Are we really crucified to the world?

Galatians 6:14
"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

God is moving powerfully in my life, and the lives of many Christians around me. Here's a hint:
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/EventMessages/ByDate/1813_Doing_Missions_When_Dying_Is_Gain/
I'm done with comfortable Christianity. I've heard it said that the first thing Satan does in this country to a new Christian, is to build a nice pram for them. Smother them with comfort and security so that they quickly fall asleep. Some talk about personal evangelism, where we suppose that if we share our lives with people for long enough that living as "nice" people is going to tell people the Gospel. Then we hold that up as some kind of justifiable replacement for passionately loving God by living out lives to glorify God in every way with every breath, by leaving our comfort, casting aside our fears and anxieties and proclaiming the Gospel whenever and wherever we possibly can!

That link really says it all much better than I could. Check it out, it's an audio file of a sermon, under an hour long. I wish we could grasp a greater understanding of God's awesome glory and how He is more satisfying than everything we could ever want or need and that we could have an even greater passion and joy for glorifying Him. "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face." 1 Corinthians 13:12. The greatest joy we will experience will be rejoicing in God when we are face to face with His glory, and the amazing thing is that it's not that far away. We're not here on earth for very long. I wish Christians everywhere could join with Paul in saying, "to live is Christ and to die is gain." Colossians 3:2 says this, "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." And when we get hold of how awesome it will be to be with God in heaven, that's what will give us a single passion in this life, and that passion will be to glorify Him.

Another comment about a common comfortable Christianity opinion of evangelism came to my mind:

We grieve the Spirit of Christ if we resign ourselves to simply waiting for "opportunities" when we should be passionate about MAKING "opportunities" for sharing the Good News.

Our time everyday that so often we have the audacity to call "free" and that we fill with watching worthless television and feeble attempts at self-gratification, is our God-given opportunity to glorify Him by living, speaking and breathing His message!

For a Christian there is no such thing as "free" time. There is only time that has been bought and paid for with the blood of Jesus in His awesome sacrificial love.

Don't get me wrong, we need to take rests and it is God-glorifying to do so. But isn't the best way to refuel our bodies and souls not to sit in front of the television, but to sit in front of the throne of God in prayer, listening to Him, not the world?

Again, Jesus showed us the example.

Wilting of the World

Autumn comes and goes but;
More often it comes. Nothing
Lasts forever. Trees are cut
Down and wilt and forests ring,
With the sound of chain-saws.
Everyone is mortal, no one,
Is victorious against Death's claws.
The leaves fall and are done.

Young become old and die.
Countries appear and war and fade,
Everything will eventually lie
Down. Things are always made
And Winter is where they are headed.
Nothing can escape the onslaught
Of the coldness and so they are dead.
The trees freeze, we are taught.

Spring is too often, too cold.
The leaves do not appear yet;
Though they should, we are told.
It is time for those alive to bet,
On what is diminished and done,
So far. It is possible to prolong,
The inevitable but there are none
Who can escape. They are wrong;
When they talk of summer
And of new and young. I cope,
But nothing lasts forever
And nothing ever will, except hope.

Again, with most of my poems, this was written a few years ago, this one during a slightly darker period... Not really sure what state I was in, but I felt like writing this as a frontal assault on what I saw as the insult that there was any good in the world. People like to blind themselves sometimes, and I well and truly did!

I would say that my situation in life, from a worldly point of view is much worse now than it was then, but there is a huge difference. I mentioned hope in the very last line; what is different now is that I understand what that hope is.

And it's not just any unfounded hope. It's the hope that never fails. The hope that is built on a solid foundation. The hope that anchors me and keeps me from going adrift. It is a hope that has become a faith. And that faith has changed my life and how I live my life.

For one thing, I don't write poems like this anymore! But this poem still speaks to me about how I was. About the fear and predicament that I was in and the feeling of helplessness that every person eventually discovers if they do not know God. There is only a hope with no substance, with no foundation. And so when the storms come, we can be swept away.

It is a constant reminder to me of the desperation that I have come from. I was lost without and now I am found. I was blind to God, but He opened my eyes. I pray that He will work in the hearts of everyone who reads this and that this poem will be held up as a mirror to the lives of anyone who does not yet know God, so that they can see just how lost they really are.

And with God's help, they will be changed. We must be born again.

Do not fear.

God is the one and only Rock that never moves. If our foundation is in Him, then we will stand. He is the anchor of our souls and though we have troubles in this world, there is nothing that can come between us and Him.

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-40.

We will struggle but God is in control and He will never let it become too much for us.

Do not fear the evil one.

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." Psalm 23:4.

We must fear God but not the evil one. Our fear of God should be much greater than any fear of evil. It says fear God and shun evil. Shun evil, but do not fear it because God is your protection.

"Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil." Proverbs 3:7

We must hate evil, shun evil and avoid evil, but if we fear it, we are suggesting that it is more powerful than God.

"Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil." Proverbs 16:6.

"To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech." Proverbs 8:13.

"'Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.'" Psalm 91:14.

This is what God says to all of us, no matter what dark place we find ourselves in:

"For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." Isaiah 41:13

Simply I leave you with these words straight from God: "Do not fear."