Aliens in a Strange Place

Finding God.   L. Crabb

Christians, however, are citizens of another world; in this one we are strangers, aliens, and pilgrims...we endure hardships to serve Him because we love Him and are confident f His promise to bless us.....Although we claim citizenship in Heaven, we live like locals.

I have often been an outcast in this world. Partially RA symptoms popping up in my tween years  adding to the issues, and partly because of who I was, then, at that time.
Those years, while difficult, gave me a deeper understanding of what it means to not be a citizen of this world. It gave me a chance to learn to lean upon God, to handle harder and harder things up to this very day.  I learned how the love of God really does fill one up to the point one could be on a desert island and be at peace. 
To be 100% focused on God is the hardest part of this life here. There are more distractions, possibly, now in this time than ever before. We don't read the Bible after supper aloud after supper next to the fire while the women and girls knit or sew to keep the family warm, or while the boys work on their boots to keep them sturdy for another year. No, we spend many (most? all?) evenings watching TV, playing xBox/Wii, catching up on that Kindle book with the wild romance, preparing for college courses or other courses. "Relaxing" from work, we all call it. 
A fib we are telling ourselves, telling God. You know that urgent stirring that says "read the Word; take knowledge of Me," and we brush it off until we "finish this chapter", at which point the dog throws up on the carpet. 
We manage to come up with a long list of things, things too important right now. Things of this world. I admit guilt myself to watching a movie, or being in the middle of my favorite series of books, feeling that stirring. Really, you need to do it. Fight aside that longing for other things, pause the movie, bookmark the book, and devour the Word. At those times, I find, there may be such an outpouring of what I really needed to hear from a loving Father, that you totally forget what other book or movie that had your attention. 
I have not done much studying the last month because of the flares; I am hoping today will be a more cooperative day. Writing these blog posts from notes I took many months earlier give a great lift to my spirit...taking notes from books is harder because of managing the book itself, pen and paper. My body is just not up to holding so many things, not to mention thinking.
We must remember to not live like locals. I heard so many things from non-believers about how hypocritical Christians are...and I usually ask for examples. We all do this, sadly, but we will be talking poorly about a fellow believer, or we will not be acting in a godly manner...we may have issues with porn addiction/sexual actions not becoming one of the faith, drug addiction...you know the list, and probably, like me, know areas that are flaring up that you know are not a-ok. 
When we continue to act ungodly, unbecoming to one who has "given" one's life to the Creator, we become an embarrassment, to ourselves, to others, and to God. We must work on becoming aliens in a strange place---people who stand out by their faith and honoring of the Lord. We must become fully His, not half-His...not His on Sunday and maybe Monday but definitely not on Friday night. Think first if something is honoring to your Father, if it is loving as one of the brothers and sisters of the Savior. Let us become aliens....for our home is not of this place.