In This World, Not Of It

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

One thing that has constantly been pressing on my heart since Faith Camp, and forever really, is the title of this blog post. "Living in this world and not of it" is one of the hardest things on earth to accomplish, right next to martyrdom and plucking your eyes out for the gospel. The Bible verse that best describes this is, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2

It is almost like asking a sponge, completely submerged in water, to not get wet. It is IMPOSSIBLE... without God. Alyse will fail every single time if she tries, Alyse with God's help will not. Do not be conformed to this world! Do not sell into what the world tells you is good and acceptable and perfect! Only by following what God's will is, is when we find the goodness that he has for us. If you take one minute and watch television, or read a magazine, or listen to secular music, one minute and you will find that the world is full of lies. Every single day we are fed the lie that you need x,y, and z to be happy. You need clothes, cars, electronics, a snazzy house, and money to be find fulfillment. If only you get the right job that lets you "make a mark on society" and gives you a good, steady income, then you have found goodness in life. This is so contrary to what God says! God says, "Sell all that you have, give alms to the poor, and go and proclaim the gospel", that is what GOD says. The media says, "Buy this, do that, act like this, work here, serve yourself and you will be happy." And after a long day of listening to that being fed to you from every direction, you are supposed to not be conformed to this world? The answer is yes. It is so hard! How do we do it? Good news guys, scripture tells us how!

"But be transformed by the renewing of your mind". That's how! After being a sponge in a glass of water, that's not supposed to get wet, we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds. That way, we may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. "The one who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." Revelations 21:5. God makes us new, God renews us!

If it were up to me, and every day I had to try and renew myself I would fail. After a warm bath, comfort food, and calming music, I would be no better off than before. But if I turn to God and say, "I am tired, and weary, and sick of the lies that I am being fed. I need You to renew me." He will. He never thinks twice about it, He always says, "Yes. Done, you are new, I make all things new, because I love you!" To be transformed means "to make a thorough, or dramatic change in form, appearance, or character". If we let God make us new, and if we are transformed by that renewal, then we will find what is good and acceptable and perfect!

God has really been challenging me with this lately, and that is why I am sharing it with you. This is a discovery to me, and it shows me how much God has our backs. So much of how to live a Christian life is in scripture. I could search forever on how to live in this world and not of it, and could fail to find it, but if I flip to Romans in the Bible it is sitting right there in front of my face. This challenge is presented to us, but we aren't left with this huge and difficult thing to struggle aimlessly with forever. We are presented with the way to live it out! God is constantly showing us how to have the best life. Because, lets face it, if we live what this world has for us we end up no where. We end up in sin, and "the wages of sin is death" Romans 6:23. God is constantly stretching out His hand for us, all that we have to do is hold onto it with all that we have. All it takes is everything :) .

Peace and love in Christ,

Alyse