Even If i Walk Alone

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

Discipleship

Who Will Jesus Be in Your Life?

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It doesn’t matter if you are reading this on New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, or a random day in May. The question you must answer is, “Who will Jesus be in your life over the next year?” Where you will be in the future is determined by the decisions you make right now.

woman contemplating who will Jesus be in your life knowing it means an increase in commitment and discipleship, reordinering her priorities to be on mission in humility and no pride

If Jesus isn’t who He should be in your life today, where do you think you will be a year from now? What I know for certain is you will be further away from Him than you are today. Is that what you want? You can’t keep going the same direction and expect to end up in a different place. Your steps dictate your destination (Galatians 6:7–8).

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The Return of Christ

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The return of Christ necessitates that we live in ready and anxious anticipation of His coming. Woe to that person caught unawares at His return (Luke 21:34–36; 1 Thessalonians 5:2–3). His second coming has always been the plan, and Jesus made certain we understand that (John 14:2–3; Acts 1:11). What then should be our response? I like how J. C. Ryle put it:

Man thinking about the return of Christ contemplating the second coming with reverent fear and purpose in recognition of his need for salvation and discipleship

“Our plain duty then is to live always prepared for His return. Let us walk by faith and not by sight. Let us believe in Christ, serve Christ, follow Christ, and love Christ. So living, whenever Christ may return, we shall be ready to meet Him.” That sounds like a plan to me! Jesus is coming back, and we have no excuse not to be found ready (Matthew 24:44; Luke 12:40).

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God’s Abhorrence of Sin

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In Egypt and many other countries, Christian girls and women are vulnerable and susceptible to rape, marriage, and forced conversions to Islam. To think of young girls not over eight or nine years old experiencing such horrors, it is easy to understand God’s abhorrence of sin. Human trafficking has always been a sin that pushes my buttons and engenders heated wrath in an instant.

My guess is we all have certain sins that make us angrier than others. Should it be like that? Shouldn’t all sin be as abhorrent to us as it is to God? Forget the sins of others; every sin we commit should generate the same hatred we feel towards the most horrifying sins.

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Strangers and Aliens

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Those who exercise the boldness and courage to proclaim the truth of the Gospel will face many trials in this life (John 16:33). For those who follow Jesus, that is reason enough to reject anyone preaching a message promising health, wealth, and peace. Jesus dispels that belief when He declares He did not come to bring peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:34).

We are strangers and aliens on earth, foreigners in every context and location in which we find ourselves (1 Peter 2:11; Hebrews 11:13). This world is not where we belong, and those who do belong here will do everything they can to harm and get rid of us. Life on the narrow path is going to be difficult (Matthew 7:13–14) and we should believe no one who says otherwise (2 Timothy 3:12).

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Practicing the Gospel

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There seems to be no end to the wisdom of J. C. Ryle, evidence of how saturated his life was with the Word of God. Here is a quote of his I read this week: “The Gospel which we possess was not given us only to be admired, talked of, professed—but practiced! The Gospel was not meant merely to reside in our intellect, memories, and tongues—but to be seen in our lives.” Today, we love to talk and express our opinions.

From everyday conversations, to the workplace, to the dreaded social media, it’s easy to talk about what we believe if we possess the boldness to do so. Far more important than our words, though, are our actions. The good news of Jesus is not something to be hidden (Matthew 5:14–16), but something to be shared with the entire world (Matthew 28:19–20; Mark 16:15). Are you practicing the Gospel?

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