Ray NoahIn It But Not Of It – Ray Noah https://raynoah.com Faith In Motion Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:15:04 +0000 en-US hourly 1 1205010 In It But Not Of It https://raynoah.com/2025/08/18/in-it-but-not-of-it-3/ https://raynoah.com/2025/08/18/in-it-but-not-of-it-3/#respond Mon, 18 Aug 2025 07:05:12 +0000 Ray Noah https://raynoah.com/?p=98073 A Tough Assignment, But Jesus Has Prayed For You

“ I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me..

— JOHN 17:11-20

Getting Closer to Jesus: I cannot think of a more difficult assignment that you have today than to live in the world but not be of it. Yet that is the exact calling that God has placed upon your life. You must live as light on a spiritually dark planet, yet not be absorbed by the darkness; you are to be gospel seasoning in a godless world without losing your God-flavor.

To get out of balance on either end of that assignment, which is an easy thing to do, by the way, is a recipe for spiritual uselessness at best, and spiritual offensiveness at worst. Some Christians have assumed their assignment is to retreat from the world so far that they are insulated from sin. Great—all they have succeeded in doing so is making themselves weird and forfeiting any ability to attract people to the joy and abundance of the Kingdom Life. Other Christians, much larger in number, have gone so far the other way and have so blurred the lines between believer and non-believer that the world has no way of seeing in them the attractive beauty of Christ’s holiness. Not only that, but they have not made God happy in the process.

It is a tough act to pull off: To be in the world yet not of it. But Jesus, himself, has prayed to his Father for you—so that gives you a fighting chance. Not only that, Jesus himself has set for you an example of how to live in the culture and not be absorbed by it. It’s called the incarnation.

The truth is, wherever Jesus went, not only was he untainted by the sinful world, but his life was also so compellingly different that he drew unbelievers to the Father like bees are drawn to flowers. Furthermore, Jesus himself promised to send you the Holy Spirit to lead you, guide you, walk with you every step of the way, and empower you to live in this world but be set apart from it as a living witness of the grace of God.

It sounds like your assignment, as difficult as it may be, is completely doable since Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are on Team You!

So, go do the righteous thing!

“ Our witness – good or bad – is the overflow of our lives.

— ALLISTAIR BEGG

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Take the Next Step: Read John 17 out loud today, and absorb the words as Jesus prays for you. I promise, you will be encouraged.

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