1 John 2:15-17

1 John 2:15-17 “Set your mind on the things above”
Col. 3:1-4

“Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
And the World is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.” 1 John 2: 15-17

John shares another reminder for us all to be mindful of how we live out our lives here on this earth. Having lived overseas for 10 years now I have found that I feel more like a sojourner than ever. There are days that I long for a place to call my own, a place to set my roots and sit as my grandmother did on the porch and watch the people scurry and watch the birds scout for worms. I will one day have a place to call home but I know it won’t be the here and now. Oh, I may have a house one day that we own and land to plant on but it will not last forever.

That is a promise from the word, this world is passing away.

Today- may seem like a harsh reminder for some of us who have found that we love this world we live in and have lost that longing for Christ’s return to take us to our Home in Heaven or for some of us we have allowed the desires of the flesh to win over more often than we ought.

This morning I received a phone call that just put things in proper perspective for me.

We have a friend who just found out his brother has AIDS and is dying in the hospital. We are praying that he will get home in time to see him but that may not be what happens. When things like this happen, I feel a longing for heaven where we won’t suffer the loss of loved ones, where we won’t have need of rest from stresses of this life. However, there are some who say, how sad that one should be die so young and their life here on earth be cut short. I think, how sad that you don’t long for heaven. How sad that we rather obey the desires of our flesh here and now rather than live out of the Spirit doing the will of our Father. This young man either obeyed the lust of the flesh which in the end will bring death or his blood was tainted by the blood of one who did obey the lust of the flesh. Either way, this one young man has been touched by the lust of the flesh.

Dear sisters, if we could think of this not in the way of AIDS but think of it as Christians when we walk in the Spirit rather than the Flesh what effects do we have on others around us. This young man has truly been touched by the Fleshly desires and in them there is Death. I hope today that we would think of our words, our actions, our thoughts, our eyes as instruments of His work. How we use them will either bring life or death- to ourselves and/ or to those around us.

*Romans 12:2 “ And do not be conformed to this world , but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

*James 1:27 “This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world”

*James 4:4 “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore who ever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Lord, I thank you for saving me and for giving me hope. I don't always overcome when I'm tempted to walk in the flesh but Lord I pray today that I would have Your Strength to overcome and that instead of obeying the lust of this world I would walk according to your Spirit.

Let us walk in Your light~!

It is in Your name I pray,

The name of Jesus

Amen