It’s true, we really do not know what a day may bring, let alone a year (Proverbs 27:1). For me, 2024 resulted in the loss of five family members–an aunt, three cousins, and last, my 3rd eldest sister. Some deaths we anticipated were soon to happen; others came unexpectedly, without warning. Regardless of when and how they occurred, these loved ones are gone, and I must venture into 2025 without them.
What God says in His word about people, life and death, and eternal matters resonated in my thoughts. Loved ones will one day cease to be because life is limited and death is sure. We must make a decision about where we will spend our eternity.
Jesus Christ assures us that God is the only eternal One, who will never grow tired or weak, cease to be, or stop loving us. He is the only One we should have complete confidence in as we journey into 2025. He is the only sure thing that will never change.
When loss does occur, we must make changes, adopt new mindsets, and follow new protocols or ways of doing things; my sister was the one who drove me to all events. The publishing of my book has halted, so the process is pushed back. I haven’t looked at the manuscript since November. It’s okay because I needed to be sad, grieve, and think about my sister. Lord willing (I now say), I will resume in January, because I did not know 2024 would end in such a way. We can, however, acknowledge the Lord’s sovereignty, continue with our plans, and move forward confidently if we’ve made the Lord our refuge and secured our eternity.
So, with that said, here are two brief excerpts from my upcoming book, each from a different chapter.
Excerpt:
“We learn how Joseph worked as a carpenter to care for his wife and family. Jesus was their eldest child, but they had more children. Mark 6:3 (also in Matthew), tells us that Jesus had four younger brothers and at least two sisters. The sisters’ names have been preserved, but the brothers were called James (in the Hebrew, Jacob), Joses (in the Hebrew, Joseph, after his father), Simon, and Judas or Juda (also known as Jude)…”
And, later…
“Eventually, my eldest sisters followed mom and continued hosting the home and community bible clubs. My oldest sister, Chris, put the best spin on it to me by incorporating a puppet show in the clubs. She did shows at home and eventually began using a friend’s church building to host them. The children came and loved it. It had a significant impact on them! Of course, my sisters distributed goodie treats and juice each week, and there were Bible contests and games with prizes. So, it was my mother who instilled in us a love for God and His word, a compassion for children, and the importance of inviting others to receive Jesus Christ into their lives.”
We see here that Jesus too had siblings and understood the whole family dynamic; He felt the same love for His loved ones as we do for ours.
I am the master builder of your home in heaven, and I am the Creator of everything on earth. This is not your home, my beloved warrior; your true citizenship is in heaven. While you’re on the battlefield fighting for souls to be saved, I am preparing a paradise for you. The Place I am preparing for you will have no more death, heartache, pain, or war. But for now, my chosen one, I need you to fight the good fight of your faith with your whole heart, soul, and mind, knowing that this spiritual war will soon be over and eternal rewards await you.
Love, Your King who reigns in heaven and earth
Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.” – John 18:36 (NLT)
A Prayer for Kingdom
I pray for you, my sister princess, to receive a touch from heaven today… that our Father in heaven will remove the blinders from your eyes and you will experience an eternal view of the amazing things to come. May you find peace in knowing that the troubles of this world will soon be over, and the joys to come will be everlasting. I pray that thoughts of eternity inspire you to share God’s love everywhere you go and increase the citizenship of heaven. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. – 1 Peter 2:11 (NLT)
Last month, we looked at Jesus’ words to the disciples in John 15:18-21, where He said,
“If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you do not belong to the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you. Remember what I told you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed my word, they will obey yours too. But they will do all these things to you on account of my name because they do not know the one who sent me.”
We concluded how:
Sometimes Jesus’ statements are hard to grasp or accept.
Jesus equates those who have accepted Him with Himself.
Jesus suggests a mind shift to now seeing ourselves as not a part of this world, although we live here.
This “spirit of the world” opposes the Spirit of God. It does not know God or accept Jesus Christ’s ways, teachings, or message. It hates God and His Son, Jesus.
We too will experience hatred and opposition as His disciples. We should expect this and not seek any comradery with or acceptance by the world.
In continuing this discourse about “not being of the world,” in John 17, we find Jesus this time talking to His Father, God about it. He prays in verses 13-19,
“But now I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world, so they may experience my joy completed in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but that you keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to the world just as I do not belong to the world. Set them apart in the truth; your word is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I set myself apart on their behalf, so that they too may be truly set apart.”
