Even If i Walk Alone

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

I Corinthians

Prepared for Persecution

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My heart broke when I read about a recent occurrence in North Korea. That country is second only to Afghanistan in being the most dangerous place for Christians to live (see Open Doors’ “World Watch List”). Government officials raided a secret church meeting of believers. Everyone in attendance was arrested and then summarily executed.

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Without warning and without having had the chance to say goodbye to their loved ones, these dear brothers and sisters were removed from the face of the earth. From the moment they gave their lives to Christ, they knew they were living on borrowed time. They knew the risk of meeting together. They prepared for persecution the best they could and found Jesus worth the cost. But the story gets worse.

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Test the Spirits

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1 John 4 begins with a somewhat curious phrase. John encourages the hearers of his letter to “test the spirits”. First, this implies there are many spirits. In our churches today, it is common to hear about the Holy Spirit, but there is often little attention paid to the other spirits in our world. We ignore these other spirits at our peril. Behind every false teaching, you will find a demonic source.

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Yes, demons are real. They exist and flood the spiritual realm surrounding us. When we go along with false teaching, we are following demons. How’s that for a sobering thought? If we are not careful in examining the teaching we are listening to, there is a very good chance we aren’t being taught God’s truth at all. Instead of growing in our faith, we are opening our minds to demonic influences.

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Aliens and Strangers

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We’re aliens and strangers in this world (1 Peter 2:11). When we turned our lives over to Jesus, we became homeless in this world and began longing for our true home with Christ (1 Corinthians 5:1-3). The closer we draw to Jesus, the more we recognize how out of place we are in this world. Our desires do not match those of society. Our actions often fly in the face of earthly logic and common sensibilities.

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There is a constant sense of being different, of not fitting in here. We don’t feel at home because this world is not our home. We only find peace in the presence of Jesus because He is our home. Having our eyes awakened to spiritual reality, the physical and temporal world can never again captivate us. Indeed, we have become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

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The New Command

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As Jesus was having His last conversation with His disciples before His crucifixion, He gave them a new command for living. We read this in John 13:34-35. The new command was to love each other, just as Christ loves us. It’s important to note Jesus said this command was a hallmark of being His disciple. People will recognize we follow Jesus by the love we display for others.

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Unless we love those around us, we will never be a disciple of Christ. God’s very nature is love, so if we want to look and live like Jesus, we must love people. Without love, we’re just making noise (1 Corinthians 13:1). Unless we love, we will never make a difference in this world.

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God is Our Strength

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How are you feeling these days? Are you excited and full of energy, or are you worn out and unsure of how to keep going? Life can seem a bit hopeless at times. We all get tired. With division and hatred being the rule of the day, it’s easy to feel a little lost. When your resolve is waning, remember, God is our strength. God did not mean for us to figure this all out on our own.

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God created us to be in relationship with Him. When the world was perfect and new, The Lord would walk with Adam and Eve every evening. If humans needed Him in the middle of paradise, how much more do you imagine we need Him now?

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