Even If i Walk Alone

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

Fear

Live Each Day with Passion

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What drives you? What gives you the fuel to get up each morning? Hopefully as followers of Christ, a desire to serve Him and to learn more about Him is enough to get us sufficiently jazzed each day. But too many people, even those of us pursuing Christ, are content to live their lives on cruise control. Life is not an adventure, but rather more of a treadmill. I do not believe this is what God had in mind. Our God is passionate and creative; He is daring and adventurous. Study the Bible and watch how He interjects Himself into the lives of His creation. God has many attributes, but boredom surely is not one of them!

I came across an old blog post by Kevin Kelly last week (see “My Life Countdown”) that really made me think. In the post, Kevin talks about how he consulted a couple of web sites that estimate how long you will live, based on statistical trends. He then used a program to calculate how long he (in theory) had left to live. Taking it a step further, he now has a clock on his computer counting down his remaining time on earth. Now, at first blush this might strike one as a bit macabre or morbid. Upon thinking it through further, I found it to be inspiring. What if we were to constantly live with a keen sense of how much time we had remaining? I think it would cause us to more seriously evaluate each decision we make.

We often do not seize opportunities before us because we’re either too afraid or we assume there will be time later to engage in the activity. We do not live with a conscious awareness of how fleeting our time on earth really is. If you knew you had 72 hours to live, would you not make different choices today than you would otherwise? If you knew you had only a year to live, would you not be more willing to try new things and experience more adventure before you died? For the vast majority of us, the answer is an unequivocal “Yes!” So why wait? Why not live each day with such urgency and passion as to truly know what it means to be alive? What are we afraid of? Again, God is passionate and creative; He has instilled these same traits within each of us. Why not put such creativity and passion to use and begin today to live each day as if you are running out of time?

It is important to remember why you have been given the gifts that you have. Our purpose on earth is to serve others, tell them about Jesus, and do all that we can to bring a measure of God’s kingdom down here to earth. It is for these things that we are to use our passion and creativity. As we seize new opportunities and put away fear, we must always keep the end goal in mind. Be kind and compassionate at all times, and be forgiving of each other. This will develop a winsome personality in each of us and we’ll be people that others want to associate with and even emulate; then we can point them to Christ. As you live your life with urgency, concentrate on performing acts of service. Jesus is our example as always. He lived a life of passion and creativity, He lived it with urgency, and He lived it in service to others. As we attack each day with purpose and without fear, we will exhibit a new vitality. This is how we were meant to live, and God will be glorified by our fulfilling the purpose for which He created us.

Perhaps you should get your own countdown clock; perhaps you are ready to live life at fast forward to the glory of God. Or maybe the countdown clock is a bit much for you; maybe you are simply ready to begin living life with more passion and less fear. I don’t know where you are today, but I do know this: time is ticking down for each of us. With every breath, precious seconds are removed from our stint on earth. What will you do with the time you have left? Seize the urgency of the finiteness of time. Put away your fear and launch yourself into the great adventure that God has laid before you. Live a life bursting with passionate creativity. Do all these things to the glory of God and in service to others. The clock is ticking…

Life is Not a Bus Stop

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Do you find yourself waiting for something to happen in your life? Are you certain that you were created to do great things, and are simply waiting for the right opportunity to arrive? Day after day you stand in the same spot, looking to the horizon to see if your moment is on its way. Perhaps you can even see it far off in the distance but it simply never comes near enough to pick you up and carry you off into the life you were meant to live. Life is not a bus stop; nothing was ever accomplished by waiting for opportunities to sweep you away and give you the life you always dreamed of. When we plan for what we intend to do, when we prayerfully consider whether our plans are in alignment with the character of God, and when we take action on those plans, then and only then will we begin to experience the life He has created us to live.

