April 1 – My Faith Conflicts with the World by…

My Faith conflicts with the world by the life I grew up in and had my career in. It seems I tried to “fit in” with a certain kind of people whether as a teenager or as a sailor. Neither of these stereotypes were exactly in keeping with Godly principles either. For years I didn’t attend a church because I didn’t agree with the principles of the church I was brought up in. Then transferred every couple of years in the Navy and the base chapels didn’t really help me.
I longed for a true kinship with God, but for many years couldn’t find a conduit to really get to know him. Reading the bible was always hard for me because if it weren’t the, someone begat someone else I couldn’t keep track of, then it was passages that seemed to go in circles or contradict themselves. So, I continued floundering.
Now I come to a church I connect with, go to a bible study and I am getting involved in various areas….(I am also hoping there is some osmosis from people of great faith that I associate with). I feel that in spite of my younger years I do have a special relationship with the Lord and have gifts of the Holy Spirit. What is hard for me though, is knowing this and not at times reverting to behavior of the world which as bad as it sounds is still comfortable for me. I am much better with a little help from my friends…..but I still have to make a conscious effort to keep myself from falling back to reacting in old ways.
I am reminded of Pastor Jonathan’s sermon where he spoke about walking by a young man and barely acknowledging him only to receive the reply that he (the young man) was blessed. That made me think about this devotional and how sometimes we may all react in the ways of the world instead of the instantaneous Christian Love of God we should be reacting with.

-Bee Rose