Even If i Walk Alone

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

Fear

Fear is Optional

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Much of our life is ruled (and ruined) by fear. We don’t take a risk for the Kingdom because we are afraid. We cower in fear over a medical diagnosis. We’re afraid to help a stranger because we fear for our own safety. We stay frozen and never move forward because we are afraid of what it might require of us or it might disrupt our comfortable pattern of life. When we strip away the pride and braggadocio, we are a fearful people.

fear is optional,fear,freewill,love,open theism,1 John 4:18,love casts out fear

image © corund via Fotolia

I have good news! For those who are followers of Jesus, fear is optional. We need not fear anything. God is the embodiment of love, and the Bible tells us perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). In other words, whenever we are fearful, it is because we have chosen to be afraid.
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Walk by Faith

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“Walk by faith, not by sight” is an old saying in church circles. I recently heard Pastor Steven Furtick put an interesting twist on this. He said, “If you walk by faith and not by sight, you’ll always hear something from God before you see any evidence of it.” Most of the time, the things we hear from God seem a little crazy.

walk by faith,not by sight,steven furtick,Hebrews 13:5,faith,lord of your life,jesus is lord

image © nikolay100

The promptings of the Holy Spirit are often potentially dangerous, defy social norms, or push us way out of our comfort zone. We have to choose to either obey God (walk by faith) or ignore him and go our own way (walk by sight).
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Faith that is Fully Alive

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Josh Husmann, pastor at Mercy Road Church in Indianapolis, recently made the point that, “Your faith is most contagious when it is fully alive.” Dormant faith rarely spreads. If we aren’t living in such a way that our faith drives everything we do, we will struggle to be effective witnesses for Jesus.

fully alive,fully alive faith,discipleship,faith,love,mission,fear

image © Maxim Malevich

When we are fully engaged in our faith, our lives take on an irresistible glow, a fire that is visible to all those with whom we come into contact. We all want a faith that is fully alive, but the struggles of our own doubts and insecurities leave our faith simmering just below the surface. It’s time to let it explode. It’s time we unleashed our faith into the world.
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Out of Your Comfort Zone

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Recently my pastor said something that I have found to be true. He said, “Passion for Christ will always take you out of your comfort zone.” If you’ve been a follower of Jesus for any amount of time, you probably recognize this and consider it a no-brainer. But recognizing something to be true and accepting it are two very different things.

your comfort zone,mission,passion,fear,commitment

image © Jusakas

Let’s face it: most of us will do about anything to maintain our comfort. In fact we aggressively pursue it through the purchase of entertainment, clothing, food, and other vices. None of these crutches have anything to do with being a follower of Jesus; but we ignore that point so we can get on with our lives.
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We Categorize What We Fear

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Fear categorizes. Perfect love casts out fear. Therefore there is no categorization in love. We categorize people we fear. We categorize them as terrorists, homosexuals, liberals, conservatives, etc. When we categorize them, it means we do not love them. When we don’t love them, we are not living in the way Jesus instructed us.

we categorize what we fear,love,fear,mission,discipleship,love as Jesus loves

image © Ashley van Dyck – Fotolia

In fact we are living in a way that is totally opposed to the way Jesus did. That’s a dangerous place to be.  If we love everyone we will fear no one. Love, as God defines it, is indiscriminate and unconditional. The groups of people we are most likely to categorize are also those whom we have the most difficulty loving.
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