Even If i Walk Alone

...this i choose to do.

freewill

The Myth of the Sinner’s Prayer

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I grew up in churches where an invitation was given at the end of every service. As part of the invitation, people were invited to receive Christ and were led through “the sinner’s prayer”. This prayer was holy and awesome. It was the key to the Kingdom of God, after all. While as kids you might have messed around throughout the service, you didn’t dare misbehave at this point.

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Variations of the same prayer have been around for a couple of hundred years and it persists to this day, although it’s use and invitations, in general, are far less common in churches today, especially those of the mega variety. There’s nothing wrong with saying this prayer. It’s one way to confess your need for Jesus. The problem is it’s not Biblical and it’s not enough.

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Deep and Wide

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Evan Esar once said, “You can’t do anything about the length of your life. But you can do something about its width and depth.” I like that. None of us know how many days we have remaining. It’s not our call. But what we do with each of those days is within our hands. Every day we choose to pass the time or impact it. In and of itself, there is nothing remarkable about a long life. At best, it’s interesting. But a life lived well is something truly remarkable.

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I want to live a life rich in width and depth. The length doesn’t matter so much to me.  Like Paul, I can say if I live, I’ll live for Christ, but if I die, I’ll be with Him (Philippians 1:21). I have a lot to look forward to. Delaying that sweet reward isn’t exactly in my best interest.

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Get Over It

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A.W. Tozer wrote, “In today’s society, great numbers of people seem unable to deal with God’s revelation in Christ. They run and hide, just as Adam and Eve did. Today, however, they do not hide behind trees but behind such things as philosophy and reason and even theology.” I have seen too much of this and it makes me sick. People hiding beyond their church, association, or denomination anger me. We debate trivial topics instead of being about the mission given us By Jesus.

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Oh, we love to pontificate. We love to make our theological positions known and every one of us is convinced they are correct. I don’t care who is correct about non-essential matters. I only want to make certain I get the essentials right.

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Doing the Work

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In Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 10, Paul tells us we have each been created to do the specific work God designed us to do. Have you ever paused to think how amazing this is? Each person in history, in every country, and in every time, has been born with a God-ordained purpose for their lives. When each of us fulfills our purpose, it becomes part of the greater whole. It’s another brick in the massive Kingdom of God.

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When we fail to do the work He designed us to do, there is something missing. There’s a gap which must be filled. It’s an awesome responsibility. I can’t believe the privilege of doing work God designed me to do. How amazing is that? We must never forget the magnitude of the honor, or the obligation to fulfill it.

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The Life You Were Meant to Live

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People are always looking to find out what God’s will is for their life. We’ve covered this in several posts before (see these posts), and the inevitable next question is, “What do I do to live out His will in my life?”. We confuse vocation with God’s will. His will is for you to look like His Son. Walk like Jesus walked, talk like Jesus talked, and love like Jesus loved; this is God’s will for your life.

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No matter what you do, if you want to be living the life you were meant to live, you’ve got to become wholly devoted to God. There are no shortcuts or quick fixes. Until you are ready to give everything over to God, you will never fulfill your potential.

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