Even If i Walk Alone

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

passion

Let It Go

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Chinese philosopher Lin Yutang said, “Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone.  The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.”  Which begs the question, of what do we need to let go to better serve Christ?  What are those things that need to be put aside?

In our modern culture we tend to fill our lives with so much.  We have family commitments, work commitments and personal commitments.  It can be hard to find a moment of peace.  Television, radio, cell phones, the internet (you are reading this online after all!!); so much calls out and begs for our focus and attention.  Entire industries have arisen with the single goal of capturing our attention.  Of course everything looks appealing and it seems like such a good idea at the time.  Suddenly we have overfilled our capacity and overbooked our schedules.  More often than not it is Christ that is the first thing to get squeezed out.  We need to let something go.

Being full of Christ means there is no room for any of this other stuff we may have in our life.  It seems we’ve gotten it backwards.  Our lives are so full that we’ve run out of room for Christ.  I think Satan smiles when He sees this.  He barely had to lift a finger to get our eyes off of Jesus.  He simply had to tempt us with the modern day fruit from the tree of what society has defined as “life”.  We have not only taken a bite, but we have made a feast from this tree.  We grab all we can and eat until we are full.  But where is our first love?  Where is the One who saved us from a life of pointlessness and despair?  He has become the forgotten Man.

We need to go on a diet.  Like all diets, the best ones are those that make slow but steady progress.  Sure, simply casting off all the trappings of modern society all at once may work for awhile, and it may even work permanently for a few.  But by and large, experience and research has shown that lasting results comes from slow but steady changes.  We need to make the shift to being full of Christ and empty of everything else.  We need to be so full of love that it overflows and permeates everything we do.  There is no room for anything other than this in a life fully devoted to Christ.  There is no half way to living a full life; being full is all or nothing.

So what are you full of today?  Is it Christ and His love or is it the pleasures and accomplishments of our culture and society?  What do you need to let go today?  Write a list of everything in your life that is not contributing to the goal of being completely filled by the love of Christ.  Take the time to get it all down on paper.  Now look at your list and pick one item that you will begin eradicating from your life this week; write down a plan for how you will let it go, then execute that plan.  Once this particular item is out of your life, move to the next one on the list and do the same with it.

We all want to live a full life.  The only question is with what will we fill it?  Will it be with self-importance, achievement, popularity, the glitz of Madison Avenue?  Or will it be with the love, humility and gentleness of the love of Jesus Christ?  What will ultimately matter when all is said and done?  What is keeping us from being truly full of Christ today?  It’s time to let it go.

Faith vs. Fear

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Denis Waitley said, “Success is a process that continues, not a status that you reach. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.”  I find this very applicable to the Christian life as well.  Living out our faith is a continual learning process.  We will never achieve a life lived perfectly.  While some might see that as a discouraging statement, I would say that if you do you are missing the point.  The whole point of the journey is not to arrive, but rather to walk, to strive, to live more like Jesus.

To be certain, we will fail, and we will fail often; but failure is a good thing!  Nothing has ever been accomplished without a good deal of failure preceding the accomplishment.  No one gets it right the first time, and every failure is simply an opportunity to learn something and be better for it.  Life is one long cycle of fall down, get up.  It’s our desire to get up over and over again that builds our character and strengthens our faith.  If we never fell, we would never need Christ.

Often we hold back from doing Kingdom work because we are afraid of failure.  The Bible says that if God is for us, who can be against us?  No matter what trial we face, God is bigger, stronger and more powerful.  What is there to fear?  Fear is evidence that Satan is alive and well, because it is he who whispers fear into our hearts.  We need to always press forward.  Life will come at us full force, but it is up to us to determine whether we simply will wait for it to hit us, or if we will rush headlong into whatever may come.

Life lived intentionally, a life where we race into the fray regardless of the outcome, is a life of adventure and excitement.  Living the Christian life in a purely reactive manner is not only ineffective but it is dull and ultimately life-less!  We need to engage our world, the people around us and those far away.  We need to demonstrate the love of Christ to everyone at all times.  When doing so results in our getting knocked down, we must have only one reaction:  get up and lean into life again; unbeaten, undeterred and unafraid.  Lean into life with the power of Christ and dare it to knock you down.  Faith and courage are built through enduring the storms.

