Alone

<<unaccompanied, by yourself>>

There is a difference between being alone (on one’s own) and being lonely which can happen even in a crowd.

Jesus often went away on His own to commune with God, and returned equipped and ready for the challenges that faced Him, including the cross (Mt 26:36-47; Mk 1:35; Lk 5:16). It is crucial to have a devotional quiet time away from the hustle and bustle of life, when God can speak to us through

Thank you Jesus. You are with me always and in every challenge I face

Bible reading as well as us praying to Him. Most of our individual direction and decisions result from such times alone, where we can process our thinking and feeling without the clamour of the demands of life. It is in these times when we don’t have to impress anyone about our spirituality and we are bluntly honest with God that He does some of His greatest work in our lives. When we return to the public arena of life, we have something genuine and life impacting to share. People will realise we have “been with Jesus” (Act 4:13).

Regardless of how helpful people are in support and empathy, our battles are ultimately fought on our own – between God, Satan and us. The concern and assistance of others can help us resist but in the final analysis, the choice is down to us; will we yield to God or the enemy of our souls? We will individually face God alone to answer for our lives. Yes, we need to connect with others, giving and receiving input about how we live our lives, but don’t be afraid of solitude. Our security and worth should not be dependent on the closeness and accolades of other people but upon God’s approval.

When we are not aware of the 'felt' presence of Jesus, it can be because of sin in our lives; this needs repenting of. Another reason that we don’t sense Jesus with us is that He desires us to grow – so we will stop walking by 'conscious' sight and learn to walk by faith (2 Cor 5:7). Jesus said He will never leave us alone as the Holy Spirit resides within all true believers (Mt 28:20; Jn 14:16,17; 1 Cor 6:19; Heb 13:5).

Salvation through Christ alone

Jesus is the way to eternal life (Jn 14:6; Act 4:12). All other routes, although promising that destination are false decptive paths that end in eternal damnation. It is vital to ensure you are on the right path.

Jesus is the only way to heaven

A key difference between biblical Christianity and most cults and various religious groups is that to be saved we are not required to do any extra works. The Bible is clear, "It is by grace you are saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast" (Eph 2:8,9). We are saved when we acknowledge we are sinners, turn from our sins and accept Jesus by faith believing He took the penalty for our sin (Rom 10:9,10). We are saved by trusting in Jesus alone, we can't earn salvation, its all been done – it is a gift of God's grace which we must accept (Rom 11:6). Our salvation does not depend on additional things we must do, such as being baptised, paying tithes or a variety of man made rules. Traditionally the Roman Catholic church inluded receiving mass or going to confession as other necessary requirements. The Reformation and the resulting Potestant faith was because such beliefs were considered contrary to Scripture

Numerous other verses teach salvation is through faith alone (eg. Act 16:31; Rom 3:28, 4:5, 5:1; Gal 2:16, 3:24; Phil 3:9). So while works are not required for salvation a saving faith will result in good works (Jas 2:17,18). Such outward good actions will justify the believer in the sight of other people (Jas 2:24). Immediately after saying we are saved through faith, not works comes the statement, "We are created to do good works" (Eph 2:10). Salvation is by God's grace alone, and our good works are proof of it.