Kansas City, Missouri, United States - Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - "Servants Who “Belong”" Friday, 26 December 2014 - Scripture: John 15: Hated by the World18-19 “If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you.
20 “When that happens, remember this: Servants don’t get better treatment than their masters. If they beat on me, they will certainly beat on you. If they did what I told them, they will do what you tell them.
21-25 “They are going to do all these things to you because of the way they treated me, because they don’t know the One who sent me. If I hadn’t come and told them all this in plain language, it wouldn’t be so bad. As it is, they have no excuse. Hate me, hate my Father—it’s all the same. If I hadn’t done what I have done among them, works no one has ever done, they wouldn’t be to blame. But they saw the God-signs and hated anyway, both me and my Father. Interesting—they have verified the truth of their own Scriptures where it is written, ‘They hated me for no good reason.’
26-27 “When the Friend I plan to send you from the Father comes—the Spirit of Truth issuing from the Father—he will confirm everything about me. You, too, from your side must give your confirming evidence, since you are in this with me from the start.”
"Servants Who “Belong”" by Doug Forsberg
To be loved and admired is a common human desire. On the other hand, to bear the rejection of others is often so painful we will do almost anything to avoid it. According to Jesus the issue of whether you will be loved and admired depends solely upon the answer to one simple question: “Who do you belong to?”
If you “belong” to the world and share its value system, if you follow its well-worn paths of disobedience you will be loved, supported, maybe even adored. The adoration of the world is often a cherished goal of those around us. If, however, you belong to the Master, walking in harmony with His Spirit and obeying His teaching, a rather troubling prospect awaits: The world will hate you.
As Christ’s servants we can expect no better than what He encountered when He bravely faced the opposing darkness of this world. For us the joys and blessings of belonging to Jesus so transcend the fleeting pleasures of this world we find ourselves surrounded and filled by His sweet Holy Spirit.
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