Pray for Israel

 Jerusalem is mentioned in the Bible 811 times, with Babylon being the next most mentioned city 287 times. Jerusalem appears in about 2/3 of the books of the old and almost 1/2 of the books of the New testament.

"Jerusalem is the city at the center. It is the center of mankind's hopes and God's purposes. God loves it, Satan hates it, Jesus wept over it, the holy Spirit descended in it, the nations are drawn to it, and Christ will return and reign in it. Indeed the destiny of the world is tied to the future of Jerusalem."

Randall Price

In The World, Not Of the World

 Jesus told us, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” Matthew 10:16

This verse has come to mean a great deal to me as I attempt to live a Christian life in these times. We need wisdom to live in the world but not of the world. Many people believe wisdom means speaking and acting in conformity or agreement with a larger group. This wisdom of the crowd, is called “Groupthink.” It is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when a group of people living or working in close proximity, reaches a consensus without critical reasoning or evaluation of the consequences or alternatives. Groupthink is based on a common desire not to upset the balance of a group of people.

Humans are funny creatures aren't we? With our faith in Christ and our church groups we have the power to rise above Groupthink, in order to act in the ways that Christ has directed. This is certainly not always easy. I used Google to find the verse that I find so helpful about living in the world but not being of the world. Do you know what I discovered? Ten Bible verses about us being not of this world! (see list below)

Our true home is not in this sinful world it is in Heaven. There are bad things in this world and there will be suffering, but believers can be assured that there is a glorious Kingdom that awaits us in Heaven. Do not love the things of the world and be conformed to it. The things that unbelievers live for are temporary and it is only temporary.

Live for Christ. Stop trying to fit in. Don’t act how people of this world act, but be an emulator of Christ and spread the gospel as he directed us to in Matthew 28:18-20 “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

As Christians, we are in the world, but not of the world:

 John 17:14-16 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.

 1 Peter 2:11-12 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

John 15:19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

1 John 4:5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.

1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

James 4:4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

1 John 2:15-17 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. 

Philippians 3:20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

The Word of God

 I can not remember where I found this quote. I wrote it down and forgot to include the source. I believe that the World of God is vitally important to our daily lives, no matter how busy we get. I want to place this on the forefront of my mind, and I want to share this with Sisters.

"The word of God will produce spiritual growth in your life. When you don't read it, you become stagnant in your spiritual walk with the Lord. We all live in a toxic world. Toxicity isn't limited to the physical realm. We live in a spiritually toxic world. The word of God is like spiritual dialysis. God's word will protect you from Satan. Get into the word of God."

Social Pain

 I recently became aware of the term Social Pain in a couple different places: Psychology Today, HealthLine, and in the book, Where Do We Go From Here by David Jeremiah. Neuroscientists in Italy have discovered that “social pain” activates the same brain regions as physical pain. The researchers also found that witnessing the social pain of another person activated a similar physical pain response of empathy in most test subjects.

The COVID 19 pandemic exacerbated the problem, taking people from the workplace and schools and forcing them to live in isolation. However, Dr. Jeremiah says that the root cause of disconnection is spiritual in nature, and I whole-heartedly agree. When we are disconnected from God, we don't have the love, peace, joy, kindness or patience to show others. He says we become isolated in our self-centeredness.

Our society is suffering from social pain which involves painful emotions caused by situations involving other people, such as feeling rejected, devalued, alone, ostracized, abandoned or disconnected. Satan surely has a hand in this and we can combat it through prayer, Bible Reading and staying in touch with others. Making a phone call, sending a note or a card of encouragement to someone going through a rough time is a tangible way to combat Social Pain and extend our love to others.

"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

Fellowship

 I'm currently reading Where Do We Go From Here by David Jeremiah. In it, Jeremiah speaks about he word fellowship in Ephesians 5:11. It is translated from the Greek word sunkoinoneo. The last part of the word means fellowship, but the prefix sun, is the Greek word for with. It means participating with someone in doing something. This verse tells us that once we become a child of the light, we can not longer participate with those who are doing the works of darkness.

It doesn't mean we reject those people, or stop loving them, or cut them from our lives. It means we no longer participate with them in things that are unworthy of our walk with Christ. We are still in the world, but we are no longer of the world.

That is a really difficult place to be isn't it? In the world but not of the world.  We still love some people, we continue to have them in our lives, but we have to watch what we do with them. It's like a fence we straddle in this world. Jesus said, "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves. Matt. 10:16. It's not always easy to stay on the fence, we lean to one side or another from time to time. Sometimes we fall off. Okay, many times we fall off, and when we do the are wolves waiting for us!

`Ephesians 5:8-12

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.