But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ—.Galatians 6:14 Paul had what we all need–a burning desire to proclaim the glories of the cross to a lost and dying world. In spite of all the difficulties he faced, he never allowed anything to dim his vision of the cross. Neither should we. Keeping our focus on the cross will feed our faith, fuel our faithfulness, and fix our faults. Turn your eyes away from the vanities of the world and set your sights on the cross. See the two arms stretched out in both directions, east and west, embracing all the peoples of the earth. See the foot of the cross descending below the grave, down to the very gates of hell, making a way for the lowest of men. Behold the cross ascending upward, beyond the sun, moon, and stars, until it reaches the very throne of God and sheds its light throughout the heavenly city. Then, there you will hear the heavenly choir singing in perfect unison the “new song” about the old rugged cross. If the cross is our theme for eternity it certainly should be at the center of our thoughts ever wakening moment here below. All else pales in comparison. Let us then glory only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have nothing else of which to boast.

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith—Hebrews 12:2 Satan is a shrewd enemy. He will use anything to divert our attention away from Christ and distract us from what is truly important. Give the devil his due– he does a good job of doing a bad thing. Millions are so duped by the devil that they don’t even realize what has happened. And most are too busy to care. Thankfully God is at work. Charles Spurgeon wrote: It is ever the Holy Spirit’s work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan’s work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, “Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of His children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus.” All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: He tells us that we are nothing, but that “Christ is all in all.” Yield yourself to the Holy Spirit and you will always be focused on the right thing.

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.–Revelation 21:1

We rejoice over heaven because of what is there, and for good reason, but we also have reason to rejoice about the future because of what will be absent. It must have been with great joy that John listed these things in Revelation 21. And I think it is noteworthy that the first thing he mentions related to things absent is that there will be “no more sea”. These words from the pen of John H. Jowett help us see the significance of this:

No more sea! John was in Patmos, and the sea rolled between him and his kinsmen. The sea was a minister of estrangement. But in the home-country every cause of separation is to be done away, and the family life is to be one of inconceivable intimacy. No more sea!

And no more death! “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death.” Yes, he, too, shall drop his scythe, and his lax hand shall destroy no more for ever. Death himself shall die! And all things that have shared his work shall die with him. “The former things have passed away.” The wedding-peal which welcomes the Lamb’s bride will ring the funeral knell of Death and all his sable company.

Thank God for the assurance that the day will come when we will no longer be separated from the things that bring us joy. What a day that will be. As the song says, “I can only imagine”! “No more sea”–Thank God!

Donald Whitney wrote:The closer you get to Christ, the more you will hate sin; for nothing is more unlike Christ than sin. Because Jesus hates sin, the more like Him you grow the more you will grow to hate sin. And the more you hate sin, the more you will grieve whenever you have embraced that which killed your Savior. …

But the fact that there is a struggle with sin, and a sense of grief because of sin, is good. Unbelievers have no such struggles or griefs. They may disappoint themselves for not living up to their own standards or to the standard of someone they respect. But they do not agonize over being unholy before God – a God who is holy and who calls them to holiness (see 1 Peter 1:15). As A.W. Pink explained, “It is not the absence of sin but the grieving over it which distinguishes the child of God from empty professors [of faith].”

Are you aware of sins in your life that you weren’t cognizant of years ago, even though you were committing those sins back then as well? As discouraging as the fresh exposure is, and as grievous as it may be to have ever-deeper layers of sin laid bare, there’s something positive here. Increased sensitivity to your sin is a mark of growth. You’ve made spiritual progress beyond where you were years ago because back then you didn’t even realize that those were sins. The closer you come to the light of Christ, the more sins His holy light will expose in you. In the words of nineteenth century Bible scholar Thomas D. Bernard, “Our sense of sin is in proportion to our nearness to God.”