"It is not easy to live with a different heart and a different focus than the culture around us, but Jesus made provision for us to overcome the world." Kathy Spampinato

Just before Jesus was taken to be beaten and crucified, He prayed to the Father for us: those that would believe in him. His prayer reveals His heart for us, and His desire for us to be strong, to be unified, and to be sanctified by the truth.

John 17:6, 8-9a, 11, 13- 17 ESV "I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world."

Jesus knew that the world would not be an easy place at times, because our hearts have been transformed. We do not have the same priority or focus as we once did, and we are standing for the truth against an enemy out to defeat and destroy us. Jesus has sent us into the world to be His witnesses: to testify to the truth that we have received.

John 15: 19: "If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."

It is not easy to live with a different heart and a different focus than the culture around us, but Jesus made provision for us to overcome the world. Our hearts and minds have been renewed. We walk in the truth with the light of God's Word shining the path for our lives. We live with the knowledge of God's love and provision for us. We experience the very presence of God with us and in us. He is our great defender!

1 John 2:12-13 "I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one."

1 John 5:4 "For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"

Jesus' desire was for us to overcome the evil one and to live in victory in Him. His word has the power to transform us and make us more than conquerors. We are victorious as we walk in His ways. We walk in victory through Jesus.

1 Corinthians 15: 56-57 "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law, But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. "

John 16:33 "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."

As a Christian, when your days and your ways bring you into opposition to the culture around you, it may be difficult. You want to be understood and appreciated, but you must take courage. Jesus has given you the victory through your faith. He is the one who loves and appreciates you. He will also bring you brothers and sisters to stand with you and celebrate your victories. Because you are walking in the truth, your understanding and discernment bring you a renewed mind. Our culture won't understand your motivations, but the Lord of the universe will. He will strengthen and uphold you. He will give you victory over sin and the enemy.

Romans 8:37-38 "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.""