Even If i Walk Alone

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

I Peter

I Urge You

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When seeking how best to live our lives for Christ, there is great value in looking at what the apostles had to say about this. In the New Testament epistles, we find sections where both Peter and Paul made statements to the effect of, “If you want to live holy lives, I urge you to…” It’s there in black and white.

The very Word of God tells us what we should do to live a life pleasing to God and that would have us look like Jesus. It’s sad how easy it is to gloss over these passages when there is so much gold to be mined from them. It’s why we shouldn’t just read the Bible; we must study it, marinate in it, and bathe in it. Studying the Word of God is never a waste of time.

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I Need God Now

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When facing a crisis, have you ever said, or heard someone say, “I need God now?” It’s true we need God in times of chaos and trouble. It is also true that we need Him every other second of life. Without God, even for the smallest moment, the entire universe would collapse upon itself. (Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 1:3) There is no part of life that can survive except for the sustaining hand of our Creator. (Acts 17:24-25; Job 34:14-15)

We don’t just need Him when times are tough; we need Him at all times. This is a shift we must all make to mature in our faith. There is not what we do and what God does; He does it all. We are powerless to affect anything in this life without the providence of God’s power and His will.

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So Simple

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The way to eternal life is so simple. A teacher of the Law, hoping to trip Jesus up, asked Him what one needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus didn’t respond with an elegant, long-winded answer or a sophisticated process through which we can be saved. Rather, the Lord turned the question back on the scribe by asking the man what scripture said about his question.

The teacher answered, “To love the Lord with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.” Jesus affirmed the man’s answer and told him that if he would do this, he would live. (Luke 10:25-28) There was no way anyone could misunderstand His answer, no way anyone could twist it to fit their ideas. Love the Lord with everything you’ve got, and you will have eternal life.

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Man of Sorrows

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True disciples of Jesus seek to live a life that looks just like Jesus. Indeed, God’s Word commands us to walk just as Jesus walked, to live just as He did. (1 John 2:6; Ephesians 5:1-2) And yet somewhere along the line we got the idea that Jesus calls us to be happy. Jesus was called the Man of Sorrows. (Isaiah 53:3) Does that sound like He was living a life of happiness, health, and wealth?

Any preacher promising that Jesus wants you to live your best life now is ignorant of what the Word of God teaches. Jesus came to suffer and also promised us we would suffer in this life. (Isaiah 53:4-5; John 16:33; 2 Timothy 3:12) Following Jesus is about obedience, not autonomy; sacrifice, not accumulation. Our Lord promised to give us life to the fullest, but we won’t find that fullness until we reign with Him in His eternal Kingdom. (John 10:10; Revelation 22:1-5)

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Conformity

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The Bible has much to say about our conformity. Make no mistake, in this life you will either allow Satan to conform you to this world or allow God to conform you into the likeness of His Son. Those are the only two options. You will end up as one or the other. Of course, only one way leads to eternal life, so the choice should be easy, right? (Matthew 7:13-14; John 14:6)

If only it were that simple. We know the way we should go, but the other is enticing because it’s so much easier. Being sinful by nature, we are prone to laziness and choosing the path of less friction and pain. (Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 7:18-19) What looks to us to be an easier path is in truth the opposite.

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