Let’s be straining toward the resurrection of the dead, and the ways of righteousness in his kingdom, and the glory of his likeness.
Growing in the true Christian faith will only ever take you closer to the person and work of Jesus – never further away.
As people who are both physical and spiritual beings, God cares for us, both physically and spiritually, through his ministers and through the life of the whole church. Embodied, in-person ministry matters.
If the joy you experience on earth directs your heart to a deeper, fuller enjoyment of God – then your earthly joy will bring you into even greater gladness rather than grief.
Is the day of Christ on your mind? Is it having any impact on how you live?
The right attitude of the Christian should never be “God shows me grace, so I can keep sinning!” Instead, the right attitude that we see here is “God shows me grace, so I can keep obeying!”
Even if we abandoned our houses and bodies and brains and our playthings, and we stooped down to take on the form of pond scum – even then, we would not have humbled ourselves as much as Jesus Christ did.
Very few of us need encouragement to watch out for ourselves. But to watch out and pay attention to the needs of others, just as intently – that’s a challenge. That’s not natural. Indeed, it’s divine.
Generosity is wrapped up in who God was, and is, and always will be, according to the riches of his wisdom.
Our citizenship is something to be understood, and enjoyed, and acted upon.