Heavenly Outsider

John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

The world tugs at our hearts, minds, and bodies to invest in worldly pursuits. The world parades every lust and pleasure in front of us to lure us into the pursuit of it. We see countless things that we want, we place all our energies into working to obtain, all the while sacrificing what really matters, relationships of both heavenly, and the people He has placed around us. Nothing else matters beyond your relationship with Jesus, and those he gives to you to invest in eternally. Nothing else remains after you are gone except the people you invest in. Every once of energy that you spend pursuing anything in relation to success that is measured by worldly standards, the smartest man who ever lived, (Solomon), wrote in the book of Ecclesiastes, labeling it “vanity of vanities, and chasing the wind”
I remember studying John 15 and seeing my pride there. Even seeing how Jesus said you can’t do anything without abiding in him, I saw my pride of I can do anything I put my mind to. We are lost in our prideful pursuits of success, our prideful pursuits of religion, our prideful pursuits of elevating ourselves in any fashion. God has continued to take out his hammer and chisel to weaken my pride continually; daily physical pain is a reality to me, and I see him at work in it. John had just written of the gift of God, the Holy Spirit given to us, and the incredible gift of heavenly wisdom that comes with it. John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. John continued to write of the peace that comes with Him, a peace that surpasses all understanding, a peace that the world does not comprehend. John continued to write of the struggles that will come to the disciple of Jesus, of how we will become outsiders to all those still in pursuit of worldly things. 15:18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. It is OK to be a heavenly outsider; you are a chosen child of God to share his light to a dark world, to endure tribulation for a short time, and reap a heavenly reward for eternity. One who abides with Jesus is one who seeks to live their life for him. To lay down their desires and pursue righteousness and heavenly things following the will of the Father for their short time hear. They invest in people and relationships.

Political correctness is a huge problem in our society today. Scared to offend has crept into our churches and our minds. Satan is doing a great work in keeping people from standing for the truths found in God’s Word. Satan is smiling every time we refrain from pointing out sin, from committing the sin of omission, for the sake of feelings. Being a Christian means more than just accepting Jesus, being a Christian means standing for truth, being a like the prophets in the Old Testament who were obedient when God told them to speak up. Spend time in God’s Word each day and let him mold you into the disciple that abides, the disciple that stands in his strength, not scared to be a heavenly outsider.