Even If i Walk Alone

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

commitment

Being Faithful

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Reading through the Old Testament, I often marvel how the Israelites continually turned away from God. Couldn’t they see how powerful He was? Hadn’t they been witness to incredible miracle after miracle? They had heard the voice of God and seen His presence descend among them. More than anyone, it seems they would have been compelled to a state of constant thankfulness and worship. Yet we read that time and again they turned their back on God and did what was evil in His sight. From the perspective of history we look back on them and think, “How stupid could they be?” It’s so easy to judge the shortcomings of others while being oblivious to the failings in our own life.

It strikes me that I am just like the Israelites. I have seen the Lord’s blessings in my life time and again. I have observed occurrences that have no explanation short of the hand of God. Yet still I am tempted by the things this world has to offer; still my attention can be directed in ways not pleasing to Him. Recently I have been focusing on the thought of not turning to the right or to the left, but only moving straight ahead. When I am wavering, the Lord has brought verses to my mind concerning Israel, how they did what was evil in His sight. I am reminded of those great servants of God about whom the Bible says followed Him in all their ways. That is the person I want to be. I want to be the one who finds favor in the sight of God because I consider His ways in all my endeavors. I do not want to be the one who chases after his own thoughts and desires.

Jim Rohn liked to say that the Bible was full of two kinds of stories, those that show us what to do, and those that show us what not to do. We have great examples on how we should or should not behave, we simply need to read and study the Word of God to determine how to live our lives. The Bible does not contain every circumstance or decision you will ever face, but it does contain every principle you will need in order to handle the situation. When we are committed to following Jesus with our whole heart, when we dedicate ourselves to walking in His way, He will make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). We aren’t guaranteed an easy road, but we are assured of a right direction. Regardless of the difficulties we face, knowing that we are not turning away from the Lord in any way will bring satisfaction and peace to our lives. Nothing brings more comfort than doing what is right in the sight of the Lord and acting on all that He has told us to do.

Can you relate to the Israelites as well? Have you seen God move in your own life only to later forget and carry on with business as usual? We have countless examples in the Bible of those who chased after God with all their heart, and those who turned away to pursue their own selfish desires. It never ends well for those who turn away from God. The only question then is whether or not we will be wise enough to learn from the examples of those who humbled themselves before the Lord and received His blessings, or face the consequences of following those who rebelled against their God. Following Christ is really very simple, we need only worship Him alone and do the things He told us to do. More often than any of us want to admit, however, we are far more interested in chasing after the temporary comforts of this world.

So what will you do? Will you give all that you are to follow Jesus and obey His commands? Or will you turn your back on all He has done for you and worship the selfish and powerless things of this world? Looks fade, money burns and houses crumble; there is nothing permanent except for the love and mercy of Christ. Don’t be like the foolish examples in the Bible. Do what is right in His eyes and worship the Lord with all of your heart, soul and mind. May we be pleasing to Him in all our ways; let us live that we might be worthy of His sacrifice in every moment of our lives.

The Fear of Losing

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We all find security in something. For some it’s our jobs, for others it’s their money. Some find security in their possessions and others in their families. The true follower of Christ will find their security only in Him. Jesus said that whatever we gain on this earth will be lost, but if we put our trust and faith in Him, we will gain eternal life (Matthew 16:24-27). We clutch tightly to what we perceive to be secure while neglecting that which truly is.

There is an art to letting go and a freedom in travelling light. Anything gained in this world will at some point become a burden. Money becomes a stumbling block to stepping out in faith. Families bring responsibilities that can limit our movement. Both money and family can be tremendous blessings, but we must realize that earthly blessings come with some sacrifice. Any responsibility by its very nature requires our time and energy which results in time not entirely focused on God. Again, this is not inherently sinful; it’s simply a restriction of human beings. Physical entities do not have the ability to be more than one place at once. Our brains can only accommodate one thought at a time. Yes, we can perform rote tasks while thinking about something else, but our minds will be rapidly and constantly shifting focus from one task to the next. True focus requires our undivided attention.

