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Anchor

User-friendly devotionals with audio

  • 22 Apr

    Heavenbound

    A compilation

    Audio length: 10:48
    Download Audio (9.9MB)

    God’s plan for us is not just to eat, drink, be merry, and then die. There is so much more to life than this. In reality, we are heavenbound. It is for this reason that the apostle Paul said, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). And because life does not end here on earth, we need to fix our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is able to translate us from this life to the next life in heaven. …

    To emphasize that we are not earthbound but heavenbound, the apostle Peter said, “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11). We should therefore not think and act as if this world is our permanent home. We are merely passing by. The ultimate goal is heaven, the home of the redeemed. Therefore, in actuality, we are on a journey. This journey is exciting, challenging, and yet rewarding.

    When we embark on a journey to heaven, it is exciting in that we are expectant of good things happening along the way. It is even more exciting when we are given an idea of what is waiting for us at the end. ... Therefore, “let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25). Yes, our own journey to heaven is exciting, as we grow in our knowledge of the Lord and have a good view and understanding of what awaits us in heaven. …

    Our journey to heaven is rewarding. While trials and challenges will try to dampen the excitement that we have at the beginning, our effort will pay off if we press on towards our goal. The apostle James said, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12). Therefore, let us not lose sight of the greater reward. The trials and obstacles that come our way in this journey should not derail us. …

    In this journey, we need to walk by faith. Heaven is a wonderful place, but we can only get there through our Lord Jesus Christ. Without Jesus, we cannot enter heaven. For this, I thank God for Jesus and for his love. The words of the apostle Peter are so true, “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8–9). Amen!—Teck Uy1

    The eternal riches of heaven

    When we learn to keep our eyes on heaven and God’s promises for our eternal future with Him, it helps us to endure the challenges of today. If we’re only looking at what’s happening around us today, it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture of eternity.

    The Apostle Paul said, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Corinthians 15:19). We have to look beyond what we’re experiencing today to the future: the rewards, the joy, the surcease from life’s battles. We have so much to look forward to, and as we remind ourselves of all that God has promised for those who love Him, the day-to-day difficulties, sorrow, and pain will be easier to bear.

    Jesus said: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. … My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:1–3).

    Keeping a heavenly perspective takes stepping back from the day-to-day responsibilities and challenges of life and focusing on the bigger picture of God’s plans and purposes. It’s remembering that you are on earth for a short time, and that one day you will shed all the struggles, difficulties, and problems of this life, and only the eternal and lasting things will come with you.

    Paul wrote in the book of Romans that he considered that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). We can’t always understand God’s purposes for what we are experiencing, but we can be assured that even if “now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror,” then we will “see everything with perfect clarity.” And what we know today may be “partial and incomplete,” but “then we will know completely, just as God knows us completely” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

    When you invest your time and life in that which has eternal value—God’s kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33)—you are storing up treasures in heaven. “And where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:20–21).—Maria Fontaine

    The heavenward journey

    When my oldest child died, I knew that my life would never be the same. In the initial months that followed, I expected that the change would be entirely negative. However, not all of the differences were painful. The Lord did something unexpectedly positive that has remained with me ten years later.

    On November 10, 2013, my son lived in my house. On November 11, 2013, he lived in heaven above. Heaven was no longer an abstract, theological concept. It was now my son’s home. … After my son’s death, the Lord created a change in my mind, heart, and life that I would describe as a “heavenward shift.” … I became consumed with heaven in a manner that eternity had a constant presence in my perspective in the routine matters of daily life. …

    And then I met my “friend,” the apostle Paul. As I read his letters with fresh eyes, I noticed that Paul integrated heaven into just about everything, including somewhat mundane matters of life. … What I discovered in the apostle’s theology of heaven is that the eternal realities of every Christian’s salvation should naturally create a magnified consciousness of heaven in all of us.

    At the core, Paul believed that the coming of Jesus constituted the long-awaited divine visitation of God, known as the Day of the Lord. ... Believers, upon conversion, are transferred into this heavenly realm on earth, which Paul often refers to as the Kingdom of God, the new creation, the age of the Spirit, or the light. We are delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of his beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). Hence, our current citizenship truly becomes heaven the second we put our faith in Christ (Philippians 3:20).

