Even If i Walk Alone

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

Romans

Come and Die

by

It’s the greatest invitation ever given, a greatly compelling recruitment speech: Jesus said to come and die. He told everyone who followed Him that if they continued to do so they would face persecution. To sweeten the pot He informed them that they would become homeless, rejected by their families and in the end be put to death. Can’t you just see the people rushing to sign up? But this is the call of Christ, to come and die.

Are you willing to give up everything you own for the cross of Christ? Are you ready to die for the sake of pursuing His mission? Would you pursue Him without promise of any reward for yourself? A life spent following Christ is a life full of risk and adventure. We risk what we perceive to be safety in this world for the sake of knowing Him and continuing the mission to which He calls us. In a “me first” generation, sacrificing our own lives for the sake of another is a foreign concept. If we are going to lay everything on the line, we expect a certain return on our investment. But that’s not how the Kingdom of God works. To be a true follower of Jesus, we must give up everything we are solely for the chance to know Him better. Christ is the reward, and to receive it we ultimately must die.

Most of us in the United States have grown up being taught to pursue the American dream. We are expected to acquire material goods to prove our success. Possessions are tangible items that make it a simple matter to measure our progress against that of another. In the race to achieve higher and higher goals while gaining more and more goods, we ignore the very simple message of the Gospel. Jesus said that to find Him, we must lose ourselves. If we are to gain life with Him, we must first die to ourselves (Luke 17:33). Anyone who is living for themselves can never truly love those around them. If we don’t love others, we can’t love Christ (1 John 4:20).

In the Western world, Christianity has come to be synonymous with prosperity and success. For many years, this bad theology has been propounded to the masses and is now accepted as gospel in many circles. The teaching is false and not found in the Bible. The Israelites were told if they would follow all of God’s statutes then they would prosper in their land (Deuteronomy 5:33). That’s about as close as one gets to Biblical approval of the so- called “prosperity gospel”. However, which one of us has succeeded in obeying all of God’s commands? We all have fallen short and missed the mark (Romans 3:23). This is why Jesus came to sacrifice Himself for us. Without His blood and His resurrection, we would all be hopelessly lost. With our sinful tendencies we cannot perfectly keep the law of God. It is only by the grace of Jesus that we have hope of eternal life with Him.

By coming to die, Jesus set the example for us. He did not turn away from the cross that was set before Him, but rather He embraced it knowing that through His sacrifice, many would live. As followers of Jesus, we have the same call on our lives today. Life is not about what we can acquire or how successful we might become. Rather, it is about sacrificing ourselves for the good of others. It is about setting aside our own ambitions so that everything we do might point back to God and bring glory to Him. Our lives are to be lived for a single purpose, the opportunity to reflect the love and beauty of Jesus Christ to a world in desperate need of the truth. If we will live with Jesus Christ being our only goal, then we will achieve true fulfillment; we will receive His blessing on our life and His mercy at our death. Along the way we may be asked to give everything we own away; we may face persecution and watch those we love be taken from us. Following Jesus is dangerous because we are warring with the powers of darkness. To those who choose this path, to those who persevere, there is light and there is life. If we would follow Jesus then we must embrace our death. Jesus said to come and die. Is He worth it to you?

Our Daily Walk

by

On a day to day basis, how often are you focused on clearly living a life that reflects Jesus? Do you consistently weigh your words and measure your actions by the character of Christ? When you lie down at night reflecting on your day, do you see a life that looks like Jesus? Our daily activities speak volumes about our heart. We profess to love Christ and swear He is our Lord, but we lead unremarkable lives that bear a far greater resemblance to the societal norm than to the holiness of God; there is a disconnect between our words and our actions that we must discover and overcome.

