Crosswalk.com--The Devotional

[Judy Harder]

Joy, Joy, Joy
by Ryan Duncan, Entertainment Editor, Crosswalk.com

But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. – Psalm 5:11

I am a pessimist, just ask anybody I know. For me, the cup will always be half empty and whatever's in the cup will probably be backwash. So you can imagine the concept of joy has always been rather hard for me. The Bible, particularly the book of Psalms, is constantly telling Christians to have joy. Reading about joy is easy; putting it into practice is a lot harder.   

How are we supposed to have joy when our cars break down, when bills pile up, when bad days just get progressively worse? For me, it's almost insulting for someone to tell me things like, "count your blessings" or, "things could have been worse" when I'm in the middle of cleaning up a crisis. I've often wondered if this makes me a bad Christian. Over time, I did realize my attitude could certainly use some work, but I also learned that our idea of joy has become somewhat skewed.                       

Take a look at these verses from the book of John,

I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. John 16:20-22

A pastor of mine once told me being joyful is not necessarily the same thing as being happy. We live in a fallen world, and odds are, we are going to have tough times over the years. So when the bad times come it doesn't mean we have to dance around and be happy about it, you just have to remember that these moments won't last forever. The bad things in our life cannot become what define us, instead, we have to trust God and remember the grace he has shown us. He will help us endure and won't abandon us to sorrow or despair. So take a moment, whatever your situation, to be joyful. No matter how bad things get, God is with us.   

Intersecting Faith and Life

Take moment to pray and search your Bible for scripture that applies to your life. 

Further Reading

Psalm 132

[Judy Harder]

Prayer at the Pump?
by Katherine Britton

"And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name..." (Matthew 6:7-9)

We know God cares about something as small as a sparrow, because he says so. But does he care about the price of gasoline?

My husband couldn't help stirring the pot during a recent youth group discussion, and pulled out a news story on a subject. Down in Dublin, Georgia, one pastor is leading his congregation in literal prayers at pump once a month, where they ask the Lord to drop the price by at least $1.50. And they pray for prayer at the pump to spread across the state.

The pastor of Beacon of Light Christian Center, Marshall Mabry, says, "I don't understand how anybody can say God doesn't have anything to do with gas sprices. God has everything to with the country.... Prayer is always my foundation, and I can always go back to God in prayer."

Do you agree? The kids in our youth group found themselves first agreeing, then questioning, then agreeing, and so on for the whole discussion. The idea of praying at the pump generates some fundamental questions, such as: Why do we pray? What good is prayer? If God knows what we need, why ask? What should we pray about?

I'm certainly not going to try answering all those questions in the span of one devotional, but I will point back to the ultimate model for our prayers: Christ's example in the Lord's Prayer. Let's consider just a couple things embedded in that prayer:

God wants us to pray. That's why Jesus bothered to provide us with a model for how we should go about it. We're told to pray even though God already knows what we need. That means he is not bothered by our prayers, but wants our attention and our trust.

Only one line in the prayer is about stuff. As a man, Jesus required the same necessities we do, but "give us our daily bread" is all he says about food, shelter, and clothing. He asks for just enough to sustain him day to day, and then moves on. Why? Because he knew that God always finds a way to provide, even if it's in unexpected ways.

We're praying to "Our Father." We don't pray to a sovereign deity who deigns to give us good weather if we offer the right words and rituals. Instead, Christ's directive indicates that we pray to a Father who loves and cares for us – and desires a relationship with us. That relationship status automatically directs our prayers beyond our wants and needs.

Intersecting Faith & Life: You've probably heard the acronym "ACTS" used as a prayer guide – Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. Notice how the bit in which we ask for our needs comes at the very end, after we've spent time admiring who God is in light of who we are and what he's done for us. It's a lot harder to stay focused on those truths than we realize. This week, try using ACTS as a reminder. And most importantly, get praying!

[Judy Harder]

Altar-Call Christians?
by Debbie Holloway, Crosswalk.com Family Editor

Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching" (John 14:23-24).

I've watched a lot of altar-calls in my day. The church in which I grew up routinely had altar-calls at the end of Sunday morning services. "If you've never asked Jesus into your heart, and you want to now, raise your hand. Come to the front. Pray this prayer..." Granted, not every church and every denomination does the whole altar-call thing. But it's a pretty recognizable event in the land of "Christianese."

And it's not baseless. After all, Paul wrote to the Romans:

"if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9).

And,

"For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  As the Scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame'" (Romans 10-11).

