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.

We often think ourselves too important to help those who most need our help. This the opposite of the heart and actions of Jesus. Though Jesus was the most important person on earth, he humbled himself to the lowest by allowing himself to be crucified on a cross. But his humility released the Father’s power. So too, when we humbly remember what Christ has done for us, we humbly serve His agenda and not ours.

Jesus teaches that there is supernatural power in unity in our personal lives, in our marriages, and in the Church. Unity is not just a pleasant ideal; it is the key to experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit. When believers are unified in prayer, worship, and purpose, we stir the heart of God and open the door for His power to move among us. But when disunity enters through bitterness, anger, or unforgiveness, the Spirit is grieved, and His power is hindered.

Our pride keeps us too confident in self, too unafraid of sin, and too dismissive of God.

Christ became weak and vulnerable and broken so that the weak and vulnerable and broken could find life and salvation in him. Faith in a crucified Christ should lead us to be confident in God, afraid of sin and dismissive of self.

We miss his power, purpose, and provision because we forget to put our faith in who he is and what he came to do. When we put our faith in Jesus and his resurrection, we realize that who He is and what he did is everything that we need. We have power over the enemy, purpose for sacrifice, and provision to point others to him.

We don’t realize what we have available to us when we meet with Jesus, so we don’t pursue an encounter with him like we should.

Jesus’ Resurrection means we can encounter the risen Lord Jesus Christ whenever we choose. We just need to make time to meet with him and let him change us like only he can. Faith in Christ compels us to come to Christ.

We think that life is about what we can get out of it. We don’t realize that church is more about sacrificing what we think is life to gain what true life is which is his presence and his glory.

The gospel teaches us that every sacrifice for the sake of gaining eternity with God is worth it. So much so that God the Father was willing to sacrifice his son Jesus, and Jesus was willing to sacrifice his life. All so that we could gain life with his Holy Spirit here on earth and life in eternity as well.

Our natural tendency is to focus on earthly things, causing us to miss Jesus. Any focus on what is temporal will cause us to miss who Jesus is eternally and what he has done for us eternally. Belief in the gospel redirects my focus to eternity. The sign of Jonah, Jesus’ resurrection, reminds me to live for Jesus, the Bread of Life, who alone can satisfy me forever and bring me into His eternal Kingdom.

Our tendency is to trust in our evil hearts instead of the Holy Spirit, and because of it, we remain dead in our sins, powerless to change, and unable to enter the Kingdom. Jesus came in the power of the Spirit to bring the Spirit into us by his death, burial, and resurrection. When we trust in Christ, we receive the Spirit of Christ who transforms our evil hearts into new, obeying hearts that experience eternal and abundant life.

We think that listening to our heart is a good idea, but our hearts are defiled and deceptively wicked. We have a heart problem, and when do what the culture says and “follow our heart” all it will do is lead us to sin and destruction. Jesus came to heal my defiled heart and give me a new one. Belief in the gospel of Jesus makes the old pass away and makes me new in Christ Jesus.