Be the guiding light!

And I will ask the Father and, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive Him because it doesn’t see Him or know Him. But you do know Him, because He remains with you and will be in you.      John 14:16-17 HCSB

When you think about it, the world we live in today is a scary place. It’s hard to know who you can and cannot trust these days. Perhaps that is why I have renewed my fondness at watching old western shows like Gunsmoke. In those shows you knew who the good guys were and who the bad guys were. It was black and white and I don’t just mean the colors on the screen. There was a clear difference between the good guys and the bad guys.

Today at times the picture seems to be a little fuzzier. Sometimes it’s like we don’t have good reception like back in the days when we had the old antennas. We hear of law enforcement officers committing heinous crimes. Many of our politicians are just greedy villains. We’ve even seen sins committed in church leadership. There are televangelists out there who are more concerned with getting all the money they can get than saving a lost and dying world.

The problem with our world is that so many are lost without a savior. But we must ask ourselves, are we making a difference? Are we behaving any differently than the lost in this world? There should literally be a world of difference in the way we behave and the way the lost behave, but is there? Our scripture passage tells us that the world doesn’t know him, but we do. Can the world see in us that we know Him?

Romans 12:2 tells us that we should not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We shouldn’t look like the world, or talk like the world, or walk like the world or act like the world. We should exemplify our Lord and Savior. We should do our best to walk and talk and act like Jesus. He set a wonderful example for us during His time on earth.  In Romans 12:2 we are told that we should test in order to discern what is the will of God, what is good, acceptable, and perfect. God’s will is perfect. It is good and it is acceptable.

So, again I ask you, do you measure up? When you are dealing with your family and friends, can they see the Holy Spirit in you. Can they see the counselor that Jesus sent to reside in us when He ascended up to heaven? Or do they just see more of this lost world.

Perhaps you are the sweetest, kindest, little so and so on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights, but what are you like the rest of the week? If you profess to be a Christian, does your walk line up with your talk?

Colossians 2:6 says therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. Ephesians 5:2 says that we are to walk in love. Ephesians 5:8 says that we are to walk as children of the light. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.

So, I want to ask you today to ask yourself this one question. What do you think others see when they look at you or hear when you are speaking? Do they get a glimpse of what Jesus is like? Do they hear uplifting words to encourage them? Do they see and hear mercy and grace? Or do they see and hear the world? Do they see and hear just more of the same as what they get from the internet and their televisions? They should be seeing a world of difference in you if you are a Christian.

If you are not a Christian, look for that person that exhibits a world of difference in the way that they speak and behave. Go to them as one lost in the darkness goes toward the light.

If you are a Christian, then be sure that you are showing the world the difference between yourself and those still lost in the darkness. You may be the only Bible they ever read. Perhaps you can serve as the light that leads the lost out of the darkness. You will never be able to do that if you conform to this world. But, if you show them a world of difference you can help to save those that are lost and dying.

If you saw someone drowning in the waves of the ocean, would you jump in and risk dying too or would you throw them a life saver and try to pull them up to safety? We can’t save lives and get anyone to heaven by behaving like the rest of the lost world. It’s time we show them a world of difference.

Have a great day!