Even If i Walk Alone

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

Matthew

Building the Church

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I listen to a lot of sermons from various churches across the country. This helps me stay focused on the mission of Christ and at the same time receive input and encouragement from a variety of Godly people. Recently I was struck by two messages I heard back to back, as they were absolutely diametrically opposed. I will withhold the names of the pastor’s and churches as focusing on any single congregation would miss the point.

Building the Church

In the first sermon, I heard an impassioned plea for the people to give sacrificially so they could build a new children’s wing onto their church. In sharp contrast to this was the second sermon in which I heard the pastor contemplate putting a “for sale” sign outside of their church so they might give the money to the poor throughout the world. [Read more…] about Building the Church

Visiting Those in Prison

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All around the world, there are people who have been imprisoned for no other reason than the fact they placed their faith in Jesus Christ. While it can be hard to fathom for us in the West, it remains a certain and dangerous reality for millions of our brothers and sisters. Their faith and courage are inspiring to me, and I wonder if I would have the same resolve if faced with similar circumstances.

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I am very thankful that I live in a country that, to this point in my life, has allowed me to follow Christ without risk of imprisonment or torture. Still, we must remember those who daily endure hardships and persecution we can scarcely imagine (Hebrews 13:3).

[Read more…] about Visiting Those in Prison

Time Management

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We all have 24 hours each day with which to serve the Lord. No one gets any additional time, no one any less. The reason some folks seem to accomplish so much more for Christ is not because they have found a way to get more time, but rather have decided to be intentional with the use of the time they have been allotted. In the Western culture, everything is geared towards personal recreation and satisfaction. We have become a society inclined to entertainment; we work hard to afford the latest gadgets, televisions and music systems. Each new peripheral brings with it a brand new set of distractions, and with those, less time to spend serving the One we claim is Lord of our life.

Until we consciously choose to follow Jesus above all else, we will never find the time to serve Him. The pressures of work, friends and family consume us, and we have a tendency to fill in whatever gaps we have with personal entertainment. We acknowledge Jesus with our lips, but our lifestyle tells a different story. We have been so blessed, but the blessings haven’t been good enough for us. We crave more and more and honor Jesus less and less.

Entertainment has become the idol of our age. We would rather spend time watching reality TV than participating in the true reality of people dying every day without the hope and love of Jesus Christ. We escape the world through the music of our iPods instead of immersing ourselves in the Spirit of God. We embark upon quests vicariously through video game consoles when we could actually be taking part in the greatest adventure of all, engaged in the mission of Christ to redeem a lost world. We have exchanged gold for dust, the eternal for what is temporal.

All of the things mentioned above are activities we do by choice. Instead of spending our time as the hands and feet of Jesus, we waste away our lives being self-absorbed and mired in selfishness. This is not who we were created to be. God intended all of us to do good works for Him (Ephesians 2:10), to carry on the work He started so many years ago. The good news is that it’s not too late to change the way we live and dedicate ourselves fully to Him. It is a simple act of will to turn off a television, iPod or video game console. We can choose to be productive for the King, or be lazy and self-serving. There really is no in between here. We cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24); we must choose between ourselves and God.

Don’t waste your life chasing after those things that do not last. Focus on the One who died for you and now wishes to collaborate with you in the greatest story ever told. We have been asked to write history with the Creator of the universe. What could be more exciting? Yet we will never be able to participate in this adventure unless we consciously choose to do so. It all comes down to a choice, and that choice is up to you and me. Will we decide to cast everything aside, to leave it all, and follow Him? Or will we be content with the comforts of our “stuff” and the company of our friends to ever choose to get involved in the life He has created for us to live? There are only 24 hours in each day. How we spend our time is up to us; God is waiting to see what we will do. How will you choose to spend the hours of this day?

You Are Loved

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Do you understand how much Jesus actually loves you? Almost every follower of Christ would acknowledge that He loves them, but do you fully comprehend the depth of that love? In John 15:9, Jesus says that He loves us just as the Father loves Him. That’s an incredible statement. Consider how much God loves His Son. Can you even fathom the enormity of that love? And yet Jesus says that He loves each of us with that same love, a love that truly goes beyond our ability to understand.

We serve others in order to reflect the love of Christ. We volunteer and sacrifice to love others as Christ loves us. But do we really get what that means? Jesus loves us with the same intensity that He is loved by the Father. Therefore, if we are to truly live a life that looks like His, we must lavish this same love on everyone we meet. No one is too insignificant, and we must never be too busy to stop and seize the divine moment in front of us. God would never pass up an opportunity to show love to His Son, just as Jesus would never overlook the chance to demonstrate His love to us. So too we must always be eager to share the love of Christ with everyone we encounter. This love is all consuming and it must permeate every cell of our bodies.

