Q1. Homeland

[Godswoman]

Isn't it about the degree of relationship I have with God? The more I get to know Him, the more deeply I fall in love with Him, the more I move away from the world towards Him.

God and I are currently exploring monasticism; today and every day I am less worldly than I was yesterday and more like Jesus. It's the slow, transforming work of the Holy Spirit in a living relationship

[pcjames4]

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.  

 

[Jimwash]

They live to meet their own desire and need of the very present day.Living in sin is the order of the day since they don't believe in purity,second coming of Jesus and live after death.So to them every thing is normal and any positive achievement they term it as their efforts and fortunes.

Yes this happened to me sometimes back.I lived an anxiety life but thank to Jesus for his strong conviction that drew me closer to him and I was left with other choices but to make things right.

[Krissi]

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?

It's very difficult to conceptualize heaven, which is why so many people imagine it to be a physical place with streets, gold, pearly gates, mansions, etc. This may be why Christians tend to absorb themselves in the here-and-now, rather than the by-and-by -- we know where we are, or think we do, but really do not know where we will be for eternity. 

As we age and get closer to the time of natural death or if we're constantly ill though young, thoughts of heaven become more frequent and clearer. Heaven becomes more of a relief from the earth, a place of unlimited joy in Him, thus a place to which we look forward. In one's teens and twenties, thoughts of heaven rarely occupy us. I have read, though, that young men fighting in wars often think of God and death, for obvious reasons. "There are no atheists in foxholes ..."

As we age, too, we begin to cut away the dross. Earthly concerns seem less important. Less vital. But relationships, creativity and whatever lasts become more important. Among these more important things is the idea of a heavenly future. 

I'm neither young nor old but in-between. I do sense my mind shifting toward an older, more mature way of prioritizing heavenly over an earthly life. I don't feel I need to get my priorities right, however, for God, Himself, changes all of us as we grow in Him. Our priorities invisibly shift as the process of sanctification and knowledge deepen.