Even If i Walk Alone

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

Habakkuk

Give a Defense

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Peter instructed all followers of Jesus to be ready to give a defense for what they believe. (1 Peter 3:15) We all know that verse, but if someone asked us to, could we give a defense for our faith? It’s not a trivial question. If you can’t explain why you believe what you do, then why do you believe what you do? The modern landscape is littered with churches that never preach the gospel, much less instruct their people in it. The results are more than tragic.

At best, these churches produce generations of illiterate Christians, and at worst, they are hastening their path to Hell. (2 Timothy 4:3; Hosea 4:6) The fault does not stop at the door of the church, however. The Lord will hold you responsible for your spiritual decisions and growth, so we need to nail this down before we face Him. (Romans 14:12; 2 Corinthians 5:10)

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Don’t Love This World

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One of my favorite passages in the Bible is 1 John 2:15–17. It’s not an easy or feel-good passage. I love it because of how convicting it is and how clear it is. People love to inject their own opinions and rationalizations into the Bible and, in doing so, neuter its message and strip it of its power. This passage leaves no room for any such nonsense.

It says if we love the things of this world, we don’t love God. There are no qualifiers, no exceptions, and no loopholes. The converse shows us how to navigate this life: if we love God, we will not love the things of this world. If you want to show your love for God, don’t love this world.

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Does It Break Your Heart?

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Does it break your heart to sin, or are you able to move on with little thought or remorse every time you stumble? Sin is no small thing, and to treat it as such is to treat the word and character of God with contempt. (Numbers 15:30–31; Romans 2:4) God is holy, and when He created us in His image, He created us as holy. (Genesis 1:27; Ecclesiastes 7:29) For a brief moment in time, humanity knew what it was to be sinless. In that state, God called us very good. (Genesis 1:31)

We were perfection in His eyes, and every day man and woman would walk in the garden with God. (Genesis 3:8) Our minds cannot even fathom such wonder, such beauty, and such glory. (1 Corinthians 2:9) Sin changed everything. (Romans 5:12) One sin was so egregious to God that He could not overlook it. (Genesis 2:17; Habakkuk 1:13) It is the same every time we indulge in our rebellion against our Creator. (Isaiah 53:6)

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The Whole Counsel of God

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The modern Church has a tendency to pick the parts of the Gospel it finds most palatable to talk about. To the contrary, the Apostle Paul preached the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:26–27). The whole counsel means the entire purpose, will, and plan of God. When we leave out part of the Gospel, we keep people from seeing and understanding it in its entirety.

We should never try to hide any part of God’s glory. That our culture finds some of the Gospel abhorrent or difficult to swallow does not overrule our responsibility to proclaim the whole truth of God’s Word. It is not up to humans to decide which parts of God’s Word are true. Only God is truth, so only He gets to say what is true (John 17:17; Isaiah 45:19).

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Deny Yourself

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Jesus said if anyone wants to follow Him, they must first deny themselves (Luke 9:23). What does it mean to deny yourself? It means you must deny your ego. You have been bought for a price, and your life no longer belongs to you (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). You are a slave of Jesus Christ (Romans 6:22). How could you, a slave, think more highly of yourself than anyone else (Philippians 2:3-5)?

Young man contemplating what it means to deny yourself as he seeks the discipline to surrender his priorities and live with a commitment to discipleship without fear

You don’t have the right to make your own decisions, as every choice must now align with God’s will and His Word. As slaves of Christ, we are the lowest of the low, deserving of nothing, and any good that comes our way is only by the incredible grace of our Lord and King (Ephesians 2:8-9). We are nothing, but that’s okay, because He is everything!

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