Not Of This World

"For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people."
~2 Timothy 3:2-5

There is a saying, 'the more things change, the more they remain the same,' and I think that is absolutely true in the world today. There is so much going on in the world, it's hard to wrap our minds around it. People are totally out of control. We see young people in the streets rioting, killing each other, reaking havoc over things that seem to have no consequence in everyday life. They have absolutely no regard for other people's feelings, no respect for themselves or for others, they have no self control, they are boastful, lovers of self, lovers of this world, lovers of the things of this world; they call what is good evil and what is evil, good. I actually have to turn off my phone, shut down the internet and not read social media feeds because it's overwhelming.

The Bible tells us that our deliverer is coming (Psalm 18:2, 2 Samuel 22:2). Our deliverer is Jesus Christ, and He's going to set things right. The Bible tells us that no matter what happens in life we are not to fear anything or anyone. Jesus Christ is returning for those who love the Lord and keep His commandments. For those who do not walk in the ways of this world, our reward will be heaven.

The world seems to spin out of control from time to time, but the thing we have to remember is that God is always in control. God is not sitting on a recliner with His feet up, with the doors and windows closed ignoring everything that's going on. He's an active part of the design of the world and everything going on in it. We have to keep that in mind and not let the things of the world come between us and doing right. We have to keep in mind that we are in this world, but we are not of this world (John 17:14-16). We are children of the Most High and no matter what other people do, we have to depend on God and what we know to be true of God. And what we know to be true of God is that He is never changing. He is the same yesterday today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

So, while we have to live in this world, we don't have to concentrate on it, we don't have to be a part of it (John 15:19) and we don't have to let it bring us down. Our God is higher than any other and so are we. That is not to say we are better than other people, but we are in a better place, and our hope remains strong. Our hope remains firm (Romans 5:1-3). We do not have the same kind of hope that other people do, we have a heavenly hope. We have a strong hope. We have an unfailing hope. And that is what separates us from this world.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you (1 Peter 1:3-4)."

"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)."