But I wonder sometimes if we grasp those verses a little too tightly, and forget about the kind of life that Jesus was calling us to live. Are we living like Christians – like those "belonging to Christ" or "members of Christ's household" – or are we simply living like people who prayed the Sinner's Prayer that one time?

Take a look at a few of these verses:

"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'  But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person" (Matthew 5:38-39).

"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23).

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on" (Matthew 6:25).

"Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God" (John 3:20-21).

Jesus said those things. Jesus said to follow him. To give, make peace, feed the poor, and endlessly love.

Intersecting Faith and Life: Ask yourself... Are you walking in the footsteps of Jesus? Are you walking in the light? Or are you just someone who said the Sinner's Prayer one time, long ago?

Further Reading

John 14

[Judy Harder]

Altar-Call Christians?
by Debbie Holloway, Crosswalk.com Family Editor

Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching" (John 14:23-24).

I've watched a lot of altar-calls in my day. The church in which I grew up routinely had altar-calls at the end of Sunday morning services. "If you've never asked Jesus into your heart, and you want to now, raise your hand. Come to the front. Pray this prayer..." Granted, not every church and every denomination does the whole altar-call thing. But it's a pretty recognizable event in the land of "Christianese."

And it's not baseless. After all, Paul wrote to the Romans:

"if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9).

And,

"For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  As the Scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame'" (Romans 10-11).

But I wonder sometimes if we grasp those verses a little too tightly, and forget about the kind of life that Jesus was calling us to live. Are we living like Christians – like those "belonging to Christ" or "members of Christ's household" – or are we simply living like people who prayed the Sinner's Prayer that one time?

Take a look at a few of these verses:

"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'  But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person" (Matthew 5:38-39).

"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23).

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on" (Matthew 6:25).

"Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God" (John 3:20-21).

Jesus said those things. Jesus said to follow him. To give, make peace, feed the poor, and endlessly love.

Intersecting Faith and Life: Ask yourself... Are you walking in the footsteps of Jesus? Are you walking in the light? Or are you just someone who said the Sinner's Prayer one time, long ago?

Further Reading

John 14

[Judy Harder]

When You're in Your Darkest Hour
by Laura MacCorkle

Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith...
1 Peter 5:8-9a, NIV

I had trouble sleeping last night. Perhaps you can relate.

As we get older, we have more responsibilities in our lives which can lead to more thoughts in our minds which can lead to more anxiety which can lead to restless bodies which can lead to sleepless nights. Whew.

Well, my mind was chock full of these "thoughts" last night. Thoughts about situations and potential situations. Thoughts about family members. Thoughts about friends. Thoughts about friends who could be more than friends. Thoughts about upcoming events. Thoughts about inadequacies.

After some tossing and turning and watching the clock hit "the darkest hour," I eventually sat up and turned on the light on my bedside table. God, why am I having these anxious thoughts? Should I be praying for these people and these situations? Or did I just eat too closely to my bedtime again? How do you want me to respond? Are you speaking to me or is it the Häagen-Dazs?

After I extricated myself from a bed-sheet cocoon, I reached underneath my stack of books and pulled out my journal. Now, I'm not a disciplined journaler, so I just write down my thoughts whenever the Spirit leads me (which in my case is really code for "whenever I remember to"). But last night, I really did feel led to write out my concerns and my cries as I sought the Lord.

Now that my supplications and confessions are recorded, I can look back on these late-night scribblings and understand more clearly my own thought processes and distortions of reality. I can see what is vying for attention with my God and causing me to rely on my own understanding and not his.   

You might be struggling with this right now, too. Your life is focused on something. On one thing. A job. A relationship. A tragedy. A dream. A child. An illness. A financial matter. Whatever. You are trying to make something happen. You are trying to prevent something from happening. And all of your energy is directed toward this "thing." You feel hopeless and have taken your eyes off of the Lord.

My friend, that's the perfect recipe for a darkest hour-whether during a sleepless night or a restless day. It's an opportunity for the Enemy to get in and fill your mind with doubt. He is the Father of Lies and loves to torment us and mess with our minds in any way that he can.

But, thankfully, we know these things to be true: "... Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning" (Psalm 30:5); "Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man" (Psalm 112:4); "Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Let us cling to Truth. Let us cry out to the Father. For he will shine his light in the darkest hour.

Intersecting Faith & Life: Whether on your bedside table, in your car's glove box or on the desk in your office, keep a pocket-sized Bible, a small devotional book or Scripture cards at the ready. This will be a visual reminder to you to keep your eyes (and your thoughts) on Truth whenever you are in your darkest hour.

