3 "F"s of Success In Christ

"But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses." - 1st Timothy 6:11b-12

Saint Paul's admonition points its finger past Timothy straight at us who have chosen Christ's way!

Three (3) things we must do to succeed and they all begin with "F"

Flee youthful lusts¹ and the love of money²
Follow godly character and
Fight the good fight of faith

- fritz


<sup>1. 2nd Timothy 2:2
2. 1st Timothy 6:10 (the context of this verse)</sup>

Enjoyment Without Guilt

Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy - 1 Timothy 6:17

God's gifts are for our enjoyment! If we are not enjoying them, something is wrong.

God has no problem with guilt free enjoyment, he created pleasure in the first place - enjoyment is guilt free when God, not the gift, is recognized as the source.

Our response is to be that of sharing the enjoyment with others.

[D]o good, ... be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; - 1 Timothy 6:18

- fritz

Heaven's Expatriate Program

"We, however, are citizens of heaven, and we eagerly wait for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from heaven. He will change our weak mortal bodies and make them like his own glorious body, using that power by which he is able to bring all things under his rule." - Philippians 3:20-21 (GNB)

Large companies usually have an "Expat" program, where they temporarily send citizens to work in other countries. I have friends and a son who were expats to Nigeria, and I know expats from elsewhere.

They have a different outlook than the local citizens. They spend money, but not usually on permanent things to be left behind; they want to save their own money, content with the living expenses provided by their company. They are interested to varying degrees in local politics but only for benevolence and their own temporary safety. They regularly communicate with loved ones at "home". They meet socially with other expats from their country reminiscing on common experiences. They all look forward their return though they don't always know when.

Heaven has an expatriate program, and we who have given our lives to Christ are in it. We are to live with an expat point of view, being content with God's provisions¹ , benevolently working with local politics² but not getting too upset recognizing this world is not our home, communicating with our heavenly Father regularly³ , meeting with other heavenly expats⁴ , and awaiting our repatriation.

Question: How would my actions change if I considered myself one of heaven's expats?

¹ 1^st Timothy 6:6-8
² Jeremiah 29:7
³ 1^st Thessalonians 5:17
⁴ Hebrews 10:25