need only be awakened to the reality of His presence.

Satan’s Worst Nightmare

by

It has long frustrated me that followers of Jesus (which would certainly include me) seem so hesitant to follow Jesus through uncertain or turbulent waters. As long as our path is fairly smooth and our direction is somewhat certain, we have no problems dedicating our lives to Jesus. When uncertainty enters the equation, however, we hesitate. When following Him means giving up some sense of our security, we flinch and falter. We become fearful of the unknown. Of what are we truly afraid? The God who walks with us through the good times is the same God who will be there in the bad.

The fear comes from the enemy. When we are compelled to walk along the narrow path, through darkness and uneven terrain, Satan is there to immediately cast doubt on our ability to traverse the chosen path. He injects worry, fear and anxiety into our minds. He does not want us to move forward, as he realizes this will bring defeat to his intentions. When you feel most paralyzed by fear, rest assured that your obedience has placed you on the cusp of accomplishing something significant for the Kingdom of God.

The paralysis comes from our fear. Yet this fear is totally irrational. Scripture is full of examples of God giving victory over extraordinary circumstances; we need only to trust Him. If God is for us, nothing can come against us. (Romans 8:31) We have everything we need at our disposal, we simply need ask (John 14:13-14). All of Hell itself cannot prevail against the people of God (Matthew 16:18). Again I must ask, “What are we afraid of?” How ridiculous is such fear! As a matter of fact, this fear turns out to be just another lie of Satan. Once again he is subtly altering the truth; he is shifting our focus ever so slightly in a way that blinds us to what is really going on. The truth of the matter is it is Satan himself who is trembling in utter fear of us! The entire time that we are immobilized by fear, it isn’t even our fear we are feeling; it is the trembling cowardice of Satan being reflected into our minds. He knows he cannot defeat a follower of Jesus who is walking in the power of God. It is all too obvious to the devil that he is about to suffer yet another crushing defeat. It infuriates him to lose, so he is in panic mode; he is scared to death that you will stay focused on Christ and obediently follow Jesus.

The key to victory, the key to overcoming fear is to realize from where that fear is originating. Don’t let Satan put the stench of his own fear onto you. Don’t be deceived into believing the lies of the enemy. He tells you that you are not strong enough for the battle ahead. Jesus tells us that in our weakness, through Him, we will be made strong. Satan will tell you that you are too young, too old, too uneducated or too damaged. Jesus tells us that we are the exact person for the job, we are His unique and beautiful creation; He has equipped us perfectly for the task ahead. As followers of Jesus we have access to the power of God. This same power has already repeatedly defeated Satan. The devil cannot win, and he knows it. His only hope is to deceive us into believing that his fear is our own. He is a liar, and we must call him on it. We must obey and follow Jesus; doing so makes us very dangerous indeed to Satan and all of his plans. This is why he is so frightened of us. Don’t be deceived, don’t buy into his lies. Instead, walk in the truth and in the strength of the power of Jesus. Surrender everything to Christ and follow Him anywhere, at any cost; we have nothing to fear, because we have Jesus. Move forward with courage and strength; don’t be paralyzed by someone else’s fear. Reject the lies of Satan, engage in the battle and watch the Kingdom advance as a result of your obedience. Satan fears an obedient disciple of Jesus more than anything else, so follow Jesus; doing so will cause you to become Satan’s worst nightmare!

Seeking the Kingdom First

by

For those familiar with Scripture, you are more than likely aware of the command to “Seek first the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33). This is pretty clear and straightforward. If you are a list oriented person like me, you may be wondering what numbers two, three and four might be. We’re good with seeking the Kingdom first, but what are we to seek next? In truth there is no next. There are two reasons why this is a list of one, and why one is all that we need.

First, we are never able to check off the first (and only) item on the list. We never fully accomplish seeking the Kingdom of God first. Seeking the Kingdom of God is a moment by moment endeavor. We may successfully seek the Kingdom first in one moment, but in the next we are back to our own selfish pursuits. Since we are no longer seeking the Kingdom first, we must return to number one on our list. In fact the very moment we cross off “Seek God’s Kingdom” from our list, we immediately nullify its completion. At that moment we have become self-serving and are no longer seeking the Kingdom first. Seeking first the Kingdom of God is a lifelong activity. We must consciously choose to seek His Kingdom every moment we live. Since He never told us to stop seeking, and since He never rescinded that command, we must continue on with the last instruction we received. We must continue to seek Him. It can be a daunting challenge to constantly seek His kingdom first; daunting, but not impossible. God is with us at every moment. He is with you right now. We often forget that His Spirit is alive and at work within us. If you are a sincere follower of Christ, the Spirit of God is part of your life at all times. He gives us the ability to consult with Him at any moment, for as long as we need. Our job is simply to remind ourselves that He is with us; we must master the discipline of becoming intimately and consciously aware of His constant presence in our lives.

