The World (In, Not Of)
4 Weeks Of Foundation • Day 27
Even though we are Christians that are IN this world, that does not mean we are OF this world. Our true home awaits in Heaven alongside Jesus. How awesome! In the world there is sin, suffering and many bad things that happen. In fact, maybe these things have been magnified to you in the past couple months. Well, I have good news for you: as Christian's we have the promise that there is a Pure, Holy and Perfect Kingdom that awaits us...and that place is Heaven. This is why it's so important not to be conformed to the things of the world, but instead to be transformed by the power and love of Christ. The things of the world are temporary and don't last forever, but the things of God last all of eternity! It's our job not to respond or act how the world would, but to be imitators of Christ and all that He is. Sometimes, because we live and are in the world, we can forget who God has called us to be. I want to remind you today that before you were even born, God set you apart. As you read these scriptures today, why don't you begin to ask the Holy Spirit how you can be renewed and transformed to imitate the love of Christ to the people around you today!
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Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
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