In my studies this week, the passage which stood out has caused me to meditate on it until today. This morning the Lord told me to share my ruminations. Here’s the passage.

But first a word from my Lord. When I opened the Bible on the iPad this just now, this is what appeared in the Tree of Life Version as the app opened.

“You adulteresses! Don’t you 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.” ‭‭Jacob (James)‬ ‭4:4‬ ‭TLV‬‬

This fits in directly with the passage which got me started:

“If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”
‭‭John‬ ‭15:19‬ ‭NASB‬‬

If the world doesn’t hate you, something’s wrong

First, let’s remind ourselves what the world is scripturally. The Greek is kosmos. This is the world system run by the Creep and his cohorts. It includes the economy, the educational system, the entertainment industry, politics (remember that party spirit is a work of the flesh), governments, religious organizations, and the like. You can tell if it’s part of the worldly system or not by whether it proclaims Jesus as the messiah. We see that in the previous verse to our main text.

“”If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.”
‭‭John‬ ‭15:18‬ ‭NASB‬‬

So, what does that mean to us as Christian writers and publishers? Isn’t that obvious? The world doesn’t hate your work if it does not proclaim Jesus of Nazareth who came in the flesh. Remember, this is the test of the spirit behind that thought, that writing, that speech, that advice, your life.

The key is simple:

What is the Lord calling me to do?

You cannot make your decisions based on what will sell, what will get you acclaim, or what’s popular. Once you have the vision He is giving you personally, these questions must be asked for everything you do.

• “Does this line up with the vision?”
• “What does the Lord want me to do or say this time? NOW!”
• “What is His purpose for this book?”
• “Is Jesus asking me, now, to contact this person, share this word, write this, edit that?”
• “Is the Lord speaking to me today?”

If you can’t hear Him, it’s a serious problem and you need to get that fixed today! For many of you, religion has told you that God does not speak to people today. That’s a lie from the pit of Hell!

If you are not hearing the Lord, you are not listening. You have to take the time to listen. The word for prayer Biblically implies a conversation. You are not to give God a monologue, but to participate in a dialog. It takes practice. I have written in several of my books and in other posts about ways to hear the Lord. You do have to practice. But for God’s Sake, do not call yourself a Christian author if you are not proceeding from  a relationship with Him.

Does He protect His people?

Of course! If He has called you to share, He will anoint you to do it and protect you while you are producing the work. In other words, if the world does not hate you and your work, you need to know why. You need to know if that’s what the Lord is asking you to do. Remember the Great Commission:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew‬ ‭28:19-20‬ ‭NASB‬‬

This is the basic instruction for all of us. Your vision, your call will come out of our mission to go and make disciples.