The second reason we have a list of one is that this one item encompasses all that we are to do in service to Jesus. Seeking His kingdom first means we will see Jesus in everyone. We will see Him as the hungry child orphaned by the plague of AIDS, and we will feed Him. We will see him in the hollow eyes of the crippled homeless man, and we will shelter him. We will see Him sick and in agony, and we will care for his needs. If we seek first God’s Kingdom, we will behave like citizens of that Kingdom. We will love God with all of our heart, all of our soul, and all of our minds. We will love our neighbors more than we love ourselves. We will seek to do the things that Jesus did and we will carry on the mission He left for us to do. If we seek first His kingdom, we will live lives that look like Jesus. We will know what it means to walk as Jesus walked, and to love as Jesus loved.

Seeking the Kingdom is not simply the first thing we are to do as followers of Christ; it is the only thing we are to do. If we will follow this single command, we will do all that Jesus told us to do. Begin recognizing that God is with you at all times. Seek Him out in every situation; get in the habit of engaging in non-stop conversation with our King. As we shift our focus, moment by moment, onto His Kingdom and His plans, we will find that burdens and sins begin to melt away. There is no room for sin in a life that is wholly devoted to God. There is no burden so heavy that it is not diminished in the presence of God. Seek first the Kingdom of God, and seek nothing else. In seeking Him first we will find His peace, His patience and His love. Seek Him first, and seek Him only; then you will be fully and truly whole.

Intensity

by

Each of us has a finite amount of time in which to live our lives; this is a given. As followers of Jesus, this should be a cause for rejoicing. We get the privilege of serving Him in this life to be followed by the far greater joy of serving Him throughout eternity once our time in the physical realm is over. However, we are not to simply wait around for this life to end. We mustn’t disregard the privilege of service on this earth in anticipation of the joy of seeing Him. There is a reason we were created as physical beings; that reason is to serve and glorify God as His loving creation. There is no higher call, nor any larger responsibility. It is up to you and me to bring the reality of God’s kingdom into the world in which we live. It is a massive assignment, one that is made even more so by the realization that we have an extremely limited amount of time with which to work. How can we possibly hope to carry out the mission of Jesus?

The answer is intensity. We will need to be fully surrendered to God in every area of our life. Each and every moment will need to be lived as one of total commitment to Him. Taking our eyes off of Jesus for even a moment will jeopardize our mission. This race requires laser like focus and unwillingness to compromise. Loving Jesus, serving Him, living for Him must so permeate our lives that we can think of doing nothing else. This is serving with intensity; this is what it looks like to live out loud for Jesus, to be a true follower of Christ. We must breathe Him in with every single beat of our heart. We must move toward Him with every step that we take. There is no time for seeking self-centered activities. When we work, we must work for Him. When we seek pleasure, we must find it in Him. When we rest, we must rest in Him.

Living with that kind of intensity can appear to be exhausting and perhaps not even possible. If that is your opinion then might I suggest that you are forgetting that God surrounds you at all times; He is present and surrounding you at this very moment. His Spirit weaves in, through and all around you. You have the power of God at your fingertips; it waits simply to be exercised by you. We limit God so frequently that I think we have forgotten how powerful He truly is and that all of that power is available for us to bring to bear on any circumstance. It is He who gives us the power to live; it is He who sustains us. He gives us breath, so breathe Him in. He causes our heart to beat so move in rhythm with Him. He has created and gifted us to accomplish His work on earth. He has sent us out to be His witnesses into the entire world. We have been equipped with everything we need, and we have no excuse to not make use of those blessings in a way that shines the love of Jesus to the ends of the earth.

Embrace the power of God. Seize all that He has given to you. Our time is short, but our mission is clear. Be the hands and feet of Jesus. Care for the poor, the sick and the hungry. Serve the orphans, the widows, and the elderly. Love everyone; serve everyone. Never turn away from someone in need. Walk in the footsteps of Jesus. Live with intensity.