Jesus defined it for us —or told us how it is to be obtained:
John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Dauthor Jacqueline (Jackie) Richey Weber
Jesus defined it for us —or told us how it is to be obtained:
John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
I am writing this contemplation to encourage myself —since this remains one of my biggest challenges. I am increasingly aware that if I am to experience the righteousness, peace and joy of kingdom living, I can no longer live in either the past or the future. It would startle us to know how much of our time, energy and thought life is spent on regretting the past (what we have done or what someone has done to us) and worrying about the future. Even the scientific world is acknowledging that almost all illnesses (both mental and physical) are stress related. And stress is nothing more than emotional tension caused by concern about the past or future.
Just as we Christians do, the Scriptures refer to the world
rather loosely to mean the universe (God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth
— Acts 17:24 (KJV)), but most often as something we don’t want to be a part of. When speaking to the Pharisees, Jesus said, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world
(John 8:23). And of His disciples He said, They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world
(John 17:16).
We first hear the term used by Jesus as He was speaking with Nicodemus:
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
All of orthodox Christianity is based on the belief that Jesus was a blood sacrifice offered by God to appease His wrath against our sin and enable Him to forgive and accept us into heaven when we die —if we say the right prayer which proves that we have accepted that sacrifice on our behalf.
1Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
Last night I had the opportunity to prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God
(Romans 12:2). And of course I did that by renewing my mind
to the truth —rather than what appeared
to be the truth (John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.).