Even If i Walk Alone

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

purpose

The Little Drummer Boy

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My wife’s favorite Christmas song is “The Little Drummer Boy” (she’s partial to the Bob Seger version). Growing up I, being a drummer, favored this song as well. However, as I grew older I think I began to look at the song as shallow and as my taste evolved to an appreciation of much more lavish productions from the likes of the Trans Siberian Orchestra, “The Little Drummer Boy” pretty much landed on my dispensable list of things to listen to. Recently I picked up a new Christmas release from the worship band at my church, and the first track on it was, of course, “The Little Drummer Boy”.

As I listened to a fresh rendition of this old classic, I came to realize a great truth in the song. While realizing the lyrics are fictional, let’s examine the message within the words of the song. Here was a poor little boy who had the opportunity to see the Savior when He was just a baby. He knew that this was a magnificent event, one he did not dare miss. Yet as he travelled with those possessing extravagant gifts, he took inventory of what he had and found very little. However, he journeyed on, anxious to see Jesus. When he saw Him, the little boy knew that he would need to give something to this One who was his creator. So he did what came naturally; he played his drum. He used his gift to glorify the Lord. Surely this playing of an instrument (and a loud one at that!) would mean little next to the rare and expensive gifts that others had brought. I love the last line of the song. Jesus looked at the boy and smiled. He was pleased with the boy for simply doing what he had been gifted to do. Just a boy and his drum yielded a life-changing smile from Jesus.

Are you like the little drummer boy? Do you see your gifts as small and insignificant when compared to the much more visible and note-worthy gifts of others? Do you long for the approval of Jesus but wonder what you have that would warrant such approval? Learn the truth of the story of the little drummer boy. It’s not about what you bring to the Lord. It’s about you simply showing up; it’s about you coming to see Him simply for the privilege of being able to do so. It’s also about using that with which God has blessed you. Who are we to tell God that our gift is too small to be of any use to Him? How dare we presume that our gift could not possibly glorify the One who gave us the gift!

God has gifted you with abilities and talents that He intends you to use to glorify Him. He has not given gifts that are too small or too insignificant. He has given gifts of all shapes that they may work together to magnify and reflect His love and power to everyone on the earth. In God’s eyes there are no lesser or greater gifts, there are simply gifts. All that matters is that we use what He has given us. We must never feel small or insignificant for our gift was created and given by God Himself. Use your gifts; passionately play your drum for Him. Take joy in what He has put inside of you to share with the world. As you exercise your talents, look on the face of Jesus and see Him smile at you… just you and your drum.

Know Your Enemy

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One of the biggest keys to living a life devoted to Christ is to have a clear picture of who our enemy is. You can’t live a victorious life if you don’t know who it is you need to defeat. While it is easy to think of the phrase “life is a battle” as being simply a romantic analogy, it is actually a fundamental truth of Christianity. We are engaged in battle twenty-four hours a day as we seek to live passionately for our Savior.

First, let’s make it clear who your enemy is not. Anything made up of flesh and blood is not your enemy. People are never the enemy. How could we possibly perceive any human being to be our enemy when Christ told us to love every one? Therefore, I submit that it is not possible to love your enemy because if you consider another human to be your enemy, then you do not love that person. I think what Jesus meant when He said to “love your enemy” in Luke chapter 6, was to have no enemies. It is consistent with scripture when we see that Christ did not treat those who would kill Him as His enemies. He knew who was behind their actions as evidenced by His requesting the Father to forgive the people killing Him because “they did not know what they were doing” (Luke 23:33-34). We first need to make the shift in our hearts of transforming our enemies into friends so that we can love them; we need to always see others as Jesus saw them. Satan loves to distract us and to shift our focus onto other humans. We blame other people for our mistakes or our circumstances. We cannot do this and love those same people, which is why we cannot consider anyone to be our enemies while at the same time say that we are followers of Christ. Jesus did not treat humans as enemies; He treated them as friends.

No, our battle is not against flesh and blood, but rather against spiritual forces. Yes, demons really do exist, and yes they can and do impact your life. Perhaps this is where the old “the devil made me do it” excuse came from. The devil cannot make you do anything; he or his demons can put the temptations in place to make you consider doing something, but only we – as creatures gifted with freewill – actually can choose to act on that choice. As a holiday season is upon us, perhaps it needs to be said that Santa Claus is not the enemy of Christmas, but rather it is the spirit of greed and selfishness. The Easter Bunny is not the enemy of Easter, but rather the spirit of denying the resurrection of Christ. Other nationalities are not our enemy throughout the year, but rather the spirit of pride, hate and covetousness. Demonic forces are persistently trying to shift our focus away from the good things of Christ and onto the ruinous things of self. Christ died to not only bring forgiveness for our sins but in doing so He defeated Satan and his demonic forces. He gives us the power to do the same. The good news is that the end of the story is already written and Christ, along with those who profess Him as Lord, will be victorious in the spiritual realm. While we are still on earth, however, the battle rages on.

Don’t mistake who it is that we are fighting. Don’t allow Satan to shift your focus onto the wonders of creation as being your enemy. Our fight is always against the spiritual realm, against Satan. We wage war against those forces by making Jesus the Lord of our life, doing those things he modeled for us and in so doing demonstrate His love to all of His creation. Be careful not to get caught up in actions or arguments that only advance a flesh and blood agenda. Engage only in those things that advance the Kingdom agenda. Love God and all of His creation and demonstrate that love in tangible ways every day that you have breath.

