Dear Friends and Family,

What a wonderful world we do live in!  When we were living in Switzerland I rode the train to work every day and I would sit in the same seat everyday so I could have a perfect view of sun rising up over the Alps – very much like the photo on the right. After 3 years this view never grew old or become routine – it amazed me every single day. This is a wonderful, beautiful world that God created and we get to enjoy!

And while we are to enjoy the beauty that God created, worship Him through nature, and love the people of this world, God is extremely clear that we are not to love the things of this world: 1 John 2:15-16 “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.  For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.”

We all get duped by society, by culture, by media, by our flesh and ultimately by Satan. We all get duped into thinking the things of this world can bring satisfaction and happiness, specifically:

1. “the lust of the flesh” – pleasure
2. “the lust of the eyes” – possessions
3. “the pride of life” – position

It all started in the Garden of Eden and it still happens to all of us today. We get duped into thinking the latest car, the bigger house, the next vacation, the next promotion will bring peace and happiness. Satan duped Adam and Eve thousands of years ago and he still deceives us today.

We know in our hearts these things of the world only bring temporary satisfaction but we still believe the lie. And it is all temporary as John states in verse 17 “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”

So what is the solution? How do we “overcome the world”? The answer comes from Paul in Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Translation – stop believing the lie, stop giving in to the influences of the world, and allow God to change us, transform us by filling ourselves with the Word rather than with the things of the world. By allowing ourselves to be transformed God will change our desires from the things of this world to His will for our lives.

In His Service,

Ed