children.

I know that not everyone in this world shares my opinions or my views on life, God, politics, football [go Steelers!], theology, or ministry, just to name a few. I don't expect everyone I meet to respond to situations in the same manner as I would & understand my reasoning behind them either. We live in a fallen world, a good friend recently reminded me. & boy, do we!

I meet with a small group of girls once a week at my church as part of my job, & I absolutely love it. These girls not only challenge me in my faith, they not only seek advice from me & ask me questions, but they also teach me as well.

My heart has been breaking for these girls recently. Although I don't know what it is like for them to continually seek after the Lord & stand up for Him in a public high school, I do know what it's like to stand up for Him in a fallen world.

A world where nobody around you understands His grace & love.. the free gift that He offers to eternity.. the hope & peace that we can find in Him.. & most importantly, the relationship that we have with Him- where He not only listens, but speaks in return.

God cares for us so much. & not just for "us" as Christians, but for us as His creation. The world. All of us. Christian & athiest, muslim & buddhist. He cares for all of us.

Even the orphan children in India of whose faces I remember daily, God loves. These pictures bring back those feelings of joy & compassion as I had the opportunity to minister to them in India last year. Their smiling faces amidst their physical poverty help with inspiring me to find joy amidst our spiritual poverty here in America.

But as a follower of God, as a believer in Jesus Christ, we can be encouraged by this statement:

Little children, you are from God & have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. [1 John 4:4]

We may not be understood because of the way we live our life, or worship God, or because of our political values. We may be misapprehended because of what football team we are faithful to, what our theological views are, or because of how we do ministry. Whatever the case, we can be encouraged to know that our opponents have been overcome by God.

We live in a fallen world, but Christ has overcome it when he overcame the grave.

If Christ lives in us, then we know that this same power lives in us.

Therefore with this power, we can overcome the world!