Even If i Walk Alone

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

Matthew

God’s Will for Your Life

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I’m not sure why, but we make following Jesus a lot more difficult than it needs to be. I think when we get to Heaven we’re going to see how complicated we made it and how simple it should have been. Like the Pharisees, we have added all sorts of rules, regulations, and obligations onto what Jesus taught. My guess is we do this to avoid doing what He told us to do.

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Just as claiming to be a perfectionist is often an excuse for procrastination, I think our busyness in the name of Jesus is an excuse for our lack of selflessness and desire to love others. We try and hide the ugly with something good. But ultimately only God is good, and any attempt to mask Him with anything else will result in something less than He is. It will result in worthless pursuits.

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Well Done

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I want to live a “well done” life. Jesus taught if we spent our lives using the talents and mission He gave to us for Him, when we face Him in Heaven He will say, “Well done good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). It is to this we should aspire. It is for those words we should spend our lives. I don’t want to live my life for Jesus in a casual or half-hearted way.

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Along with the teaching of having our lives found to be good and faithful, Jesus also gave the warning many would come to Him and He wouldn’t recognize them (Matthew 7:22-23). Despite their protests and proclamations of what they had done on His behalf, He will turn them away. They are those who did not hold fast to Christ. They wavered in their devotion.

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Suicide Mission

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There are places in the world today where following Jesus is basically a suicide mission. To follow Christ may mean losing your job, your home, and your children. It is not uncommon for families to react violently when one of their own gives their life to Jesus. Every day I read stories of new believers who are beaten and thrown out of their homes because of their decision to give their lives to Jesus.

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In many cultures, the family is the center of all things, and to leave the family religion brings great disgrace not only on the one leaving but on the ones they leave behind. It takes great faith and courage to follow Jesus in many countries. As their brothers and sisters in Christ, it is essential we lift these people in prayer every day.

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Exclusive Devotion

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David Platt once wrote, “Plainly put, a relationship with Jesus requires total, superior, and exclusive devotion.” Is this how you would describe your relationship with Jesus? When I hear or read statements like this, I get excited. This is exactly the life I want to live. I want to be so committed to Jesus others cannot help but know. Such radical obedience and devotion stir something deep inside me.

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I know it is for this I was created. Knowing why you are here on this earth will motivate you like nothing else. But alas, I cannot claim my relationship with Jesus is characterized by total, superior, and exclusive devotion to Him. Despite knowing this is the deepest yearning of my heart, I fall short again and again.

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Not My Will, But Yours

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The prayer of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane is powerful for us today. It’s easy to miss the simple power contained within this prayer because we are accustomed to reading it as part of the crucifixion story. Jesus prayed, “Father, if You are willing, take this cup away from Me—nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42). It is the second half of the prayer on which I’d like to focus: “not my will, but yours be done.”

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A couple of years earlier, Jesus had taught His disciples to pray in a similar manner, when He prayed, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10). Jesus prayed and instructed us to pray for God’s will to be done, regardless of what we face or what is swirling around us.

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