WE SHALL NOT DIE - Reading With the People of God #17Sample

Vanity or Jesus

We live in an age of vanity. The quest for “likes” and selfish desires and “look at me” culture is at an alarming high. With an epidemic raging all around us of pornography and drug addictions, we are the contemporary manifestation of an age-old problem; a society driven by greed to accomplish goals that only further selfish empires, fueled through self-centered narratives. The harvest of such a crop will be as nothing in the day of incurable pain and disease. Instead of a society that is genuinely healthy and fruitful, because people are turned outward and can surrender their desires to Jesus to accomplish worthwhile goals, we have a society that is wholly given over to pleasing itself and is ultimately barren.* When you have a society at large who seems to have “forgotten God,” you have a society that has lost their fear of the Lord’s judgment. This is a tricky place to be, without the fear of the Lord, can we truly embody hope?

*(paraphrased from NIV Application Bible)

Just as there is dysfunction and selfishness in our society, there are truly those in possession of God’s Holy Spirit. They stand out amongst the darkness as bright shining lights because of Who is in them. Their fruit and character attest to the identity of who they truly serve. We must seek the wisdom of Jesus, understanding that we are not called to be powerful; we are called to be surrendered to our Savior. When you encounter someone who is fully devoted to Jesus and the calling He has placed on their life, there is most definitely something different about them. If you are someone who also has God’s Spirit dwelling in you; His Spirit connects you to them through His presence. We see over and over again throughout all of scripture that those who have surrendered to the narrow path and are following Jesus Christ do not have to prove their worth; God does that through His Spirit. They speak from a surrendered place allowing God’s Spirit to give them wisdom, this proximity to God’s presence is visible. It looks like peace. It feels like love. It shines like golden light. It is Jesus.

We can have vanity, or we can choose Jesus. We can not house them both.

Primer contributed by Ardena Hamill: Celebrate Recovery encourager with Cornerstone Community Church of Chowchilla