To live in this current world as a follower of Christ without courage doesn't really seem to suit our calling, our purpose, or the Christ we follow. It may in fact even pose a conflict...
The world that we live in may increasingly revile Christ and grow more threatening toward those who follow Him. But we who follow Him aren't called to follow the world, just the One who's already conquered it. Believing that He's all that He's said and done, why would we have any real fear about what happens in the world? After all, it's never out of the omnipotent hands that created it ... and our faith is in Him isn't it?
John 16:33 NLT "I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world."
Just my thoughts, but I think if we focus too much on the decay and cavitation of the world around us while we intend to follow Christ's leading, our focus can eventually become distracted. If we allow that to happen, we could potentially allow ourselves to become minimized as His body and His people and that's just what our enemy wants. If we allow one eye to focus on the world while trying to keep the other on Christ, we're not only potentially exposing ourselves to an invitation to the same compromising weakness and decay that the world suffers in insolent defiance, but to a potentially fearful existence - one that doesn't belong to a victorious Christ or those that He calls His own.
Matthew 10:28 NLT “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell."
I don't believe that we have anything real to fear from the world if we truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God. "The world" will come to a terrible end - we already know that. It's been foretold in scripture and will eventually come to be seen. Personally, I think it's very close. But if I truly believe Jesus and all that He's said, why would I fear the world or its' terrible, up to the minute, sensationalized news? The fact is that our story's already been written and while we're still waiting to get to the next chapter, we already know that it's good! No matter what we may be called to endure or what happens here in this moment, His eye is on us and our future's already been won for us. We can't allow our confidence in, or our identity as heirs of Christ with all that that powerfully means, to be lost because the earth shakes.
While chaos may be all around us in a world that we may find ourselves sadly shaking our heads at, we still have a job to do and that might take a little courage sometimes given the atmosphere of the world that surrounds us. That job's given to us by the same one that's secured our future and it involves in part learning to surrender our all to Christ - including our past, present and future, while learning to reflect His character to that same, sometimes hostile world. However hostile and messed up the world may become, our job will still be the same. And while we're learning to better fill that position, our past, present and future are always in the hands of the one that created the universe and everything in it. - the same one that gave us this very life in the first place.
I'm no better than any that belongs to Christ in my own eyes, so it's not in my heart to even think to attempt to talk down to anyone. But it is my desire to see those that belong to Jesus lifted up and succeed in their given assignments powerfully (how ever big or small they might seem to us, they're all important). We all face challenges. That's just part of the process that has the potential to lend toward our growing up spiritually. But how we respond to those challenges will always tend to declare the truth about where our faith is actually placed - and that can sometimes be personally revealing when we stop to think about it.
I'm not one given to wear my faith in a proclamation on a shirt or to sport jewelry or bumper stickers on my car that declare my faith. I have no condemnation to offer against brothers and sisters who do. I just personally tend to believe that it's part of my assignment to every day attempt to put on Christ as best I can with His help. For me, that's a daily challenge in the circle my life revolves in and it's a divinely designed exercise. I think it's much more attractive to those who don't know Him to see Him through me than it is to just see me alone wearing all of my many defects. True Jesus in action through any of us, is far more attractive than anything else I can imagine to those who're still living without Him. His spirit and character in action speak louder than anything I could ever hope to say alone...
Matthew 12:18-21 NLT 18 “Look at my Servant, whom I have chosen. He is my Beloved, who pleases me. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. 19 He will not fight or shout or raise his voice in public. 20 He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. Finally he will cause justice to be victorious. 21 And his name will be the hope of all the world.”
I don't believe that we have anything real to fear from the world if we truly believe in Jesus as the Son of God. If I truly believe Him and all that He's said, why would I fear the world or its' terrible news? No matter what happens in this moment, my future's already been won for me ... it's set, so I can have peace in the midst of any appearing tempest. Through Christ I am eternal and if you're in Christ, you're an eternal being too. For eternal beings, this ... IS just a moment.
Matthew 14:27 NLT "But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here! ”"
As He was then, ... He is ... He's here now.
Placing our faith securely in Christ Jesus, we have only to mind our focus, be steady ... and we can be at peace...
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