Even If i Walk Alone

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

Psalms

Victory Through Persecution

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As we prepare for certain persecution in the not-so-distant future, we must learn all we can about what the scriptures have to say about this. One such passage is Romans 5:3-4, where Paul outlines the progression we go through to achieve victory through persecution: “And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.”

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I exhort you to commit the passage to memory for its encouragement. As we anticipate a day when owning a Bible may be illegal, we should all be memorizing as much scripture as possible. Do not be lazy or naïve in thinking that will never be a reality where you live. God’s Word tells us the days will only grow darker (2 Timothy 3:1-5), so we must prepare before it is too late.

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Long-Distance Eyes

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Are you feeling unsteady these days? It’s easy to feel disillusioned by everything you thought you knew when it smacks up against reality. There is so much discontent, fear, hatred, and uncertainty in our world that it takes everything we’ve got to not allow it to swallow us whole. It can be especially disconcerting for those of us who profess to trust Christ to provide everything we need, yet still have to live in a world that is coming apart at the seams.

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How can we hold fast to our faith when evil seems to win victory after victory? It’s easy to lose hope when our focus is on the here and now. Instead of eyes of immediacy, we need long-distance eyes to look beyond our current circumstances and into the eternal life that waits for us.

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The Authority of Scripture

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Perhaps nothing is more foundational to our Christian faith than the authority of scripture. God reveals Himself to us through His Word, and any attempt to undermine or minimize the inspiration of God’s Word weakens our faith and conviction. We acknowledge and recognize that Jesus Christ is the author and perfector of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2), and that the Bible is God’s Word given to us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to instruct us in the knowledge of who God is and the way we are to live.

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Through God’s guidance, Paul teaches us that all of scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching and training the saints (2 Timothy 3:16-17). He did not say some scripture or even vaguely state that scripture was inspired, but made it clear all scripture is God’s Word. This means we can trust the authority of scripture over every area of our lives. From Genesis to Revelation, God’s Word is true.

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More Than Emotions

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Modern churches place an enormous amount of focus on the emotional experience of being a Christian. Worship teams craft songs and services to evoke an emotional response from those listening. Sermons focus on engaging stories rather than the plain truth of Scripture. And I don’t know about you, but it’s a rare day when my mailbox (physical and virtual) doesn’t find an impassioned plea for help from some ministry or another.

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Social media adds to the play for our emotions by hyping the latest heresy or cause to which the church should be attending. Humans are emotional beings and Christians are no exception. But following Jesus involves more than emotions. Jesus said we must love Him not only with all our heart (emotion) but also with all our strength, mind, and soul (Mark 12:30).

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Every Sin

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Did you ever wonder why there is such little detail given about what Jesus endured on His way to the cross (Matthew 27:27-31; Mark 15:16-20; John 19:1-3)? Hollywood productions spend a lot of time focusing on the abuse being heaped upon Jesus, but the Bible almost glosses over the torturous details. The specifics we do have should be enough to sicken any decent human being. Perhaps the reason the Spirit did not lead the Biblical writers to provide more details is that the physical pain was nothing compared to the pain of enduring the sins of the world (Isaiah 53:4-6).

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If the point of the story was the horrific murder of a good man, then I’m certain we wouldn’t still be talking about it two centuries later. But a man who willingly takes on the sin every human has ever or will ever commit to save those very sinners from eternal damnation? That’s a story worth telling over and over again (1 Peter 2:24).

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