Did you know, that a blind chameleon still takes on the color of its environment even though it can't see anything? The first thing I think of is, "what a waste of those cool eyes!" However, as I was thinking about this fact I started to contemplate on how God calls us to be in the world, but not of it. What's that you say? How, do I get blind lizard to God's calling us not to be of the world? Stay with me.
John 17:13-19: "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified."
First thing to note is that this is that top shelf RLS. I am talking about that Red Letter Stuff (sigh....if you still don't get it, Jesus is speaking here so yeah.... letters... red). Jesus is praying for his disciples. He prays to his Father "not that you take them out of the world..." and therefore implies that he could do just that. However, what would have been accomplished by that? Well for starters, I can tell you that you could kiss the book of Acts goodbye. So what does Jesus want? He says, "I have sent them into the world"; but just because he is sending us in the world, does not mean that we are to be of the world.
Ok, thanks for that Brandon! There's nothing like hearing an 'easier said than done' message to really get my engine going! So how do we do this? Simple, become sanctified. Duh! Sanctified here is the greek word hagiazo which means set apart for sacred use or make holy. So we are to be made holy. Ok, how do we do that? That answer, my friends, is two-fold. Both parts are in the scripture above. The first step comes from the end of the scripture and is the most important message in all scripture. JESUS! That is the first part of becoming sanctified. It says, "For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified." Jesus offered His life so that we might be set apart. The second part of becoming sanctified is by the truth, God's Holy Word. Psalm 1:2 and 119:11 along with Joshua 1:8 speak of the importance of staying in the Word. The Word is life. Deuteronomy 8:3 says, "...man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." I don't know about you, but I normally try to eat every day. Don't you? You think God used that analogy on purpose? Let me sleep on it, YES! Be in the Word of God constantly. After we have part one we never lose it! Praise God!! However, we need to stay in God's word, the truth, to continually set ourselves apart from the world.
So now you see the connection between the lizard and God's call, right? No? Fine. Moving forward.
The blind chameleon is a picture of what it means to be a product of your environment. Even though the animal can't see a thing, the outside world, somehow, soaks in and turns him a brown poopy color. (On a side note the little red line popped up under poopy. Really, spell check? You don't recognize the word poopy?) God does not want blind chameleon's out of us. He wants us to be what the world soaks in, not the other way around. That means WE are to be the examples. WE are to be sticking out like sore thumbs. That's scary isn't it. We all want to blend in like a chameleon. Don't get me wrong, we are not supposed to go around with our noses in the air correcting what everyone is doing. We are to be a light. We are to be LOVE. Jesus, earlier in John 13, says, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." Pretty cool, huh? But he goes on to say, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." That's the message, if we are to be in Christ then we are to be love to one another thereby making us holy and set apart. Here is the downside, though. In being like Christ we are going to be persecuted for this holiness. We are not always going to be accepted. We are going to be looked down upon or be told that we are close minded. Hallelujah, because Jesus also says, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." All this is to say, be in the world and live among the people of this world shining a light to the lost, but don't be a blind chameleon.
Love you all,
Brandon
John 17:13-19: "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified."
First thing to note is that this is that top shelf RLS. I am talking about that Red Letter Stuff (sigh....if you still don't get it, Jesus is speaking here so yeah.... letters... red). Jesus is praying for his disciples. He prays to his Father "not that you take them out of the world..." and therefore implies that he could do just that. However, what would have been accomplished by that? Well for starters, I can tell you that you could kiss the book of Acts goodbye. So what does Jesus want? He says, "I have sent them into the world"; but just because he is sending us in the world, does not mean that we are to be of the world.
Ok, thanks for that Brandon! There's nothing like hearing an 'easier said than done' message to really get my engine going! So how do we do this? Simple, become sanctified. Duh! Sanctified here is the greek word hagiazo which means set apart for sacred use or make holy. So we are to be made holy. Ok, how do we do that? That answer, my friends, is two-fold. Both parts are in the scripture above. The first step comes from the end of the scripture and is the most important message in all scripture. JESUS! That is the first part of becoming sanctified. It says, "For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified." Jesus offered His life so that we might be set apart. The second part of becoming sanctified is by the truth, God's Holy Word. Psalm 1:2 and 119:11 along with Joshua 1:8 speak of the importance of staying in the Word. The Word is life. Deuteronomy 8:3 says, "...man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." I don't know about you, but I normally try to eat every day. Don't you? You think God used that analogy on purpose? Let me sleep on it, YES! Be in the Word of God constantly. After we have part one we never lose it! Praise God!! However, we need to stay in God's word, the truth, to continually set ourselves apart from the world.
So now you see the connection between the lizard and God's call, right? No? Fine. Moving forward.
The blind chameleon is a picture of what it means to be a product of your environment. Even though the animal can't see a thing, the outside world, somehow, soaks in and turns him a brown poopy color. (On a side note the little red line popped up under poopy. Really, spell check? You don't recognize the word poopy?) God does not want blind chameleon's out of us. He wants us to be what the world soaks in, not the other way around. That means WE are to be the examples. WE are to be sticking out like sore thumbs. That's scary isn't it. We all want to blend in like a chameleon. Don't get me wrong, we are not supposed to go around with our noses in the air correcting what everyone is doing. We are to be a light. We are to be LOVE. Jesus, earlier in John 13, says, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." Pretty cool, huh? But he goes on to say, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." That's the message, if we are to be in Christ then we are to be love to one another thereby making us holy and set apart. Here is the downside, though. In being like Christ we are going to be persecuted for this holiness. We are not always going to be accepted. We are going to be looked down upon or be told that we are close minded. Hallelujah, because Jesus also says, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." All this is to say, be in the world and live among the people of this world shining a light to the lost, but don't be a blind chameleon.
Love you all,
Brandon
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