Even If i Walk Alone

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

II Corinthians

Urgency and Mission

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A mantra is a repeated word or phrase that exemplifies your beliefs or goals. It’s a device to keep you on track and to remind yourself of what is most important. Do you have a mantra for your life? If not, how about “urgency and mission”? Mission because the Lord has entrusted you to carry on His work, to be His hands and feet in sharing the gospel to the ends of the earth. (Matthew 28:19–20; Acts 1:8) Urgency because we know the time is short. (Romans 13:11–12)

These truths should be at the forefront of the mind of every Christian and the driving force of each of our days. (Colossians 3:2) To our shame, these are not the hallmarks of most of our lives. Since they aren’t, we must ask, are we serious about our commitment to follow Jesus? (Luke 9:62)

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Would You Follow You?

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Before His ascension, Jesus told His followers to make disciples all over the world (Matthew 28:19–20). A disciple-maker is one who leads a life worth emulating. Jesus had and has so many followers because He lived a life that everyone who fears God wants to live. He proved Himself worthy to be followed (1 Peter 2:21). Can we say the same? Do others see our life as one worth copying?

Perhaps a better question is, if you weren’t you, would you follow you? Jesus left us with the responsibility to look so much like Him that everyone else would want to know Him. That’s our mission every day. When we wake, we should focus on looking like Jesus. When we lie down at night, we should reflect on whether we accomplished that goal, and if not, why not?

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Persevere to the End

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Life is the ultimate dichotomy. It is both short and long, and we feel the tension between the two every day. Our time on this earth is not even a blip on the timeline of eternity. We are but a vapor that is here one moment, and gone the next (James 4:14; Psalm 103:15–16). But the time spent living in that “blip” can seem grueling and never-ending. This is true for our walk with Christ as well. Not that Jesus Himself is taxing in any way; His burden is light and we find our rest in Him (Matthew 11:28–30).

But the world makes living for Jesus one challenge after another. We must choose Christ over our sinful nature every second of every minute of every hour of every day. Sometimes it can feel like a grind. It is why so many fall away (Matthew 13:20–21), and why we are called to persevere to the end (Matthew 24:13).

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Who Will Jesus Be in Your Life?

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It doesn’t matter if you are reading this on New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, or a random day in May. The question you must answer is, “Who will Jesus be in your life over the next year?” Where you will be in the future is determined by the decisions you make right now.

woman contemplating who will Jesus be in your life knowing it means an increase in commitment and discipleship, reordinering her priorities to be on mission in humility and no pride

If Jesus isn’t who He should be in your life today, where do you think you will be a year from now? What I know for certain is you will be further away from Him than you are today. Is that what you want? You can’t keep going the same direction and expect to end up in a different place. Your steps dictate your destination (Galatians 6:7–8).

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Strangers and Aliens

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Those who exercise the boldness and courage to proclaim the truth of the Gospel will face many trials in this life (John 16:33). For those who follow Jesus, that is reason enough to reject anyone preaching a message promising health, wealth, and peace. Jesus dispels that belief when He declares He did not come to bring peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:34).

We are strangers and aliens on earth, foreigners in every context and location in which we find ourselves (1 Peter 2:11; Hebrews 11:13). This world is not where we belong, and those who do belong here will do everything they can to harm and get rid of us. Life on the narrow path is going to be difficult (Matthew 7:13–14) and we should believe no one who says otherwise (2 Timothy 3:12).

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