| As I was praying and preparing to enter the blog for today God kept laying upon my heart a song by the group Avalon.....In not of it. The question I continued to pray was , "How can we tell where we stand in this world? How can we tell if we are in this world but not of it?" The more I kept praying these questions the more God was showing me in how we can truly distinguish if we are in this world and of this world OR if we are in this world but not of it. The first thing I was shown was that of how the people that are in and of this world are. Those who have this trait are those who loose all faith in God. When things don't go the way they want it to, instead of trying to do what God wants and letting God handle all of the issues, they pull away from Him. They place their trust in the things and people of this world. When it comes to those who are in but not of this world, they tend to laugh at,ridicule, make fun of, and sometimes judge or sarcastically talk to or about others to other people. Instead of them letting God handle their issues and trying to be what God wants us to be, they fall right into the way the world "thinks and acts". In contrast when it comes to those who are in this world but not of it, they tend to see good in all situations....even in the bad. When things get tough, they may go through a short time of being in the world but then they are reminded that God will take care of things. They keep the faith and belief in all things while over looking all the criticism which they are receiving. They see how things truly are suppose to be according to God. They accept all things and people for who or what they are. Judgement is not an option for they know that God will handle that. They try to be as Christ instructed for the Disciples in the book of John: John 17: 15- My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16- They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
Being a child of God and one in which He has appointed as one of His workers upon this earth is a testing and trying. When you are doing God's appointed works but you have opposition it shows that you are in this world but not of it. My question to you is this for today : You have accepted to be one of God's children and you are facing struggles and problems as the one's who are in and of this world combat against what you are doing for God; whether it be spreading His word and love or being the miracle worker (and yes they do exist) He chose you as, are you going to allow the people in and of this world take over and cause you to turn away from God and all His love for you OR are you going to fight the good fight to the very end when He will look at you and say,"Job well done my good and faithful servant." I believe I would much rather choose the last choice for I don't want to fall into the ways of the world. Remember if you are interested in the book there is a link on the main page of this website and for information to contact me to your church,school, group, or organization,that info is on the front of this page as well. God Bless and Keep you all- Marla
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