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This passage tells us our worth is more valuable than the world's best and that God was willing to spill His Son's blood to redeem us for His glory. These verses should level set us with regards to 401K's and brokerage accounts. Not that we shouldn't be good stewards and save/prepare, but this shouldn't be our main focus as all will be burned. The best long-term investment is the kingdom because it pays dividends into eternity.

Being judged by others can be upsetting because often the standard used by the culture is ripe with bias and injustice. The scales are not fair or weighted towards ones on standard of righteousness that is often not God's standard. Final judgment must be at the core of the Good News of Jesus because belief in Him will be the determining factor for life or death, fellowship or eternal damnation. When the Gospel is left out of the final judgment, works are lifted up and not faith in the Son. If the Gospel is not in the final judgment, all perish. No one can be saved.

In my own words, holiness is defined as set apart from the common. Believers are holy now since we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit and also elect. This holiness comes to life as we have good works. My biggest struggle with holiness is that sometimes being set apart means that my lack of faith can sometimes lead me to be set adrift.

Christ's second coming should get our undivided attention because of the accompanying grace that be with His arrival. This should inspire us to live a more hopeful, generous lifestyle free from anxiety because His arrival ends all worldly suffering. When we don't expect the return of Christ, worry set's in as well as longer-term plan which brings troubles of its own.

The basis of our Christian joy is Jesus and our belief in Him. This joy is not merely emotional as it should not depend on our situation or circumstances. Emotions tend to fluctuate, but our joy in Jesus should be constant regardless of our circumstances. Our pursuit of happiness can take us places that Jesus doesn't lead so "happiness" should not be the end of our goals. As Matt Chandler said, "follow God it might not end well." Many of the disciples did not have an happy ending to their lives but they still had joy in Jesus. Counterfeit joy has its means and ends in something other than God's glory and usually focuses inwardly on the believer. A genuine article of joy is outward towards God as an act of worship.

Yes, I can remember a time as I'm going through it right now. I recently lost my younger sister after a long illness and also I made a very serious mistake out of a heart filled with anger and malice. God showed my family and I great compassion and mercy. I was there for my younger sister in the way that I should have, plus the mistake I made was potential devastating. Yet God has shown me a better way in both circumstances. I can only praise Jesus for the transformation that has taken place in my heart. My savior gets all of the glory and recognition in both issues. I've been able to reconnect with family and friends in a way like never before and my heart is being cleansed from many sins and transgressions. I'm prayerful that He will renew my spirit as well. The last month has been the worst of my life, but through it all God has shown Himself to be full of grace and forgiveness. He has given my undeserved favor and I want to serve Him completely all of my days.

God's part in securing our salvation is His constant protection, guarding, and care. He has provided us with a fortress and stronghold used for our safety and our part is to have faith in His provision for our soul. He gives us everything, we just have to believe.

Forgiveness and obedience come together as a package since the bridge between faith and practice is worship. Since we have been forgiven, this gift of God requires a response of the recipient of such grace. Our response to such an amazing act of love should be worship that leads to obedience. We are not obedient to gain forgiveness, we are obedient because we are forgiven. Likewise, as it has been said before faith alone saves but the faith that saves is not alone. It's only through God's grace that we are saved but the true test of that grace is the natural outworking and fruit that is yielded because of our salvation. Works are always the response, not the cause of our salvation.

Q1. (1:1) How would you describe the behavior of a Christian who identifies more with his present homeland than his heavenly one? Have you ever caught yourself doing this? What has to happen to get our spiritual priorities straight? A Christian that identifies more with this present homeland than with our heavenly one is a believer that has lost sight of the true calling to be an ambassador for Christ. Our citizenship is in heaven, not Africa, Europe, Mexico, America, etc. All too often state pride takes precedence over heavenly devotion. Sometimes to justify our civic priority we meld it with the godly. This is a perversion of what God has told us to do. Yes, we should always seek the welfare of our present homeland, but this is done for the sake of furthering the Gospel and not political, social, or economical endeavors. Said believer in this condition should reorient themselves with a heavenly, sojourner mindset. This is not our abode.