We Don't Fit In
Praise the Lord for another day Sisters!
How are you faring against the wickedness of the evil one?
Are you setting your mind on Christ and what is set before us in eternal life or are you allowing yourself to be distracted by the world?
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:1-2
Being distracted could very well go along with being in sin you know. Revelation 22:14-15 say that if you love and practice a lie then you will be left outside the gates of heaven. Today we were standing out on a busy intersection where (we didn't fit in) the cars were lined up at a stop sign, holding gospel signs. (Jim's said 'Christ Mass is pagan' and mine said 'New Life in Christ') It was super cold, rainy and windy with it turning to sleet, but the Lord kept us warm enough to stand there and warn hundreds of people passing by. You can see the video we made HERE. Practicing this pagan day (which contains many lies) will leave you outside the gates which should strike an obedient fear in a person. One lie...check out Acts 5 and what happened to Ananias and Sapphira. God's grace covers the sins of repentant people, not those who practice them.
That brings us to the point that if we are truly repentant people, following after our Savior, then we won't fit in this world will we? We sure don't fit in as godly dressed or covered women. We don't fit in during the world's pagan festivities. We don't fit in when it comes to the entertainment or fleshly indulgences of the world. We don't fit in when we share the gospel or call people out of their sins. We don't fit in when we have to separate ourselves from others.
This is all a GOOD THING!
Because we then model after our Savior who said we wouldn't fit in.
John 15:18-27
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.
He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
That surely shows we won't fit in and I'm okay with that because we're not of this world now are we? When we were in the flesh, we were of the world but if we truly are a daughter of the most High, then we have been born from above and now belong in the kingdom of God. How glorious is that!
Mark 1:15-20
And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.
And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.
And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets.
And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.
If you haven't yet, drop your nets (that of the world which you hold close: friends, family, traditions, pride, vanity, self esteem, security, ungodly possessions, fleshly desires etc) and follow after the one, true, living God. It's all worth nothing compared to the kingdom of God. And now I insert one of my favorite verses (I'm sure some of you know just which one that is....)
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Philippians 3:7-8
What does dung mean?
The older you get in the Lord, the easier it is to walk through this wicked world because you become battle strong with your armor of God always being on by walking in the Spirit. I'm blessed and cursed because of my disgustingly wretched life before Christ. Cursed because I still, to this day, reap some of what I've sown but blessed because I can use some of those character traits which were sinful then, to glorify God today, in a right manner. It doesn't matter where you came from and who you were, God can and will use that to help you grow stronger sisters.
There are two ways to look at not fitting in.
#1. Oh I don't fit in, woe is me.
#2. Praise God I don't fit in and He will be removing me from this wicked world some day and I can be with Him for all of eternity. What can I do for this awesome God who shed His precious blood to redeem me, while I'm here????
God has His saints scattered and we see that nothing is new under the sun as ( Ecclesiastes 1) as it was the same back then at times.
Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries. Ezekiel 6:8
And this also, I love this...
And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?
And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 2 Kings 6:15-17
Yes, we are all scattered BUT we are not alone as the Lord has His people right where He wants them, doing right what He wants until He brings each of us home. What we see in Acts was the beginning...we are coming toward the end, in the falling away. That's why it's imperative we continue to press on lest we be left outside like the 5 virgins. They obviously were not taking it very seriously and God will not be mocked (Galatians 6) and punishment will be eternal in the everlasting fire with weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Let that spur us on to good works and to warn our neighbor of whom we are to love as ourselves. If we will press on in the things of God with an urgency and diligence, that we should also do in sharing the truth of God with others (whether it be verbal or in our obedient lives, however the Lord has us do it.)
We are thankful to be set up in our van, out from the cold, wet elements and trying to dry everything. It's a bit hard when you have a tiny space and not much area to hang soppy wet clothing to dry by tiny little heaters but we get along!
We will appreciate going southward soon:-) Lord willing that is. God is using our past lives from us living in the arctic weather from up north, to being able to thrive (not just survive) when the weather dips way down like this. He uses it all to His glory.
It was raining this morning so brother Jim dropped me off at the door of the grocery store and I went in about my business. While I was in there, I had my 'bible bait basket'. (My basket with the gospel sign on it, I go fishing with it and wait for someone to take the bait :-) And today someone did! An older woman walked up from behind and tapped me on the shoulder saying 'I love your sign on the basket.' I have a gospel card pinned inside and whipped it out right away for her, of which she took it, thanked me. I was rejoicing, praise God, let the word go out! So while I was in there (oh my what a lot of people ) I did my usual looking for discounts and found something for brother Jim. Actually as I was looking at it, weighing it out in my mind to see if I should get it or not, he text and said he was going to go fly signs at the intersection and for me to take my time inside. Well, I took no time in hurrying outside (with his surprise) dashing through the rain, all the way to the end of the parking lot, getting soaked along the way, to get my raincoat on and fly signs along with him. He laughed but he was glad that I came out with him. Then I told him what I got. And he said 'Thank you Lord, I get a reward!
I found a discounted pizza for $3 :-) I had to cook it in four pieces but that was no problem.
What a treat and truly a reward after a cold wet day outside and I was happy to bring some joy to brother Jim. There probably won't be many people out and about tomorrow because everything shut down for Christ Mass but we'll scope it out and see what we might do. If anything, we always have tons of ministry to catch up on that seems to pile up in our 'to do' list. It's good to be busy and always doing the work of the Lord!
Let us, who are born from above, striving in all truth and obedience, give thanks to the Lord for us not fitting in with the world but instead fitting into His kingdom. Even within the kingdom of believers there can be issues but if we love one another we will all work together to become of one mind, all speaking the same things. Let's pray for that shall we?
Love in Christ,
Sister Deb
The biblical gospel...
https://www.dontperish.com/the-gospel.html