We tend to let the cares of this world lull us into spiritual slumber. We get so entranced with our temporal kingdoms that we become in danger of missing the eternal Kingdom. Jesus doesn’t leave us uniformed about what will come before his return. He let us know we will suffer, many will be deceived, but for those who endure, when Jesus comes again it will all be worth it. Remembering the gospel empowers me to endure just as he endured for the other side of endurance is blessing beyond belief. It’s him!

Our pride and selfishness kill our souls and both keep us out of the Kingdom and prevent others from finding it as well. Christ was humble and selfless, and yet He was crucified as a prideful, selfish criminal to pay the debt we owed. Once we accept this, we recognize our humble position before a lofty God and can seek His saving power and lead others to find it as well.

Jesus calls us to love God with all we are and to love others as ourselves. This is the heartbeat of the Gospel and the foundation of discipleship. When we inhale the Gospel, we are transformed by God’s love. When we exhale the Gospel, that love flows outward through obedience, generosity, and mission. When we put our yes on the table, we step into the work God is already doing among us.

When things don’t go our way, we tend to argue with God rather than obey Him. He questions Jesus with a heart posture that wants to protect our control rather than submit to Him as the answer. Jesus calls us to give to God what is God’s. We do this through faith in the Gospel. When we stop arguing with the Resurrection and the Life, and start trusting Him, surrendering our control to give Him control, He gives us new life. He is the God of the living and not the dead.

Everyone is invited to eternal life, but we can let busyness, rebellion, or self-reliance keep us from Christ and thus from his kingdom. Christ obeyed the Father and earned the robe of righteousness, the only approved garment for the kingdom. Then he died and rose from the dead so he could clothe us with it. When we choose to trust in Christ and follow him, we get his robe and are made ready for his kingdom. Church attendance is not enough. We need his robe!

We don’t like it when Jesus establishes His authority by disrupting our lives. We’re okay with Him being good to us, but not with Him exposing us. We cannot separate His goodness from His work of exposing sin in our hearts. The exposure of sin is a demonstration

When it doesn’t look like Jesus is in charge, we easily lose faith in him and wither up spiritually from it. Doubt maligns the soul. Jesus proved to be worthy through his death on the cross and to be King through his resurrection. No matter what our circumstances seem to indicate, we can maintain our faith in him and see the fruit of that faith when the impossible becomes possible.

We want Jesus for what he can do for us. We act like he owes us something, thinking mostly of what Jesus can add to our life to make us great. We tend to miss his purpose, because we are so consumed with our own. The gospel illuminates that the way of Jesus is sacrifice. To lay your life down as a servant for the sake of others experiencing life and salvation. Jesus took our place as the perfect substitute so that we could be saved. Jesus doesn’t respond to our entitled demands for position but to our humble cries for mercy. Receiving this mercy empowers us to sacrifice our purpose for his purposes in our life.

When we think we deserve God’s grace more than someone else, it ceases to be grace, and therefore we cannot celebrate it or enjoy it. That comparison robs us of the joy God’s grace should give us, and we end up miserable in the end. The gospel reminds us that we are so flawed and sinful that God had to take on flesh to die in order to save us. But He gladly did so for all who would believe in Him. When we see that grace, and don’t waste our time trying to compare the grace others get from God, we get to rejoice in His kindness and serve in His field for the Master we love!

We often try to be “good enough” on our own, but Jesus shows us that eternal life isn’t earned by our good deeds. The rich young ruler did many things right, yet he couldn’t let go of what he loved more than God. Either Jesus is Lord of all, or He isn’t Lord at all. Christ calls us to release every lesser treasure so we can receive something far greater—Himself. When we remember that He emptied Himself and went to the cross for us, surrender becomes our joy, not our loss.