In my own life, I am sick of the hypocrisy that is my walk. Like the apostle Paul, I do the things I don’t want to do while the things I want to do get left undone (Romans 7:15, 19). It doesn’t matter whether we commit what are perceived to be small sins or large sins; any time spent engaged in activity not honoring Christ is time we are wasting. Time is not redeemable; we have what we have and then it is gone. Every wasted moment vanishes forever and we find ourselves one breath closer to death. It is urgent and imperative that we focus every second of our lives on Christ. Every day must be viewed as a new opportunity to reflect His love to others, while every night should be cherished as a time to bask in His presence and peace. Our time grows ever shorter and there are so many who still have never heard.

One life – yours or mine – can make a significant difference in our world. We never know what effect a simple act of kindness or a gentle word will have. You might bring hope to the one who will go on to discover a cure for cancer or to someone who will simply “pay it forward” and offer help to one who is homeless. We never know what God will do with one seemingly insignificant act on our part. Never pass up an opportunity to share some kindness; remember to always reflect the love of Christ in every moment of your day.

The effort required to fully seize each moment is not trivial; it requires discipline and focus. We may never perfectly achieve the goal, but every second that we grasp for the glory of God is one more second than we had previously embraced. Moment by moment we develop a life that looks like Jesus and reflects His love and glory to those around us. The world does not need more lip service Christians; the world needs followers of Jesus who are willing to devote their lives to loving God and serving others. Imagine the impact on the nations if only those who profess Jesus as their Savior would engage their world as a disciple of Christ. Poverty would be eradicated, crime rates would plummet and homelessness would become a thing of the past. Racial tensions would fade into history, and justice would reign across the planet. That this is not happening rests solely at our feet. It is we who call ourselves Christians that are failing to act; we are the ones who are choosing lives of contentment over lives of passion and action. It is we who will one day face our God and be asked to give an accounting for the way in which we spent our time.

What are you doing today that reflects the love of God? How are you spending your time? These are questions we all must ask ourselves every day. I confess that more days than not I am inconsistent in my walk. I have flashes of brilliance wherein I reflect the love of Christ, but they are couched between periods of darkness when I am self-absorbed and serving no kingdom purpose. You and I must overcome our inconsistencies and through God’s strength learn to discipline ourselves to live a life that reflects the love of Jesus to a dark and dying world. To this we are all called; it is the will of God for the life of every one of us. Before you leave your house today, prayerfully determine that you will reflect Jesus to every single person you encounter. Walk boldly through your world with the knowledge that the love of Christ is spilling out from you; feel His power course through your veins and seek opportunities to serve someone in need. Every moment will be won for Christ or lost to the enemy. Determine to live the life you promised to Christ. Seize the moment and save the day. The world needs you to live out your commitment. Together let us live our calling to love God and serve others. Enough of Christianity; let’s live as followers of Christ.

Satan’s Worst Nightmare

by

It has long frustrated me that followers of Jesus (which would certainly include me) seem so hesitant to follow Jesus through uncertain or turbulent waters. As long as our path is fairly smooth and our direction is somewhat certain, we have no problems dedicating our lives to Jesus. When uncertainty enters the equation, however, we hesitate. When following Him means giving up some sense of our security, we flinch and falter. We become fearful of the unknown. Of what are we truly afraid? The God who walks with us through the good times is the same God who will be there in the bad.

The fear comes from the enemy. When we are compelled to walk along the narrow path, through darkness and uneven terrain, Satan is there to immediately cast doubt on our ability to traverse the chosen path. He injects worry, fear and anxiety into our minds. He does not want us to move forward, as he realizes this will bring defeat to his intentions. When you feel most paralyzed by fear, rest assured that your obedience has placed you on the cusp of accomplishing something significant for the Kingdom of God.