Jesus knows He is about to physically leave them. He confirms with God how the disciples: (1) now belong to Him because they accepted His truthful words; (2) were sent out to proclaim His word, and they went; and (3) they no longer belong with the world but are now with and for Him and God. On this basis then, Jesus asks the Father: not to take them out of the world; to set them apart from the world (or distinguish them) by the truth; and to protect and keep them from the evil one or evil spirit that runs the world. Again, Jesus equates the disciples with Himself, “[Father] they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.” God sent Jesus; Jesus sends us. The preservation Jesus asks for is about a distinction Christians should have and a work for which they were chosen–to proclaim God’s kingdom and Jesus’ message of being Savior of the world. They needed divine power, protection, and sanctifying grace for this.
So, Jesus commits them to the custody and care of God. But it’s not just for them. He continues in vss. 20-23,
“I am not praying only on their behalf, but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their testimony, that they will all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray that they will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me. The glory you gave to me I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are one–I in them and you in me–that they may be completely one, so that the world will know that you sent me, and you have loved them just as you have loved me.”
That’s us, folks! 😊 One day, we heard or read the disciples’ testimony about Jesus Christ in the Bible, or someone told us; we believed and accepted it. So, we too, are called out of the world and sent into it with a specific message to share. We unite with other believers to testify of God’s love and show forth Jesus’ oneness with God. Others will also believe and glorify God as we proclaim Jesus’ message in the world. For such, we’re in it, but not of it.
Author and Pastor Ray Stedman agrees about not being a part of the world. He writes on his Ray Stedman Daily Devotion website a devotion titled, “The Way of Health” at https://www.raystedman.org/daily-devotions/nehemiah/the-way-of-health, “We must never forget that we are in the world but not of it. We are never to settle down here for good. I love the way C. S. Lewis has put it: ‘Our kind heavenly Father has provided many wonderful inns for us along our journey, but he takes special care to see that we never mistake any of them for home.’ We are pilgrims and strangers, passing through this world. We are involved in it, deeply sometimes, but we are never to see ourselves as a part of it.”
May we receive the grace to understand and accept this truth from Jesus while still here. May we unite as never before as the early church did–sharing the message of the Gospel of Christ, keeping the unity of the faith, and staying close together.
Doesn’t Jesus, at times, say things in the Gospel writings that make you scratch your head and say, “What?” One of those verses for me is found in John 15:18-21, where he’s telling His disciples,
“If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you do not belong to the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you. Remember what I told you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed my word, they will obey yours too. But they will do all these things to you on account of my name because they do not know the one who sent me.”
Holy Bible. John 15:18-21
I imagine the disciples grimly glancing at one another thinking, “Is Rabbi losing it? Do not belong to the world? Chose us out of the world? Jesus, we’re standing right here in your midst, in this place? What are you talking about?” This is a valid thought because I too questioned Jesus’ words here until I dug deeper into the context of the text.
Unbeknownst to the disciples, Jesus was preparing them for his departure and the culmination of the crises he was about to endure. In other words, events for Jesus and they were about to “hit the fan.” The Matthew Henry Commentary (1706) confirms this by stating, “It is generally agreed that Christ’s discourse in this and the next chapter was at the close of the last supper, the night in which he was betrayed, and it is a continued discourse, not interrupted as that in the foregoing chapter was; and what he chooses to discourse of is very pertinent to the present sad occasion of a farewell sermon.”
The word “world” used here is a Greek word, kosmos. Walter Elwell (1997) explains that “The biblical concept of the world falls into five categories: the physical world, the human world, the moral world, the temporal world, and the coming world. Most scholars agree that here, “world” refers to “the Moral World, [which] includes people indifferent or hostile to God, the God-hostile environment generally, and in the widest sense, corruption and evil summed up under the general term “the world… If the people of the world can be spoken of as “the world” in a neutral sense, “the world” can also refer to the subclass of indifferent and hostile people who reject God and his ways… Because of the world’s hostility to God, it is full of corruption (2 Peter 1:4 ) and stands as a symbol of corruption. One cannot be friendly with the evil world and love God at the same time (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17 ).”
