Sometimes standing alone can be, well...lonely. I guess that’s obvious, but it’s also good to know and consider. There are different types of standing alone. There is the kind that we all expect; the difference between us believers and the rest of the world. And then there is the other kind of standing alone, the kind that can easily leave us very discouraged and disillusioned. I’m talking about when folks you’ve been close to take other paths, or when folks you trusted ended up proving untrustworthy. Maybe you’ve shared glorious fellowship with them, and you felt such a close bond with them. It was like a little piece of heaven. You held discussions on your common convictions, and they encouraged you in what you both mutually believed.

   Then things changed one day. You realized that you were no longer walking the same path. You were standing alone.

Peer pressure has a powerful influence on young people especially. Although it can be positive, the phrase usually gives a negative connotation. Because this is a prevalent force, we must learn how to defend our faith and convictions without compromising, even in “little” things.

​In a way, peer pressure has been a common thing for many years. Trends in clothing, accessories, and attitudes are a classic example. Laura Ingalls Wilder implied in her book, Little Town on the Prairie, that she buckled under peer pressure. She wore the clothing in style (because it was in style), despite the fact that it did not match her personal tastes.

I walked into the health foods store and saw a young ‘earthy-looking’ employee in the produce section. It was a normal outing to the store, but then the thought, “Why don’t you witness to her?” Me: “Oh…no…well…what would I say? I can’t just walk up to her and say Jesus died for her sins!” That would be quite the first impression! God had been working in my heart to be bold in witnessing, but…Here? Now? What if I say the wrong thing? God’s grace prevailed and I found myself in front of this unsuspecting worker asking, “If you were to die tonight, do you know where you would go?” I waited for her reaction…she actually was looking very contemplative; she wasn’t even yelling angry words at me! She replied to my strange question by listing off several exotic countries that she would really like to visit before she died!  Surprised by her answer, I said, “Actually, I meant, where do you think you would go after you died?” This time she looked very contemplative. She did not know what happens after this life, and I had the opportunity to explain the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  She did not fall on the ground in repentance or even seem very responsive, but I had obeyed, and I walked away with a great sense of joy and fulfillment.

What is Christmas? Is it just a national holiday? Where did it come from? First of all, what does holiday mean? 

Dearest Sisters,
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For the past year or so, God has been laying on my heart the importance of faithfulness to Him. I’d like to share with you some gleanings from the life of an ordinary man who held an ordinary job—yet he served an extraordinary God.

The popular culture of today projects a skewed image of beauty. What we are bombarded with by the mass media in no way resembles God’s definition of beauty; it is an intense focus on outward appearances, an exploitation of physical beauty, and a complete ignorance of the true, Christlike beauty that emanates from the inside out. The consequences of this worldly outlook run the gamut from immodesty to eating disorders to disillusionment—and much, much more. If we know that the image of beauty projected to us by the world is fatally twisted and self-destructive, then what is true beauty?

​“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the
work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
—I Corinthians 15:57–58
 
“Change and decay in all around I see. O, Thou Who changest not, abide with me.”

I love that line of the precious hymn, “Abide with Me,” because it reminds me that in the midst of disastrous compromise and heart-wrenching sin in the world—or even in the lives of fellow believers who have strayed from the Lord—my God does not change! He is from everlasting to everlasting, the same yesterday, today, and forever!

Have you ever noticed disheartening compromise in a fellow believer? The direction of the world is enough to discourage anyone, but what is especially grieving is to watch Christians—formerly strong Christians—cave under pressure. We are to be set apart—called out—for God’s work. We have a strong arm to lean on, and rebellion to the Lord’s ways should not occur in our lives. Our family has been heart-broken in observing others collapse under pressure from the world. Recently, the Lord revealed Scriptures and thoughts that I wanted to share in hopes that it will be an encouragement as you endeavor to live strong in the Lord all your days. After all, glorifying Him is our life-long purpose as Christians!