Even If i Walk Alone

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

Discipline

Busy, Distracted, and Noisy

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Our lives are busy, distracted, and noisy. As long as this is the case, we will never experience what God intends for our lives to be. We will never experience what it is to be close to Him. To come to the full knowledge of God, our lives must revolve around nothing other than Him (Matthew 6:33). It is no small blessing that nothing on earth compares to the glory and majesty of Jesus because that means we can set our affections on the One more valuable and magnificent than any other (Colossians 3:1–2)!

Man drinking coffee, signing papers, and talking on the phone all at the same time because his life is busy, distracted, and noisy

If only we lived as if we believed this were true. Instead, we fill our minds with indecency, our ears with heresy, and our lives with irrelevancy (Philippians 4:8; 2 Timothy 4:3–4). We can not conceive of how much better our lives would be if we eschewed the fallen things of this world and lived lives devoted to the Savior of our souls.

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Downplaying the Devil

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Christians spend too much time downplaying the Devil. I’m sure you are familiar with the old adage, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” The typical response to hearing that is a smile and a knowing nod. Did you ever consider how ridiculous that statement is? Hell has no fury like a fallen human? Are we serious? It’s one more example of how flippant we can be when discussing things we should take with the utmost seriousness.

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We’ve reduced the power of Satan to that of a byline or a joke. This is where it is typical for a writer to give the caveat of something like, “We have to be careful not to take this to extremes, or fall into legalism.” But you know what? I hate caveats. Truth is truth, and the fact it makes some uncomfortable is no reason to soften it. We need to treat the power of Satan and the power of God with the respect and trepidation both deserve.

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God’s Call to Holiness

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God’s call to holiness is not optional for any believer. Holiness is the standard God set for us in the beginning and continues to expect from us (Leviticus 19:2; 1 Peter 1:15–16). When we love the Father, we will desire to do what pleases Him because we all want to be counted like Paul when we die (2 Timothy 4:7).

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We all want to run the race well and hear Jesus speak the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant; enter into my rest” (Matthew 25:21). We dare not approach Heaven with stained garments uncleansed by the sacrificial blood of Christ (Hebrews 10:10). Sanctification always follows true repentance, so if we aren’t concerned with holiness, it is hard to conceive of our repentance as genuine.

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What’s Your Excuse?

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Never in history has there been less of an excuse to know God’s Word and fill your mind with sound teaching and doctrine. Television, radio, books, magazines, and, of course, the internet provide endless hours of teaching that no single person could ever exhaust in a lifetime. So, if you are not growing daily in the Lord, I have to ask, what’s your excuse?

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The only thing keeping anyone from growing deeper in their faith is their choosing not to. We all choose how we will spend our time, and if you aren’t choosing God or His Word, what are you choosing? Will you be comfortable with your answer when you stand before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10)?

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Following Jesus Is Hard

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Let me state the obvious: following Jesus is hard. If you think following Jesus is easy, my bet is you aren’t following Him in the manner His Word prescribes. It’s easy to say you follow Jesus. It’s even easy to place your faith in Him. None of that requires anything on your part, and you can take it back whenever that decision becomes inconvenient.

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The difficult work comes in living for Christ every waking moment of your life. As people born into sin, we all have an innate and outsized portion of selfishness that dominates our motives and desires (Romans 7:18). Keeping that alone in check often takes what feels like a Herculean effort. There’s nothing easy about living a holy life, so there’s nothing easy about following Jesus.

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