    In addition, the Lord blesses us with particular blessings of the future heavenly life during our time on earth. We come into union with Christ, which will be the bedrock of our heavenly joy. He declares the current, heavenly blessing of union with Christ in Colossians by saying, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Furthermore, Paul described the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as the present “guarantee” or “down payment” of the future communion with God in the heavenly life. As a result of all these new realities brought about by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, Paul lived with a foot in heaven and a toe on earth. …

    The heavenward journey begins with knowing the present and future eternal realities of your salvation. They will bring you such life, hope, and joy! Having a heavenward life, where eternity comprises the perpetual backdrop of your day-to-day consciousness, is a gracious work of the Holy Spirit in your heart, mind, and life. Seek his truth about heaven and pray for this work. The Lord may surprise you with an inspiring pivot in your spiritual life in the same way that he unexpectedly has turned ashes to beauty in my life.—Cameron Cole2

    Published on Anchor April 2025. Read by Jon Marc. Music by Michael Fogarty.

    1 Teck Uy, “Heavenward,” Friends of Jesus Christ, Canada, January 21, 2018, https://friendsofjesuschrist.com/2018/01/21/heavenward/

    2 Cameron Cole, “Looking Heavenward Transforms Our Sorrow,” Crossway, April 18, 2024,

    https://www.crossway.org/articles/looking-heavenward-transforms-our-sorrow/

  • Apr 21 The Two Builders
  • Apr 17 The Glory of Easter
  • Apr 16 The Son Must Rise: What Made Easter Inevitable
  • Apr 14 Lessons from the Cross
  • Apr 11 A Bruised Reed He Will Not Break
  • Apr 10 Running the Race Set Before Us
  • Apr 8 Courageous Courage
  • Apr 3 Relations with Others
  • Mar 31 From One Friend to Another
   

Directors’ Corner

Faith-building Bible studies and articles

  • 22 Apr

    1 Corinthians: Chapter 10 (verses 16–33)

    In the second half of 1 Corinthians 10, Paul begins by emphasizing to the Corinthians the incompatibility of participating in meals in pagan temples and participating in the Lord’s Supper.

    The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? (1 Corinthians 10:16).

    Paul’s first question addressed the cup of thanksgiving and the bread that they ate, using words similar to the accounts of the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:26–28; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26). Drinking from the cup is a participation in the blood of Christ and eating the bread is a participation in the body of Christ. The word “participation” is also used in the New Testament to refer to our fellowship and communion with Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:9) and with one another (1 John 1:7).

    Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread (1 Corinthians 10:17).

    Paul noted that though believers are many, they are one in body, and that this is true because there is one loaf of bread, representing the body of Christ, in which all partake. In Paul’s writing, one body is a technical phrase that refers to the spiritual union, both of members with Christ and with one another in Christ. In Romans, Paul wrote so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another (Romans 12:5). Since believers are in spiritual union with Christ, all believers share spiritual union with one another in Him.

    Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? (1 Corinthians 10:18)

    When giving thanksgiving or peace offerings in the Old Testament, the altar was a table on which food was sacrificed to God, and the priests ate from the offerings (Leviticus 6:17–18). Paul emphasized that those who ate such sacrifices took part in the spiritual significance of the altar of the temple. In the same way, those who partake of the Lord’s Supper fellowship with God.

    What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons (1 Corinthians 10:19–20).

    Paul had already argued earlier in this epistle that pagan religions are false and that their sacrifices aren’t made to true gods, as “an idol has no real existence,” and “there is no God but one” (1 Corinthians 8:4).At the same time he had qualified that statement by saying that there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords” (1 Corinthians 8:5–6). In this verse Paul explained his meaning more fully. He implied that something supernatural is at work in pagan sacrifices, and these are ultimately offered to demons and not to God. Thus, when people sacrifice to idols, it cannot be assumed that they are engaging in a meaningless activity.

    Paul pointed out that pagans do not sacrifice to gods that Christians should fear, and in this sense, an idol is nothing and the food offered to idols is nothing. Yet, Paul affirmed that the sacrifices of pagans were made to demons, and he insisted that the Corinthian believers should not be participants with demons.

    You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons (1 Corinthians 10:21).

    Paul speaks again of the incompatibility of Christianity and idolatry. The “cup of the Lord” represents the communion that believers have with Christ through His sacrifice on the cross. It symbolized the blood of Christ, which was shed for the forgiveness of sins. This cup is a symbol of salvation. There were cases where Christians might eat what had been offered to idols without sin, such as when meat was sold in the marketplace. But this is not to be understood as extending to participation in pagan religious festivals involving idolatrous worship.

    Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? (1 Corinthians 10:22)

    Paul made this point clear when he proceeded to question if the Corinthians were seeking to provoke the Lord to jealousy, and if they considered themselves stronger than the Lord. God is portrayed in the Bible as a possessive husband (Jeremiah 31:32; Hosea 2:1–13). He requires loyalty of His people. The Corinthians were to stop the practice of idolatry as they risked incurring the wrath of God even as the Israelites did under Moses.

    “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor (1 Corinthians 10:23–24).