Additionally, Thayer and Smith (n.d.) in The KJV New Testament Greek Lexicon explain kosmos as, “denoting an apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution, order, government; the inhabitants of the earth, men, the human family; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and therefore hostile to the cause of Christ… world affairs, the aggregate of things earthly… the whole circle of earthly goods, endowments, riches, advantages, pleasures, etc., which although hollow and frail and fleeting, stir desire, seduce from God and are obstacles to the cause of Christ.” It goes on to suggest how kosmos “is probably from the base komizo (kom-id’-zo), a verb meaning, to care for, take care of, provide for; to take up or carry away in order to care for and preserve; to carry, bear, bring to, to carry away for one’s self, to carry off what is one’s own, to bring back.” These definitions suggest how the order, arrangement, affairs, world systems, ways of governing or establishing ownership, and its people who are indifferent and hostile to God constitute the world Jesus has called us out of. When thinking further on His saying of being “not of the world,” understand the word “of” expresses the relationship between a part and a whole. The prepositional phrase “of the world” then clearly shows us the view Christ wants us to have regarding our living here on earth–in the sense of operating in its way, toward its agenda, we are no longer a part. The role Christians who follow Christ now play in the world in relationship to the whole, in fact, should be quite unique, different, and odd or foreign as we show forth God.
Interestingly, Jesus equates the disciples with Himself and the hatred they would experience because of their association with Him. They needed to shift their thinking from seeing themselves, not as comrades with the world but as opponents to it. Jesus did not regard them from a worldly point of view (2 Cor. 5:16-17). Isn’t that great! John Gill’s Exposition on the Bible (n.d.) confirms how, “After our Lord had signified how much he loved his disciples and what great things he had done for them; he faithfully acquaints them with the world’s hatred of them, and what they must expect to meet with from that quarter, and says many things to fortify their minds against it…” So, you see, this disassociation with the world has everything to do with our (now) following Jesus. Just as they hated Him, He exhorts, they will hate them. Is this happening today in Christ’s Church, or are we “in” with the world and being treated well? Stop complaining about how they’re treating you on the job; there’s something in your spirit that bothers them. Don’t worry about not being invited to join the lunchtime group; your conversation doesn’t blend in with theirs. Rejoice, Jesus says here. Isn’t that counterintuitive to the world? I wonder how many of those kids and young adults are Christians, who are providing interviews about the bullying and rejection they’re experiencing on social media or at school; they may not even recognize it’s because of Jesus in them.
Gill explains this further, saying, “If ye were of the world,” the text says, meaning, “Belong[ing] to the world, were of the same spirit and principles with it, and pursued the same practices. But because ye are not of the world, once they were, being born into it, brought up in it, had their conversation among the men of it, were themselves men of carnal, worldly, principles and practices; but being called by Christ, and becoming his disciples, they were no more of it; and as he was not of the world, so they were not of it, though they were in it. Jesus goes on to say, but I have chosen you out of the world: which designs not the eternal election of them, but the separation of them from the rest of the world in the effectual calling, and the designation of them to his work and service. Therefore the world hateth you, and since it was upon that account, they had no reason to be uneasy, but rather to rejoice; seeing this was evidence of their not belonging to the world, and of being chosen and called by Christ out of it.”
We will conclude here and continue this discussion next month, as it is a lot to digest and meditate upon. Surely, this is one of Jesus’s controversial sayings that some may have never heard taught. Many may find it difficult to accept and live by because it goes directly to the core of the state of affairs of the world we live in. It clearly shows there should not be an expectation of comradery with it or acceptance Christians should seek from it because it is opposed to God; we should expect hatred and trouble to come for what we believe and preach. This means we must scrutinize things in our world and be discerning of people and philosophies to see if they align with God’s nature or point of view. We shouldn’t just jump in and join social, political, or cultural marches, movements, or protests. We can’t always agree with and support organizations that promote a way of life that is contrary to God’s way. Finally, these scriptures settle, for me, how because of my acceptance of Christ in my life, He no longer sees me from a worldly perspective. Jesus sees me up there as seated right with Him in the heavenly realm. If He sees me in this way, He treats me in this way. So, too, should we view and treat our fellow believers. Wow!
Be blessed until next time. 🙂
References
Elwell, Walter A. (1997). Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. “Entry for ‘World.'”
