Even If i Walk Alone

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

Fear

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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Who Do You Fear

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Who do you fear more, God or man? Would God believe your answer? Every day, we all have opportunities to proclaim the name of Jesus, but how often do we seize the moment and do so? Why are we so hesitant to stand up for what we believe? I heard Paul Washer say, “If you have enough fear of God, you’ll have no fear of man.” The problem is we don’t fear God enough.

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That’s not a popular statement. We want God to be all love and forgiveness. We’re comfortable with that God. While He is the essence of perfect love and divine forgiveness (1 John 4:8), God is also terrifying in His level of wrath and righteous jealousy (Hebrews 10:31, Exodus 34:14, Nahum 1:2,6). If we had the slightest idea of the power of God, we would be terrified to seek His presence.

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Be Holy

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Never underestimate the wisdom of those who came before us. Today’s messaging is slick, and the messengers are even slicker, but most of what passes for wisdom these days is fluff and void of any scriptural moorings. There is great value to be gleaned from those voices from the past. Consider this from the writings of J. C. Ryle:

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“Sin never announces itself to us with its full intentions. It never says, ‘I am your deadly enemy and I want to ruin you forever in Hell’. It shows its pleasure but hides its pain; shows its sparkle, but hides its death.” None of us is immune from sin’s deception. To survive, we must heed the Lord’s command to be holy, just as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16).

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Make No Plans

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Studying the second half of the book of Romans this month, one verse keeps poking me when I read it. Romans 13:14 says, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no plans to satisfy the fleshly desires.” It’s convicting because how often do we make plans to satisfy those very desires of the flesh the Lord admonishes us not to?

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We are always making plans to do something, go somewhere, or become someone. How many of those plans center on bringing or giving glory to God? If you’re like me, not many. We design almost all our plans to fulfill the desires of our flesh rather than to further the Kingdom of God. There are exceptions, of course, but that they are the exceptions should tell us we have a problem.

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Violating God’s Will

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A couple of different thoughts have been fighting for attention in my mind for the past several days. One was sparked by reading Job 28:28, where God said, “The fear of the Lord is this: wisdom. And to turn from evil is understanding.” We’ve talked about what it means to fear the Lord before (see “The Fear of The Lord”), but this verse is so clear.

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We could take it to mean that it is wise to fear God, which is true, and we can also understand it to be a succinct definition of what fear of God looks like: to be wise. Wisdom will keep us from violating God’s will. Which brings me to the other topic that’s been on my mind: finding God’s will for your life. I’ve also written on that topic before, and if you want a deeper dive, see, “Explaining God’s Will for Your Life.” I submit you will never understand God’s will until you develop a proper fear of His holiness.

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