Daily Devotional - June 23, 2025

6/23/25

Good morning, Friends,

John 17:14-15 NLT

[14] I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. [15] I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. 

Friends, we are not of this world. Jesus Christ makes it clear. The world hates true followers of Christ. Specifically those who live in opposition to the world system, which values material possessions, power, sex, riches, greed, lustful passions, pride and a host of other forms of self-worship. 

Jesus had put his disciples on notice that the world would hate them. In this prayer to the Father, Jesus is again highlighting the fact that the world hates his followers because his followers don't belong to the world, just as Jesus himself didn't belong to the world.  His prayer is not that his his followers would be taken out of the world, but that they would be kept safe from the evil one. 

As we've seen throughout the years, the world is in turmoil with mass murders, corruption, warfare, abductions, poverty, diseases and decay. This is a product of a fallen world system. However, we are not called to be rescued from trouble, but kept safe from the "evil one". The temptations and deception that the world has intricately woven in society through social media, news outlets, and more,  have created a vacuum or fear and uncertainty. We must not bow to it, submit to it, be led by it. 

I encourage you to rise above the noise and rise above what you've been told by the world system. Commit yourself to the Holy Script, delve into the things of God, immerse yourself into the work of God. You are not of this world, you don't see things the way the world sees them, you don't function the same, your values aren't aligned with the world. Check this out.... the very fabric of your life has been masterfully crafted and made tough in God, through Christ, by God's Holy Spirit. 

You are a temporary resident! Live like one! 

Maranatha (The Lord is coming)  

Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)

- Grace & Peace

Pastor Trent