"Yes, O Lord, with you, but not to you. All my natural alienation from You, Your grace has effectually removed; and now, in fellowship with Yourself, I walk through this sinful world as a pilgrim in a foreign country. You are a stranger in your own world. Man forgets You, dishonors You, sets up new laws and alien customs, and knows You not. When your dear Son came unto His own, His own received Him not. He was in the world , and the world was made by Him, and the world did not recognize Him. There was never a foreigner who stood out from the inhabitants of any country as much as Your beloved Son among His mother's brethren. It is no marvel, then, if I who live the life of Jesus should be unknown and a stranger here below. Lord, I would not be a citizen where Jesus was an alien. His pierced hand has loosened the cords that once bound my soul to earth, and now I find myself a stranger in the land. My speech seems to these pagans among whom I dwell a strange tongue, my manners are singular, and my actions are outlandish. A prince would be more at home in the Ghetto than I could ever be in the haunts of sinners. But here is the sweetness of my circumstance: I am a stranger with you. You are my fellow-sufferer, my fellow pilgrim. Oh, what joy to wander in such blessed company! My heart burns within me on the journey when you speak to me, and though I am a traveler, I am far more blessed than those who sit on thrones, and far more at home than those who live in their comfortable homes."
This was such an encouragement to me as I think about how often through the world's eyes and standards, all seem weird and strange, as we live for the Lord's ultimate glory on earth, rather than our own. The scriptures state;
"If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you." (John 15:18-19).
Why? Because we are different... Or atleast we should be. If anyone of us is truly converted to Christ and He now is the Savior of our souls unto God, then there will be a change of thought, of life, of speech and of pursuits that are will be keeping inline with scripture.
If anyone calls themselves a believer yet fails to adopt an all out pursuit to bring glory and honor to the name of Christ and please Him in all we do, then one may be verily deceived in thinking they are something that the scriptures would declare they are not. We will begin to love the things that God loves and hate the things that God hates and will no longer be characterized as men and women who live lives and think thoughts that are in complete contradiction to the scriptures call of a true disciple of Jesus Christ.
As I read this devotion today I am reminded that this is not my home! This is not my final dwelling.... therefore, I must not get too comfortable here. I see so many confessing Christians today living this life as they were satisfied in calling this earth home. How sad to see so many loosing sight of what we were made for. Let me ask a question: If you knew you were only going to be coming to my house to stay for one night, would you bring all your possessions and unpack them as if you were going to make yourself comfortable for those 24 hours? Would you unpack your clothing into drawers and closets? Would you hang up some of your favorite art work and pictures? Would you go to the grocery store and fill up the fridge? No....of course not and why? Because this is not your home and because you are only here for just a little while. How is this world any different for the believer? Stop getting too comfortable, stop unpacking and settling down, stop with the thinking that you were made for this world. You are not! This is not our home....we are only here for such a short time...... we are merely passing through. We must stop with the complacent attitudes and lives consumed with making our stay enjoyable by the standards of this world and find our joy in living for Christ and His glory while we are in this world. Listen to this great quote from C.S Lewis;
"...it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum, because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday by the sea shore. We are far too easily pleased." -C.S. Lewis-
May we find our pleasure simply in taking up the banner of Christ and living for His glory here while we are simply passing through until the day we stand before Him in glory. God bless you all......
If anyone calls themselves a believer yet fails to adopt an all out pursuit to bring glory and honor to the name of Christ and please Him in all we do, then one may be verily deceived in thinking they are something that the scriptures would declare they are not. We will begin to love the things that God loves and hate the things that God hates and will no longer be characterized as men and women who live lives and think thoughts that are in complete contradiction to the scriptures call of a true disciple of Jesus Christ.
As I read this devotion today I am reminded that this is not my home! This is not my final dwelling.... therefore, I must not get too comfortable here. I see so many confessing Christians today living this life as they were satisfied in calling this earth home. How sad to see so many loosing sight of what we were made for. Let me ask a question: If you knew you were only going to be coming to my house to stay for one night, would you bring all your possessions and unpack them as if you were going to make yourself comfortable for those 24 hours? Would you unpack your clothing into drawers and closets? Would you hang up some of your favorite art work and pictures? Would you go to the grocery store and fill up the fridge? No....of course not and why? Because this is not your home and because you are only here for just a little while. How is this world any different for the believer? Stop getting too comfortable, stop unpacking and settling down, stop with the thinking that you were made for this world. You are not! This is not our home....we are only here for such a short time...... we are merely passing through. We must stop with the complacent attitudes and lives consumed with making our stay enjoyable by the standards of this world and find our joy in living for Christ and His glory while we are in this world. Listen to this great quote from C.S Lewis;
"...it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum, because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday by the sea shore. We are far too easily pleased." -C.S. Lewis-
May we find our pleasure simply in taking up the banner of Christ and living for His glory here while we are simply passing through until the day we stand before Him in glory. God bless you all......
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