Many of us desire to follow Christ by living a life of greatness through the use of the gifts He has given us. We become so convinced that this is our calling that we sabotage ourselves by sitting around and waiting for the stars to align or a shout from Heaven to signal the beginning of our work. There is no Scriptural basis for any of this, so I am deeply puzzled how we ever got to this point. There is plenty of Scriptural support for planning your projects and your future. A plan, however, is useless if we don’t ever start to actively follow through. No plan is accomplished without action. You cannot wait your way to success, but you can certainly wait your way to failure. If you never take a step you aren’t actually walking. If you never start walking, you can’t follow Jesus. If you aren’t following Jesus, then you will never become who He created you to be.

To become all you were meant to be starts with following Jesus. Following Jesus starts by actively engaging in that pursuit. We must devote our entire lives to him. Every area of our life must be surrendered to Him for His use. We must surrender our thoughts, our deeds, our pleasures and our pain. From this point forward, all things must be done for Him. We no longer exist in and of ourselves, but instead exist only for Him. This must be our single focus, our definite chief aim. Let nothing persuade you from remaining steadfastly focused on Jesus. Keep your eyes on Him and do not stray from the path on which He is walking. Boldly move forward without fear of any man or circumstance. Embrace the freedom that is found in a life of following Christ, a life without fear. You will then be free to pursue the passions and dreams He has planted within you and to make use of the gifts with which He has equipped you.

Life is not meant to be a bus stop, it is meant to be a full throttle joyride rocketing down the road Christ has laid before you. Follow Him with certainty and without fear. Give up everything you have to experience the joy of true freedom. It all starts with us boldly taking action and pursuing Him with all that we are. Don’t get left behind; be bold, take action, and move!

Why We Don’t Utilize God’s Gifts

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In the last blog post (see “Gifts from God”), we discussed the gifts that God has given to each one of us. A reader asked why I thought people did not use the gifts they have been given, and I felt this was worthy of a follow up post. I’d be very interested to hear some of your thoughts as well, so please leave a comment with some of the reasons you believe people do not use their gifts, or perhaps even reasons you have refrained from using your own gifts. I’m certain your comments will be useful, inspiring and thought provoking to the rest of the audience.

So what are some of the reasons people do not exercise the gifts God has given them? If we take a step back and analyze the question, it is somewhat unbelievable to conceive of the premise; we have been given gifts, talents, and abilities from the Creator of the Universe and the only thing we see fit to do with them is hide them away so no one knows! This surely is not our finest moment. When I was growing up, I remember people (mostly women) who would get a towel from Elvis Presley at his concert; they showed everyone their gift (if a sweat covered rag indeed qualifies as a gift)! They couldn’t wait to tell everyone they’d meet about this amazing item. It was displayed with honor in their homes, there for all to see. My example is somewhat frivolous I realize, but the truth remains. When someone we admire gives us a gift, we can’t shut up about it. We are compelled to use it and tell the story behind it to everyone we encounter. Yet when the King of the Universe, the one we proclaim is our Lord, gives us a gift, we hide it away to make certain no one knows about it. Why?

Fear – We are afraid people will make fun of us; we’re afraid to be labeled a Jesus freak or a fanatic. We’re afraid we’ll be cast out of our circle of friends. We’re afraid people will look down on us. There is no fear in love and God is, above all else, love. If we are fearful then we are not trusting in Him. Would you follow someone you don’t trust? Of course you wouldn’t. If you are fearful, then you are not trusting God, and so it would seem logical to conclude you are not following Him. We follow those we trust. If you would be a true follower of Christ, there can be no fear in doing so.

Time – We claim we don’t have time to use our gifts. Our society and lives have become so busy that there simply isn’t space in our life to make use of what God entrusted to us. If this is you, may I humbly suggest that your priorities are not in order? If you have time for other things, but not for God and the works He gave you to accomplish, then He is not Lord of your life. Stop kidding yourself; you are not following Jesus if you are too busy following other pursuits in life. This is dangerous and you need to surrender yourself to Him anew.

