"Pilgrim's Discipline"

 "Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him." (Ecclesiastes 8:3 KJV)

  ""If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you."" (John 15:18-19 NLT)

 I know what you might be thinking, 'Do we just lay down and give up our rights?' Well, here is the part of any circumstance that might actually make some sense: We are not greater than our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! He was God, who came into this world, of which He created; yet He gave up His rights, in order to be a sacrifice for this entire world! 

 Giving up His rights, does not mean that He did not use the powers and abilities of God, because He most surely did! But when it came to the matter of why He came, He humbled Himself and became like one of us, totally and completely vulnerable to punishment, humility, and death. 

 We are really no longer part of this world; but does that mean that we are no longer useful to do what is right and just? Absolutely not! If the church would do what they were called to do, especially in this nation, the United States of America, where we have certain rights, (which, by the way are being stripped away, daily,) then there would not be so many evil things being done by evil people! That's a fact! 

 The whole point of this part of our journey, is to be a light, because we are of the Light! We are meant to be reconciling people to God, not just trying to avoid being part of the world; because as long as we are able, we are called to spread the Gospel and be a servant of the Lord; doing that which Jesus did, touching lives and making disciples, making know that which is right, shining light on that which is evil; praying for those that need to be saved! 

 The bottom line in all of this crazy and confusing story, is that this world is evil, so we should not be surprised by that fact; but at the same time, we love the sinner but hate the sin; we pray for those that are held captive and praise God for those that have been delivered; and most of all, we must come to the complete understanding that we are not at war with flesh and blood...

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For our weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled." (2 Corinthians 10:3-6 NKJV)