Growing in Hopeنموونە

You Belong

What do you think about when you hear the word stranger?... What about alien?

Before being a follower of Jesus, we were “strangers and aliens” to the family of God. Strangers are people who are not a part of your family and aliens are people that do not belong. Before Jesus came and died on the cross so that we could be made right with God, we were not part of God’s family and we did not belong to Him. But that is why Jesus came. He came so that we would be His children and belong to God. 

You were once a stranger with no hope, an alien (or a foreigner) who would never fit in, but when you repented and believed in Jesus, you became a part of the family of God. The apostle Paul writes in John 1:12, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.” 

While you once were a stranger and an alien to the household of God, you are now a stranger or alien on planet earth, to the sinful world around you. Your real home, your forever home, is in Heaven. The Apostle Peter tells us in his first book chapter 2, verse 11, “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” What he is saying is you are now a stranger to the world around you. Not only are you a stranger because you are simply visiting this world, but you are an alien. 

As an alien of this world, you should look much different than the people around you (who are not followers of Jesus). Being a follower of Jesus is not just about going to church on Sunday. Following Jesus is walking in obedience to His commands daily. When you begin to follow Jesus in obedience, your life will look much different than the rest of the people around you who live in sin.

Are you beginning to look less like those around you who live in sin? 

If not, what in your life do you need to change to be different than the sinful world around you? 

· Ask God today to show you how to be different than those around you. 

· Confess any sin He reveals to you.

· Put your focus on Jesus.

Remember, the earth is not your home; you are simply a stranger passing through.

Prayer:
Father, I am so thankful that I belong to You! Teach me how to live as a stranger and an alien in this world. I want the world to know that I am Your child. I am willing to follow You and forsake everything that does not bring You honor. I ask that You give me the strength that I need to do this. Thank You for Your grace and Your faithfulness! In Jesus’ Name, I pray. Amen.