In my upcoming book, I tell the story of how I met Jesus Christ, Savior of the World. It was the best day of my life. I’ll never forget it. It was as real as real can get.
Back and forth to church, it was for me, starting in my mother’s womb, they told me. At age 7 or 8, I recall those walks to church. Not only did I travel to church each week, but my home was a place where the Bible was always taught. My mother held community Bible clubs there with children in the neighborhood, which my siblings continued. So, from a baby–at home, in church, Sunday School, or VBS, I heard many stories about God and His Son, Jesus Christ.
As I grew into my teens, I followed my brother Ron a lot, one place being a small Pentecostal church near our home. The pastor and his wife were very kind and loving people, and the church was filled with lots of younger people. We sang, played instruments, taught the Bible, served, and freely worshipped God without inhibition. We also had fun together at church outings—picnics, roller skating, swimming, sporting activities, etc.
Each year, there were two well-known (to us) brothers from New York who would come speak at our church. They were awesome teachers and preachers who always seemed to easily bring in God’s spirit as they spoke. It’s like God was backing them up. We enjoyed hearing them and always felt uplifted and encouraged by their sermons. The brother who was coming this particular Sunday taught and preached on a high level. He expounded on the scripture academically and with emphatic diction. His voice was strong and fiery as he preached. Excitement and anticipation were in the air, as preparations were made. The church would be packed, with no available seats. I was looking forward to hearing His message. “What verse of scripture would he come from? What life occurrence would he relate it to? I hope it’s something I need to hear. Would he preach so powerfully that God’s Spirit would fall on us like a mighty rushing wind, as He did on the day of Pentecost, where we all would dance together in praise to God?” I liked this Pentecostal fervor; it’s what I was anticipating. Unbeknownst to me, however, it wouldn’t be the preacher who would astound me that day.
Sitting in my pew, the minister did not disappoint me as he preached fervently. But, there was something different this time. As he was concluding the sermon, he began to talk about Jesus Christ. He explained who He was and all He had done for us by dying on the cross for our sins. He told us how we needed a personal relationship with Jesus. I was no longer enamored by his teaching charisma, but by his message. It was the same message I had heard many times in the Bible clubs. The difference this time, however, was what was going on inside my heart. The message had grasped my attention and intrigued me so much so, I leaned forward in my seat. It’s as if the congregation was no longer there; he was talking directly and only to me. I became serious. My heart began churning inside. I clearly understood what he was saying. Suddenly, clearly, softly, and gently, I heard, “This is for you.” It was clear; Jesus Christ wanted to come into my heart. Christ’s quiet words were so compelling that when the minister asked the congregation to come to the altar to receive Christ, I had no hesitation. I jumped to my feet, walked to the front, and accepted Jesus Christ into my heart as my Lord and Savior. After what I shared with you about my upbringing, one would think that I already knew Christ. Right? Nope. Obviously, I didn’t, because that day at church, as I heard the message of Jesus Christ, He personally tugged at my heart to let me know I needed Him. Surely, I could have argued with the Spirit of God about how my family had already told me about You. I didn’t. I knew this was my call. I had to believe that I needed Jesus. I did recognize my need, and I asked Him to come into my heart. And, I felt a difference too.
I’m 60 years old now, and that day is still vivid in my mind and brings me joy. In fact, as I’m writing about it, I had to stop, get up, and dance around my house while listening to Cece Winans’ song No Greater from the Believe It Album. 😊 That’s the impact Jesus Christ has on you–year after year, through all your ups and downs and good and bad days.
So, no matter…
Who you are,
What you’ve done,
When you did it,
Where you’ve been, or
Why others have rejected or mistreated you…
GOD loves and wants you, my friend! John 3:16-17 declares, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, [Jesus Christ] so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” What is eternal life, you may ask? John 17:3 tells us, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” Wow! The God of the Universe wantsus to know who He is, and His Son He sent to save us.
Do you feel a tap on your heart right now? Don’t be afraid. Yep, it’s God; He wants you. Allow me to pray with you to receive Christ, just as that minister did with me over 45 years ago. Email me a message at eparks03@verizon.net. You’ll never regret receiving Jesus because you’ll discover how deep His love goes, and there’s none greater.
Inspiration by Ellie 