Aliens

He's right you know. There are aliens. I am one of them. And so are you. So let's just....nope not gonna do it.

I got a several comments from my fellow missionary friends about the "Third Culture Adults" reference in the last post. It was nice and validating knowing that I wasn't the only one who couldn't just jump back into my culture of origin like nothing in my brain had changed.

I have thought about this... a lot. But never more than when my oldest daughter came home and told me that another child told her she didn't belong here in America, but only belonged in the jungle. After much internal reflection, I realized that physically harming children is wrong and sat down to have a long conversation with my daughter about where she really "belongs".

I explained to her that she actually doesn't truly belong here in America or in the jungle. She truly belongs in heaven with God. That is His design and desire and He sent Jesus to make sure that could be possible for her future.

I told her that no one really belongs here on this earth, our hearts long for something Bigger. Something More. Our hearts long for God, although not everyone recognizes it as that. I mentioned that people try to fit in here, some try really hard by looking a certain way, or having certain material things, but in this ever-changing world you too must constantly change how you look and what you have in order to "belong". That makes me tired.

But Praise God!! He never changes!! And He does the changing in us that makes us belong to Him.

And so when I know that I will never truly fit into my host culture, and I feel like I no longer fit into my culture of origin, I am relieved and filled with joy knowing that I am not really supposed to fit in anyway. I "fit" with Jesus and belong to God. I am a citizen of  Heaven and my true culture is the Kingdom of God.

Until God decides that it is time for me to go home, I am here as an alien, a stranger, a pilgrim, a missionary on this earth.

"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." -John 17:16

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." -Philippians 3:20

"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.  People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.  If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.  Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." -Hebrews 11:13-16

 "I beg you, as those whom I love, to live in this world as strangers and “temporary residents”, to keep clear of the desires of your lower natures, for they are always at war with your souls." -1 Peter 2:11 (Phillips)

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; - See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Aliens,-Christians-In-The-World#sthash.9HEKVCoO.dpuf

"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. - See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Aliens,-Christians-In-The-World#sthash.9HEKVCoO.dpuf

 Or as the NASB puts it...

^" Beloved, I urge you as ALIENS and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul." 1 Peter 2:11

"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. - See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Aliens,-Christians-In-The-World#sthash.9HEKVCoO.dpuf

All of that is so amazing and so comforting when you feel as though you don't really belong anywhere...

So let's just Praise the Lord!!

(Sorry, even though I resisted writing it above, that song wormed its way into my head like a cranial parasite and I can't get it out. I apologize for the fact that you will be singing "Father Abraham" in your head for the next three days. Does it help to know that I will be singing it with you? No? Again, sorry about that.)

"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. - See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Aliens,-Christians-In-The-World#sthash.9HEKVCoO.dpuf