And ye are complete in him…. (Col. 2:10)

Contrary to popular opinion, there are no degrees of fitness for heaven. A person is either absolutely fit or he is not fit at all. This goes counter to the common notion that at the top of God’s totem pole are good, clean-living people, at the bottom are the crooks and mobsters, and in between are those with varying degrees of fitness for heaven. It is an enormous mistake. We are either fit or we aren’t. There is nothing in between.

Actually none of us is fit in himself. We are all guilty sinners, deserving eternal punishment. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. We have all gone astray and turned to our own way. We are all unclean, and all our best works are like filthy rags.

Not only are we totally unfit for heaven, but there is nothing we can do by ourselves to make us fit. Our best resolutions and noblest endeavors cannot avail to put away our sins or to provide us with the righteousness that God demands. But the good news is that God’s love provides what His righteousness demands, and He provides it as a free gift. “It is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast,” (Eph. 2:8, 9).

Fitness for heaven is found in Christ. Whenever a sinner is born again, he receives Christ. God no longer sees him as a sinner in the flesh; He sees him in Christ, and accepts him on that basis. God has made Christ to be sin for us, He who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (see 2 Corinthians 5:21).

So what it comes down to is this. Either we have Christ or we don’t. If we have Christ, we are as fit for heaven as God can make us. Christ’s fitness becomes ours. We are as worthy as He is, because we are in Him.

On the other hand, if we don’t have Christ, we are as lost as we can possibly be. To be without Him is the fatal deficiency. Nothing else can ever make up for this crucial lack.

It should be clear then that no believer is any more fit for heaven than another believer. All believers have the same title to glory. That title is Christ. No believer has more of Christ than another. Therefore none is more fit for heaven than another.( By William MacDonald)

“Christ.. loved the church, and gave Himself up for it.” Ephesians 5:25

Thoughts of love nestled in His heart;
words of love lingered on His lips;
deeds of love flew from His hands; and
His steps left behind them, the impress of love!

Love threw its soft halo over His cradle at Bethlehem–and it fringed with its mellow splendors, the gloom of the cloud under which He expired on Calvary.

Love gave bounds to His reproofs–and pathos to His invitations.

Love was the magnet that guided Him in all His wanderings.

Love bound Him to the cross and held Him there–and not the iron nails which pierced His hands and His feet!

Love thrilled in His bosom, and glistened in His eye!

Love prompted Him to impart miraculous aid on every opportunity. His meekness was but one of its features. It clothed itself in forgiveness toward His enemies, and its last pulsation was in a prayer for His murderers.

Love was the spiritual atmosphere in which He lived, moved, and had His being. And all this love had His own people for its central object, around whom it ever hovered with sleepless tenderness and assiduity! “Christ loved the church–and gave Himself up for her!”

But those exhibitions of love during His life–are eclipsed by the displays of it in His death! Love shines out with novel charms amidst the gloom of death, for it did not shrink from the shame and woe of the cross!

His severest anguish was that of His soul. Oh! it was not shame, persecution, or crucifixion–for these terrible sufferings could have been easily borne! It was not the rage and malice of Satan–these also could have been trampled on! But it was the endurance in Himself of the punishment due to that sin which He had taken upon Himself–which drank up His spirit, prompted the moan in Gethsemane, and the mysterious complaint on Calvary! The ‘travail of His soul’–was induced by vicarious pangs!

In the Scriptures, Redemption is not ascribed . . .
to the birth of Christ with its mysteries,
nor to the miracles of Christ with their splendor,
nor to the life of Christ with its holy beauty
–but only to His death!

Who can estimate the depth and fervor of a love which . . .
gave itself to such agonies;
laid itself on the altar as a perfect atoning sacrifice;
suffered–that we should not eternally suffer;
and died–that we might live forever?
For in His love–He gave Himself. It was no inferior gift He selected–for no inferior gift could be the adequate expression of His love. It would be content with nothing else–and nothing less. The Divine Lover gave Himself! Surely the voice of the Redeemer’s love, speaks in thrilling accents from the cross!

Oh, then, what an amazing gift!

You members of His blood-bought church, as you look to His cross, when you see Him groaning, bleeding, and dying in agony and shame–under the deepest, most mysterious and terrible of sufferings–will you not be always reassured of His love? Will it not glow in your bosoms, and thrill in your praises?

