Keeping an Eternal Mindset
Kiana McCrea currently reside in Phoenix, Arizona. She grew up in Washington state and moved to Arizona to attend Grand Canyon University. She graduated in 2019 with a degree in biology with an emphasis in pre-medicine. Kiana aspires to be an oral surgeon and work in an underserved community one day! She has been a follower of Jesus for a little over three years now and it has absolutely changed her life, she says it has been the best choice she has ever made! She is super excited to be joining the Boldly Seeking guest writer lineup for the month of June and share what Jesus has been putting on her heart lately!! We are so excited to welcome Kiana to our Guest Writer line-up and are so excited for you to read her blog.
Read below, comment, and join the conversation! XO, the Boldly Seeking Team
As followers of Jesus, our lives should look different.
It says in James 1:22 (ESV), “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” How are we as Christians living out the word of God? Though none of us are perfect, what efforts are we making to live out some of the most prominent commands in the Bible?
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (James 1:27).
Back in the day, the widows and the orphans were the poorest of the poor. We see that the poor are mentioned numerously throughout the Bible as God calls us to care for the poor and needy (see Exodus 22:21-24, Deuteronomy 10:18, Proverbs 22:9, Isaiah 1:17, Luke 14:13). I once heard, while listening to the radio, “What if every Christian family adopted an orphan or someone out of the foster system? There wouldn’t be any left, they would all be cared for.” That concept blew my mind. Now, not everyone is called to adopt or foster, but all Christians are called to take care of the poor, whether that be through your church or individually.
The third part of James 1:27 states that we must keep ourselves unstained from the world.
We all fall short of this at times, but we have to do all we can to live for eternity rather than for the world. Things of this world can appear to be good, making us want more and think we need more. However, when we take a look at what the world is offering, we realize it will never fulfill us. James 3:16-17 says, “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” The first sentence of that verse has everything to do with the world and the second has everything to do with God. The world will continuously try and stain us, but we must keep our eyes and our heart focused on God. Paul talks about this in his letter to the Romans too. Romans 8:5 says, “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” In this moment, take a look at your desires, are they worldly and of the flesh or do they align with scripture and in accordance with God’s commands?
Constantly chasing after things of this world will only lead to our own destruction. We are warned of this in James 4. “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4). There is nothing we should fear more than being an enemy to God. In the culture of distractions and entertainment that we live in, we must fight to stay near to God as the world tries to pry us away. So, the question is, how do we draw near to God? A Biblical answer to this would be to study, meditate, and apply His word (see Psalm 1:2, Psalm 119, Colossians 3:16, 2 Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 4:12). If we are living uncorrupted from the world, then we are bound to make enemies with the world. Jesus says, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19). As we abide by God’s word, Jesus makes it clear that we will endure suffering. “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3-4). We should rejoice in our suffering. God cares far more about our character than our comfort. Though suffering on earth seems gloomy, we have to remember to keep an eternal mindset. “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).
There is no better source in life for knowledge and wisdom than God’s word. We must strive to seek out God in every season of life while also working hard to obey His word. I can think of no better way to end this blog post than with Philippians 2:12-13, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
- Kiana
