Not Of This World

Jesus plainly told those who ignored His miracles, “You are from beneath; I am from Above: you are of this world; I am not of this world.” He extended this truth privately to His disciples… “If you were of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19).

The night before Jesus died for us, He prayed in Gethsemane… “O Father, I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not request that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through Your truth: Your Word is truth” (John 17:14-16).

These words are powerful. The moment we received Christ as Lord, we changed citizenship.  No longer “of this world,” we experience the joy of being “so loved” in Christ, yet being hated by the world. We walk in God’s truth, refusing conformity to their lies. We are in world, but no longer of it. We don’t “fit” anymore, and the Spirit of God who indwells us, fills us with a growing, holy migration instinct for our Heavenly Home.

While we look at the evil in this world, Christ’s promise grows sweeter: “I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:3). We have a Deliverer and this world has a Savior. Keep sharing the Good News of Christ. There are still others out there who will add their voices to the song, “Take the world, but give me Jesus.”

(Devotional by Lisa Cataford)