Tag Archives: heaven

Promise – 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

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When Grandma passed away a few months ago, it reminded me of the exciting promise of eternal life. Reading through 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 is a wonderful insight into passing from life on earth to life in heaven.  Here is how I broke the passage down in brief to help me understand certain sections and to encourage myself.

The Promise:

1Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

When you accept Jesus into your heart, you become a child of God and are automatically eligible for the inheritance of eternal life.

Longing for Rest:

2Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

Just like a long hard day, we long for rest and relaxation where we can unwind and leave the problems of that day behind us.  Its the same with life on earth!  It is tiring and we long to rest and be with our heavenly Father.

The Guarantee:

5Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given

us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

God sent his one and only Son, Jesus Christ to the sacrifice for our Sins. When we accept Jesus into our hearts, we are given the gift of Gods Holy Spirit as a guide, a strength and a comfort. And as this verse reminds us, as a guarantee of how serious God is about his promise to us.

Faith:

7We live by faith, not

by sight.

Unlike doubting Thomas, we believe in Jesus without needed to see Him.  We do not demand proof!  In my own life things have changed so much since I met Him that I can not deny His existence!  Looking at the beauty of creation, its impossible to imagine there was no creator!

Preparation:

10For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Matthew 6:19-24 – Treasures in Heaven.  We will be judged on that final day!  The things that we do for His glory will earn us spiritual rewards in heaven.  We don’t know what they are to be, but they must be awesome to be described as treasures!

Direction – Proverbs 16:1-9

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Proverbs is full of wise words. I’m going to go through line by line noting what I feel the Lord is telling me per verse;

1 We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer. (NLT)

Its true! We can have a perfectly laid out plan for the day, and yet nothing seems to go the way we planned it! Is it just bad planning

? Are we incredibly unlucky, or is it God determining our steps giving us opportunities to share Him with others, to show others how His children react in certain situations, thus witnessing into their lives?

I love the example in the Our Daily Bread reading of a choir that turned up to an old peoples home on the wrong day, only to be asked to sing therefore at one of the residents funeral thus witnessing into the lives of those who attended! Their plan had gone wrong but the result was something that enabled them to glorify the Lord.

2 People may be pure in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their motives. (NLT)

There are many times we can convince ourselves how good we are, and how well we are doing. We loose sight of the Lord, and our motives can become self pleasing. We need to make sure we don’t become proud and do things for our own gain. The Lord as in this verse examines our motives and act accordingly.

3 Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.

(NLT)

When we commit our actions to the Lord that will help advance His kingdom and give Him the glory, we will succeed.

4 The Lord has made everything for his own purposes, even the wicked for a day of disaster. (NLT)

First of all no one is exempt from Gods plans, or from His judgement. The actions of the wicked eventually lead to destruction and death.

5 The Lord detests the proud; they will surely be punished. (NLT)

Pride is the opposite to what God wants for us. It gives ourselves credit for things we have achieved, and done. It throws all the good works the Lord has done for us back in His face. Pride is a serious issue in anyones lives. If we are struggling with it, we need to humble ourselves, and give it all to the Lord.

6 Unfailing love and faithfulness make atonement for sin. By fearing the Lord, people avoid evil. (NLT)

Since I came back to the Lord, a healthy fear of Him has developed in my heart. An understanding that he is our almighty, powerful God. It makes sin a far less attractive option in life, and when I do it leads me to throw myself at His mercy seeking his grace and forgiveness. We shouldn’t act as children, seeing how far we can push our parents, but we should be humble, God fearing, seeking to do what pleases Him. Remembering that the hold of sin has been broken by Jesus death on the cross. Thank you Lord.

7 When people’s lives please the Lord, even their enemies are at peace with them. (NLT)

There is always going to be an enemy, for to Satan, we are a problem to him! However when our lives please the Lord, even our enemies will not be able to deny what our Mighty God is doing in our lives!

8 Better to have little, with godliness, than to be rich and dishonest. (NLT)

I have said this in a past reading, wealth and riches don’t last for an eternity. The love of God lasts forever as will those who believe and come into His kingdom. Treasures in Heaven also do not have the same fate as earthly treasure, therefore if we live lives pleasing to the Lord, committing ourselves to His will, His plans, His Glory, we can humbly look forward to riches in heaven as our reward. These are unlikely to be gold and jewels, but riches that we can not understand in our earthly form! I can’t wait!

9 We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. (NLT)

This verse sums up this group nicely. The Lord is in control. He has a plan for our lives. Even though we make plans for the days and weeks, the Lord will direct us even in such a way where our own plans fly out of the window!

Remembered – Luke 23:39-43

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This passage of scripture moves me every time I read it.  Here we have 2 men either side of Jesus.

  Both are being punished for things they have done.  One of them mocks Jesus and challenges Him to save them all on the crosses.  However the other robber realises that Jesus has done no wrong.  What this man says, followed my Jesus response is truly wonderful:

40But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentenc

e? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

 42Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[a]”

 43Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”  (NIV)

For me this acts as a perfect example as to why Jesus died on the cross.  He was the perfect sacrifice, without Sin so that he could take the punishment for our sins.  So that those who believe will have eternal life with Him.  This criminal realised the significance that Jesus did not deserve to be there, he spoke to Jesus and offered kind words.  From this realisation Jesus repays the man’s faith with eternal life.  Wow!

Our Daily Bread goes on to look more deeply at verse 42, where the criminal asks Jesus to remember Him.  There are many people in the world who will go to extraordinary lengths to be remembered, to have their name in print, and yet we forget the importance of being remembered by God!  True immortality is not having our name in a newspaper or on a statue, it is being remembered by God as one of His Children.