Further Reading

How to Have a Steadfast Hope in a Shaky World
Overcome Insecurity

[Judy Harder]

The King's Table
by Ryan Duncan, Entertainment Editor, Crosswalk.com

In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. – John 14:2

One of my favorite Bible stories is the meeting between David and Mephibosheth. The story begins a few years after David has finally become King of Israel. Before this, his life had been an endless string of running, fighting, and hiding, as he was mercilessly pursed by Saul, who wanted nothing more than David's head on a spike. Now Saul was dead, and David would have been perfectly justified in dishing up some well-deserved payback on the royal family. Instead, he does something completely different.

David reaches out to Saul's last living grandson, a poor cripple named Mephibosheth. Despite being Saul's grandson, Mephibosheth's life hadn't been that great. His legs had been broken as a baby, both his parents were dead, and he was living alone in exile. When he heard David was coming, Mephiboseth probably assumed that was it for him. Just imagine his surprise at what followed,                         

"Don't be afraid," David said to him, "for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table." Mephibosheth bowed down and said, "What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?" Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, "I have given your master's grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master's grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table." (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.) Then Ziba said to the king, "Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do." So Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons. Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica, and all the members of Ziba's household were servants of Mephibosheth. And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king's table, and he was crippled in both feet. – 2 Samuel 9:7-13

The Bible says that David was a man after God's own heart, and I think here we can see why. The story of David's compassion to Mephibosheth is in some ways a foreshadowing to God's compassion for all of us. We are all the broken children of Adam and Eve, people who turned their backs on God. Yet instead of abandoning us, God has made a place for us at his table. He has brought us out of exile and taken us home.         

Intersecting Faith and Life: Whatever trials you may be facing, always remember that you have a place at God's table.

Further Reading

Luke 6:37-38

[Judy Harder]

Only One Way to Achieve Patience
by Shawn McEvoy, Crosswalk.com Managing Editor

The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.
Ecclesiastes 7:8, NIV

Our senior pastor came into the room for a pre-arranged talk with all of us high school senior guys. He wanted to share something with us as we moved off into the next phases of our lives.

Out of all the applications and biblical wisdom at his disposal, what one topic was on his heart? What advice did he wish to impart above all?

He began by asking us to envision where we'd be in five, 10, 25 years. I'm just now coming up on that 25th year; I'm amazed at how differently some things have turned out, and how similar to my goals other things are. But that's not the point.

Our pastor next told us that the one thing we ought to pursue more than any other was... not holiness, not righteousness, not prayer... but patience. "Boys, raise your hand if you want to be a man of patience."

Okay, sure. Sounds good. Patience, yeah, that could be helpful to me. Hand up.

"Great. I'll tell you what, boys, can I pray with you now? But be aware, only agree with me in this prayer if you mean it, if you really want patience. Because do you know what it takes to develop patience? Problems. Only problems - and the way you react to them and trust God through them - can develop patience. Do you understand? So that's what I'm going to ask God for right now, that He'll bring you all problems. Are you ready?"

Sure. Why not?

Oh boy. Looking back, the last quarter century hasn't been hell on earth by any stretch, but its sure been full of its share of problems. As of this writing, I've got one that's forcing me to wait... and wait... and wait for an answer. I feel shamed when I go through a study about Abraham and how long he waited and waited for God to fulfill a direct promise, because I can't imagine waiting any longer than I already have. The only reason I continue to do so is because of the patience and wisdom I've built up having passed through earlier problems and trials, the outcomes of which inform me to keep waiting.

What's the moral here? Be careful what you pray for? Hmmm... maybe... but I think I prefer the lesson in today's verse, that patience (trusting God's way and waiting on His promise) is better than pride (my idea of the best way). To me, it's really eye-opening to think of those two concepts - patience and pride - as the opposites of each other. But that's exactly how this verse sets them up. It suggests patience is akin to humility, and pride the brother of instant gratification. And I guess that makes sense. But why is patience better? Especially in this day and age when so much is there for the taking? When the respected thing to do is reach out and go for it? What had my pastor so convinced that doing the opposite was the most important lesson to send young men out into the world?

Honestly I haven't completely figured that out yet. Appropriately, it's something I'm willing to be patient to gain the wisdom of. But I suspect it has something to do with that pesky old verse from James:

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4).

Only problems can bring patience; only trials can test faith and make it real. Only endurance can lead to completion.

And when I am complete, I will lack nothing. At which time I apparently will have superceded even patience, as what would there be to wait for if I lack nothing?

