The great test of your soul's health is, What think you of Christ? Is He to you "fairer than the children of men"—"the chief among ten thousand"—the "altogether lovely"? Wherever Christ is thus esteemed, all the faculties of the spiritual man exercise themselves with energy. I will judge of your piety by this barometer: does Christ stand high or low with you? If you have thought little of Christ, if you have been content to live without His presence, if you have cared little for His honour, if you have been neglectful of His laws, then I know that your soul is sick—God grant that it may not be sick unto death! But if the first thought of your spirit has been, how can I honour Jesus? if the daily desire of your soul has been, "O that I knew where I might find Him!" I tell you that you may have a thousand infirmities, and even scarcely know whether you are a child of God at all, and yet I am persuaded, beyond a doubt, that you are safe, since Jesus is great in your esteem. I care not for thy rags, what thinkest thou of His royal apparel? I care not for thy wounds, though they bleed in torrents, what thinkest thou of His wounds? are they like glittering rubies in thine esteem? I think none the less of thee, though thou liest like Lazarus on the dunghill, and the dogs do lick thee—I judge thee not by thy poverty: what thinkest thou of the King in His beauty? Has He a glorious high throne in thy heart? Wouldst thou set Him higher if thou couldst? Wouldst thou be willing to die if thou couldst but add another trumpet to the strain which proclaims His praise? Ah! then it is well with thee. Whatever thou mayst think of thyself, if Christ be great to thee, thou shalt be with Him ere long.
"Though all the world my choice deride,
Yet Jesus shall my portion be;
For I am pleased with none beside,
The fairest of the fair is He"
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Jesus own words: you are his disciple if ye have love one to another.
Is there a heaven (kingdom of God) above?
Belief in an afterlife, or in anything else, is not of paramount importance -- at least, if we believe Jesus. Loving your fellow man is important. (Thus, living without malice is important).
Cherishing and protecting children is important -- in part because the human evils of this world are powered by cruelty to children, which they suffer from for the rest of their lives -- passing along pain to the next generation.
-- Just some comments from a Christian who has always thought differently than most. We [the oddballs] are out there, and the whole Great Awakening is bringing many of us (I think; me, certainly) back to the Bible. It is the height of folly for anyone to believe they can truly understand the nature and details of God -- a goldfish can more likely comprehend quantum physics. The Old Man with the Beard in the Sky is one way to conceptualize God, and perhaps not a bad one given that humans can only see the world from a human perspective. But there are other ways, as many (most?) Christians can tell you.
As the Cabal falls and evil recedes, the necessary UNITY of mankind -- to finish off systematic evil and build a world that will naturally oppose its rekindling -- will require that we accept those who disagree with our particular world-view but show themselves to be disciples of Jesus' spirit even if they've never heard his name -- that is, those who have love one to another."
Compelling observations...nicely stated....