    Here Paul begins with a popular slogan among the Corinthians of the time that he has already mentioned in 1 Corinthians 6:12: All things are lawful. There is some truth in this slogan, as Christians have much freedom in Christ. However, the saying must be balanced, which Paul did when he added that not all things are helpful or beneficial. Paul limits the use of freedom here to things that benefit or build up the Christian community, and one’s actions to that which seeks the good of his neighbor. Earlier on, Paul had highlighted the principle that believers should not seek their own good but the good of others and the furtherance of the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:19–23).

    Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof” (1 Corinthians 10:25–26).

    Paul taught that Christians may eat any meat they purchase in the market as long as the question of idolatry doesn’t come up. If the matter of sacrifice to idols came up, then believers should refrain from eating for the sake of others. In the meat markets of Greece, some meat was sold after being dedicated to an idol, while other meat had never been dedicated. This difference was not always made evident by the shopkeepers.

    The rabbis put restrictions on Jews who lived in pagan cities like Corinth, and they had to be sure that they bought meat only from shops that adhered to Jewish laws regarding food. But this was not Paul’s policy. His view was that believers could eat any meat without raising questions of whether it had been sacrificed to an idol. He quoted Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof,” to assert that God is the only true God of all things and that idols are insignificant. Believers could eat meat without being concerned with the meat’s history.

    If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience—I do not mean your conscience, but his (1 Corinthians 10:27–29a).

    After speaking of the marketplace, Paul turned to situations in which believers were guests in the homes of unbelievers. Christians may eat whatever they are served without being concerned about questions of conscience. However, if someone were to say that the meat had been offered in sacrifice to an idol, believers were not to eat on the ground of conscience—for the sake of the person who had told them. To eat under such circumstances could appear to be accepting of idolatry. According to this advice of the apostle, Christians should take care not to use their liberty to the detriment of others, or to their own reproach. In eating and drinking, and in all we do, we should aim at the glory of God, at pleasing and honoring Him.

    For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? (1 Corinthians 10:29b–30)

    Paul asks why he should do something that would allow his freedom to be judged by someone else’s conscience. Christians have the freedom to eat meat sacrificed to idols, but they shouldn’t use this freedom when it hurts the conscience of another. If an unbelieving host doesn’t mention the meat’s history, Christians are free to eat. Paul says Christians may give thanks for and eat meat which may have been sacrificed to idols. They can take part in the meal with thankfulness.

    So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, (1 Corinthians 10:31–32)

    Paul now summarizes his argument in this chapter. First, whether or not believers partake in food or drink, they must do it all for the glory of God. The main purpose of human beings is the glory of God; His honor should be the main concern of those who love Him. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might (Deuteronomy 6:5).1

    Second, whether believers partake or not, they should not cause others to stumble or sin, nor should they hinder someone’s receptivity to the gospel. This concern for others applies to Jews, Greeks, and the church. Paul likely mentioned these groups because each of these raised different considerations. Both Jews and Greeks were unbelievers in Christ’s teachings, but each group had different standards and expectations. Moreover, the principle of love for neighbors must also extend to the church for yet other reasons.

    just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:33–11:1).

    Paul brought this section to its close by reminding his readers that he didn’t expect something from them that he himself was unwilling to do. He reminded them that he sought to please everybody in every way. He sought to serve others, not because he was seeking his own good, but rather he sought the good of many, or more specifically, that they may be saved. Paul’s commitment to the salvation of the lost led him to minimize his personal preferences and freedoms for the good of others.

    As a result of the consistency with which Paul fulfilled this service, he felt qualified to encourage the Corinthians to follow his example, even as he followed the example of Christ. Christ gave up His freedom and honor, humbling himself to the point of death on a cross, in order to save others (Philippians 2:5–8). Paul encouraged the Corinthians to remember Christ’s sacrifice as the model of love and concern for others. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children” (Ephesians 4:32–5:1).

    Note
    Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptures are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

    1 See also Matthew 22:37.

     

  • Apr 8 1 Corinthians: Chapter 10 (verses 1–15)
  • Mar 25 1 Corinthians: Chapter 9 (verses 18–27)
  • Mar 11 1 Corinthians: Chapter 9 (verses 1–17)
  • Feb 25 1 Corinthians: Chapter 8 (verses 1–13)
  • Feb 11 1 Corinthians: Chapter 7 (verses 17–40)
  • Jan 28 1 Corinthians: Chapter 7 (verses 1–16)
  • Jan 8 1 Corinthians: Chapter 6 (verses 1–20)
  • Dec 10 Practicing All the Virtues
  • Nov 26 Virtues for Christ-Followers: Self-control
   

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