Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
(1 Peter 1 v 3-5)
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
(Matthew 19 v 28-30)
Being a Christian is costly. Sometimes we'll lose friends because we love Jesus. We also have to turn away from things that used to be more important to us than Jesus. But one day, when Jesus returns, we'll be rewarded far more than we could ever imagine! The Christian life isn't easy, but it's definitely worth it.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
The LORD has made his salvation known
and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
He has remembered his love
and his faithfulness to the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
make music to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of singing,
with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
shout for joy before the LORD, the King.
Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
Let the rivers clap their hands,
let the mountains sing together for joy;
let them sing before the LORD,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples with equity.
Psalm 98
If we begin to grasp the incredible way God has rescued us, so that one day we’ll join all creation in His perfect world, praising Him… if we just begin to appreciate who God is and what He’s done for us… then we’ll want to sing and shout His praises. And we’ll sing in the way this psalm tells us to: loudly, with joy and jubilation.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
(1 Corinthians 13 v 8-12)
All of the things we value now will seem insignificant when we experience life in perfection with God. We will know God so much more clearly and it will be awesome. So we should live with our eyes fixed on eternity.
Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Timothy 4 v 8)
Rather than competing for a gold medal, the athletes of Paul's day competed for a laurel crown. It is the heavenly crown that makes all the pain and sacrifice worth it for the Christian—our glorious future, which makes any pain in the present more than worthwhile. In the Olympics, one person gets the gold medal: in God's family, everyone who trusts and loves Jesus, longing for His return, will receive the crown of righteousness.
Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
(1 Corinthians 10 v 31)
When God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.
(Ecclesiastes 5 v 19–20)
It is when we learn to trust God, and so be accepting of what He has (and hasn't!) given us, that we find true, lasting satisfaction. Such a life is free from anxiety, even about the shortness of life, because of gladness in what God has given.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
(2 Corinthians 5 v 17-21)