The Importance of Goals

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I wrote recently about moving toward your goals. Hopefully by now you have written down some goals for yourself. If not, I’d encourage you to stop right now and write down three goals for yourself… just come back when you’re done, we’ll wait! Need some help? If you could change anything about your present life, what would it be? Write it down. What do you perceive to be the greatest weakness in your pursuit of following Jesus? Write this down as well. Finally, for what do you wish to be remembered? Again, write it down. You now have three very specific goals. Congratulations, you have done more to reach your goals than have 97% of Americans, simply because you wrote down your goals.

You’ve taken the all important first step to achieving your goals. Now for the hard part: you actually are going to have to do some work to accomplish them. The first thing is to break them down into manageable size chunks, small steps that are challenging but not so daunting that you are afraid to even attempt them. So if you could change anything about your present life, what would it be? Just pick one thing. What habit would you like to stop, or perhaps what is one habit you would like to have? Let’s work out a practical example. Perhaps you wanted to start each day by praying or reading your Bible or simply sitting in silence. What are some small steps you can begin doing to make this a reality? You could perhaps start by going to bed five minutes earlier each night, or getting up five minutes earlier each morning. Do this for a week, then tack on another five minutes until you are able to get up at the time you wish in order to be able to start your day communing with God. Getting up thirty minutes or an hour earlier than you do now is a daunting task, one that you will probably quit after a day or two (if not before you even begin). On the other hand, going to be five minutes early is pretty easy. Tackle your large goals by taking small steps.

By defining the person we want to be – in writing – we set ourselves up for success in becoming that person. Do something every day that moves you toward your goals, review them often. Put notes around your house that remind you of the person you are becoming. Don’t put up reminders that describe the person you want to be, display it as if it were already true. For example, don’t write “I wish I had the courage to serve God no matter what”. Rather write down “I serve God at any cost”. Place note cards throughout your home that will remind you who you are. This will help keep you motivated and ultimately see that your goals are indeed fulfilled. With New Year’s Day fast approaching, we don’t need any more resolutions. What we need instead is written down goals. The ultimate goal is to become the person we were created to be. Don’t rob the world of all you have to offer simply because you were too lazy to set goals for your life. You were created with purpose and for a purpose. Write down your goals, break them down into smaller pieces, and see your goals through. Realize the love God has for you and work in concert with Him to create the symphony of your life.

The People You Meet and the Books You Read

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Charlie “Tremendous” Jones once said that “You are the same today as you’ll be in five years except for two things: the books you read and the people you meet.” I submit that the same applies to our walk with Christ. Over the next five years, our growth – our ability to live a life that truly reflects and honors God – will be exactly what it is today except for the books we read and the people we meet.

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Thankfulness and the American Orphan

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To most of us in America, Thanksgiving Day is all about three things: turkey, football and a day off. Quite honestly, I’m a big fan of all of those things. Unfortunately there are many for whom this day has no meaning. They have lost hope amid the struggles and trials of our modern society. They have become too bitter to be thankful for anything; they are simply in need. For those of us with Christ in our lives, we have something to give. We have hope for the future, and we have love. These gifts are not to be hoarded; they are to be given away.

I’ve been reading the book “Street Lives: An Oral History of Homeless Americans” recently. It’s a collection of firsthand accounts of living on the street. It is truly heartbreaking to read their stories. While the language and subject matter can be a bit rough at times, I encourage you to read this book or books like it. We are so isolated in our comfortable homes and neighborhoods. Few of us know what true hunger feels like. Even fewer know what it’s like to have no bed, no home and no hope. While there are many shelters that do a good work, there are far more that are abusive and even perpetuate the mindset that keeps people living in despair. The number of children and veterans among the population of the homeless is staggering. Many of the homeless have no family remaining, no place to turn for help and no one to love them. They are truly the orphans of America, regardless of their age.

As followers of Jesus we are called to care for the orphans. What are we doing to help? For most of us, helping involves giving to shelters and inner city ministries, and probably buying some groceries or meals for those in need. This is necessary and admirable, but it does not go far enough. Food for the belly is obviously important, but food for the soul is paramount. We need to feed more than their stomachs. We need to feed their hearts, their minds, and their self worth. We need to clothe them not only with blankets and coats, but with love. What can you do to help? What can I do? We must come together and do something about this crisis. Why? The answer is simply because Jesus said to do so; that is enough. We who choose to follow Christ have an obligation to do the things He did. As the orphans in need of love cry out to us, they convict us of that which we are not doing. None of us can end homelessness by ourselves. We can, however, love one person. Together we can solve the problem in our cities by determining that we will not tolerate the way homeless orphans are treated.

The love of God provides the love, strength and hope that we all need. There is enough for us to bask in and still have plenty in reserve to give away. I am thankful for the love of Christ. I am thankful that He saved me. I am thankful that I am not an orphan. Yet I am thankful for the orphans all around us, for they are opportunities to share the immeasurable love of Christ. We must put aside our fear, our prejudices and our preconceived notions; it’s time to reach out and love the orphans all around us. Put your arms around someone in need today, and rejoice in the opportunity to be able to do so. Be thankful for all you have, and then give others something to be thankful for as well.