WE ARE IN THE WORLD, BUT NOT OF THE WORLD.
WE ARE IN THE WORLD, BUT NOT OF THE WORLD.
Some people think that they have so many problems or they might think that so many bad things are happening that they desire to get away, far away. Some people desire to leave this world and the suicidal statistics are quite high, especially among the youth. Others turn their attention towards heaven and want to go home to God. Both categories desire to run away from the present.
I am thinking about the Christians when I say that we are in the world, but not of the world. We belong to another kingdom with different laws than in this world. Jesus is not taking us out of the world, but said that we should give to the Cesar what belongs to him and to God what belongs to God. We can read about this in Matthew 22. I seriously believe that we should follow the rules of our country as long as they do not oppose the Word of God. It can become a problem in those countries where it is not allowed to be a Christian and to carry a Bible. Many Christians are persecuted for their faith. Some become martyrs. They rather die than denying their faith in Jesus.
I am not primarily writing about the persecuted Christians this time. I am thinking about all the secular ways of thinking that creep into the churches and the influence of other religions and occult practices. I believe that we Christians should be light and salt in this fallen world. We can read in Matthew 5:13:” If the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” I feel that many Christians are losing the power of the salt. I have to be careful myself, so do you. We talk a lot about being political correct in Scandinavia and that would often mean to have opinions going against the Bible. It is far from political correct in Sweden to be against abortion. It has gone so far that if one is a midwife and refuses to participate in abortion, you lose your job. This goes for other professions as well. It can really cost something to stand up for life instead of death. Many will not recognize a fetus to be the beginning of a living child. They say that it is a lump of cells. I recently saw a program in Norway where they explained in detail what happened inside the mother’s womb from the conception to the birth. It all started with a living cell and I thanked them for showing the facts.
Do we dare to stand up for life?
In many countries they promote yoga in kindergarten, schools and hospitals and they are saying that this is mere gymnastics. It helps us to relax. If you go to the East, they will not say that yoga is merely gymnastics. There they know that yoga is closely knitted together with other religions and the mantras used in meditation are names of other gods. I have many times been offered yoga, but I have said no since I know that it has an occult origin. Some of the other alternative practices have roots in the occult as well. Do we dare to say no? Once when I said no to a physiotherapist, I was denied further treatment. The devil wants to sneak himself into small innocent children and people in vulnerable situations. I can almost hear that some of you say that I exaggerate now. The Bible is saying that there will be a lot of deceiving spirits in the last days and a lot of occultism is hiding behind deceiving spirits. Many Christians accept and practice things coming from other religions. Churches are opening up for it and I newly heard that a church had yoga services. The salt has lost its power.
How can the salt keep its power? I do believe that we must go back to the Word of God and the truth in the Word.
Some are saying that they believe in a god, but Jesus is not the only way to God. That is against the Word. We read in John 14:6 that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but through Him. We must receive Jesus as our Savior and our Lord. Jesus is the stumbling block. One can talk about a higher power, gods, but we might have a fight if we talk about Jesus. In the world they might say that everyone is blessed in his or her own conviction, but that is not the Word. Jesus is the way and we get blessed when He fills us. We will not be without problems, but we will get blessed.
In Sweden one may go to prison if a preacher says that homosexuality is sinful. One cannot read from Romans 1 where it says that homosexuality is sinful. I do not want to make this issue a simple one. I can see that many homosexuals have been treated wrongly and that it isn’t easy for those drawn to their own sex, but God has created a marriage for a man and a woman. I personally know of happy couples who were homosexuals before. God has healed and delivered them. We must not be so afraid to stand on the Word of God.
The Word and the Spirit keeps the salt, salty.
In some countries lying is almost normal. It is so normal that even Christians do it. I have many times been preaching and saying that lies are binding us, but the truth will set us free. I have been to churches where the façade looks nice, but where the leaders easily lie. They might call it white lies, but all lies are black to me.
I constantly discover that Christians live together without being married. They say that we live in another time. Does that mean that God has changed His mind and that we shouldn’t follow the Bible anymore? What is acceptable in the world, can easily become acceptable in the church. There are many more areas than I can mention here.
The spirit of the world should not rule the Christians. We are God’s ambassadors on the planet earth and we are supposed to present Jesus to the people. We should be the planet shakers.
Many congregations remove hell from the Bible. It doesn’t exist. God is a good God and He really doesn’t want anybody to get lost. That’s why He sent His only begotten Son to save the world. He took the punishment that we all deserved. It is easy to receive Jesus and accept Him as our sacrifice. He opened a way to the Father. We must never stop preaching the simple gospel about sin and redemption. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit came to give us power to be His witnesses. We have received power to be salt and light.
Many do not know what is right and what is wrong today. The truths are hidden in a thick fog. Religions are sometimes mixed together and people are confused. We Christians must be clear. The world should see Jesus in us. We are His representatives and we are like letters to be read.
LET THE LETTER HAVE A CLEAR, TRUE AND PURE CONTENT!
Mother Else