Even If i Walk Alone

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

I John

We Must Obey

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As we continue to examine if we truly love God (see “Do We Love Him” and “We Must Keep His Commands”), let’s first lay a little theological groundwork. We know all scripture is God-breathed and inspired by His Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21). This means every word, and therefore every instruction, in the Bible, is a command of Christ. He is the Word of God in the flesh (John 1:1-3).

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Every time the scripture instructs us, we must obey. That is what it means to love Christ (John 14:15; 1 John 5:2-4). The book of James teaches us those who would live lives acceptable to God will keep themselves unstained by the world (James 1:27). Therefore, if we love Jesus, we will keep ourselves away from the temptations and habits of our culture. Let’s look at some practical implications this has for the way we live.

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Do We Love Him?

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I am continually being brought back to the book of 1 John, primarily the second chapter. There is so much there that I’m beginning to think a single lifetime is not long enough to mine all the treasure it contains. One of the great things about this letter is the clarity of the message the Holy Spirit inspired John to write. There are numerous black-and-white statements. There is no nuance, no vagueness, and no wiggle room.

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This book leaves no room for you to hedge your bets. If you believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God that it is, then 1 John is the unequivocal handbook of how we are to live this Christian life. We say we love Jesus, but does our love pass the test? When push comes to shove, do we love Him? Let’s see what John wrote about this.

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Big Prayers

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Our faith is so small. It’s as if we are children of a multi-billionaire but never ask for anything more than a pack of gum from our father. God has so much He desires to share with us, but we are too weak-minded to understand and too immature to grasp all that our position in life affords us. We are co-heirs with Jesus to all God has (Romans 8:16-17).

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And yet, most of our prayers are for tiny trinkets and selfish comforts. Why don’t we pray big prayers? Are we afraid God won’t answer in the way we desire, so we shy away? I submit we don’t pray big prayers because our faith is far too small. The more we trust Christ, the bigger our prayers will become.

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An Obsession with Jesus

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I want to live having an obsession with Jesus. Every time I have a spare moment, I want to fill it with prayer, studying His Word, memorizing scripture, or telling someone about the love, mercy, and grace of Christ. We all live with an obsession for something, so why not have an obsession with Jesus? Deep down, we all have those activities and desires that are constantly calling to us.

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After a long day at work, what is that thing you want to do when you can unplug from your responsibilities and commitments? That thing is probably your obsession, what you would devote your time to if only you could. For most of us, that thing is not Jesus, and for those of us who declare Him Lord, that fact should shame us.

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Feel the Weight

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Perhaps nothing keeps us from experiencing the power of God in our lives more than our failure to recognize the horror of sin. We all know we should avoid sin, but too often we fail to feel the weight of that sin. Everyone sins and so it becomes easy to excuse it. We rationalize we can’t help our sinful nature, and since no one is perfect except Jesus, sinning is inevitable.

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To believe such a thing both cheapens and diminishes what Christ accomplished on the cross. His death not only provides forgiveness for our sins, but His resurrection dismantled the schemes and workings of the devil. We are born in sin, but thanks to Jesus’s victory over sin and death, we don’t have to live as slaves to sin.

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