Even If i Walk Alone

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

Matthew

Don’t Be Caught Off Guard

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How did you spend your last day off? Or, given the endless responsibilities in our busy world, perhaps a better question might be, “What would a perfect day look like to you?” Playing video games? Watching movies? Sleeping? Eating everything in the refrigerator? How many of us look forward to filling any free time with studying God’s Word?

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Is it any wonder we are always caught off guard when we have an opportunity to share the Gospel? Paul urged the followers of Jesus to be ready to defend the Gospel at any time (2 Timothy 4:1-2). We’ll never be ready as long as we keep our brains engaged with the things of this world instead of what God has written in His Word.

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Genuine Repentance

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After recently writing about repentance (see “Repentance”), I didn’t think I’d be revisiting the topic so soon. Then I came across the following quote from Puritan Josias (Josiah) Shute concerning genuine repentance: “True repentance is when a man grieves for his sin to the extent that he abandons it.” It is one thing to think we are sorry for disobeying the commands of God. It is another to resolve from doing it again.

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But it is something else altogether for our sin to so grieve us that we abandon any thought of pursuing it in the future. We don’t just quit repeating the sin for a moment, or even for an extended period, but become so destroyed by even the thought of revisiting such sin that we scarcely even entertain a thought of it for the rest of our lives.

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Repentance

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While I was praying for the leaders and people of my country to turn their hearts to Christ, I became convicted of the fact that revival occurs one heart at a time. The first heart that must repent is mine. Each of us must repent of all the ways we’ve turned away from God if we ever expect to see revival on a large scale in our land. Until we who profess Jesus as Lord have repented of not walking in the ways of God, how can we expect those who do not serve Christ to turn to Him?

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We first must shine the light of Jesus into the darkness. Never underestimate the power of God working through a single heart surrendered to Him. As I was praying, the Holy Spirit brought several areas in need of my repentance to mind. While certainly not proud of these, perhaps they will inspire you to repent of the same in your life or remind you of other areas you’ve allowed to fester unsurrendered for too long.

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What Does God Require?

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What does God require from you? Isn’t this the most important question you can ask after who you say Jesus is (Matthew 16:15-17)? What the Lord requires of you is simple and God clearly articulates in Scripture what His requirements are. Deuteronomy 10:12 says, “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you except to fear the Lord your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, and to worship the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul?”

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What He required of Israel is what He continues to require from His people today. We know if we love Him, we will keep His commands (John 14:15), so we must always be reminding ourselves of what those commands are. If the commands of God are not always at the forefront of our minds, we will quickly drift into living for the things we desire instead of what God requires.

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Remain in Him

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In his first epistle, John encourages believers to “…remain in Him, so that when He appears we may have boldness and not be ashamed before Him at His coming” (1 John 2:28). To remain in Him not only secures our eternity, it also leads to living this life to the fullest extent possible (John 10:10). Many proclaim they believe in Jesus, but far fewer say they know Him.

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But how many will remain in Him until He returns? Abiding in Christ doesn’t feel natural to our fallen nature, no matter how much our soul longs to be with Him. Those who love Christ want to be full of Him and nothing else. They want to forsake the world and follow Jesus. Making such proclamations is easy. Living every day of our lives like we mean it is another story entirely.

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