March 28, 2024

Different

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I have had the right to stand and fight
But it would have still been wrong
I’ve had the chance to prove a hurtful truth
I had to let it go and just move on
‘Cause there’s a gift called grace
That’s captured my life
Though the way of the world is power and pride

I want to be different, Jesus, just like You
I want to be tender with mercy guiding all I do
So when others talk about me
Let it be because I am different
Let the difference be love

Let me have the kind of heart that shines
The light and shows You’re real
And where hope is dim and fear sets in
Will you use me, Lord, to help and heal
I don’t want wealth or fame
To define the life I live
Oh, let me be known for what I give

Every day is a chance to serve You
By caring for someone else
I will make the choice to surrender
And not live for myself

~  Sing this song with me as our prayer and worship today.  ~

~  Performed by Mollye Rees and Jamie Slocum  / Written by Jamie Slocum  ~
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 How many times have you said this phrase to yourself in your life time?

“I want to be different, Lord!”

Everyday, people are watching our every move, especially when they hear we are Christians.   They begin critiquing us in everything.   They want to know ARE we really different.   People look for different.

It’s not what is on the outside (our clothes, our hairstyle, our car, etc.) that is important and makes us different; but it’s Who lives inside us that makes us truly different.   We should be so different that others see it in our hearts, our actions, our attitudes.   Keep in mind, becoming different is not immediate when we say ‘yes!’ to receive Christ as Savior.   Before that moment we lived an ungodly life in an ungodly world trying to shed ourselves of old habits and behaviors that once were us.   Now we have a new life inside us—the Holy Spirit—that is ready to mold us to be different, to be just like Jesus!

Don’t get discouraged, becoming different takes time.  The ways of this world that we live in are natural and don’t have to be learned, but becoming different, becoming like Jesus, is a total change in thinking and action.

 Jesus was different. He was totally others-centered and the key to His difference was LOVE!

How can we become different so that others see Him? By pushing old things away, by letting our reactions to people be seen as the hands and feet of Jesus, by becoming a little more different—more like Him—every day!

This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you
John 15:12

I wanna be different…how about you?

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Dear God,  help us to read Your Word daily, Lord, and continue to teach us every day how we can change to be like You and when the world sees that difference then they will see You.  In Your name I pray, Amen!