Even If i Walk Alone

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

priorities

Unpopular

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From the earliest days of adolescence, almost everyone aspires to be popular. I never met anyone when I was younger who told me they wanted to be unpopular. As beings created in the image of God, we all desire relationship and communion with others. (Genesis 1:27; Genesis 2:18) Some personality types desire this more than others, but we all need it. In our formative years, popularity is something we crave. We all want to fit in, to be liked, and to have others respect our opinions.

Such desires don’t vanish when we finish school. It continues to resonate with us as we enter the workforce, move into neighborhoods, and develop social relationships. Even in our church communities, no one wants to be unpopular. When everyone desires something, it should set off warning bells in our minds. (Romans 12:2)

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Open Your Bible

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How often do you open your Bible? The only correct answer to this question is “not often enough.” I know this because, like me, if you opened it often enough, your life would not resemble what it looks like today. The Word of God is unstoppable, inexhaustible, and transforms us to the core of our beings. (Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 3:16–17) I can say with confidence that you don’t love the Bible enough.

For that matter, you don’t love God enough. I don’t either, and it disgusts me. If you desire to follow Christ with all of your heart, soul, strength, and mind (Luke 10:27; Deuteronomy 6:5), let me ask you the same question I ask myself: where’s the proof? Can you say with a straight face and complete honesty that you are walking just as Jesus walked? (1 John 2:6)

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Don’t Love This World

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One of my favorite passages in the Bible is 1 John 2:15–17. It’s not an easy or feel-good passage. I love it because of how convicting it is and how clear it is. People love to inject their own opinions and rationalizations into the Bible and, in doing so, neuter its message and strip it of its power. This passage leaves no room for any such nonsense.

It says if we love the things of this world, we don’t love God. There are no qualifiers, no exceptions, and no loopholes. The converse shows us how to navigate this life: if we love God, we will not love the things of this world. If you want to show your love for God, don’t love this world.

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Vital Things

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We need to pray for vital things. We consume too much time praying for trivialities and selfish requests. Instead of focusing on weightier matters, we pray for health, financial needs, job and relationship decisions, and for favor. These petitions are important to us, but are they vital to furthering the Kingdon of God?

I’m certain you could make arguments they can be, but I hope we can agree that in the grand scheme of things, our personal comfort, happiness, health, and pleasure are irrelevant and insignificant in the grand story of God’s redemptive plan. The Lord knows what we need and promises to supply us from His eternal riches. (Matthew 6:7-8; Philippians 4:19) We should rest in His promises and shift our focus from our needs to the needs of the Kingdom. (Matthew 6:33; Colossians 3:1–2)

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Who Will Jesus Be in Your Life?

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It doesn’t matter if you are reading this on New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, or a random day in May. The question you must answer is, “Who will Jesus be in your life over the next year?” Where you will be in the future is determined by the decisions you make right now.

woman contemplating who will Jesus be in your life knowing it means an increase in commitment and discipleship, reordinering her priorities to be on mission in humility and no pride

If Jesus isn’t who He should be in your life today, where do you think you will be a year from now? What I know for certain is you will be further away from Him than you are today. Is that what you want? You can’t keep going the same direction and expect to end up in a different place. Your steps dictate your destination (Galatians 6:7–8).

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