This is the condition of my circumstances that has led to Father reminding me of who I really am. I find myself trying to make a life here. When I say "here," I mean in this world. I have dreams of owning some property in the country where I can have a garden, a smoke house, and maybe some chickens. If there is enough land, I could also hunt there. Yeah, I'm a country boy at heart!
As the thought of living somewhere other than where I am and the reality that I currently cannot do anything to change that hit me; I had a sudden urge to "feel" down. I looked at Tess and said, "we have to decide where we're going to live. We are either going to live in this world or we are going to live in eternity." In that moment, Father reminded me that I am not of this world. This holiday season, I think I have been trying to make a life here.
All of us have to decide where we are going to live. I found a definition of "alien" from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition: "differing in nature or character typically to the point of incompatibility." Peter said in 1 Peter 2:11, "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul." My "strong desire" to make a life here in this world is nothing more than fleshly lust. Don't get me wrong, it is okay to have desires. The Bible says God gives us the desires of our heart. (Ps. 37:4) When we pursue desires to get our needs met apart from God we experience the frustration of living from the flesh.
Jesus said in John 17:14, "“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." We have to live in this world, but we are not of this world. So what does that practically mean? It means my "life" needs aren't met by this world. It really doesn't matter where I live, what I drive, what I wear, what I do, or who I know. Being in this world, I will live somewhere, I will wear something, I will drive something, I will do things, and I will know people. Being a citizen of eternity, however, will determine how I experience these things.
Finish this statement, "I will be happy when....." I was putting a house in the country in that blank. Sometimes I put "being understood" in the blank. There are many things we can put in the blank, but apart from knowing God it is flesh.
This morning I asked myself a hard question, "what is the passion of your heart?" I was again reminded that I love knowing God and making Him known. Some will amen that last statement and immediately translate that into a "doing" statement. Cliches will roll off the tongue about spreading the gospel through evangelism and missions. That in and of itself is still trying to make a place in this world through "doing" something. Father wants us to focus on knowing Him, period! As I know Him, my thoughts, my behaviors, and my emotions express Him in everyday life here in this world. You may look at me and see evangelism and missions, but I see Christ in me, expressing His Life in me.
