Luke 6:45-46 – Jesus said: “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?”
I’ve heard it said in church that Christians are to be in the world, but not of the world. What exactly does that mean? God calls us to follow Him and get involved with our society to bring “Salt & Light” to the godless darkness of our secular culture, but at the same time to be set apart from and not take part in the voluptuous hedonism of today. We get this well-known statement (in the world, but not of the world) from a paraphrase of the words of Jesus in His “High Priestly prayer” found in the gospel of John, chapter 17, (take a minute to open your Bible and read this wonderful chapter). The secular humanist thinks of everyone as being the same ... evolved over time, top of the food-chain, moral relativist that just cease to exist when life is over. Secular, meaning, "living in the world, not belonging to a religious order, "worldly”, "of an age, occurring once in an age, span of time, or generation - “of this world" (see cosmos). Secularism is "doctrine that morality should be based on the relative well-being of man in the present life, without regard to religious belief or a hereafter.
There are truly two races of Humans on this Planet Earth: Believers and Non-Believers. Self-serving, self-indulging, individualism operates in self-righteous pride and is blind to the works and ways of God. Those that make themselves the Idol that we worship, forget that to turn to any Idol is to turn away from God. Even though the world leaves God, stand firm in the faith. God is not only necessary, God is enough. We need to lose our Earth-bound mentality, turning from our idols, and begin serving and depending on God. Like a glass, our lives can only be filled from above – a higher source. Grace & mercy flow downward from “on high”. The world will tell you otherwise. Beware of covetousness because it is tempting. Don’t live a life ‘keeping up with the Jones’. Life is not about acquiring things. Read Matthew 13:7 & 22 / Matthew 6:25&31-34 / Luke 12:19-20 – I heard it said that today is the tomorrow that we worried about yesterday. But, yesterday is just a canceled check. Tomorrow is a promissory note. Today has all the cash you can handle. Spend it wisely. I like this saying, that we buy things that we don’t need, with money that we don’t have, to impress people that we don’t care about. So, are we just desiring and buying what others say that we need? By definition, that which is temporal is not eternal. Don’t waste your time or your life chasing the wind. Life is not about what you have, but about who you are with what you have and what you do with what you have. Your money and possession will not be at your bedside when you take your last breathe and meet the Lord face to face. When it comes to the end, He who dies with the most toys ... is dead; but where will they spend eternity?
I’ve heard it said in church that Christians are to be in the world, but not of the world. What exactly does that mean? God calls us to follow Him and get involved with our society to bring “Salt & Light” to the godless darkness of our secular culture, but at the same time to be set apart from and not take part in the voluptuous hedonism of today. We get this well-known statement (in the world, but not of the world) from a paraphrase of the words of Jesus in His “High Priestly prayer” found in the gospel of John, chapter 17, (take a minute to open your Bible and read this wonderful chapter). The secular humanist thinks of everyone as being the same ... evolved over time, top of the food-chain, moral relativist that just cease to exist when life is over. Secular, meaning, "living in the world, not belonging to a religious order, "worldly”, "of an age, occurring once in an age, span of time, or generation - “of this world" (see cosmos). Secularism is "doctrine that morality should be based on the relative well-being of man in the present life, without regard to religious belief or a hereafter.
There are truly two races of Humans on this Planet Earth: Believers and Non-Believers. Self-serving, self-indulging, individualism operates in self-righteous pride and is blind to the works and ways of God. Those that make themselves the Idol that we worship, forget that to turn to any Idol is to turn away from God. Even though the world leaves God, stand firm in the faith. God is not only necessary, God is enough. We need to lose our Earth-bound mentality, turning from our idols, and begin serving and depending on God. Like a glass, our lives can only be filled from above – a higher source. Grace & mercy flow downward from “on high”. The world will tell you otherwise. Beware of covetousness because it is tempting. Don’t live a life ‘keeping up with the Jones’. Life is not about acquiring things. Read Matthew 13:7 & 22 / Matthew 6:25&31-34 / Luke 12:19-20 – I heard it said that today is the tomorrow that we worried about yesterday. But, yesterday is just a canceled check. Tomorrow is a promissory note. Today has all the cash you can handle. Spend it wisely. I like this saying, that we buy things that we don’t need, with money that we don’t have, to impress people that we don’t care about. So, are we just desiring and buying what others say that we need? By definition, that which is temporal is not eternal. Don’t waste your time or your life chasing the wind. Life is not about what you have, but about who you are with what you have and what you do with what you have. Your money and possession will not be at your bedside when you take your last breathe and meet the Lord face to face. When it comes to the end, He who dies with the most toys ... is dead; but where will they spend eternity?
It is not our abilities that shows what we truly are, but our choices. The sign of spiritual maturity is not the spiritual gifts we have, but the fruit that we bear. Have you heard that Character is defined as who and what we are when we are all alone? When there is nobody to impress, nobody to judge us, nobody to influence, how do we act and think? To say that character doesn’t count means that God doesn’t count. Life is not only about the experiences of life, but about improving inwardly through spiritual growth, gaining of godly knowledge and wisdom from the love of Christ that flows in & out to glorify God and make a difference in the world. We progress from information to inspiration to transformation, and a life transformed to the abundant life in Christ is our goal (in self and society). The indwelling Holy Spirit is constantly shaping us (like a Potter shapes clay – Jeremiah 18), while removing the flaws & impurities, improving and maturing us into the likeness of Christ.
Experience living the Christian life by spending more time walking close to God and seeking His direction. A personal relationship with your Creator/Redeemer and fellowship with your Lord, who calls you “friend”, is the greatest possession we can have and hold. Do what is “right in the eyes of the Lord”, because it is the right thing to do. Then your relationships with loved ones, friends and neighbors will be balanced and fruitful, centered in unconditional love, Idol free and to the glory of God Almighty!
Ephesians 4:17-19 “So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the (secular) Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more."
Praise be to God and our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ! Amen
In Christ, Brian
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