Even If i Walk Alone

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

Faith

The Cost of Following Christ

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Wang Yi is the pastor of the Early Rain Covenant Church in China. The Chinese government arrested Pastor Yi, along with his wife and over 100 members of the church, in December 2018 after a period of prolonged harassment of the church by the Chinese government. While the official charge was “Inciting subversion of state power,” in reality the government arrested them for following and proclaiming the truth and good news of Jesus. Such a charge carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.

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After being later released, Yang’s wife and church members spoke of being tortured while under arrest. Police ransacked their homes and have kept them under close watch since their discharge. The release of Yang’s wife, Jiang, was conditional on posting bail and she lost considerable weight during her time being held in detention. She has been under house arrest with her young son for the past six months.

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The Rich Young Ruler

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I’ve written about the “rich young ruler” a few times before but reading about the plight of our persecuted brothers and sisters brought the story to mind again. These days when preachers deliver a sermon on this parable (Mark 10:17-22), they tend to lean one of two ways. Either they will brush aside the command of Jesus to sell everything as specific to the man in the story and not a general principle for all Christians to follow.

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Or they will say a few may be called to do this, but the important thing is we don’t hold too tight to the things of this world and not to pursue riches for our own comfort. I have held the opinion the point of the story is we must be willing to leave everything at a moment’s notice if that’s what God leads us to do, and not to question such a command should it come. I now believe all these interpretations may miss the point altogether.

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Victorious

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We all want to feel like a winner. Nobody wants to live their life in defeat. We fear failure because of the chance we’ll be labeled a loser. I submit we spend a large portion of our life focused on winning. We want to win in our relationships, with our finances, our career, and in pretty much any competition in which we engage. That pretty well covers how we spend our days. I dare say we might even be obsessed with winning. Otherwise, why would we spend so much of our lives focused on it?

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The best news is God has already declared you a winner. All things were created through His perfect Son Jesus, which means all things were perfectly created. You are the exact combination of skills, talents, and passions He created you to be. You are loved by the eternal King of the universe. That sounds like a winner to me. In Jesus, you are victorious before you ever begin!

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Let it Go

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As followers of Christ, we know we are called to take up our cross daily and follow Him (Matthew 16:24). The problem is we’re already carrying so much stuff that carrying a cross becomes problematic. My question is, what is it you are carrying that is hindering you from carrying your cross? Whatever it is, you’ve got to let it go. The cross is not an add-on. It is not an accessory.

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Nothing is more important than the cross of Jesus. When we come to understand this, we know we have no choice but to take up our own cross and follow Him. Sadly, many who come to this realization are already carrying so much and are not willing to let it all go.

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Do Something

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We Christians in the West are very talented excuse-makers. There are always a million reasons why we don’t do something to further the Kingdom of God. Behind all the excuses is the simple reality of we’re too busy looking like and buying into the culture around us to have time to build the Kingdom. With so much darkness, so much pain and suffering, so much hunger and need all around us, how can we not do something?

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Jesus had a habit of taking time out of His day to reach put and supply the needs of those around Him. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and protected the weak. Jesus was never to busy to do something. He never made an excuse to not do something.

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