Do you seek out those who are like-minded to yourself? This is a common phrase that everyone understands and responds to. Everyone likes the company of those who are in agreement with them. Yet do you know people with whom you agree on points of doctrine who are nonetheless disagreeable people? Would you rather keep company with those who are kind or with those with whom you are in agreement? What term would you use for those who are kind and pleasant and congenial? Like-spirited? Is it more important to you to keep company with those who are like-minded or like-spirited?

You have my promise that I will return. Are you eager for this? You can be confident that it will happen even if you don’t know the date and time, even if it doesn’t happen during your lifetime. This is not a matter for passive indifference, for I tell you many places in my word to love my appearing, and to look for and hasten unto the coming of the Lord. This certainty can and should motivate you and give you a sense of urgency in the life you live now. Are you ready for it? Does desiring it imply that you are prepared? Is there anything you have left to do?

How do unbelievers perceive me? Have you noticed that even those who do not believe that I exist have a conceptual model of me? Does this strike you as odd? It should strike them as odd. So it is fair to ask them, what sort of God do you not believe in? This is usually a God that is harsh, judgmental, exacting, indifferent, and distant. Do you know from firsthand experience that this is not a valid description of me? So this gives you a place to start with them. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify me.

Have you ever had a story of joy or sorrow and wanted to share it, but hesitated not knowing how it would be received? Yet if someone inquired about your situation you were eager to tell the tale and grateful that someone cared enough to open the door and ask. Have you ever said, thanks for asking? Has anyone ever said this to you? What do you want to know about the Kingdom of God? Do you want to know what the Spirit is saying to the churches today? Do you want to know of the future and the hope that I have for you? Do you want to sit at my feet and hear my word?