Even If i Walk Alone

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

God's Kingdom

Be Alert

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We don’t know when Jesus will return, but we know He will. As the days and years roll by, there is a temptation to grow complacent as we wait for Him to come and take us home. It becomes easy to believe that it won’t happen in our lifetime. But Jesus warned us to be alert because His coming could occur at any moment (Mark 13:35-37). In the same passage, He warns us not to be found sleeping.

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We are to remain vigilant, always doing the work of the Kingdom. There is no time to relax, no excuse for laziness in serving Christ. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want the return of Christ to catch me off-guard. This should affect every action we undertake and every decision we make.

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Blind Spots

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It’s easy to point fingers at the failures of others while ignoring our shortcomings. Jesus warned against this tendency by advising us to remove the log from our eye before commenting on the speck in the eye of our brother (Matthew 7:4-5). Sometimes, as we are refining our walk with Christ, we become blind to our less developed disciplines. It is common for us all to gravitate to certain portions of Scripture that resonate the most with us.

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Too often though, we do so to the detriment of studying other parts and we develop blind spots. It’s a good practice to read some passages with which you don’t frequently engage to see what you might be missing and identify any blind spots you may have. I don’t get through many mornings reading Scripture without being convicted of something.

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Finding Life

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Where are you finding life today? We seek satisfaction in many things, but none of them will last, and none are worthy of your life. It’s no wonder why those who don’t know Christ would chase after so many things trying to find some meaning or to make sense of this life. But for followers of Jesus, we’ve got to recognize our pursuit of anything other than Jesus is futile.

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God created us to glorify Him. Too often we buy into the lie that the story is about us. We ask questions like, “What does God want me to do with my life?” It’s a terrible question, flawed at its premise. There is no “my” life. It belongs to God. A better question would be, “How can I best glorify God and manifest His Kingdom today?”

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Looking Back

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This is the time of year when many are writing about looking back over the past year, recounting lessons learned, blessings, and obstacles. Looking back is helpful only insomuch as it focuses us on the beauty and blessings of our Savior. There is a danger in looking back that we focus too much on ourselves and not on God. Considering what we have accomplished and overcome can inadvertently lead to self-satisfaction and pride.

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Reflecting on our problems and challenges can lead us down a road of discouragement and despair rather than focusing on the One who provides everything we need. If we visit it lightly, the past can teach us a few lessons and serve as a wonderful reminder of the provision of our God. Better to leave it quickly though and focus instead on the work ahead.

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A Wasted Life

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Millions of people around the world are wasting their lives living for things that don’t matter while professing to be followers of Jesus Christ. It is the rare follower of Jesus I encounter, whose life looks radically different from everyone else. I know my life too often looks more like someone pursuing (and sometimes even living) the American dream than it does that of a radical follower of Jesus. A wasted life.

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Jesus calls us to live differently than our surrounding culture. When He was walking the earth, few things He did aligned with the social norms of His day. His life was radically different from those surrounding Him. Jesus wasn’t what anyone was expecting and everything they weren’t. We can talk about how different we are from others, but we find the proof in how we live.

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