Tomorrow

Sometimes we remember how great things were in the good ole days. Now things are different. Times change. People change. Things aren't the way they were before. We might find ourselves saying, we need to get back to the Bible, back to the word, back to the work of the Kingdom and then things will be better, like they were before. 

Not a bad idea. Every now and then we need to look at our today and think about where we want to be tomorrow. Have we arrived? Are we done? Or is there more still yet that God has tasked us with? 

I've seen progress made, and I feel there's progress needed, so let's keep moving forward. Let's keep building and rebuilding. Let's strengthen our faith, our community, our church. let's strengthen our relationships, our devotion, our commitment.

"Let us rise up and build!"

Comparison

They say "comparison is the theif of joy" but I think maybe that depends on what's being compared. For Paul, he had great insight into what God has in store for His children. Paul knew of the glory and majesty and blessings that God will give to them that believe on that great and last day. For Paul, that meant that comparison was a source of joy because he was able to look past the present sufferings and look forward to the new home. 

If we compare anything, let's look forward with joy at the hope we have in Jesus. 

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.”

—2 Corinthians 4:17-18

"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord

more than those who watch for the morning,

more than those who watch for the morning." --Psalms 130:5-6

What should the Christian’s relationship with the world be like?

What should the Christian’s relationship with the world be like? At first glance, one might think that the Christian should have no relationship with the world. The Bible sometimes uses the phrase “the world” to describe the enemies of God and His people. One such example is Ephesians 6:12 in which Paul through the Spirit of God warns us, “. . . our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Therefore, one might assume the best relationship is either not at all, or to stand in opposition to the world.

This would seem to fall in line with James’s similar warning in chapter 4 where we learn, “that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” Indeed, a friendly relationship with evil or a level of comfort with the unholy and ungodly things of this world would certainly damage our faith or put our reliance on God or allegiance to Him at risk.

However, to adopt such a view that the world and its people are irredeemable goes against what it means to be ministers (2 Cor 3:6), missionaries (Acts 12:25), ambassadors (2 Cor 5:20), and servants (Rom 16:1) since the mission field itself is not only the weary Christians but also the fertile soil of the world.

In fact, Paul felt the need to clarify in his letter to the Corinthian church that when he wrote about the kinds of people the church members should associate with or avoid, he intended for them to avoid sinners that bear the name of Christ, not all sinful people. He goes on to say that if the message was to avoid all sinful people, “you would have to leave this world.” (1 Cor 5:9-11).

Paul says he doesn’t expect us to be astronauts. He does expect us to be in the mission field, in the messy world we live in, not as friends or allies with evil but as a voice crying out in the wilderness calling people to repentance and salvation (Is 40:3, John 1:23).