**Daily Devotional** **August 1** *18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. - John 15:18-19 (KJV)* It is a truth that if you serve the Lord with all your heart, and let your light shine out into this dark world, the world will hate you. Jesus suffered this hate and cruelty from the world, as they rejected and crucified Him. By coming and suffering, as we suffer, Jesus became the perfect High Priest for us, as He was tempted in all the ways that we are (Hebrews 4:15-16). Just think about the fact that Jesus was the creator of man (Ephesians 3:9), and yet He took on the form of a man and came to earth, just to redeem us, and bring us back into fellowship with the Father (John 17:3). No matter how much we are persecuted for Jesus, it can not compare to what Jesus went through for us. You can be sure that if you live a Christian life, the world will hate you, as it hated Jesus (2 Timothy 3:12). It is not really you it hates, but it is Jesus living through you that upsets this world, as the light you shine forth (holiness), exposes the darkness (sin) in the world. If you are born again, you truly are not of this world (1 Peter 2:9), as you are a part of the body of Christ, who is in heaven, so your home now is in heaven (Hebrews 11:16) – Praise God. What an honor it is to have been chosen by the Lord to be part of His body, and no matter what persecution befalls us, we should rejoice, as our rewards in heaven will more then compensate us (Matthew 5:11-12). Praise God for all His promises in the bible. Devotional by Pastor Joe W. Green, www.infinite-faith.com