Even If i Walk Alone

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

Mark

Left Over’s

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Claire Cain Miller recently wrote an article for the New York Times titled, “Stressed, Tired, Rushed: A Portrait of the Modern Family”. While not pointed out in the article, it reminded me how our relationship with God often falls victim to our stressed out, fatigued, and busy lifestyle. The life of a Christian in modern society looks ridiculously similar to that of a non-Christian.

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We play the game of pursuing the American dream and keeping up with the Jones’s. None of which has anything to do with following Jesus, of course. But more often than not, we live our busy lives and give Jesus our left over’s. We give God whatever time and money is left over after pursuing our selfish desires.

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Single-Minded

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I was recently reading Calvin Miller’s excellent “The Disciplined Life” for a second time and came across a statement that exploded off the page. The author wrote, “To hold anything in our hearts that is contrary to the single-minded call is to split our attention between Jesus and whatever else is calling for first place in our allegiance.”
This is the heart of discipleship.

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There is no place in the life of a follower of Christ for anything other than Jesus. A divided kingdom will certainly fall (Mark 3:24), and a divided heart will never find lasting peace or victory. We either solely belong to Jesus or we do not belong to Him at all.
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My Kingdom Go

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Commenting on Aldous Huxley’s quote, “My kingdom go is the necessary corollary to Thy kingdom come”, A.W. Tozer said, “His kingdom can never be realized in my life until my own selfish kingdom is deposed. It is when I resign, when I am no longer king of my domain that Jesus Christ will become king of my life.” Before any kingdom can come to power, another kingdom must be kicked out.

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Two kingdoms can never coincide within the same boundaries of another. One is always in power, and all others are subject to it until such time as it is overthrown. The same is true in the soul of every individual. In order for the Kingdom of God to come into my life, first my kingdom must go.
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Getting Satan’s Attention

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I can imagine few fates worse than being ignored by the devil. Disciples of Jesus make it their business to go about getting Satan’s attention.  Our goal should be to be so effective for the Kingdom that Satan cannot ignore us. I read a prayer once that said, “Lord, it’s not hard to see why Satan attacks. May I continue to be enough of a threat to him to merit his attention! Don’t ever let me become so anemic in my Christian walk that he doesn’t need to bother with me. Amen.”

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That should be our prayer as well. If we’re not getting Satan’s attention, then we are living lukewarm, weak, and ineffective lives.
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Goals and Resolutions

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As I write this, it is mid-October. Most would think this a bit early to start thinking about goals for the next year, but I start the process every year around this time. If you’re kind, you may think me an over-achiever, but I’m guessing most will probably see me as somewhat neurotic and obsessive! Regardless, I’ll bet you’re wondering what any of this has to do with following Jesus.

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The truth is I had an epiphany as I began to think about my goals for the next year.  Every time I set goals, they are centered on what I want to accomplish. Yes, I do set spiritual goals, but traditionally those have been just one slice of the goals I set. It suddenly occurred to me the only goals that matter are the ones concerning Christ and not me.
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