Fitting in is not a Badge of Honor

Have you ever wondered why you don't seem to fit into any group?

There is always an initiation fee in joining groups and that fee is the total loss of your own values and beliefs to be accepted into that group.

Most gatherings have defined themselves by the thinking of the leader of that group rather than by the principles of Christ.

Born-again believers who are strong and honest are rarely accepted by groups. They speak of the Word of God more than they speak of human teachers and they challenge everything according to the Word of God.

The first thing that comes to mind in every situation for the born-again believer is a principle of God. Their mind has been shaped by their continual reading of the Bible and the promptings of the Holy Spirit, in short, they do not think like the world.

1 Corinthians 2:14 "But a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned."

Many things "Christians" say and do today have no basis in Scripture, they are the traditions of men. Once a person has been convinced of the wrong thinking it is very difficult to convince them of the truth. They tend to hang onto whatever is familiar or what justifies their wrong thinking.

May we obey God in "questioning all things" so that we may cleanse our minds of those things we were taught that were not of God and replace them with the mind of Christ.

James 4:7-9 "7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.…"

When the focus of a culture is to be happy as much as possible the culture will never see things in truth. They will ignore the things that need fixing and embrace what they like.

Someone once asked me why people accuse them of being negative when they are just exposing something to help.

My answer was that we are seen as negative but we talk more about the broken things because the good does not need fixing. Talking about happy things all the time doesn't fix anything, it merely sweeps the dirt under the rug so they don't have to look at it. This "positive mindset" is selfish and very often enabling without a solution.

A culture that thrives on God's Word and is filled with gratitude toward Him would be more interested in solutions and exposing evil to remove it, would be more joyful than the one that pretends everything is alright.

Isaiah 58:2

"For day after day they seek Me and delight to know My ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not forsake the justice of their God. They ask Me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God."

Turn a Deaf Ear to People and Listen to the Holy Spirit

Matthew 7:6 "“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces."

We are dismissing God's Word when we keep trying to convince a rebellious heart of something they are clearly refusing.

There are many people in the world today who say they are Christians and continually use God's word shamefully without regard to His meanings, while assigning their own desired interpretations to it. they add to and take away from His Word whenever it suites them. There are far more Christians doing this than those who just believe what God said and follow it.

Psalm 119

"1How blessed are those whose way is blameless,

Who walk in the law of the LORD.

2 How blessed are those who observe His testimonies,

Who seek Him with all their heart.

3 They also do no unrighteousness;

They walk in His ways.

4 You have ordained Your precepts,

That we should keep them diligently.

5 Oh that my ways may be established

To keep Your statutes!

6 Then I shall not be ashamed

When I look upon all Your commandments.

7 I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart,

When I learn Your righteous judgments.

8 I shall keep Your statutes;

Do not forsake me utterly!

9 How can a young man keep his way pure?

By keeping it according to Your word.

10 With all my heart I have sought You;

Do not let me wander from Your commandments.

11 Your word I have treasured in my heart,

That I may not sin against You.

12 Blessed are You, O LORD;

Teach me Your statutes.

13 With my lips I have told of

All the ordinances of Your mouth.

14 I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,

As much as in all riches.

15 I will meditate on Your precepts

And regard Your ways.

16 I shall delight in Your statutes;

I shall not forget Your word."

May believers stop listening to people and begin hearing from the Holy Spirit. He is the only One Who has the correct answer to all things. May we set aside all that people have taught us and seek the Holy Spirit.

The Blessing of Psalm 1

Believers are experiencing much covert persecution right now, at least in this country when family and community come against us at every turn, or at the very least, dismiss and ignore us. We can thank the Lord that He sees all that is going on and gives us all the strength we need to keep going without compromising His principles. What a blessing it is to walk with Him.

Psalm 1

Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,

Nor stand in the path of sinners,

Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

2 But his delight is in the Law of the Lord,

And on His Law he meditates day and night.

3 He will be like a tree planted by streams of water,

Which yields its fruit in its season,

And its leaf does not wither;

And in whatever he does, he prospers.

4 The wicked are not so,

But they are like chaff which the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,

But the way of the wicked will perish."

When we are walking in His counsel we will interpret everything far differently from the world, so much so that the world will view us as strange, someone to be avoided, except the rare few who might be wondering why we are so completely content.

We will even be accused of ruining the fun of others by our presence. The world is not content or joyful unless they are indulging in the pleasures of the world. They see those who don't need those pleasures as "wet blankets", when the truth is those who are content to walk with God are so full of purpose and fulfillment they do not need the things of the world to distract them from their calling.

Psalm 92:12

"The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon."

Psalm 128:2

"For when you eat the fruit of your labor, blessings and prosperity will be yours."

Proverbs 3:33

"The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the righteous."

May all brothers and sisters in Christ be encouraged by God's Word, so much so that nothing going on around them influences them.