John 15:19

John 15:19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, this is why the world hates you.

James 4:4 Adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the world's friend becomes God's enemy.

I assume that most of us who take the time to read the Bread on a regular basis do so because we want a closer walk with Jesus Christ. We want to be considered disciples and followers of Christ. We know that we have been called by God and we have willingly (or sometimes unwillingly) answered the call. But what does that look like?

I said yesterday that we should be willing to use our time, energies, talents and finances to further the Kingdom of God. That is all very true. But even more important than that, we need to be willing to offend the world. As it becomes increasingly apparent every day that the world is ruled by satan and his minions, we need to be different. That is not to say that we should not interact with the world. We can't save a sinner if we don't bring the gospel to them. However, we should look different, we should talk different, we should be so distinct from the world around us that it makes people wonder why.

Too many of us want to be friends with the world. We want to claim Christ on the side, but we don't want people to think we're a "Jesus Freak" or anything. I'm here to tell you that the most dangerous thing in the world is a lukewarm Christian. Jesus himself says

Revelation 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth. God's laws are consistent. If a relationship is not getting stronger, it is getting weaker. If you are not actively pursuing a relationship with Christ through prayer, fasting, Bible reading and fellowship with like minded people in a good strong church, it is almost impossible to be Kingdom minded. What is your temperature today?

In His Service,

For His Glory,

Deborah