Even If i Walk Alone

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

Matthew

Fight Back

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As countries around the world face great upheaval, we must remember the weapons of our warfare look nothing like those of the world (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Where I live, righteous indignation often results in violence begetting violence. Christians are angry and want to fight back against the forces coming against them. It’s understandable and natural. But it is natural only in the context of the old self we put away when we gave our lives to Jesus (Ephesians 4:22-23).

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Our new nature looks like Jesus (Ephesians 4:24), so we now must fight back in the way He modeled for us. We fight back by immersing ourselves in the Word of God, praying for our enemies, and loving everyone as ourselves. It all seems counter-intuitive, but this is what Jesus taught us to do.

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Why Don’t They Know?

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So many in the world today have never heard about the love of Jesus. When Jesus left this earth, His last command was that we go into all the world telling people about His love and salvation (Matthew 28:18-20). And yet 2,000 years later, while there are more professing Christians on the planet than at any other point in history, there are also more people than ever that do not know Jesus as their Savior. I have a great burden for those around the world who have not yet heard.

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I also have great admiration for those courageous men and women who leave the safety and comfort of their current situation to go into extreme circumstances to teach the people there about Jesus. Not all of us can go to other nations. Our responsibility is no less than theirs. Because while they are going to unreached people groups, people who don’t know Christ surround us as well. Many of our friends, neighbors, and coworkers have not heard the Gospel. Since we are right in the middle of them every day, I have to ask, “Why don’t they know about Jesus?”

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Trust Him

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It is not uncommon when praying to reason with God and present our arguments why He should grant our requests. The idea would be laughable if not so common. While God wants us to bring our petitions before Him (Philippians 4:6), when we do so, we should simply lay them at His feet. God knows everything we need (Matthew 6:31-33) and has the context of every person and event past, present, and future.

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Therefore, He alone can make the wisest decision regarding our appeal. When we go on about why Jesus should give us what we are asking for, we make ourselves a foolish babbler, filling our prayers with many words that impress no one except ourselves. Again, Jesus knows what we need before we even ask Him (Matthew 6:7-8). We can trust Him, and we must if we want to have a vibrant prayer life.

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Focus on Today

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The wise man Agur gave us a wise principle when he asked God to give him “just enough for today” (Proverbs 30:8-9). Jesus affirmed the wisdom of the principle when He taught His disciples to pray. He said for them to ask for God to provide them with their “daily bread”. Whenever you find an Old Testament teaching affirmed in the New Testament, it bears extra attention as we know God is teaching us an important lesson meant to last throughout the ages.

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When we live with our focus on today alone, we are showing obedience to Christ and a faith that trusts Him to take care of everything that’s coming. We free ourselves from the anxiety and worry of an uncertain future in this world.

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God is Not Safe

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Our God is not safe, but we like to pretend that He is. The Western version of Christianity has become fat, lazy, and oblivious to what most of our brothers and sisters in Christ face on a day-to-day basis. Not only has our version of God become perhaps irreparably skewed, but we export that version to other countries, leaving them ill-prepared when persecution comes to their door.

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I’m not sure who first came up with the idea that following Jesus would dissolve all your problems and leave you happy, healthy, and wealthy. But they obviously did not read God’s Word. Jesus was clear that the world will hate, persecute, and kill us (Matthew 10:17-22). When we read Jesus saying He came to bring a sword and not peace (Matthew 10:34), isn’t it clear that God is not safe?

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