Even If i Walk Alone

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

James

Fear the Right Things

by

Jesus taught we should not fear those who can kill our bodies but not harm our souls. Rather, the only one we should fear is the One who can destroy both our body and soul in Hell (Matthew 10:28). Fear is inevitable for all of us, but we must fear the right things. If we fear the wrong things, we will live our lives without joy and even in a state of paralysis.

commitment,fear,discipleship,faith,great commission,mission,fear the right things

Those who know Christ need not fear anything in this world. Everything here is temporary, so anything we would fear will be temporary as well. Recognizing all pain, discomfort, sickness, or need is temporary should alleviate much of the anxiety we tend to feel.

[Read more…] about Fear the Right Things

Read Slowly

by

The more I study the Bible, the more I recognize when it comes to God’s Word, we should read slowly. Scripture is replete with admonitions to meditate on the words of God. Meditating and delighting on God’s instruction is a regular theme throughout the book of Psalms (Psalm 1:1-2, Psalm 19:7-14, Psalm 77:12, Psalm 119:15, Psalm 119:23, Psalm 119:27, Psalm 119:48, Psalm 119:78, Psalm 119:97, Psalm 119:99, Psalm 119:148, Psalm 143:5)

read slowly,God's Word,Bible,reading plan,commitment,priorities,discipleship,Bible study

and many other places throughout scripture (Joshua 1:8, Jeremiah 15:16, Nehemiah 8:1-3, Matthew 7:24-25, James 1:22-25, Philippians 4:8, Colossians 3:16). The Bible is not a book meant to be read like other books. We don’t read God’s Word to get through it, but to let it marinade our souls. When we read too quickly, we often miss the details and subtle nuances. There is no part of scripture we can afford to miss or gloss over (2 Timothy 3:16).

[Read more…] about Read Slowly

Human Trafficking and Slavery

by

Recently I watched the movie, “Sound of Freedom,” which details some of the horrors of human trafficking and slavery. For reasons I cannot fathom after viewing the film, the media has done their best to demonize the film, calling it right-wing conspiracy and political fodder. There is nothing remotely political in the film, and aside from the quoting of a Bible verse, nothing to identify it as any sort of Christian film. There is also no shortage of controversy surrounding the real-life protagonist of the film and his organization.

Human Trafficking and Slavery,poverty,hope,fear,passion,prayer,poverty,sound of freedom

But all of that is just noise to distract from the very real tragedy of human trafficking. Of course, exact statistics on the number of people trafficked or enslaved are impossible to gather, but conservative estimates are 25 million individuals trafficked each year, and close to 50 million who are living in modern-day slavery. These are not numbers any follower of Jesus should be comfortable with.

[Read more…] about Human Trafficking and Slavery

Is Jesus Lord of All?

by

Jesus is the One you reach out to when you are in need, and perhaps the One to whom you give thanks when things are going well. But is He also the one you serve in between those times? It seems to me this is a true test of our faith. It’s not whether we are grateful to Him in good times and seek Him in the bad, but the test is if we will serve Him in the boring and mundane middle.

commitment,surrender,discipleship,focus,prioritie,is Jesus Lord of all

As I’ve repeated many times in my writing, if Jesus isn’t Lord of all, then He isn’t Lord at all. If changing circumstances change how you think about Christ, then He isn’t Lord of everything. Is Jesus Lord of all in your life?

[Read more…] about Is Jesus Lord of All?

Unstained by the World

by

Much has been written around James 1:27, but the focus always seems to be on the first half of the verse, with little attention paid to the second half. It seems every Christian can get behind “looking after orphans and widows”, but things get a little dicey when it comes to keeping oneself “unstained by the world”. In theory, we’re good with it, but when we break it down into practicalities, things get a little uncomfortable.

commitment,discipleship,compromise,surrender,priorities,unstained by the world

It’s amazing how quickly we can go from being willing to surrender everything to Jesus to being hesitant to let go of our favorite form of entertainment or vice. The truth is, we’re all allowing the world to stain us more and more each day.
[Read more…] about Unstained by the World