Oh, the power, the subtlety of what the apostle John might label today as “the big three”: “For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world” I John 2:16.
Whoever has regard for their animals, or any animals for that matter, is righteous — that is they are doing what is right in God’s sight. While acts of kindness will not get us into heaven (faith in Christ alone takes us there!) — such acts, at times, reveal the true character of someone who has heaven in their heart.
I’m convinced that the greatest reason so many of us are spiritually dull and apathetic is that we are not sharing our faith; we keep it to ourselves and we end up spiritually constipated. We are self-absorbed; our focus is inward instead of upward and outward.
Preparing for the inevitable seems like a great idea to me! Charles Spurgeon, famous for fearlessly preaching the truth regardless of what people thought of it (or him!) once said, “He who does not prepare for death is more than an ordinary fool, he is a madman.”
Every believer in Jesus Christ is called to yield, to submit to domestic, civil, and ecclesiastical authority established by God. If the presiding authority is tyrannical, we have the obligation to resist and support reform. This was the position of the American colonists which led to the American Revolution.