Even If i Walk Alone

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

Joshua

Read Slowly

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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)

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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).

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The Curse of Mediocrity

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The curse of mediocrity has infested the Western Church. Instead of blazing a trail of fire for the sake of the Kingdom, or even disappearing from the scene with cold hearts, we do just enough to let people know we’re still around, but never enough to make a difference. It’s disgusting to me in my own life and it’s intolerable for Jesus (Revelation 3:15-16). I learned the word mediocre has its origin in two Latin words which, translated literally, mean “halfway to the peak.” Half-way. Unfinished. Lazy. Uncommitted. This is the curse of mediocrity.

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A.W. Tozer noted of the origin of the word mediocre: “This makes it an apt description of the progress of many Christians. They are halfway up to the peak…. They are morally above the hardened sinner but they are spiritually beneath the shining saint…. Do we really think that this halfway Christian life is the best that Christ offers—the best that we can know? In the face of what Christ offers us, how can we settle for so little?”

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Live a Powerful Life

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Everyone wants to make a difference. We all want to live a life of significance, to live a powerful life. Why then do so many lead lives of quiet desperation? Should Christ followers even aspire to any form of greatness or recognition? Nelson Mandela said there is no passion in playing small, in living a life less than you are capable of living.

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I think Jesus would agree. He created you with a unique blend of skills and passions to do the work He designed for you to do. He created you for a reason. If Jesus is your Lord, the very Spirit of God resides within you. How then could you not live a powerful life?

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Fight

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“When whole regiments of professed believers are too timid to fight and too smug to be ashamed, surely it must bring an astringent smile to the face of the enemy; and it should bring a blush to the cheeks of the whole Church of Christ.” This is certainly no less true today than it was when A.W. Tozer wrote those words over fifty years ago.

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Many of us look back and lament the days when the Church took the fight to the enemy, but Tozer’s observation of his own times shows those days are further behind us than we dare think or imagine. As a whole, the Church has lost the will to fight and refuses to be ashamed at the weakness of its plight.
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The Last Lap

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In a recent sermon, I heard Steven Furtick give an interesting twist on the familiar story of the battle of Jericho. If you are unfamiliar with the story, you can read about it in Joshua, the sixth book in the Bible, in chapter six. The quick summary of the story is that Joshua marched the troops of Israel around the fortified city of Jericho in silence once a day for six straight days. On the seventh day, they marched seven times around the city and then blew their trumpets and gave a great shout. At that, the walls of the city came crumbling down. Pastor Furtick noticed that the Scriptures say that God told Joshua the plan, but they do not say if Joshua then laid out the whole plan for his army. It only says he told them to start marching.

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