Even If i Walk Alone

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

priorities

Prepared to Die

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As someone who has longed to meet Jesus for a long time now, I was particularly struck by a quote I read from one of the early church fathers named Irenaeus. He said, “The business of the Christian is nothing else than to be ever preparing for death”.  The statement also reminded me of Francis Chan’s latest book, “You and Me Forever”, in which he espouses the primary role of the husband is to make certain his wife is well prepared for Heaven.

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Our entire lives should be spent preparing ourselves and others to meet Christ. This profoundly impacts the decisions we make and activities we engage in every day of our lives.
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Tools for Building the Kingdom

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I was listening to a recent message by Andy Stanley (you can listen to the message here) and he introduced the topic of everything we own being a tool for building the Kingdom. Our money, our car, our house, our kitchen table – everything – can, and should, be thought of as tools for building the Kingdom.

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I have long understood the time and money we are blessed with should in turn be used for God’s purposes here on earth. But I admit, I had never considered how everything we own should also be seen as tools for building the Kingdom. It’s a bold way of thinking with the possibility of opening new avenues of service to our King.
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No Matter the Cost

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While I risk sounding like a broken record, I continue to be convinced a large number of people who profess to be Christians want to serve without it costing them anything. We want the ticket to Heaven as long as we can maintain a reasonable comfort here on earth. We sing, “No matter the cost” but balk at giving up a Saturday to minister to the poor or homeless. We proclaim we’ll go wherever God sends us but renege when the call leads to Uganda instead of Austin or San Diego.

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When we say surrender, we tend to put guardrails around it rather than giving ourselves in reckless abandon to Christ. Unless we are willing to serve Him no matter the cost, I fear we may not even be actual followers of Jesus.
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Holiness is Your Choice

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You are who and where you are today because of the choices you have made. This is true in your personal life, and most assuredly true in your spiritual life. You are as close to God as you choose to be. Each day of our lives, we choose whether or not to do what Christ has instructed us to do. Spiritually speaking, we are not a victim of circumstance; we are the product and sum total of our choices.

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You can’t blame anyone else for the state of your Spiritual progress. Holiness is your choice. Obedience is your choice. No matter your circumstances, your relationship with God is all up to you. He simply waits for you to take hold of everything He offers.
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Self-Centeredness

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Self-centeredness continues to be the Achilles heel of so many people who desire to follow Christ. We want to serve Him but can’t seem to get our eyes off ourselves. Instead of focusing on how amazing God is, we are content to fret over how miserable we are. A.W. Tozer once said, “The life of the normal believing child of God can never be a life of gloom and pessimism, for it is the Holy Spirit of God who keeps us above the kind of gloomy resignation that marks the secularism of the day.”

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We acknowledge with our minds the Spirit of Christ dwells in us, but live as if He doesn’t exist at all.

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