“Unto Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood–to Him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.” –By John Eadie, 1865

The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord– Isaiah 29:19

Meekness is not a momentary decision, but a way of life. Someone has described biblical meekness as “putting the bit in your own mouth and handing the reigns over to God.” It is an humble attention, and receptivity, to the will of God.

The meek are often mistaken in our day as being weak. But meekness is actually great strength, under control — God’s control. Great faith, great commitment, and great determination are required on a daily basis to live a meek life before God. When He requires sacrifice, meekness trusts completely and gives willingly. When He demands obedience, meekness constrains selfish desires, crucifies personal ambition, and performs joyfully the good will of God.

It is for this reason that the joy of the meek is continually increasing. Their pleasure is not found in personal circumstances; their happiness is not derived from fleeting popularity; their fulfillment does not come from public success.

The meek find their joy in the Lord. Therefore, the more they have of Him, the more they experience of Him, the more they know of Him, the more their joy is increased. And the more their joy is increased, the more they desire to plant their joy in the Lord and not in this world.

What about you? Have you found the dependable and lasting and ever-increasing joy that comes from a life of complete submission to our good and wise and glorious God?  (From “A Good Thing”)

There is great novelty in human life. Each day brings to us new and difficult problems, new and exciting challenges. God’s mercy is ever-present, but the form it takes is ever-changing. God adapts His mercy to our immediate needs of each day. His mercies are not chiseled in stone but are vital and vibrant. We need not exhume the antique mercies which God showered on Moses, Jeremiah, or John. God’s mercies on our behalf are fresh and alive today. As God renews His world by greening it every spring, so too He refreshes and invigorates His people by renewing His mercies to them every morning.

With every new morning nature offers a tribute of praise to God’s mercy. The sun rises; the birds sing; the trees sway in the breeze. Shall we alone be silent and ungrateful? Shall the Christian, who has the most reasons to praise God for His mercy, be slow to acknowledge that God’s mercy is renewed to him each day? Will we allow the natural creation of God alone to praise its Creator?

No matter how dark our day may appear to be, let us remember this with Jeremiah, “It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning, great is Thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). —Woodrow Kroll

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which in deed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.–Matthew 23:27

There is no doubt that first impressions can last a long time. Whether you are interviewing for a job, showing up for a class, or moving into the neighborhood, first impressions are hard to live down.

Sociologists have studied the subject of first impressions. One study concluded that a first impression is solidified in the first four minutes of a conversation. They say that if those first four minutes are positive, your acquaintances will most likely view everything about you in a positive light—even things unknown to them.  Your professional skills, your morals, and even your intelligence will be held by them in high regard. Why? Simply because you made a good first impression.

Sociologists have even given a name to this phenomenon—the “halo effect.” If you can put your best foot forward and come out looking and sounding impressive, you will create a certain air about you that may last a long time, regardless of whether or not it is true.

This happens all the time in our modern culture; a culture where charisma matters more than character—where image is more important than integrity. We live in a world that is consumed with creating halos and keeping them shiny at every opportunity, while hiding the sordidness of our true identity.

This is certainly not a new development. During the days of Christ, the people who wore the brightest halos were the Pharisees. They arrived at the busiest street corners in the marketplace at exactly 9 a.m., noon, and 3 p.m., where they prayed on public display.  People thought of them as men who loved God more than other people did; men whom God loved most; but Jesus Christ was not deceived by their chicanery. He, being God, looked beyond their smiles and priestly robes and saw what was in their heart. They were hypocrites to the core and Christ was not fooled by their good impressions.

His condemnation of the Pharisees was justified when they crucified Him. How ironic! They were the supposed “Godfearers” of the day, yet at their first chance, they put Christ to death for unmasking their true identity. Though they studied the Scriptures fervently, they did not heed the words of Solomon, who wrote in Proverbs 15:33, “The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, and before honor is humility.”

Fear of man induces hypocrisy—fear of God produces humility.

Are you living a double life in order to gain the approval of others, or living a singular life that recognizes the need for God’s grace and direction each day?

Are you shining your halo or cultivating your humility?

Halos make a good first impression on mankind . . . humility makes a lasting impression on God.
—From A Wisdom Retreat, by Stephen Davey  (Scriptures changed to KJV)