It sounds almost mystical, almost unachievable, at least until the end of my life or when I meet God. Until then, I simply pray that the experience of each problem and the eventual result will steel me into calm, patient submission to God's perfect timing.

Intersecting Faith & Life: Are you willing to pray a problem into your life? Why or why not? 

Further Reading

Afraid God Will Give You Patience?
The Temporary Non-Path of Patience

[Judy Harder]

Potholes
Anna Kuta, ReligionToday.com Editor

"As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you." Joshua 1:5b

I was driving home late the other night, rolling down the winding, two-lane country road I've been down so many thousands of times I could probably drive it in my sleep. I had the radio turned up and one hand on the wheel, and then — CLUNK! Before I knew what was happening, my front right tire thudded through a gigantic pothole that came out of nowhere. The whole car jolted and I just knew a noise like that had to have done some damage.

"Oh, please don't let me have a flat tire," I said out loud. Cringing, I pulled over at the next road and worked up the courage to get out and look ... and to my surprise, my tire was still intact. I stared at it for a few minutes, waiting until I was sufficiently assured that it wasn't going to deflate in front of my eyes, and then I breathed a sigh of relief and continued my drive, albeit a good bit slower and more cautious this time.

Isn't life just like that? You're going along smoothly, and all of a sudden something turns your world upside down. A loved one gets a cancer diagnosis. You lose your job. Your best friend moves halfway across the country. Someone dies too young. You're making your way down the road just fine and then you crash into a pothole that almost derails you. We all know the feeling all too well.

I was having one of those weeks where every single thing seemed to be going wrong, and then I heard a sermon illustration that stuck with me. It was the story of a gravel lane leading to a farm and a huge pothole that appeared after a rainstorm. Before anyone had a chance to fill it in, though, a bird laid her eggs in the pothole. She hatched her chicks there and stayed with them until they left the nest. All the locals warned their families and friends to avoid the pothole, and everyone drove slowly by to see for themselves the little birds thriving in a place that no one would expect.

How often do we look at the potholes in our lives and curse them? Yet, from a rocky, ugly place, little birds sang and took flight.

God did not promise that our Christian walk would be easy, but he did promise he would never leave us. His presence, His love and His peace are the only things that can fill in the holes in our lives. He smoothes out the roughest of roads with His strength and comfort. And above all, He grants us grace sufficient to make it through whatever may come. The Lord will never leave our side.

If not for the pothole on that gravel farm lane, the travelers would never have been able to witness a small miracle taking place there. If not for the pothole on my drive home the other night, I probably wouldn't have slowed down and I might have had an even worse encounter around the next bend – with a herd of deer in the middle of the road.

In the midst of a week where I thought my world might crash down, I cried out to God to help me through, and it was only when I had nothing left to rely on but Him that I felt His presence more clearly than I had in a long time – and it was exactly what my heart had been yearning for. "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you," as James 4:8 says. Only God can fill our potholes, and he fills them with Himself. May we never miss the little blessings hidden along a bumpy road.

Intersecting Faith and Life

When you hit a pothole, pray for God to give you strength and remind you of His presence. Seek a closer relationship with Him and remember that He is your refuge and strength.

Further Reading

Deuteronomy 31:5-6

Psalm 46:1

Psalm 55:22

Psalm 73:23-24

Isaiah 43:2

[Judy Harder]

The Day I Rolled Down the Window
by John UpChurch, Senior Editor, BibleStudyTools.com

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."  1 John 4:18

The guy had no teeth on top. Sadly, I noticed that first. His cigarette dangled between gum and lip.

While my wife jogged into Walgreens, this guy passed up dozens of other open spaces to squeeze his red coupe between our Prius and a truck that stuck slightly over the white line. He glanced over at us for only a moment before his window stuttered down and a mud-and-oil stained mitt poked out of the window to wave at my daughters in the backseat.

I confess. I didn't exactly feel neighborly.

And then the guy began speaking and pointing to our car. I couldn't hear a word through the glass, but that didn't stop him from mumbling around his cigarette, which was probably 80% ash. Smiling from the silliness of it, I zipped the passenger-side window down and wondered what would compel him to speak to a complete stranger in a parking lot.

Gas mileage. Seriously.

This random guy in the parking lot of Walgreens wanted to compare gas mileage. At least, that's what opened the door for conversation. From there, I learned what he did (shoeing horses), found out how his work had hurt his back (bulging disk), saw a picture of his prized new jackdaw (I had no clue either), and realized how much you can love a guy with no upper teeth.

