In the World, not of It

In the World, not of It
By Shirley Mitchell

"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. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth."
John 17:15-17

On Jesus' last night as a man on earth, He prayed fervently for His disciples and for all who would believe in Him through their message. He did not pray for us to be taken from the world to a safe place. Instead, He prayed for the Father's protection for us from the evil one. He prayed for us to not be of the world, just like He was not of it.

We are not to blend in with the world. Part of our identity in Christ is to be peculiar. We are not to participate in the gossip at our workplace. I remember when my friend Paige was a teenager. In regard to her stand against the peer pressure to watch certain movies, she said, "How can I possibly watch that movie and serve God?"

We must guard our minds against the world. We are to be in the world but not of the world. We can't silo ourselves from the world. Remember our God "so loved the WORLD that He gave His only Son" to it. He loves these people so we must love them, too. He hates the sin. He hates cultures where lawlessness abounds, violence invades, and immorality proliferates. If we don't guard ourselves, we will become just like them. The world will lure us and ensnare us.

I will never forget the first time I realized how many of the world's lies that I had bought. In my years of drifting far from God, I had bought everything that the world had to sell. My clothing, my lifestyle, my activities, and my attitudes toward relationships were all the world's opinions. When I learned I was pregnant with my first daughter, I returned to God realizing my desperate need for Him and longing to raise my child to know Him. I stopped watching all TV because I was barely surviving each day. My daughter kept me up all night with feedings, and I worked outside the home. However, I had been feeding on the Word of God, listening to every Christian preacher on the radio as I drove, participating in Bible study (not doing my homework completely but getting there!), and listening attentively to my preacher at church. After my daughter was about eight months old, I finally had settled into the mom role. Then I watched my favorite TV program, the number one show of that day. Within the first five minutes of the show, the Holy Spirit inside of me was grieved. I looked at the clothes the girls wore. I saw their callous attitudes toward sex. I was so saddened that I stood up, pointed my finger at the TV set, and said aloud, "That's a LIE!" I shook as I realized I had bought their entire way of life. I was very upset that I had been deceived to think they were so cute and so hip. I had bought into their beliefs that this was how a woman was to live.

This moment changed me. Now, I assess whatever I put in front of me. You and I must be alert to what we watch on television, listen to on the radio, read in magazines, and surf on the internet. We should ask ourselves, "Is this beneficial for me? Will this please God? Where will this lead me? Will this build me up and make me whom I desire to be in Christ? Can I share this with my Bible study friends?"

Beloved, can you describe a time when you blended in with the world or made a choice to be "peculiar?" Are you living like Jesus commanded us to live "in" the world and not "of" the world? I ask for both of us to allow the Holy Spirit access to even the most restricted places of our hearts and minds so He can reveal to us the areas of our lives where we need to make choices that clearly show we are not blended in but "peculiar" people who are set apart for God.

Pray with me: Oh, God, You are our God! We worship You and exalt Your Name. You are magnificent. You are the sweetest thing that we have ever known. Give us, Lord, the passion we need to be in the world but not of the world. Strengthen us. Make us courageous and unyielding to temptation. May we protect our eyes from the worldly things that we see. Make we cover our ears from ungodly things that we might hear. It's in the Name above all names, in Jesus' Name, Yeshua's Name, I pray. Amen.

Excerpt from the Jesus Lives Bible study
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