The Way Of Escape | a few minutes of meditation on

If heaven is a life of constant worship, how do we approach this life in order to draw nearer to that ideal? [Revelation 4, 1 Thess. 5:16-18]

Our inheritance in Jesus is more than just a ticket to heaven when we die. We are promised a new heaven and earth, with the Holy Spirit as our guarantee.

Why would the Bible recommend funerals over birthday parties? How does a sad face make for a glad heart? It all has to do with a long-term perspective... and a promise.

The history and instruction given in the Bible are an open record of how God has moved in human lives. Faithful lives also become testimony of the nature of the God we serve.

The only way to learn what glory means is to study under the only one to whom glory belongs. [2 Corinthians 3:7-4:10]

Mercy is shown throughout the Bible to be one of God's core qualities; how does this mesh with the fact that he is also depicted as a God of wrath? And how might this affect our lives today? [2 Thess. 2, Exodus 34:6, Jonah 4:1-3, Luke 12:4-5]

When financial uncertainty looms, how do you react: tighten your fists around what you have, or open your hands to offer what's left to God? [2 Corinthians 8-9]

The apostle Paul speaks of suffering and comfort in terms we may well find distinctly uncomfortable. When we are tempted to demand comfort on our own terms, comfort without suffering, we miss out on the promise that our comfort in affliction becomes something we can share with others. We miss out on the type of confidence that can view suffering as not worth comparing with what awaits us on the other side. [2 Cor. 1:3-10]

How can we escape from the instinctive resentment we so often feel toward correction? [Lamentations 2:14, Colossians 1:28]

How can we say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?" without naivety or hypocrisy? What do we really mean by that saying? [Hebrews 13:5-6, Luke 12:4-12]

What does the Bible say about the relationship between God and his people? How do we keep faith with him when the fashion of the world is for faithlessness? [2 Timothy 2:11-13]

How do we escape the tendency to idealize the past, thereby quarreling with God's mercy and providence in the midst of a difficult present? [Ecclesiastes 7:10, 2 Peter 3:9-13]

How do we as believers escape the temptation to set our own narrow boundaries instead of participating fully in the life of the Church? [1 Corinthians 12:12-27, Romans 15:5-6]

A brief history lesson about willfulness and the need to set aside what I want until God's will is done.

What does the apostle Paul mean in Ephesians 4:29 when he speaks of "corrupting talk"? How do we prevent such talk from entering our conversation?

What habits of thought can we cultivate to escape being carried away by the ideas of the day? [Philippians 4:8]

Why is self-indulgence a problem, and what is the remedy for a life that gratifies the old self? [Colossians 2:8-3:17]

Diverting as they may be, speculations that seek to go beyond revealed truth only lead to vain (empty, futile) discussion and useless controversy. How do we escape from these? Aim.

How are we to foster an unwavering spirit of gratitude in all circumstances? [2 Timothy 3:2-5, Luke 6:27-35, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18]

Although you won't find "a spirit of pettiness" in any of the Biblical lists of vices, don't you think it's time we talked about escaping from pettiness into graciousness?