We want to seek God above all else and desire to be in His presence always; yet the temptations of this world call out to us, steal away our focus, and erode our faith. Serving as a missionary seems noble, but we have our family to think about. Stepping out in faith is exciting, but we have a lot of financial responsibilities to consider. Giving money to the poor is what Christ would want us to do, but we find ourselves a little short at the end of the month after paying our cell phone bill. We cling to things that are of no consequence. We hold tightly to all we are destined to lose, and we do this at the expense of the Kingdom of God.

When we stand before Jesus and give an account of our lives, I guarantee you He will not be impressed by the square footage of our house, the car we drove, the job we had or the balance of our bank account. All of the things we covet stand in contrast to the will of God. Our selfishness is detestable to Him. We have large homes with extra rooms while millions sleep on the street tonight. We spend thousands and thousands of dollars on multiple cars yet millions in Africa will walk miles just to retrieve some water. Hoarded money swells our investment accounts while billions go hungry. We are holding on to the wrong stuff. We are desperately trying hold onto what we cannot keep, and sacrificing all that truly matters to Jesus.

What is the answer? What is the cure for the disease of selfishness and insecurity? In a word, the answer is Jesus. When we seek to live our lives as He did, we will find our priorities changed. When we begin to take seriously the word He spoke and the commands He gave, we will begin to be like Him and the chains of this world will fall away. Until we become deadly serious about devoting the whole of our lives to Him, we will continue to struggle in our pseudo-Christianity. Until we recognize Him as the Lord of our lives, we will remain lip-service Christians. Our hypocrisy stands in judgment over us. May God save us from ourselves and our paltry attempts to live for Him! Until we are ready to lose it all for His sake, we will never gain the life He has prepared for us. Love God, love others; serve the Lord with all your heart, mind, strength and soul. Don’t be afraid to lose what you cannot keep. Rather, tremble at the thought of never taking hold of that which you cannot lose. Only Jesus is eternal; only that which is done in His name will remain. What are you afraid of losing?

Come and Die

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It’s the greatest invitation ever given, a greatly compelling recruitment speech: Jesus said to come and die. He told everyone who followed Him that if they continued to do so they would face persecution. To sweeten the pot He informed them that they would become homeless, rejected by their families and in the end be put to death. Can’t you just see the people rushing to sign up? But this is the call of Christ, to come and die.

Are you willing to give up everything you own for the cross of Christ? Are you ready to die for the sake of pursuing His mission? Would you pursue Him without promise of any reward for yourself? A life spent following Christ is a life full of risk and adventure. We risk what we perceive to be safety in this world for the sake of knowing Him and continuing the mission to which He calls us. In a “me first” generation, sacrificing our own lives for the sake of another is a foreign concept. If we are going to lay everything on the line, we expect a certain return on our investment. But that’s not how the Kingdom of God works. To be a true follower of Jesus, we must give up everything we are solely for the chance to know Him better. Christ is the reward, and to receive it we ultimately must die.

Most of us in the United States have grown up being taught to pursue the American dream. We are expected to acquire material goods to prove our success. Possessions are tangible items that make it a simple matter to measure our progress against that of another. In the race to achieve higher and higher goals while gaining more and more goods, we ignore the very simple message of the Gospel. Jesus said that to find Him, we must lose ourselves. If we are to gain life with Him, we must first die to ourselves (Luke 17:33). Anyone who is living for themselves can never truly love those around them. If we don’t love others, we can’t love Christ (1 John 4:20).

In the Western world, Christianity has come to be synonymous with prosperity and success. For many years, this bad theology has been propounded to the masses and is now accepted as gospel in many circles. The teaching is false and not found in the Bible. The Israelites were told if they would follow all of God’s statutes then they would prosper in their land (Deuteronomy 5:33). That’s about as close as one gets to Biblical approval of the so- called “prosperity gospel”. However, which one of us has succeeded in obeying all of God’s commands? We all have fallen short and missed the mark (Romans 3:23). This is why Jesus came to sacrifice Himself for us. Without His blood and His resurrection, we would all be hopelessly lost. With our sinful tendencies we cannot perfectly keep the law of God. It is only by the grace of Jesus that we have hope of eternal life with Him.

