Weight of the World part 5
When the weight of the world (external forces) press down on us, it's uncomfortable. And when we know there's something better available, it can be almost unbareable. Which is why it breaks my heart when I see people settling. People taking what the world throws at them and trying to make the best of it. Because even the best of the world doesn't compare to the least of the Kingdom! This idea that we can pick and choose from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (the tree of death) and have the good without the bad... just doesn't work. It's all from the same tree. And the only way to free ourselves from that vicious cycle of not being able to do what we want to do, and only being able to do what we DON'T want to do... is to get off that tree completely and onto the Tree of Life. In other words, "...be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind..." (Romans 12:2). And this has always been the best part of that verse to me: "Be not conformed." That means we CAN be conformed to the world. Which means we are NOT, presently, conformed to this world. We've already been translated out of the power of darkness and into the Kingdom. It is finished. It's a done deal. The point of Romans 12:2 is, "Don't go back to the world. You've already been saved. You've already been redeemed. Don't go back! Don't let the weight of the world crush you. Be transformed (into what you've already been transformed into) by the renewing of your mind. By letting the mind of Christ that's already in you, BE in you." It doesn't work from the outside in. It works from the inside out. Jesus said it like this, "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man." Not what goes in, but what comes out. Because you can't give what you don't have. It has to be in there to come out. And, because we are already filled with the Holy Ghost, there's no room for anything to come in and defile us. Jesus, the light of the world, said this about external forces, "...for the prince of the world cometh, and hath nothing in me" (John 14:30). Darkness can't affect light, but when the light shines, the darkness has to flee. So here's what I think I've been trying to say in this series: We don't have to carry the weight of the world all by ourselves. We can share it with one another. And if I take care of you and you take care of me, then neither of us has to worry about taking care of ourselves. And if we can stop focusing on all of the stuff that is screaming for our attention, trying to distract us or bring us down or crush us, then we enjoy the fruit of Jesus' labor. His labor was the cross and the fruit of the Spirit is love! The Kingdom within us is bursting out and nothing can stop it, or stand against it!