Even If i Walk Alone

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

John

More Than Emotions

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Modern churches place an enormous amount of focus on the emotional experience of being a Christian. Worship teams craft songs and services to evoke an emotional response from those listening. Sermons focus on engaging stories rather than the plain truth of Scripture. And I don’t know about you, but it’s a rare day when my mailbox (physical and virtual) doesn’t find an impassioned plea for help from some ministry or another.

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Social media adds to the play for our emotions by hyping the latest heresy or cause to which the church should be attending. Humans are emotional beings and Christians are no exception. But following Jesus involves more than emotions. Jesus said we must love Him not only with all our heart (emotion) but also with all our strength, mind, and soul (Mark 12:30).

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Every Sin

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Did you ever wonder why there is such little detail given about what Jesus endured on His way to the cross (Matthew 27:27-31; Mark 15:16-20; John 19:1-3)? Hollywood productions spend a lot of time focusing on the abuse being heaped upon Jesus, but the Bible almost glosses over the torturous details. The specifics we do have should be enough to sicken any decent human being. Perhaps the reason the Spirit did not lead the Biblical writers to provide more details is that the physical pain was nothing compared to the pain of enduring the sins of the world (Isaiah 53:4-6).

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If the point of the story was the horrific murder of a good man, then I’m certain we wouldn’t still be talking about it two centuries later. But a man who willingly takes on the sin every human has ever or will ever commit to save those very sinners from eternal damnation? That’s a story worth telling over and over again (1 Peter 2:24).

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Outsiders

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If you follow Jesus with any consistency in this life, you’re going to find yourself as a cultural outsider. There’s no way around it. Our values are different. Our morals are different. Even our goals in life are different. We are not of this world, and we do not live like we are of this world (John 17:14-16). The very act of following Jesus Christ puts you on the outside, looking in on the rest of the world. You’ll be weird.

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The people of this world will hate, despise, and maybe even kill you. For certain, they will never understand you. Jesus lived on the outside too and he promised we would face trouble (John 16:33). He told us in advance that the world would hate us because it hated him (John 15:18-19). Authentic followers of Jesus will never be on the inside of the coolest and most popular circles. They will always be outsiders.

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What Can You Do?

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What can you do about the increasing evil that is penetrating every corner of our world? To be realistic and blunt, not much. The fall of this world was a foregone certainty before the Lord spoke the first word to create it all (Isaiah 46:9-10). None of what is transpiring is surprising to God. Every bit is part of His mysterious but sovereign plan (Ephesians 1:11-12). I don’t get it.

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This isn’t in any way how I would write this grand story. Then again, I am so obviously not God. My “perfect plan” would fall apart within seconds. No, that’s too long; it would immediately fail because I am not omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, or omnibenevolent. It’s not all bad news though. While we can’t stem the tide of evil flooding our world, there is something we can do.

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Good News

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Do you ever wonder if there’s any good news anymore? When was the last time you turned on the television or scrolled through your social media feed and found stories celebrating kindness, happiness, good character, or high morals? Instead, we see a steady diet of hate, division, perversion, and idolatry. It’s no wonder suicide rates and depression are at all-time highs.

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Media now rules every aspect of society. It’s inescapable, and there is no doubt it has become Satan’s greatest tool. The murder and mutilation of children is not only accepted, but celebrated on the front pages of newspapers and websites around the globe. The world has lost its mind and any sense of hope is being dragged down into the pits of Hell (Romans 1:28-32).

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