By coming to die, Jesus set the example for us. He did not turn away from the cross that was set before Him, but rather He embraced it knowing that through His sacrifice, many would live. As followers of Jesus, we have the same call on our lives today. Life is not about what we can acquire or how successful we might become. Rather, it is about sacrificing ourselves for the good of others. It is about setting aside our own ambitions so that everything we do might point back to God and bring glory to Him. Our lives are to be lived for a single purpose, the opportunity to reflect the love and beauty of Jesus Christ to a world in desperate need of the truth. If we will live with Jesus Christ being our only goal, then we will achieve true fulfillment; we will receive His blessing on our life and His mercy at our death. Along the way we may be asked to give everything we own away; we may face persecution and watch those we love be taken from us. Following Jesus is dangerous because we are warring with the powers of darkness. To those who choose this path, to those who persevere, there is light and there is life. If we would follow Jesus then we must embrace our death. Jesus said to come and die. Is He worth it to you?

We Know What’s Right

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Too often we choose to do things that are contrary to what we know Christ would have us to do. A wayward glance, an unkind word, a condescending sneer; every day we engage in behavior that is opposed to the Word of God. Yet I believe we fail to weigh the gravity of our actions. Everybody sins, nobody’s perfect, so what else should we expect? We fail to recognize the power of Christ within us; we do have the power to overcome our failures and live as a true follower of Jesus. Ours is not a destiny resigned to defeat. Victory is a prayer away if we would only choose to invoke God’s power in our lives.

Another reason I believe I falter is that I do not consider the pain I cause my Lord. If we truly recognized and understood how much God hates sin, we would be hard pressed to willingly engage in it. Our sin caused God to turn away from His own Son while He hung on a cross for us. God despises sin and demands obedience. We deserve death and punishment, but by the grace of the shed blood of Jesus we receive love and pardon. I don’t want to cause pain for my Savior; I don’t want to fall short of the mark He has set for me.

If only we would keep these thoughts before us, I think we would be much less likely to sin. We need to develop the habit of quickly taking a mental step back at every decision. By pausing a moment to think through the situation and the choices presented, we allow ourselves to affirm who we are in Christ. When we focus on the person we want to be, it becomes far easier to make the right decision. Instead of blurting out a rash word, we can instead temper our speech with patience and love. When faced with temptation we will be able to turn the other way and remove ourselves from the situation. When we choose Christ over our own selfish desires, we learn to walk in the way that He did. Our steps may be small, but they are steps nonetheless.

It’s so simple, yet we make it so difficult. We love Jesus and wish to do things that would please Him. That choice is always up to us. Outside of very rare and extraordinary circumstances, no one is ever forced to sin. You and I both choose to sin; we are not coerced but are rather acting with selfish motives. Somehow we have become convinced that a moment of satisfaction on earth is worth more than choosing to remain faithful to the One who gave His life for us.

The question really comes down to “Do we really love Him?” No one intentionally hurts the one they love. If we find ourselves consistently choosing to sin, then the validity of our love for Jesus must be called into question. We cannot love Him and work against Him at the same time. Each of us must personally ask where our loyalty lies. Will we side with our Creator and Savior, or will we indulge our selfish desires? Our answer will have eternal consequences. Jesus told us plainly that we cannot serve two masters; we will hate the one and love the other (Matthew 6:24). I would much rather be accused of hating life on this earth than despising Jesus Christ. He is our hope and without Him we are lost.

When you are tempted to sin, remember that you know the right thing to do; you know the choice you should make. Whether or not you choose correctly is a reflection on who and what you value. We will either live for Christ or live for ourselves. Live life with your eyes wide open; walk slowly and speak even slower. It is imperative that we give ourselves the opportunity to turn away from temptation and to respond to every situation in a manner that will bring a smile to the face of Jesus. We know the right thing to do and the choice is up to us. Don’t live your life for things that at best bring temporal pleasure. Live for the One who can free your soul and give you eternal peace. Choose the right way, the way that leads to life. Love Jesus and serve others; choose to walk His way.