The paralysis comes from our fear. Yet this fear is totally irrational. Scripture is full of examples of God giving victory over extraordinary circumstances; we need only to trust Him. If God is for us, nothing can come against us. (Romans 8:31) We have everything we need at our disposal, we simply need ask (John 14:13-14). All of Hell itself cannot prevail against the people of God (Matthew 16:18). Again I must ask, “What are we afraid of?” How ridiculous is such fear! As a matter of fact, this fear turns out to be just another lie of Satan. Once again he is subtly altering the truth; he is shifting our focus ever so slightly in a way that blinds us to what is really going on. The truth of the matter is it is Satan himself who is trembling in utter fear of us! The entire time that we are immobilized by fear, it isn’t even our fear we are feeling; it is the trembling cowardice of Satan being reflected into our minds. He knows he cannot defeat a follower of Jesus who is walking in the power of God. It is all too obvious to the devil that he is about to suffer yet another crushing defeat. It infuriates him to lose, so he is in panic mode; he is scared to death that you will stay focused on Christ and obediently follow Jesus.

The key to victory, the key to overcoming fear is to realize from where that fear is originating. Don’t let Satan put the stench of his own fear onto you. Don’t be deceived into believing the lies of the enemy. He tells you that you are not strong enough for the battle ahead. Jesus tells us that in our weakness, through Him, we will be made strong. Satan will tell you that you are too young, too old, too uneducated or too damaged. Jesus tells us that we are the exact person for the job, we are His unique and beautiful creation; He has equipped us perfectly for the task ahead. As followers of Jesus we have access to the power of God. This same power has already repeatedly defeated Satan. The devil cannot win, and he knows it. His only hope is to deceive us into believing that his fear is our own. He is a liar, and we must call him on it. We must obey and follow Jesus; doing so makes us very dangerous indeed to Satan and all of his plans. This is why he is so frightened of us. Don’t be deceived, don’t buy into his lies. Instead, walk in the truth and in the strength of the power of Jesus. Surrender everything to Christ and follow Him anywhere, at any cost; we have nothing to fear, because we have Jesus. Move forward with courage and strength; don’t be paralyzed by someone else’s fear. Reject the lies of Satan, engage in the battle and watch the Kingdom advance as a result of your obedience. Satan fears an obedient disciple of Jesus more than anything else, so follow Jesus; doing so will cause you to become Satan’s worst nightmare!

Living as a Sacrifice

by

Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. – Romans 12:1-2 (HCSB)

In our modern western culture, it is becoming increasingly easy to get distracted by all that surrounds us. Advertisements bombard us at every turn – radio, the internet, television, billboards, etc. We have countless opportunities to engage in activities or to purchase more “stuff” that do nothing to reflect God’s glory.

We are instructed to be “living sacrifices”. How much do any of us truly sacrifice? The vast majority of those in the West have quite enough “stuff”, probably many times over enough! How about surrendering our personal selfishness and greed and instead invest our time and money in things and people that will further the kingdom?

To be a living sacrifice we must learn to devote every second of our lives to God. Whatever we do, we must first make it pass through the “Jesus filter”. It works something like this: before, for example, saying something, test your words with a series of questions: “Will what I’m about to say encourage the person to whom I am speaking? Will it honor God? Will it point others to Christ? Will it demonstrate that we are different?” Before purchasing something, we might ask questions like these: “Will this purchase honor God? Is it something that furthers His kingdom? Does it demonstrate good stewardship of the money He has entrusted us to manage?”

There are many more questions we could ask ourselves, but I’m certain you get the point. I can hear the howls of protest already: “Can’t we buy ANYTHING for ourselves? Can’t we just engage in some mindless conversation or watch some television to just ‘zone out’ and relax?” We think we need these things to be happy, but we miss the point. When we are totally submitted to Christ, presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice, we will be filled with a joy and happiness unlike we have ever known! We were created for this very thing; there is no comfort like that of being what you were created to be.

Presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice is not easy, particularly when we first endeavor to do so. We must retrain our minds and bodies to think and act only for God. We must give up all of the so-called treasures of our culture, all those things we’re constantly told that we need, and instead focus solely on Christ. As we sacrifice what we once considered “all” for Him, we will discover that we now have everything through Christ.

Lord, forgive my wandering heart; forgive my lack of commitment in living sacrificially for You. Renew my spirit; renew my mind and my body that I may give them all back to You as a sacrifice of praise. Thank You for Your unending patience and love.