Even If i Walk Alone

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

Matthew

Minimalism

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I’ve been investigating the concept of minimalism a lot lately. For those not familiar with the idea, minimalism is essentially stripping your life to the essentials of things that add value or bring joy (for a great expansion on this topic, see Joshua Becker’s article, “What is Minimalism?”). The reason I mention it here is I believe minimalism ties in directly to being a disciple of Jesus. In fact, I would argue Jesus Himself was a minimalist. Minimalism is consistent with Christ’s teaching to sell your possessions and give to the poor (Matthew 19:16-22).

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It aligns with the fact Jesus had no home of His own (Matthew 8:19-20), with the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12), and with His instructions in the well-known parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46). You don’t have to become a minimalist to be a disciple of Jesus, but if you are serious about living as He did, I believe you will be drawn towards minimalism.

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Your Life Purpose

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What is your life purpose? This isn’t a self-help or live your dreams type of article. As a follower of Jesus, your life purpose should be self-evident, but for too many it is not. The tendency is for our days to pass without much conscious or intentional thought about living for Jesus. We fall into our schedules and routines far too casually and comfortably. Jesus is – at best – left watching from the sidelines.

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This isn’t how it should be and it must stop. We can’t spend our lives living for ourselves and expect to spend eternity living with Christ. Our lives must be different from those around us. And this must start now.
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Are You Ready to Die?

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I was recently having a conversation with a friend of mine who is a fellow believer. They expressed being anxious about dying because all they know is here, and they don’t know how things will be on the other side of life. Further, they stated they enjoyed their life and friends and would miss them. I shared some things I hope were comforting, but I walked away a bit devastated and wondering how many other followers of Christ feel as my friend does.

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My suspicion is a great number of believers are indeed content with their life and face some trepidation about what the afterlife may hold. I decided to address both those who share the anxiety of my friend, and also those who – like myself – find it very difficult to relate to that line of thinking.
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Single-Minded

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I was recently reading Calvin Miller’s excellent “The Disciplined Life” for a second time and came across a statement that exploded off the page. The author wrote, “To hold anything in our hearts that is contrary to the single-minded call is to split our attention between Jesus and whatever else is calling for first place in our allegiance.”
This is the heart of discipleship.

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There is no place in the life of a follower of Christ for anything other than Jesus. A divided kingdom will certainly fall (Mark 3:24), and a divided heart will never find lasting peace or victory. We either solely belong to Jesus or we do not belong to Him at all.
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Humility and Discipleship

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The life of Jesus was marked by humility, yet we who claim to be His followers rarely live with the same goal. We spend most of our days in vain pursuits, determined to climb the ladder, find happiness, avoid suffering, and generally promoting ourselves at every opportunity. While Jesus spent his life relinquishing His own glory, we spend our lives pursuing it.

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To be a follower of Jesus, we must spend our lives dedicated to living as He did. Yet somehow we’ve twisted that into some bizarre blend of the American dream. The unspoken truth is the so-called American dream is in direct opposition to the dreams of God for your life.
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