No Days Off

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I’ve been kicking around an idea for the past several weeks, and think I am finally comfortable enough with it that I need to integrate the principle of it into my life. The concept is simple, yet I believe it can have an incredible impact on the effectiveness of our walk. The concept is simply this: we as Christians are not allowed to take any days off. In fact, it goes deeper than that; we’re not even allowed to take a lunch break. Just as I have long espoused that every second of every minute of every hour of every day we make a choice to follow Christ or turn away from Him, I now am convicted that we must be “on” every second of every minute of every hour of every day.

For too long we have bought into the illusion that we deserve to have everything that Western culture has to offer, and oh by the way, we’ll also follow Christ. This isn’t the call I see in Scripture. Jesus demands that we give up everything and follow Him. We speak our belief to others whenever we are seen by them throughout the day. We speak our belief to God when no one else is around. This covers our actions, thoughts and words at all times, not just some of the time. God never ceases to observe us, and as long as there are other people on this planet, neither will they.

We don’t have the luxury of time. When we meet someone, we must demonstrate the love of Christ and the integrity of our faith to them; we may never get another opportunity. When we are alone, we must always use that time to recharge our spirit by communing with God, practicing spiritual disciplines and resting quietly in Christ – not in front of the latest television phenomenon. There are many things in this world that are inherently neutral – sports, hobbies and entertainment to name a few; but time is not neutral, it will either be used for God or it will be used against God. If we use the time God has given us to indulge in things that do not further His kingdom then we are not living true to our commitment to forsake everything for Him.

Nurture relationships, show love to others. Share a kind word and a few dollars with those in need. Perhaps now more than any time in American history we must realize how quickly our window of opportunity is closing. Our nation is changing and we do not know how long we will enjoy the absolute religious freedom we currently do. We must redeem the time – every second of it. We must work harder to live and love as we told Jesus we would. There are no breaks, there is no time off, but there is a great reward for all who persevere.

What If?

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What if this week were different? What if we approached tomorrow in a brand new way? What if we got so excited about doing life the way we are called to do it that we made a radical change in the way we lived? What if everything we did was done in honor of God? What if, before we go to bed tonight, we dedicated the rest of this week to Jesus? What if we didn’t stop at just words, what if we really meant it?

What if we rejected our pride and started actively seeking ways to serve others? What if we determined to love – truly love – everyone with whom we come into contact? What if we, once and for all, surrendered those things we have kept back from God? What if we stopped worrying if we had the latest electronic gadgets or the biggest TV? What if we stopped caring what kind of car we drive?

What if we skipped our own lunch and used the money to buy lunch for someone else instead? What if we took some time to speak to the homeless? What if we spared an hour to listen to someone who was hurting? What if we treated our families with the same courtesy and respect that we treat those outside of our inner circle?

What if we started living like Jesus was truly alive within us? What if we decided – right now – to set the world ablaze with the love of Christ? What if we just let go and let Him flow through us? What if we stopped being afraid and started trusting Him like we say we do? What if we started living as if nothing mattered more than pleasing Jesus?

What if this all weren’t just wishful thinking? What if we stopped asking all these questions and started to be the answers instead? What if?

Be Remarkable

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We need to be remarkable for Jesus. Jesus showed excellence in everything He did; we are called to do the same. What does excellence look like in your life? What would it take to be remarkable in everything you do?

Too often we are content to stroll happily through our days without urgency or passion. As long as the car doesn’t break down, the boss doesn’t yell at us and the dog doesn’t gnaw on yet another piece of furniture, it’s a good day. We grow content, even complacent with our station in life. We take for granted the car, the house, the food, even the family that God has blessed us with and entrusted into our care. Life becomes something that more or less just happens and we float along with the current of the day.

That’s not excellence. There is nothing remarkable about merely drifting in the current. People are dying without Christ every second. People are drowning in depression every day. Hopelessness envelops those around us. We are called to passion and excellence. If we can’t be passionate about living life for Christ, whom we claim is Lord of our life, then about what can we possibly be passionate?

Every task upon which we set our hands to work should be excellent, should produce a “Wow!” upon completion. Jesus never did anything half way. If we are truly his followers we will set about to live our life with unbridled zeal. We will passionately do everything He instructed us to do, and we will do so with excellence. We will produce remarkable results for Him. Our lives will be so remarkable that those around us will be drawn to what we have. We will tell them of our remarkable Lord, and the Holy Spirit will gush from us until everyone we encounter is flooded by the love of Christ. This is what it looks like to live a remarkable life for Christ.

All of creation is remarkable. The birds singing in the morning are remarkable. The sound of water flowing freely over rocks, when everything else is still, is remarkable. You are God’s creation; you are made to be remarkable. Live your passion and do so with excellence. Live remarkably for Christ.