He was real. He had no pretensions, no conceit, no desire to be anything more than he was. You got the raw, muddy man. And, sadly, I would never have spoken to the guy on my own if he hadn't put his huge hand and ashy cigarette out the window. Sadly, I didn't want to get messy.

But, really, love is all about the uncomfortable mess—just as God revealed in my life. To Him, I once looked much worse than toothless, much dirtier than mud-covered. But Jesus didn't care. He saw something through all that muck He loved. And am I ever glad He did.

Intersecting Faith and Life: Love means getting close to people who are nothing like us. God may put people there for us to reach out to that don't fit our ideal image of people we want to be around. They could reek of smoke, have few teeth, or even champion political views we don't like. It's enough to make us squirm.

But there's one key here that we cannot forget: He loves them. Jesus touched the diseased, dirty, and destitute. He wasn't afraid of engaging with the unpopular and scandalous. Instead, He specifically sought out those that no one else would. His grace knew no social barrier.

We can't let being uncomfortable prevent us from sharing that love.

For Further Reading

1 John 4

James 2

[Judy Harder]

Strangers in a Strange Land
Anna Kuta, ReligionToday.com Editor

"If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you" (John 15:18-19).

Last fall, I took a road trip with some friends to watch our college football team, the Richmond Spiders, take on in-state rival James Madison University. Our team was 3 and 1 at that point in the season, and our only loss had come from a nailbiter the week before, so we were pretty confident as we set out that morning. It was a gorgeous day for football and we'd managed to get some of the very last tickets before the game sold out, so we were quite proud of ourselves and excited for what seemed like it would be an extremely successful trip.

However, it wasn't long before things started going downhill. We took a wrong turn and ended up circling the entire town of Harrisonburg twice. An hour and a half later, we finally got to the stadium gates just as the game started, but as we started climbing the bleachers to our seats, we began to realize we were the only ones in sight wearing Richmond red and blue. Turns out our tickets we were so proud of were not in the Richmond fan section, as we thought, but the reject seats on the complete opposite corner of the field. We felt like the enemy as we took our seats smack in the middle of a sea of yellow and purple, but that wasn't going to deter us from still cheering on a victory.

When Richmond made a touchdown right away for the game's first points, things seemed to be looking great (besides the dirty looks we got). Unfortunately, that was as good as it got. We didn't score again for the rest of the game. JMU piled on touchdown, touchdown, field goal, touchdown ... and with each point my friends and I sat a little more dejectedly in our seats. Someone threw yellow streamers and paper airplanes at us, and then it started pouring rain. It finally ended and we left the stadium soaking wet and miserable. But the ordeal wasn't quite over yet. We started walking back to our car, got heckled, decided against walking in the rain among hecklers, got on a shuttle, and proceeded to get heckled for the next half hour we were stuck in traffic. When we finally got back to the car, all we could do was grumble a little bit and shake our heads.

We can laugh about that disaster of a day now, but it certainly wasn't very funny at the time. Maybe you've had a similar experience at a sporting event, or you can identify with the same feeling of being unwelcome in a different situation. Have you ever faced similar hostility for your faith? Even though you and I might never experience anything close to the extreme suffering that many believers around the world face, we all have times when we feel out of place or downright vilified because of our faith.

As Christians, we are "strangers and aliens" in a world of unbelievers, as Peter says in 1 Peter 2:11. The older I get, the more keenly aware I am that I don't think like them, that I don't have the same desires, motivations and passions. The more I grow in my faith, the more different I feel from many people I come in contact with, and the more open I am about my faith, the more that difference becomes tangible. We are called to be set apart, yet we are in the world for a reason: to share Jesus. It's often not received with open arms, but it's what we are commanded to do as followers of Christ.

Like Jesus says in John 15:18, it's not always going to be easy. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own, He says. But when we accept Christ and enter into a relationship with Him, He chooses us out of the world. Like my friends and I felt when we were surrounded by fans of an opposing team, so we as Christians will never feel "at home" in this world. Yes, we'll face opposition, but Jesus Himself said it's a badge of the Christian faith and a sign that we belong to Him. In answering His call to reject worldly conformity, we can truly make an impact by being an example for Jesus.

Intersecting Faith & Life: It's not easy living a life of Jesus' high calling, and the way we're treated by the world can be plain discouraging at times. Pray for God to help you desire to be more like Him and to give you strength to stand up against opposition.

Further Reading

1 Peter 2:11-12

Romans 12:2

John 17