Even If i Walk Alone

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

commitment

A New Plan

by

For years, the last couple of weeks of the year were a flurry of activity for me. This was goal-setting time, a time to reflect on what I accomplished over the past year and make plans for what I would aspire to do in the year to come. I had one-year plans, three-year plans, five-year plans, and ten-year plans. I laid out everything neatly and precisely. While my goals would evolve, I always had a roadmap for my life.

a new plan,Keith Green,commitment,plans,focus,peace,planning,rest,prayer,discipline

I was leaving as little to chance as possible. “The man who fails to plan plans to fail”, or so the saying goes. But, to quote another famous saying, “Man plans, God laughs.” Except I’m not sure God was laughing at all the plans I was making. I think shaking His head might be more accurate.

[Read more…] about A New Plan

The Bondage of Little Things

by

A. W. Tozer once prayed, “Save and deliver us, we pray Thee, from the bondage of little things.” What a wise prayer. It is often not the big things that keep us from God, but the thousand little things. In the same prayer, Pastor Tozer confessed we can break one, two, even ten of the little habits and comforts keeping us from surrendering to the Lordship of Christ,

commitment,devotion,discipleship,idolatry, prayer,priorities,surrender

but we are powerless to break the thousand little things that twist together and bind us. When we let little things that are not of God accumulate in our life, we find they become strong chains restricting us and keeping us from complete surrender to our King.

[Read more…] about The Bondage of Little Things

The Mary Test

by

In a recent message looking at the birth story of Jesus, my pastor posed an interesting question: “Could you pass the Mary test?” When the angel of the Lord appeared to Mary, most scholars think she was between twelve and fifteen years of age. Even in the current era of moral decline, that’s very early for a young woman to consider being pregnant.

Mary test,Christmas,Jesus birth,devotion,humility,surrender,commitment,faith

Can you imagine the fear she must have felt at the prospect of being a mother when she was barely in her teens? I don’t think Mary was naïve. I believe at that moment she fully understood the weight of what was being asked of her. And yet, look at the beautiful response of Mary in Luke 1:38. She said, “I am the Lord’s slave. May it be done to me according to your word.”

[Read more…] about The Mary Test

Run to the Battle

by

The Christian life is not meant to be lived at a standstill or in retreat. We are called to run to the battle and meet the enemy wherever he may be found. When Jesus told us to go into all the earth (Matthew 28:19-20), He gave us our marching orders. We are to go out, not stand still or back down. The surrounding culture is growing ever more hostile to the teachings of Jesus and our faith. The world does not believe Jesus is the Son of God because the implication of that belief means they would be accountable to someone other than themselves.

commitment,discipleship,faith,fear,mission

They fear an omnipotent Creator God more than anything because such a God demands their lives be held to a standard other than one of their creation. As society grows increasingly selfish and prideful, it is the followers of Christ, His Church, who must uphold the light in the darkness.

[Read more…] about Run to the Battle

Trust and Obey

by

It’s impossible to get away from John 14:15. Jesus says if we love Him, we will obey His commands. We’ll live as He told us to live. Otherwise, we risk hearing the Words He warns us about in Matthew 7:21-23, where He sends away those who professed Him but never actually knew Him. They didn’t know Him because they didn’t love him.

commitment,discipleship,abundant life,surrender,obedience,salvation,trust and obey

We know they didn’t love Him because they lived their lives the way they wanted to, rather than obeying the commands of Christ. How close are we to suffering a similar fate? Readers of this blog are by and large professing followers of Christ. But do we really love Him? Are we proving it by obeying His commands?

[Read more…] about Trust and Obey