“I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”     John 16:33 LSB

It is important for us to remember we are just passing through this world. We are on a journey with heaven as our final destination. Jesus clearly tells us here that this journey will be a troublesome one. We will have suffering along the way.

I have often said I cringe when I see people get baptized. I say this because as long as we are following the ways of this world or what the devil wants us to do, he leaves us alone. But when we decide to dedicate our lives to the Lord, the devil becomes angry and wants to win us back.

Let me stop right here and say the devil can only go as far as God allows him to go. We see this in Job chapters 1 and 2 and in Revelation 13:7. The devil will tempt us, but God provides a way for us to defeat the devil. We are told in James 4:7 to submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it.”

The devil wants us to continue in our sinful ways. We must resist him, but we don’t do this on our own strength, we do this in God’s strength. Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” This means God will strengthen us to resist the devil and to do any work He calls us to do.

The world will get in our way when we are trying to serve the Lord and be obedient to Him. The devil loves to distract us with all kinds of things of this world. He wants us to be worriers and not warriors.

If we are going to be God’s warrior, we must let go of the things of this world and not be distracted by them. We are told in 2 Timothy 2:4 , “No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian life; he seeks to please the recruiter.” Let the things of this world go and focus on pleasing God.

When you determine to follow the Lord, the world is going to get in your way. The devil is going to tempt you and try to convince you not to let go of your sin. We are told in Hebrews 10:26 that if we go on sinning deliberately, we no longer have a sacrifice for our sins but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of fire about to consume the adversaries. When we sin, we are God’s adversary, and we don’t want that because His adversaries are going to be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 21:12-15).

Let go of the past and let go of anything that gets in your way of loving and serving the Lord. Let go of your fleshly desires. We are told in 1 John 2:17, “And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God’s will remains forever.” We are told in 1 Corinthians 7:31 this world in its current form is passing away.

Nothing on this planet is permanent. Only God and His love for us will remain. If we remain in Him, we will spend eternity with Him in heaven. If we choose this world, we will be thrown into the fire and be tormented forever. It’s that simple.

If you love the Lord with all your heart as He commands us in Matthew 22:37, don’t let the world get in the way. Focus on Him and He will give you all you need to survive this cold, cruel world (Matthew 6:33). Submit to Him today. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Don’t let the world get in your way.

Have a great day!