Even If i Walk Alone

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

Joshua

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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Are We Really Any Better?

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As you read the Bible, it’s easy to shake your head at some of the characters. We think we would never behave that way or make the choices they did. Knowing what we know of Jesus today, I think it’s easy to be confident we would react better if we were in their place. Let me assure you, none of us would. I know this because I know myself and I know what I observe in others every day.

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Perhaps our actions are even worse than those of our ancestors. We have the complete Word and revelation of God in our hands and our native language (2 Timothy 3:16-17). This phenomenon is only a few hundred years old. None of those we read about in the Bible had access to the Word like we do. Despite that, our commitment to Jesus is no better than theirs.

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Thus Says the Lord

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In many places in scripture we read the phrase, “Thus says the Lord”, or for those of us who grew up with the King James Version of the Bible, “Thus Saith the Lord”. In fact, it occurs over 400 times (Exodus 4:22-23, Jeremiah 2:2, Ezekiel 37:5, to name a few) throughout Scripture. God spoke His Word through the prophets and apostles so we would always know His truth and His commands.

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The question is, what will we do with what the Lord said? It not only defines how we will live today, but determines our eternal destiny. We cannot have everlasting life unless we love God, and if we love Him, we will obey His Word (John 14:15). For disciples of Jesus, “Thus says the Lord” becomes our guardrails and keeps our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).

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Repentance

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While I was praying for the leaders and people of my country to turn their hearts to Christ, I became convicted of the fact that revival occurs one heart at a time. The first heart that must repent is mine. Each of us must repent of all the ways we’ve turned away from God if we ever expect to see revival on a large scale in our land. Until we who profess Jesus as Lord have repented of not walking in the ways of God, how can we expect those who do not serve Christ to turn to Him?

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We first must shine the light of Jesus into the darkness. Never underestimate the power of God working through a single heart surrendered to Him. As I was praying, the Holy Spirit brought several areas in need of my repentance to mind. While certainly not proud of these, perhaps they will inspire you to repent of the same in your life or remind you of other areas you’ve allowed to fester unsurrendered for too long.

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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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