Following God No Matter What

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A couple of years ago, Francis Chan stepped away from the church he had led in California for fifteen years because God was calling him to something else. He didn’t know what that something else was, he just knew he needed to trust and move on. Recently the Senior Pastor of the fellowship I attend made a similar announcement. He would be transitioning out of his role to pursue an undefined path. Like Abraham, he doesn’t know where he’s going; he simply knows he is being told to go. I admire their courage to abandon everything to follow God to places unknown.

Are you willing to follow God no matter what? Could you really walk away from everything you own and everyone you know for the sake of Jesus Christ? It is a question I have been battling for some time and confess I have not yet made a similar leap. I trust God explicitly with my heart, but my mind continues to get in the way. The realities of life invade my passionate desire to follow Jesus without any backdrop of security. We have been taught that we must balance wisdom with faith. Most of us don’t go stepping off the roof of a skyscraper trusting Jesus will bring us safely to the ground. That shows a legitimate lack of wisdom. We are finite beings that are confined to live by the laws of a physical world (we are not immune from gravity, for example).

Walking away from a job trusting that Jesus will care for your needs is a weighty proposition. It works out for some, but for others, not so much. The Bible never promises success in every endeavor; it does, however, promise that if we will trust our lives to Christ and work to glorify Him, then we will spend eternity in His presence. No matter how bad things get on earth, this is a promise that provides ultimate comfort and security. Life is more than comfort, investments and personal pleasure; it’s more than the car you drive, the house in which you dwell or the size of your paycheck. Life is simply about Jesus; knowing Him and serving Him. Too often our decisions boil down to choosing between God and personal comfort.

Remembering our purpose on earth can bring clarity to an otherwise murky decision process. Are we making our choices based on Kingdom directives or earthly economics? It can prove difficult in our Western society to dismiss the pull and norms of our culture. All our lives we have been taught to be financially wealthy, to become as successful as possible and to care first for our own needs. The Kingdom of God demands that we give all that we have in service to Jesus, submitting to those around us in order to serve their needs first, and to consider ourselves willing slaves of God. When we see life through the eyes of Christ, our perspective will be dramatically altered. Our decision process will gain new parameters. No longer will we choose a direction based on what seems most comfortable or financially prudent. When our hearts begin to break over the very things that break the heart of God, we will be compelled to choose that which results in bringing eternal glory to our King.

Having said all this, learning to make decisions from a Kingdom perspective is not an easy matter. We have years of teaching and fears to overcome. Family and friends will not understand and will probably vigorously oppose the decision. While this is generally driven by their own fear and lack of faith, it can nevertheless create great uncertainty for us. It is then we must remember whom we serve; if we serve Jesus first and only, the opinions of others will not matter. While we should certainly seek wise and Godly counsel, ultimately we must choose to do that which God is calling us to do. There is far greater uncertainty in running from God than running toward Him; just ask Jonah (Jonah 1-3).

While decisions are not easy or to be taken lightly, there truly is a simple reason why some people turn away from all they know to follow Jesus and others don’t. Those who do are not super spiritual beings; they have no secret gene that allows them to take greater risks. They simply desire to follow Christ more than anything this life can offer them. They choose to forsake the illusion of earthly security for the certainty of eternal salvation. They have died to themselves and have chosen to serve Christ no matter what the cost in this life. With an eternal perspective, any sense of success as defined by this world pales and fades away. I have my own issues to deal with in this area, how about you? What is it that you have been putting off for God in favor of maintaining your own comfort and sense of security? In the end, anything we have accumulated in this life will disappear; there is nothing eternal in the physical realm. Are you willing to follow Jesus no matter the cost? Only the spiritual will endure; only what we do for Christ will last. Only He can provide the comfort and security you seek; only He can fill the deepest yearnings of your heart. True life and lasting security is found in Christ alone.