"What does it mean for us to be wholly devoted to God and sold out to Him entirely? This is a question that I have asked myself for years. I want to live a life pleasing to Him, honoring Him, sharing His Word and His love and life to those around me. I strive with all my being to mirror His image and follow Him. But how, in a world where sin is rampant and fleshly desires and struggles seem almost impossible to overcome, do we live lives that portray the love of the God we serve?

As we look around at the world today, it's hard to believe how far we have truly fallen since the Garden of Eden and how different our nation is as a whole. Look at the days of Noah. Eight righteous people in the entire world? How?! I cannot even fathom such darkness. Such evil! And so soon after the world was created, God already was ready to destroy it because of the evil sin that sprouted after man disobeyed God by eating the fruit of the one tree that God told him not to eat of. 

As a whole, we have definitely fallen, and fallen far. As a nation, our God is banned from our schools and universities, mocked, ridiculed, and disregarded by 1.1 billion people world wide, and His followers are labeled haters and bigots, are persecuted and murdered, imprisoned and degraded, or unable to maintain equal rights to everyone else. Even in our own "free America," teachers can be fired for bringing God into the classroom, Christian business owners sued and their business's shut down, and scorned by the rest of the world. 

Setting aside all the countless martyrs who were killed and the ones that are still being persecuted today and all but one of the apostles for a moment, let's think about the mass genocide that occurred when Hitler murdered 6 million Jews, but an additional 5 million Jehovah's Witnesses, disabled, Slavs, and anyone who dared help a poor Jewish soul who couldn't escape the coming doom, or else were refused entry to our own shores if they did somehow manage to get out of Europe before the Holocaust came. It is almost as if the days of Noah have come about again. 

All throughout history, it seems to be continually repeating itself! The end result? 

Death. 

"For the wages of sin is death..."

Romans 6:23

So, with all of that depressing news now in the forefront of our minds, how do we keep ourselves from falling into the trap that all of humanity encounters? 

I am not sure that there is one set answer to this question, but I do believe that there are a few key elements that are vital for keeping our heads above the water and remaining steadfast and loyal to God. 

How do we follow God whole-heartedly?

For thousands of years, all throughout mass persecution and being dispersed into the nations countless times, one people group has endured, despite all the odds being against them. The Jewish people have kept the oracles of God, they have passed them down from generation to generation, and even in the midst of foreign countries where they were living in exile, a faithful remnant always remained. Why? Why was this remnant able to do this? 

Because they knew who they were. 

They had identity. 

If we do not know who we are and who we belong to, how will we ever expect to hold fast to God, to His Word, to our convictions, to anything? 

"But encourage one another daily while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Messiah, if we hold fast to the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end..."

Hebrews 3:13-14

Sin deceives. Sin hardens. 

Love covers a multitude of sins. 

Who is our confidence? 

Messiah! 

How can we hold fast if we have no idea who we belong to? Who we are?

We not only have to know who we are but also why we are who we are, what we ought to stand for and why we stand for it, and be able to give an answer to those who oppose and challenge us. 

We must hold fast!

We cannot give into the temptations the world has to offer. We cannot give into fleshly desires. We must rise up! We must rebel against the ways of this world and the standards it has, or lack thereof, and instead put on the armor of God and fill ourselves up, or rather, invite God to pour into us the things that He loves. The things that He desires. 

Love. 

Purity. 

Truth.

Peace. 

Joy. 

Hope.

Those are the things that God wants for us. 

Those are the good and perfect gifts bestowed on us from above. 

Those are the things that the Lord gives to His beloved.

Are you His beloved? 

Of course you are! 

So start accepting God's love for you, His perfect will for you into your life.

Put on God's standards and discard the ways of the world. (Romans 12:2)

Know who you are in Christ, that you can do absolutely anything through Him who gives you strength, and that you are loved more than you will ever be able to comprehend by the One who created your soul and who fashioned you and called you loved. 

The lover of your soul is calling out to you. 

Don't run from Him... Run to Him.