Even If i Walk Alone

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

Mark

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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Our Opinions

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We humans love our opinions. We have opinions about everything! If you don’t believe me, just ask someone for their opinion on anything, and I guarantee you will get an answer. Our opinions create our identity, or so we believe. It’s who we are. They run the gamut from food, style, décor, geography, language, and politics. And that’s just scratching the surface! Our opinions color each of our days. They control what we eat, who we’ll talk to, and what we’ll say.

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To the casual observer, we are the sum of our opinions. You might say they are what make you unique. So, when Jesus invades our lives, it can be a most uncomfortable revelation to discover we must surrender our opinions to Him. Not just some of them. Not just those we hold to with a little less ferocity. All of them. If we want to follow Jesus, we must die to our opinions and allow Him to replace them with His own.

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Love Your Neighbor

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Most of us are familiar with the greatest commandment: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:28-30). And while I think we are aware of the second greatest commandment, “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31), it seems we give that one more lip service. I’m not sure that’s ever more obvious than during a Presidential election season.

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I see a lot of evidence that many forget their allegiance is to Jesus and not to a political party. It manifests in the words we say to each other. To love your neighbor as yourself means to love them even if they support opposing political ideals or candidates than you do. Loving those who agree with us is easy. Discipleship is hard.

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