Even If i Walk Alone

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

works

Following Jesus Is Hard

by

Let me state the obvious: following Jesus is hard. If you think following Jesus is easy, my bet is you aren’t following Him in the manner His Word prescribes. It’s easy to say you follow Jesus. It’s even easy to place your faith in Him. None of that requires anything on your part, and you can take it back whenever that decision becomes inconvenient.

following Jesus is hard,commitment,discipleship,discipline,salvation,surrender,works

The difficult work comes in living for Christ every waking moment of your life. As people born into sin, we all have an innate and outsized portion of selfishness that dominates our motives and desires (Romans 7:18). Keeping that alone in check often takes what feels like a Herculean effort. There’s nothing easy about living a holy life, so there’s nothing easy about following Jesus.

[Read more…] about Following Jesus Is Hard

A High Bar

by

One recent afternoon, I was conversing with a close friend of mine who is not a follower of Christ. I would peg him as agnostic, but he is a thoughtful and intelligent man, so while he disagrees with my faith, we can have civil and rational discussions about it. In the conversation, he surprised me with a comment that was both blunt and telling. He said his problem with Christianity was the forgiveness issue.

high bar,salvation,commitment,discipleship,eternal life,lordship,works

He said he could never sacrifice his own son, and his feeling is that instead of forgiving mankind, God should raise the bar and demand more from us. I thought he was going to say he struggled with forgiveness so couldn’t conceive of God forgiving us, but he went another direction. He considers a high bar a better solution than a merciful gift.

[Read more…] about A High Bar

Don’t Go Incognito

by

Wherever you go in life, don’t go incognito. You should never disguise the reason for your hope or the light burning inside you (1 Peter 3:14-15). Our purpose in life is to know and glorify God (John 17:3), so we have a responsibility to be His ambassadors in a world that doesn’t recognize Him (2 Corinthians 5:20). How will people hear about Christ if we won’t be bold and speak the name of Jesus everywhere we go (Romans 10:14)?

don't go incognito,salvation,surrender,works,be bold,boldness,commitment,discipleship,ambassadors,evangelism

The world at large will never darken the doors of a church, so we can’t rely on professional teachers to get the job done on their own. We are all called to be salt and light in this world (Matthew 5:13-16). That responsibility is not for a chosen few, but for the entire body of Christ.

[Read more…] about Don’t Go Incognito

Are You Worthy?

by

Following Jesus is simple, but also a feat of incredible difficulty. Our sin nature is ferocious, relentless, and refuses to shrink back without a fight. In our humanity, failure is all but inevitable. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, we would never stand a chance. So, a spoiler alert, the answer to the question of, “Are you worthy?” is a resounding “no”. At least not in our own strength or by our own devices.

are you worthy,discipleship,commitment,surrender,salvation,grace,mercy,works

God’s grace is not only the most beautiful and wonderful thing you will ever experience, it is also the necessary ingredient for any of us to be found worthy in His eyes. Praise God for His mercy and sacrifice (Ephesians 2:8-9). Praise Jesus for His atoning blood (1 John 2:2). Without them, we are all lost and without hope (Romans 3:23-24).

[Read more…] about Are You Worthy?

What You Deserve

by

Are you getting what you deserve from life? It’s easy to see life as being unfair and from a human perspective, that’s true. When I was young, my mother even told me that life is not fair, so never expect it to be so. If life isn’t fair, then how can you get what you deserve? That question drives many to operate outside the law, or at least in questionable or unethical ways.

what you deserve,commitment,discipleship,devotion,faith,grace,mercy,salvation,humility,works,service,worship

With advertising serving an unrelenting barrage of messages encouraging us to purchase their product because we deserve it, it only feeds our obsession. But what is the reality of what any of us deserve? As with all things, we must start with the Word of God when looking for answers to any of life’s questions. When we start there, we find the only thing any of us deserves is Hell (Romans 6:23; Matthew 25:46).

[Read more…] about What You Deserve