Even If i Walk Alone

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

surrender

The Mary Test

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In a recent message looking at the birth story of Jesus, my pastor posed an interesting question: “Could you pass the Mary test?” When the angel of the Lord appeared to Mary, most scholars think she was between twelve and fifteen years of age. Even in the current era of moral decline, that’s very early for a young woman to consider being pregnant.

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Can you imagine the fear she must have felt at the prospect of being a mother when she was barely in her teens? I don’t think Mary was naïve. I believe at that moment she fully understood the weight of what was being asked of her. And yet, look at the beautiful response of Mary in Luke 1:38. She said, “I am the Lord’s slave. May it be done to me according to your word.”

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Trust and Obey

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It’s impossible to get away from John 14:15. Jesus says if we love Him, we will obey His commands. We’ll live as He told us to live. Otherwise, we risk hearing the Words He warns us about in Matthew 7:21-23, where He sends away those who professed Him but never actually knew Him. They didn’t know Him because they didn’t love him.

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We know they didn’t love Him because they lived their lives the way they wanted to, rather than obeying the commands of Christ. How close are we to suffering a similar fate? Readers of this blog are by and large professing followers of Christ. But do we really love Him? Are we proving it by obeying His commands?

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Glory in Shame

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Reading through the third chapter of Philippians, I came across a phrase that stopped me in my tracks. Paul writes, “their glory is in their shame” (Philippians 3:18-20). I thought about how much this is true of society today, and how much this has been true in my life. We tend to take pride in things God hates. What you achieve or gain on earth does not impress the Lord. You’ll earn no extra points in Heaven because of your mental, physical, or emotional conquests. The only thing impressive to our King is how much we love and obey Him.

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If we’re going to glory in anything, it should be in our devotion to Christ. Yet, when talking with friends and family, how much of our conversation centers on what we are learning from the Lord? How much time do you spend detailing your obedience and surrender to God and your willingness to die for Him? We glory in what is shameful and ignore what is glorious.

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Focus

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As we go through life accumulating stuff and accolades, we would do well to heed the words of the Apostle Paul. He said everything he had gained in this world was garbage. Whatever things he had acquired or prestige he received, none of it counted for anything (Philippians 3:7-8). I dare say we’ve not accomplished anything close to what Paul accomplished in his life.

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But while we cling to our possessions and honors, Paul dismissed his. He did so because he knew nothing compared to the eternal love and beauty of Jesus. Paul understood what it meant to devote one’s life to Christ. Jesus was not an interesting diversion for Paul. Jesus was his life. Can we claim such singleness of purpose and focus in our lives?

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Devoted to Christ

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There is a word in the Bible that causes much controversy these days because of its modern English connotation. The word is “slave” and depending on what translation you read may also be translated as servant or bondservant. Given the tensions of our day, the term servant is more palatable than the word slave, but we must recognize when the Bible uses the word, it often does not mean the same thing as it does to us today. For example, in Philippians 1:1, Paul refers to himself and Timothy as slaves of Christ.

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This is not to be construed as anything negative, but as something to which we should all aspire. The Greek word for slaves here is δοῦλος (douloi), which means “pertaining to a state of being completely controlled by someone or something”1Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 471). New York: United Bible Societies.).. Given that definition, I definitely want to be a slave to Jesus. I want my life to be devoted to Christ.

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    Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 471). New York: United Bible Societies.).