Money – Our gifts require us to spend some money, and we simply don’t have it. God equips you to do the works He designed for you. If He calls you to feed the hungry and you can barely afford food for your own family, you need to simply trust Him to provide. Use whatever you have to do what He created you to do. He’ll take care of the rest. Following Jesus means walking a path that won’t always make sense to us. We aren’t called to understand everything He commands us to do; we are called to simply do. If He is truly your Lord, you will trust Him. If you do not have the faith in Jesus to provide for your needs, then you are not truly following Christ; you are merely a spectator in the crowd.

Laziness – Following Jesus is a hard road; it requires hard work. Many times we simply don’t feel like putting forth the effort. We’d rather catch an extra hour of sleep or watch something on television. In the Western culture, it is easy to forget that there is a spiritual war being waged all around us. If you believe in Christ and in His word, you know this to be true. If we are lazy in war, we will be defeated. If we are defeated, we cannot be following Christ, because Christ is never defeated. We can get knocked down, but as long as we are following Christ, we can never be beaten. There are no timeouts in war. There is no possible way to follow Jesus in a lackadaisical manner.

Selfishness – If we were to use our gifts, we would never have time to do the things we want to do. If this is where you find yourself, you need to take a hard look at what you want to do with the life God has given you. Either Jesus is the Lord of your life or you are. Whom will you choose? Following Jesus is an all or nothing proposition; you can’t serve two masters. If you are to be a true follower of Jesus, you must give up your life as you know it. Jesus died for you; we must do the same for Him. If you would proclaim Jesus as Lord, your every aim and desire must be to do the works He created you to do.

Are you utilizing the gifts God has given to you? If not, did you find yourself in any of the excuses above? If you haven’t been using what God has entrusted to you, it’s not too late. As long as you have breath you can begin to use what God has given you to accomplish the tasks He created you to do. Not sure where to start? Drop me a line ([email protected]); I’ll help you figure it out. Not sure what to do? Start with the basics: feed the hungry; shelter the homeless; take care of the sick, the orphans, the widows and those in poverty. Be the hands and feet of Jesus. Do the work He created you to do. Utilize the gifts God has given you.

Integrity

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Are you a person of integrity? As I have stated previously on this blog, I believe integrity is an all or nothing character trait. You do not have amounts of integrity; it is either something you do or do not have. To be a person of integrity is to be above reproach at all times. So how could anyone possibly live a life of integrity when we constantly mess up and fail?

I believe living a life of integrity means you are constantly building your integrity. Whether or not you have integrity is really more of a heart attitude. What, in the very depths of your soul, at your core, do you desire? Do you want to be someone who never cheats, never lies, never cuts corners, and always puts the interests of others before themselves? If you do, I believe you have integrity. However, that integrity needs to be manifested in your behavior. Every day we are building or tearing down our perceived integrity. To put this in another way, whether or not we have integrity is a heart issue; whether or not we demonstrate that integrity is a matter of choices.

In the business world, you build integrity every time you are honest with a client. You build integrity when you put the needs of your customers and your employees before the needs of yourself. Every time you refuse to cut corners, you build your integrity. In business, the most successful individuals are historically those with a perceived high degree of integrity.

Integrity is demonstrated in our relationships as well. Here again, putting the needs of your husband or wife before your own shows that you have integrity in your relationship. Modeling respect for your spouse (or boyfriend or girlfriend) also shows integrity. For example, noticing an attractive member of the opposite sex does not show a lack of integrity. However, letting your gaze linger and your mind ponder possibilities with that individual shows a complete lack of integrity. You promised an unwavering life-long commitment to your partner, and a person of integrity honors their commitments. Jesus says that if we think something sinful, it is the same as having done it. Having integrity in our thought life is one of the most important traits a Christian can have. It is also one of the most difficult.

