I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:10-11)

Saint Paul was addicted to Christ.  He had no other desire but to obtain to the fullness of the resurrection that was promised to him because of the work of Christ on the cross.  He was willing to lay down everything that was important to him in this life.

There must have been something that God revealed to him that was so deep that he was willing to do this.  He was a lover of heaven.

Heaven has that way about it.  When you begin to have dreams and visions about the bounty that exists for us in resurrection, then death has very little effect on your mind.  I don’t want to die.  I want to live and lead as many people into the goodness of God that I can, but to die has very little sting to it, given the rewards that there are in store for us.

There have been times that I have talked about dying to an audience and I see them cringe at the thought of death.  I honestly forget that people are afraid to die so when I experience this cringe I am somewhat amused, especially when these are Christians that are afraid.  I pray for them of course that the fear of death would leave them.

My life is full on this side of eternity, but I still know that there is much more in store for me in heaven.  I don’t pretend that this side has more for me that the other side.  The other side is free from fear and sadness.  On the other side I will not have to walk by faith, but I shall always be full of his glory forevermore.  I shall be emotionally free forever.

Here I see the hope that I have in part, but there I shall see it face to face.  Here I am a stranger, but there I am a part of the culture of that place.  Here I am condemned for my faith, but there I am celebrated.

Here I am berated and mocked, but there I am a hero of the faith.

God is so good that He allows us to have encounters with His glory to keep us going.  He fills us with His presence and glory.  He gives us a dream and we feel His kingdom alive in our hearts.  We have a vision of His joy and His peace.  These little glimpses are enough to enliven us and quicken us so that we have hope and peace to live the day.

Troubles come to our lives and we rejoice because we know the hope of glory that lives in our hearts.  We know the fullness of assurance in Christ.  We know that the devil has no real power against us and that every attack is an illusion with little substance.  We know that God has plans for us and will fulfill them.  This we know in our hearts because of the revelation that has come to us by the Holy Spirit.

As we walk the narrow path, it doesn’t feel so narrow.  We look upon the horizon of eternity and see a fullness to come that is matchless on the side of time. But even here our spirits are enlivened because God continues to awaken us to His reality and goodness.  It is this goodness that we understand about God, which keeps us walking the path that we are on as we progress toward our destiny.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:9-12)

As long as we are on this side of eternity, we shall know in part.  My own thoughts I have not digested completely.  I inspect the contents of my mind in order to become self-aware, but without a saviour, this inspection can be troublesome at best.

When I come to a place within my memory that causes emotional turmoil, unless I have a saviour that can touch that part of me and cleanse it, then self-inspection becomes nothing more than self-justification or worse still, blame-shifting.

If I do not understand the need for forgiveness and repentance in my life, then looking deep into pain is not a relieving exercise.  We want to look deep into self in order to become freer, but when I look deep into myself and see my eternal guilt, freedom is like a mirage on the desert that seems to offer satisfaction to the thirsty but is not real.

Introspection must have release and release doesn’t come from justification or shifting the blame.  Freedom comes from forgiveness and repentance.  I must recognize my need for a saviour.

You see this programming within the human mind is flawed.  It is not capable of doing what it was designed to do because of original sin.  The program understands good, but is not able to carry it out.  This causes the program to break down and eventually die because he who knows the good that he should do but does not do it lives in sin…and sin kills.

It isn’t that we don’t want to do good or that we don’t try.  We do try!  Every single day we try to work out our good for the world to see and understand.  Inside of our hearts we want people to think that we are good people, because we know that good is good.  The evil that lurks within our hearts is like a disease that we want removed, but the more we try, the worse it seems to get.

We either blame God for this or we come to realize our need to be saved.

When Jesus died on the cross, He created a way for freedom to enter the hearts of men.  He opened a door into a new humanity.  It was like the program was repaired.  When we kneel and accept Christ into our hearts, then the navel-gazing has more meaning.  Each pain is released.  Each sin is healed.  We come to a new freedom and a new peace for our lives.

Each day in Christ, my mind is renewed.  I look into my life and see the things that I did that were sin.  I admit to God that it was sin and He heals my heart.  All the pain is healed.  We begin to understand the power of the great salvation that came in Christ.

As I repent more, then more freedom comes into my heart.  The world opens up to me and the good that I do comes to have real meaning, because it is led and directed by God.

Now I am free to advance into my destiny without being held back by guilt or shame or pain.