Even If i Walk Alone

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

Discipline

You Can Have it All

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Advertising media is constantly telling us we “deserve to have it all”. American culture encourages us to reach for the stars and to pursue success. From an early age many are taught we can be anything we want to be. As we mature, we discover what all those who have gone before us already know. We actually can’t have it all.

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image © Sondem

There aren’t enough hours in a lifetime to do everything we want to do. There isn’t enough money to bankroll our every whim. Instead we must determine which things are most important to us to pursue and leave the rest littered on the field of unfulfilled promises and shattered dreams.
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Living in Love

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In a recent post (see “When All is Said and Done”) I discussed how it is vital that we live our lives with an eye toward retelling our story to Jesus. This is an important concept to grasp, because each of us will one day have to give an account of our lives to Him (Romans 14:10-12).

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image © Nikki Zalewski – Fotolia

With that in mind, I wanted to look at practical ways we can live to ensure we have a pleasing story to tell. This isn’t a list of “do’s and don’ts”, but rather a motivation that must invade every aspect of our lives. That motivation is love.
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Trading TV for God

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Francis Chan once posed an interesting challenge to his family: limit your television watching time to the same number of hours you spend studying God’s Word. As with any household, especially those that have children, the challenge was not very popular at first but everyone was soon on board. When I read this, I had a couple of thoughts. One, what a brilliant idea and something I immediately knew I was going to put into practice in my own life.

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image © StudioAraminta – Fotolia

Second, I was deeply saddened that there would be any resistance to the challenge, knowing full well that I would have reacted the same way had my father suggested this when I was growing up. Worse, I know deep down that the challenge still feels daunting. Why is it we are so much more willing to spend our time on things of this world than with the God who created everything in the first place?
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The Art of Self-Denial

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There are a few extremes that people hold to on the topic of self-denial. I think A.W. Tozer said it best: “The meaning of self-denial is not an infliction of personal torment nor penance, but it is simply the giving up of the very principle of living for ourselves. It is completely changing the direction of our being and will, so that no longer in any sense do we act with reference to how anything will affect us, but our one thought is how it will affect God or others.” Self-denial then is not principally about doing less for ourselves, but rather doing more for God.

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Stop Trying to Convert People

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One of the biggest fallacies I was taught was that as Christians our job is to always be trying to convert others to become Christians as well. The problem is I don’t see anywhere where this was modeled by Jesus. Sure, when He called His disciples, He told them to “Follow Me”. I don’t really think that was an evangelistic outreach however. If you disagree, try employing that same strategy at a local mall some Saturday. No, the way Jesus drew others into a relationship with Him was by loving them. He didn’t ask for anything in return. He loved us because that’s who He is. Jesus is love through and through. He cannot act otherwise. As His followers, this is how we should strive to live.

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