I suppose you may be wondering why we’re having this discussion of integrity. Simply put, if we cannot be people of integrity in our dealings with everyday life, we stand no chance of living a life of integrity when it comes to serving Jesus. We committed our lives to Him, but how many of us are living out that commitment? Do you keep your eyes fixed on the Holy Son of God, or do they wander to the pleasures of this life, consumed by the lure of instant gratification?
Are we demonstrating integrity in our financial habits? Are you spending more on your entertainment than you are in caring for the poor and needy? Do we demonstrate integrity in our thought life? To quote the late Keith Green, “What’s playing in the theater of your mind?” This is the acid test for integrity: are you living a life devoted to Christ and others, or are you pursuing your own pleasure and happiness?

Tom Ziglar points out a couple of great results of integrity: we never feel guilty about our actions, and we never have anything to hide. If we are living our lives for Christ, then we never need to fear. We can be totally honest with everyone we meet for we have nothing to hide. We can sleep at night without guilt, without regret, for we know we are doing the things Christ would do. We are free, freer than we could ever hope to be otherwise. A lack of integrity brings guilt and fear and wears us down from the endless pursuit of trying to maintain a façade.

Search your heart. Are you a person of integrity? Do you want to serve Christ more than anything in this world? Are you prepared to do whatever it takes to follow Him? If not, pray and ask that God would give you integrity and the strength to demonstrate that integrity through your actions. As a person of integrity, we will love others at all times, assist them in their struggles and serve God every waking moment. Be a person of integrity. Serve Christ with all your heart. When you fall, get up quickly and continue your journey with Him. Let’s build the Kingdom without guilt and with nothing to hide. Determine that today is the day you become a person of integrity. Put the world on notice; from this day forward you will serve and follow Christ with integrity in all aspects of your life.

Thankfulness and the American Orphan

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To most of us in America, Thanksgiving Day is all about three things: turkey, football and a day off. Quite honestly, I’m a big fan of all of those things. Unfortunately there are many for whom this day has no meaning. They have lost hope amid the struggles and trials of our modern society. They have become too bitter to be thankful for anything; they are simply in need. For those of us with Christ in our lives, we have something to give. We have hope for the future, and we have love. These gifts are not to be hoarded; they are to be given away.

I’ve been reading the book “Street Lives: An Oral History of Homeless Americans” recently. It’s a collection of firsthand accounts of living on the street. It is truly heartbreaking to read their stories. While the language and subject matter can be a bit rough at times, I encourage you to read this book or books like it. We are so isolated in our comfortable homes and neighborhoods. Few of us know what true hunger feels like. Even fewer know what it’s like to have no bed, no home and no hope. While there are many shelters that do a good work, there are far more that are abusive and even perpetuate the mindset that keeps people living in despair. The number of children and veterans among the population of the homeless is staggering. Many of the homeless have no family remaining, no place to turn for help and no one to love them. They are truly the orphans of America, regardless of their age.

As followers of Jesus we are called to care for the orphans. What are we doing to help? For most of us, helping involves giving to shelters and inner city ministries, and probably buying some groceries or meals for those in need. This is necessary and admirable, but it does not go far enough. Food for the belly is obviously important, but food for the soul is paramount. We need to feed more than their stomachs. We need to feed their hearts, their minds, and their self worth. We need to clothe them not only with blankets and coats, but with love. What can you do to help? What can I do? We must come together and do something about this crisis. Why? The answer is simply because Jesus said to do so; that is enough. We who choose to follow Christ have an obligation to do the things He did. As the orphans in need of love cry out to us, they convict us of that which we are not doing. None of us can end homelessness by ourselves. We can, however, love one person. Together we can solve the problem in our cities by determining that we will not tolerate the way homeless orphans are treated.

The love of God provides the love, strength and hope that we all need. There is enough for us to bask in and still have plenty in reserve to give away. I am thankful for the love of Christ. I am thankful that He saved me. I am thankful that I am not an orphan. Yet I am thankful for the orphans all around us, for they are opportunities to share the immeasurable love of Christ. We must put aside our fear, our prejudices and our preconceived notions; it’s time to reach out and love the orphans all around us. Put your arms around someone in need today, and rejoice in the opportunity to be able to do so. Be thankful for all you have, and then give others something to be thankful for as well.