Even If i Walk Alone

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

2 Timothy

Abide in Him

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The book of 1 John is replete with passages from the apostle admonishing us to abide in Christ. Some versions translate the word “abide” as “remain”. Both words convey what is at stake here. It’s not enough to believe in the gospel and accept Jesus as your Lord in a single moment in time. Those whose commitment to Christ is genuine will spend their lives seeking to be more like Jesus (1 John 2:6).

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They will desire to abide in Him because they feel out of place anywhere else (Philippians 3:19-20; John 15:4-5). To remain in Him is to avoid being swayed by every false teaching, tossed about by any new so-called revelation (Ephesians 4:14). The Lord doesn’t want us to chase after religious fads or whims, but only to abide in Him (Colossians 2:6-7).

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The Hardest Part

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From the research I’ve done on persecution, the hardest part is not the persecution itself, but the preparation before it begins. Standing firm in the face of pain or injustice is a small thing if one dedicates their life to living in full obedience and surrender to Christ (Philippians 1:27-28). The hard work comes before. The real difficulty is the lifetime of saying no to the pleasures and temptations of this world.

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There are countless stories of people persevering through hard times. But how many examples can you recount of people putting aside their dreams, passions, and desires so they can devote themselves to Christ? How many people are dying to themselves every day and picking up their cross (Luke 9:23)?

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Who Do You Think You Are?

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Who do you think you are? That’s not a recommended conversation starter, but I think it’s a question we should often ask ourselves and others. In a world where everyone wants to create God in their image or deny He exists at all, I think it’s a fair question. Once upon a time, there was a man named Job who suffered almost every loss and calamity imaginable.

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Being a God-fearing man, he couldn’t make sense of the logic of it all. He was confident if he could present his case to God, that the Lord would relent and exonerate him from all his sufferings (Job 13:3; Job 23:3-5). God’s response was to ask Job the question we are contemplating today: “Who do you think you are?”

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Victory Through Persecution

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As we prepare for certain persecution in the not-so-distant future, we must learn all we can about what the scriptures have to say about this. One such passage is Romans 5:3-4, where Paul outlines the progression we go through to achieve victory through persecution: “And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.”

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I exhort you to commit the passage to memory for its encouragement. As we anticipate a day when owning a Bible may be illegal, we should all be memorizing as much scripture as possible. Do not be lazy or naïve in thinking that will never be a reality where you live. God’s Word tells us the days will only grow darker (2 Timothy 3:1-5), so we must prepare before it is too late.

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Living a Holy Life

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That persecution is coming is a certainty (2 Timothy 3:12). For many, it will be the first time you experience it, so there is an urgent need to be prepared. In studying the topic, I’ve come to understand that preparation isn’t so much in learning how to deal with what may come, but how to order your life now. Living a holy life is the ultimate preparation for withstanding persecution.

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Unless we have a foundation of holiness, each of us will crumble like houses made of sand (Matthew 7:26-27). If you want to stand strong in the fire, you must fireproof yourself before the flames arrive. The closer we are to Christ before persecution comes, the better we will withstand whatever form it takes.

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