We’ve probably all gone through periods in our lives when we felt that no one cared and that no one would notice if we simply disappeared. The frenetic pace that our days are subjected to leaves us weary and frazzled by the time we lie down at night. More and more communication is happening via email and Facebook, and personal interaction is quickly becoming an afterthought. All of this leads to a feeling of emptiness, and it becomes easy to feel lost and alone. In times like these we need to quiet our hearts and remember John 15:9. Jesus loves us just as the Father loves Him. There is no greater love. We are not alone and we have a purpose to fulfill.

Jesus told us to look after the orphans and widows (James 1:27), to feed the hungry and care for the sick. He told us to visit those in prison and to take in those with no place to go (Matthew 25:31-46). How can we do those things unless we love people with a passion so consuming that it compels us to do more and more for others? Caring for the needs of another is exhausting if done out of necessity or duty; but it is exhilarating, satisfying and refreshing when done out of love. It’s all about the attitude with which we approach the situation. Are we choosing to love them as Christ loves us, or are we trying to earn our way to Heaven by doing good deeds? God does not only want us to do the things He commands, but to do it with the right attitude in our hearts (Ephesians 6:6-7; Colossians 3:23). When we serve others because the love of Christ in us allows us to do nothing else, then we are moving in harmony with His mission and purpose for our lives.

Take a few minutes today to contemplate the love Christ has for you. Drink in the overflowing richness of that love and allow yourself to bask in the glory of it. Take a mental snapshot of the feeling; this is how you want to love those around you. When you serve them, do it because you are beginning to understand the depth of the love that Jesus has for you. Share that love with another and allow them to feel the warmth of God’s Spirit as it emanates from within you. Never take the love of Christ for granted, but at the same time do not underestimate the enormity of it. Dive in deep; swim in the ocean of His love for you. Walk in light and serve others in the name of the One who loves you beyond your wildest dreams.

Touching the Sick

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I’ll admit it: I’m a total germaphobe. It only got worse when I married a woman who was just as bad as I am! I unequivocally hate being sick. Now I know nobody actually enjoys being sick, but I absolutely loathe it. I work hard (and pray a lot!) at avoiding sickness and germs. If someone coughs coming towards me, I will head another direction. I’ll send sick people home from work. Whatever I can do, I do it. I want no part of being ill.

All of this might be okay and simply label me as quirky (or freakish), but it doesn’t play well in light of Jesus’ command to care for the sick (Matthew 25:31-46). It fares even worse when I try and model my life after Christ and I read the stories where He actually touched the sick people. He touched those who had serious infectious diseases. I don’t even want to be in the same room as someone with a simple cold. I am absolutely fine with giving money to organizations to care for the sick, but when it gets personal, I shamefully confess I am woefully inadequate. We all have our areas of weakness, and this is definitely one of mine.

When I hear of someone in need who is sick, I know I must go to them. I generally pray for protection from illness before meeting with them and trust that God will keep me healthy so I can continue to minister to both them and others. By the time I leave, I am generally calm and believe that God will bless my effort and keep me healthy. I also know that I may indeed get sick, and I really am okay with that thought; the sacrifice is worth the pain. I would rather get sick helping someone than be healthy but accomplishing nothing for the kingdom. Mentally, I am good with all of this. Truth be told, I haven’t been sick in almost two years, so I wonder if my newfound courage in approaching the sick is a result of that or a true change in my heart. I know the Lord is working on me in this area and I truly hope that I am growing.

The point of all this is to say that we can’t pick and choose our way through the commands of Jesus in Matthew 25:31-46. The people He blesses and welcomes into His Kingdom are those who do all of these things. We can’t feed the hungry and ignore the sick. We can’t visit those in prison and turn a blind eye to the homeless. Following Jesus is an all or nothing deal, and we will all struggle with different elements of what it means to carry on the mission of Christ. God will surely stretch us in our areas of weakness and place opportunities before us where we must choose between our love for Him and our own selfish inhibitions. We need to encourage each other along the way, to pick up one who has fallen and walk with them through the trial. Ignoring an opportunity to serve Christ because it goes against our personality or lies beyond our comfort zone is not acceptable behavior for a follower of Jesus. We must allow our love for God to overshadow our fears and apprehension.

What parts of the mission cause you the most trouble? Where is God stretching you these days? Growth does not occur without stretching, so embrace the challenge and ask Jesus to give you the courage and the commitment to seize divine moments and reflect His love to another. We all have our weaknesses, but together we are stronger. Through Him we can overcome any challenge. It’s all or nothing; don’t waver in the face of discomfort or uncertainty. Pray for His grace that you might further His Kingdom and bring glory to His Name.