Even If i Walk Alone

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

mission

Act on What You Know

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I love to learn. There is rarely a moment of the day when I don’t have a book in my hand or at least within arm’s reach. We have access to so much information in our world that you could literally spend your entire lifetime gaining valuable knowledge. While that’s great – and even enjoyable to those like me – it never amounts to anything if we don’t apply what we learn and do something useful with all of that information. This is perhaps no more prevalent than in our churches today. We have so many opportunities to learn more about Jesus, but unless we move out of the building and put into action what we have learned, it won’t account for anything when we meet God.

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Planning for Eternity

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Francis Chan said “People accuse me of going overboard in preparing for my first ten million years in eternity. In my opinion, people go overboard in worrying about their last ten years on earth.” If you’re like me and pretty much every other Christ-follower I know, that statement should feel like a punch in the gut. It should hurt because we know he’s right. We live in such a backwards way, putting our own selfish wants and desires ahead of pursuing the mission God has given to us. While we wring our hands over our 401(k)’s and obsess over how we will spend our retirement, we give precious little thought to preparing to spend eternity with God.

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Brave

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As I was writing this morning, I was listening to Nichole Nordeman’s song, “Brave”. I actually was beginning to write on a different topic I had sketched out when the words of the chorus really hit me:

“So long status quo
I think I just let go
You make me want to be brave
The way it always was
Is no longer good enough
You make me want to be brave.”

The song goes on to say “If you believe in me, that changes everything.” Wow. When was the last time you recognized that not only does Jesus love you, but He absolutely, unequivocally, and without hesitation believes in you? He designed you to do the work He created you to do (Ephesians 2:10), and He harbors no doubt you can get it done. It doesn’t matter who hurt you in the past, let you down, held you down, or laughed in your face. The God of the Universe believes in you. Does anything else even matter? [Read more…] about Brave

All That Is Required

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“God never wanted converts, church attenders, prisoners, or parishioners.” That’s a quote from Hugh Halter’s book, “Flesh: Bringing the Incarnation Down to Earth”. It’s probably something we all know deep inside, but it’s not the way we act. I was brought up in an environment where an extraordinary focus was placed on ‘winning others to Christ’. I was taught that my primary job in the universe was to create converts, and my secondary job was to make sure I was in church whenever the doors were open. You could certainly argue there are far worse ideals that could be instituted into a young mind. The problem is this kind of teaching doesn’t do much to create people who look like Jesus.

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Personal Excellence Begins With Discipleship

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You will never fulfill your potential in any area of life unless you first get your relationship with Christ in order. Unless you are striving to be a true follower of Jesus, nothing else you achieve or acquire will ever satisfy that gnawing emptiness inside. You will always feel like there is something more, regardless of your level of success. It is possible to win in every other area of your life, but ultimately lose everything if you aren’t putting Jesus first and living as if He is truly Lord of your life (Mark 8:36). Too often we become preoccupied with daily activities, and God is pushed from our focus. This is not a state in which we can live if we truly love Christ above all else.

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