1 John 3:2 (NLT)
2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.

I find it interesting – “for we will see him as he really is”. I wonder how far off we are today in who we think Jesus is. Some of us think he’s God (self included), some think he’s a great man, some think he’s a figment of compilation, some deny he ever was. All that doesn’t matter in the end because we’ll find out who he really is, and then, it’s Katy, bar the door.

1 Corinthians 4:18-20 (MSG)
18-20 I know there are some among you who are so full of themselves they never listen to anyone, let alone me. They don’t think I’ll ever show up in person. But I’ll be there sooner than you think, God willing, and then we’ll see if they’re full of anything but hot air. God’s Way is not a matter of mere talk; it’s an empowered life.

I think the varying views of who Christ is has a lot to do with how full of ourselves (in our mind) we are. If we’re at the top of the food chain and need Jesus to be a genie in the bottle, we’ll think one way. If we’re farther up the food chain and don’t need squat except for what we take, we’ll think another. If we realize our true position in relationship to God, we’ll think still another way.

Galatians 2:20 (NLT)
20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

I land in the camp of understanding that God does exist (the odds are tremendously, outrageously, against anything else), that Christ is God, that I’m not. Pretty simple. The gulf between God and me from a performance standpoint is ginormous. I’m not even in the same universe. That matters yet it doesn’t because He died for those differences so that I may be forgiven, so that He may live in me.

Ephesians 6:13 (NLT)
13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.

Hallelujah and thank you! Armor exists, armor is, armor is for us. Put on every piece because we’ll need all of it to be in the world but not of it. After the battle….

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NLT)
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.