We are saved by grace because of what Jesus did on that cross for us.  For those of us who believe, we will be remembered by God, and welcomed into His kingdom.  We shouldn’t concentrate our lives on ourselves looking to be seen and remembered by others.  We should be living our lives to Glorify God, and talking to others about what he did so that they may too be saved.

Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on that cross for my sins so that I may have eternal life with you.  What it took, the love, the bravery, the sacrifice, everything about what you did Lord humbles me, it is beyond imagining what you went through. Help me to live a life that glorifies you, and that acts as a witness that others may too be saved.  I love you Lord Jesus.

Amen. 

Prodigal Son – Luke 15:11-24

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This is one of my favourite stories that Jesus told. In a nutshell a Son who has wronged his father returns after he messes up his life, expecting not to be welcomed and seeking to simply become one of the servants so he can at least live more comfortably than he had been. Yet the father, seeing him from the distance, jumped up and ran to him.

21 The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

And although his son had stolen from him, rebelled against him and run away, the fathers love and forgiveness knows no bounds.

22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

We were once that son. We had rebelled against God. We were living for ourselves, and yet when we came to the point of realisation that we needed our Father God, and we took that first step, He came running to us with arms stretched wide open! There is a party in heaven for every lost Son/Daughter who comes to the father.

This morning, I am reminded too of the fact that although at a young age I had come to the father, I once again went out on my own, living for myself and freezing God out of my life. They were trying times, and a year ago, I finally came to the prodigal Son realisation again, that I can’t live without God in my life, and thus I began to take baby steps back toward him.

He came running to me, and over a period of a few months I was in a new church, with amazing new Christian friends who have all since helped to build me up, encourage me and help me in my relationship with the Lord.

For those of us who have never accepted Jesus into our lives, or for those reading this who have backsliden, the Lord is sat outside His house like the father in this story, and he is waiting to see you on the horizon so he can come running to you, and throw the biggest party ever at the return of His Son or Daughter. Check out my “Believe” Page.

What amazing grace our Lord has.  He is willing to forgive us ALL our sins, and welcomes us as part of His family.  Not as slaves, or as acquaintances, but as Sons and Daughters!  Heirs to His Kingdom!  It is so incredible to think that our Creator God, Almighty and Powerful God, loves each one of us that much!

If you have lost your way, take that step back to the Lord.  He is waiting to throw a party for you and to bless you.

Obedience

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Today Stuart challenged us to think about the things that we don’t always want to think about or discuss.  The word Obedience is one of them!  We first looked at how we have never needed to be taught to be dis-obedient!

Yes, my daughter aged 1 knows very well how to be dis-obedient!  It was described really well like this:  Any one born from a human father inherits the original sin of Adam back in the Garden of Eden.  That’s why it comes to naturally!  This also explains why Jesus was able to be on earth, without Sin and be the perfect sacrifice for our Sin as he, although born of a human woman, was the son of God!

Once we determined where dis-obedience stems from, we moved on to look at reasons that we should be obedient to Gods word and do as he wishes.

We looked at several verses (and I wish I had noted them down, I will probably ask for them) that described it as the desire to do Gods will, to be obedient.  I can’t describe exactly how Stuart put it, but will explain what I understood:

When we are born again as Christians, we accept the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.  It is the GIFT of God!  We did not earn it!  This of course does not mean we should then continue to live for ourselves.

Living for Christ, and being obedient to him, allows us to lead fulfilled lives, allows us to grow a strong relationship with him, as well as allowing us to do his will, including bringing others to the Lord.  I have never met anyone in my life whom has lived for themselves, and could tell me that they were truly happy.  And from my experience, when I have lived for myself and been dis-obedient, I have been miserable!  When you accept the Lord into your life, he sends the gift of his Holy Spirit who convicts your heart, and makes his desires your desires!

Before I was saved I could sin and feel no remorse!  Now if I sin, I immediately feel terrible and seek the Lords forgivness for it is our hearts desire to be obedient, to do his will, to reach the lost, and to be fulfilled.

Stuart also pointed out that although we are saved we are still to be judged, therefore if we are saved yet don’t live for him, we will still feel some loss when we reach heaven and realise there were blessings we could have benefited from!

In a nutshell, being obedient to his will allows us to grow and to be used for his glory.   And store up those blessings in heaven as you can’t take your possessions with you!

The Credit / On Show – Matthew 23:1-12

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I haven’t yet read the devotional section after reading this passage, but want to record my initial thoughts before I do. Some sections that jumped out at me today were the mention of people doing things for others to see, and to get attention and praise from others, even without necessarily raising a finger and just delegating!

I reminds me of storing up treasures in heaven, and not doing good deeds in this life so that others may see and give you honour and credit. Instead by being humble and discreet, and doing your deeds to the Glory of the Risen Lord whom died for our sins, and rose from the grave, so we may one day join him in heaven forever. Each deed we do on her for his Glory, will store us up a little more treasure in heaven. Matthew 6:20

Of course any deed done for earthly gain, and that leads to reward only reaps temporary benefits. You cant take your money with you when you die, praise for something you did only lasts a period of time.

Things done for the Lord will last an eternity.

…

Moving on from my initial thoughts, the devotional on Our Daily Bread also picks up very importantly on not being consumed with appearances! An example that I can admit to doing in the past is acting at church or with Christian friends like the perfect model Christian! Yet I would then live a life that pleased myself in the week day, quickly turning on “perfect Christian” whenever I was a friend from church!

Equally we shouldn’t want to conform to worldly images either, trying to look like the latest stars, or being sucked into materialistic buying so that we can look good to others. As my above thoughts, its all temporary, there is no lasting satisfaction. True satisfaction comes from the Lord and as is a common theme now in all my thoughts, I can only draw the conclusion that reading his word, prayer, worship and fellowship are the only ways of growing as a Christian and being fulfilled.