Even If i Walk Alone

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

Mark

The Truth about Self-Gratification

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In a recent sermon, David Platt asked, “Will we live for self-gratification or God-glorification?” Those are our only two options. We will live for God or we will live for ourselves. Living for ourselves is a more palatable way of saying we will live to glorify Satan. That sounds harsh and shocking. We don’t want to think in those terms, which is why we mask it with words like selfishness and self-gratification.

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But know this, there are only two powers in the spiritual realm: God and Satan. Jesus spoke plainly when He said we cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). We will love the one and hate the other. Every time we say no to Jesus, we say yes to the devil. This is the uncomfortable truth that applies to every decision we make, word we speak, or action we take.

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Be Alert

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We don’t know when Jesus will return, but we know He will. As the days and years roll by, there is a temptation to grow complacent as we wait for Him to come and take us home. It becomes easy to believe that it won’t happen in our lifetime. But Jesus warned us to be alert because His coming could occur at any moment (Mark 13:35-37). In the same passage, He warns us not to be found sleeping.

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We are to remain vigilant, always doing the work of the Kingdom. There is no time to relax, no excuse for laziness in serving Christ. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want the return of Christ to catch me off-guard. This should affect every action we undertake and every decision we make.

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Prayer Life

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If we are going to stand strong for Jesus, we must build and cultivate a life where prayer becomes as natural and constant as breathing. You cannot live victoriously while having a weak and erratic prayer life. A. W. Tozer put it this way: “We pray only as well as we live.” When we surrender our lives to Jesus, we will pray more, and our prayers will have more power as our requests align with the will of God.

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A life surrendered to Jesus will be filled with prayer. You can’t be all in with Jesus and not have prayer as the central theme of your life. Yet, for many of us, a prayer life that is vibrant and full of power remains elusive.

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Next Year

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As this year draws to a close, it seems everywhere I look people are writing about what a long and terrible year it has been, and how much they are looking forward to things changing next year. I’m beyond weary of reading these kinds of articles and hearing preachers deliver similar messages, so I hope to bring a different and Christ-centered perspective here. Because I can tell you that while this past year has brought many trials and challenges, I am confident next year will bring the same.

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They may not be the same problems, but our troubles won’t magically disappear when the calendar rolls over. We know this because Jesus promised us we will have trouble in this world (John 16:33). Until Christ returns, we can expect to be fighting an uphill battle. But before you tune out thinking this will be a depressing message, I have great news about the future for each of us who will rededicate themselves to the service of our Lord Jesus.

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What Really Matters

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Tasks and responsibilities constantly barrage us, but gratefully, only a very few things matter. Every day we seem to add additional tasks to our to-do lists. There is an unending stream of new things to which we can read, watch, or listen. As technology advances at a blistering pace, there is always something we’re being told we should learn. It’s exhausting and overwhelming.

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I love the sage advice of A. W. Tozer here. He said, “Nothing that matters is new.” That’s comforting and clarifying. All those things we keep adding to our lives are rarely, if ever, of any true consequence. They are just things we add to keep us busy or to keep up with those around us. We don’t need any of that; we simply need to focus on what really matters.

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