Boldness

Boldness is critical. Without boldness, my life story will be one of great deeds left undone, victories left unwon, petitions left unprayed, and timely words unsaid. If I wish to live only a pathetically small portion of the life God has prepared for me, then I need no boldness. But if I want my life to bloom full and loom large for the glory of God, then I must have boldness – and nothing so nourishes boldness in me like the gospel!...Also, the more I comprehend what God has done for me through Christ, the more I find myself confidently coming before God in prayer, speaking to Him in situations in which I formerly would have shrunk from Him, and offering requests that I formerly would have been too timid to offer (due either to the largeness of the request or my own sinful unworthiness). With greater boldness in prayer comes an increased enjoyment of God and the bounty that He gives, due simply to the fact that I was daring enough to ask for what was needed….This is my manifesto, my daily resolve; and may God be glorified by this confidence that I place in Him.

-Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer for Christians

Fullness in Christ

Indeed, as I perpetually feast on Christ and all of His blessings found in the gospel, I find that my hunger for sin diminishes and the lies of lust simply lose their appeal. Hence, to the degree that I am full, I am free. Eyes do not rove, no do fleshly lusts rule, when the heart is fat with the love of Jesus!..."Eat[ing] freely" of such provision keeps me occupied with God's blessings and also leaves me with a profoundly enjoyable sense of satisfaction in Jesus. And nothing so mortifies fleshly lusts like satisfaction in Him.

- Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer for Christians

Hope of Eternity

Hope of eternity with Christ in heaven also enables my heart to thrive during the most difficult and lengthy of trials here on earth. When looking at the sheer weight of unseen glories to come, my troubles seem light by comparison; and when looking at the staggering length of eternity, my troubles seem fleeting by comparison. (2 Cor. 4:16-18) It is only against the backdrop of a glorious eternity that my circumstances can be seen in such a manner; and the promise of this glorious eternity is part and parcel of the gospel itself. (Col. 1:5)

Preaching the gospel to myself every day is a great way to keep myself established in "the hope of the gospel," (Col. 1:23) so that I might experience the practical benefits that such a a hope is intended to bring me here on earth.

- Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer for Christians

2 Corinthians 4:16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self [1] is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Breathing Deeply

"Doing right is not always easy, but it is never more easy than when one is breathing deeply the atmosphere of the gospel." - Milton Vincent