Even If i Walk Alone

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

I John

Brave

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As I was writing this morning, I was listening to Nichole Nordeman’s song, “Brave”. I actually was beginning to write on a different topic I had sketched out when the words of the chorus really hit me:

“So long status quo
I think I just let go
You make me want to be brave
The way it always was
Is no longer good enough
You make me want to be brave.”

The song goes on to say “If you believe in me, that changes everything.” Wow. When was the last time you recognized that not only does Jesus love you, but He absolutely, unequivocally, and without hesitation believes in you? He designed you to do the work He created you to do (Ephesians 2:10), and He harbors no doubt you can get it done. It doesn’t matter who hurt you in the past, let you down, held you down, or laughed in your face. The God of the Universe believes in you. Does anything else even matter? [Read more…] about Brave

What Shapes your Mood?

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“Let us beware allowing our spiritual comforts to rise and fall with world news or the changing world situations. We who lean upon Jesus and trust in the watchful love of a heavenly Father are not dependent upon these things for our peace. For children of the new creation, the darker the night, the brighter faith shines and the sooner comes the morning.” These are the words of A.W. Tozer, written over fifty years ago. They are eerily relevant to our world today. I am amazed and thankful, even awestruck, at how those who dedicated their lives to God continue to speak to us long after their time on earth has past. In this era of terrorism, disease, and constant unrest, followers of Jesus should not allow the circumstances around us to affect the purpose of our lives.

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Fix my Eyes

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During my reading time recently, I came across a prayer that spoke the words I have been feeling deep in my heart: “Lord I pray that I will always keep my eyes on eternity and that the cares of this world will not distract me from my mission of serving You each day.” What a powerful and dangerous prayer! If we were to live our lives in this manner, we would appear to be quite “weird” in the eyes of our culture and would certainly alienate more than a few friends. What if we could cast off the cares of this world and concern ourselves only with the things of God’s Kingdom? If we could honestly pray that God would fix our eyes on Him and then really live that out, I think we would be amazed at what was possible.

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Expanding God’s Presence in your Life

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Jesus made it clear that we cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). The Bible also states that darkness cannot coincide with light (I John 1:5; John 8:12; John 12:46; 1 Thessalonians 5:5). We can’t fill our lives with darkness and expect the presence of God to be evident within us. We spend too much time pursuing our desires and counting on God to bail us out when things don’t go our way. If you’ve been following Jesus for any amount of time, you realize it doesn’t work that way. As creatures of freewill, we have the ability to limit the power and presence of God in our lives. The more we fill our lives with sin and things not of God, the less room we have for Him.

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Give Up Your Shoes

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I was told of a woman in a nearby church who went to visit her husband in prison. As she was leaving, an older woman was being released. The woman being released was carrying a sack with a little bit of clothing and, inexplicably to me, had no shoes. A little later in the morning, the woman from the church encountered this same older woman in a McDonalds. Instead of simply getting her food and leaving, the woman from the church went and sat down with the older woman and they talked for awhile. Before leaving, the church woman gave the older woman the shoes off her own feet. I don’t have any further details, but I found the wholly unselfish actions and love demonstrated to a complete stranger both moving and inspiring.

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