Where do you find yourself going?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
(1 Peter 2:11-12 (NIV))

Think about this passage for a moment.

Perhaps a better way to look at this is to replace the word aliens with the word tourists.

Let me explain.

The last time that you went on a vacation, did you seek out the sinful areas of the places that you visited or did you seek the places of beauty? A tourist does not go somewhere seeking to find the sin. They go seeking to see something of beauty that is different from what they are used to. Some love to go to the mountains. Some love to go to the beach. Others love to go on cruises, but no one goes looking to find the depravity of the areas that they visit.

We, as members of the Body of Christ, are aliens, we are tourists, in this world. We should not be focused on the sin that has overtaken the world or we may find ourselves falling into that very sin.

We are to remain blameless!

I know that this is impossible in our humanity, for we are all fallen. However, we have one who intercedes for us so that we can rely on His strength instead of ours. When we are facing temptations within this world, rely on Jesus to see you through them. Don’t allow the enemy to trick you into going somewhere that you don’t want to go.

Accountability, fellowship and community are important.

Think back on the tourist concept. When you are a tourist, do you go alone or do you go with other people? Being alone is dangerous. The enemy will recognize that you are alone and vulnerable. That is when sin has the opportunity to arise.

Where do you find yourself going?

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you feel like a stranger in this world?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
(1 Peter 2:11-12 (NIV))

By definition, an alien is someone who is in a land that is not their own home land. They feel out of place and long to return to familiar countryside where sites and sounds will not be an occasion to constantly try and figure out what is going on. Their home land will bring familiarity and peace.

How do you feel in this world? Do you feel at home and part of the crowd, or do you long for a place that you have never been to, but yet, you still know is home?

A person who is not in their home land is under constant scrutiny. Everyone looks at them to see how they will react in any given situation, after all, they may not be familiar with the local customs. It is almost always a guaranteed good show to watch an alien try to maneuver through a setting that they are not familiar with. With this in mind, it is human nature to watch the “new kid” or the “stranger” to see what they will do and how they will make a fool of themselves.

We may be strangers in this land, for our home is not of this world, but, we have a tour guide who will assist us in our daily walk among the strangers. That guide is the Holy Spirit. He will guide us in what to say and do, and maybe even more importantly, He will guide us in what not to say and do. He will instruct us in the ways that are appropriate for any situation. He will lead us in a pure direction if we will only listen to His guidance. To hear His guidance, we must have allowed Him into our lives in the same manner that we allow Jesus into our lives. Jesus becomes our Lord and Savior and the Holy Spirit becomes our instructor in righteousness.

What does the world see when they see you? Are you a stranger or are you embraced by the world?

Copyright 1998 – 2014 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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It was, and still is, a matter of attitude

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
(1 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV))

Could we, as a society, be on the way to a time when God will makes us look foolish?

We are at a time in history when knowledge is increasing like never before. Humanity can accomplish some pretty incredible tasks if we put our minds to it. We can send a message around the world in a fraction of a second. We have begun to unlock the secrets that God has placed within our DNA. We are developing technology faster than we literally can produce it. By the time a product gets to market, it is already obsolete. We have become wise in the ways of the world.

We must keep our focus on God, for if we start to proclaim that we have done these things and that we do not need God, then we will be floundering in foolishness created by our worldly wisdom. We will have done the same thing that caused confusion of our languages at Babel.

Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.
(Genesis 11:4 (NIV))

It was, and still is, a matter of attitude. We must keep God as our focus and give Him all the glory for what He has given to us. We must not seek to make a name for ourselves. If we do, then we will be scattered and our wisdom will be made foolish.

Is God first in all that you do? Do you seek to glorify God or do you seek the glory for yourself?

Copyright 1998 – 2013 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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