"The Presentation"

"I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon." (S.O.S. 1:5)

  To put this is the proper perspective, this is probably one of the biggest faults we might entertain as a believer in Christ; to compare ourselves with whatever and whomever, because there is only one place we need to be focused upon, and One person we need to be like! Even looking back, as many of us do, can be destructive and can cause us to feel either unworthy or unfulfilled: unworthy, because there are things that might still haunt us; unfulfilled, because there are things we feel as though we missed out on doing.
  We must remember that our enemy has tools to use against us, and most of his most successful tools are the ones that we hand him and allow him to use. Don't think for a moment that you are free from discouragement or despair, because it is in those times when you think that you're a rockstar of a believer, that you find yourself a falling star, and feel as though you are burning out.
  This is also one of the most important things that we must remember about staying in fellowship with other believers; because, just because we must not be comparing ourselves with anyone else, we still need other believers around us for comparison and edification. I know that might seem like a contradiction, but it's not. We are all sinners that are saved by grace; staying off by ourselves and not in fellowship can cause us to feel alone; which then makes us feel as though we are not part of the Body; or worse yet, a body unto ourselves!
  Don't think that is not a thing, because I meet people all the time that fit that description. They feel as though really don't need to attend any particular church, because they have the church inside them. Which, if you really stop and think about that, it is like they are living inside out! We are the tabernacle or the tent that Christ is dwelling in; it is Christ working in us that makes this work, not the work that brings out Christ. Confusing, you say? It does not need to be, but it is what we make it!
  You can find a church or a religion to match pretty much anything that you want to believe; but the true test of the right church to be a part of, is whether or not they teach the Word of God! If they do not teach from the Bible, then it is like the blind leading the blind; because the Pastor that teaches the Bible, is a Pastor that that can give instruction, because he keeps getting taught...

"Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous -even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their faith. And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised." (Romans 4:11-12) NLT