WHAT SEPARATES YOU?

I wrote yesterday about how everyone who comes in contact with us should SEE that we are called by the name of the Lord. How will they see? By living out in the country and becoming self-sufficient? That's a great dream, but not the answer. By the way we modestly and conservatively dress? It's important to be modest, but that's not the answer.

Then how will they see? People will know we are called by the name of the Lord when they are aware of God's presence upon our lives. I experienced this in a little incident in my life before I was married. I was seeking after God with all my heart. I was school teaching at the time and got this thought that if I didn't wear make-up that people would see that I was a Christian. This was hard thing for me to do because I was like Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer, plus a freckle face! But, I wanted to really show people, even if they had to look at my red nose!

I lived this way for a number of months until one day God spoke to me in my heart. The words were strong and clear. "Nancy, is this the only way people will see you belong to Me? Immediately I was convicted. Immediately I realized that I was relying on works rather than the power of God. Immediately I comprehended that the only way people will know that I am called by the name of the Lord is when they SEE CHRIST LIVING IN ME It is when they observe His powerful presence in my life. It's nothing to do with outward religious show. This gets in the way of God's presence.

Moses realized that He couldn't take the children of Israel into the Promised Land without the power and presence of God with him. He cried out to God in Exodus 33:16, "For how then will it be known that your people and I have found grace in your sight, EXCEPT YOU GO WITH US? So we shall be separate, your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth."

What separates us from the spirit of the world is not hiding away, or outward works, but the presence of God in our lives.

Love from Nancy Campbell