So this is our “Hope”, our “Faith”, in our Lord Jesus Christ. Heaven is sounding sweeter everyday!
Do you feel like you can hardly wait? Are you excited? What a glorious day it will be when my Jesus I shall see!
Heaven!!! What a wonderful word. When the word "heaven" is spoken or read, many wonderful images come to mind. Streets of gold, imposing walls, glorious homes for each of God's people, all in a city of fantastic light. No more tears, pain, sorrow or death.
But we know that heaven is much more than a place to spend eternity. It is also the place where God and Jesus Christ the Lamb live. Where we don't have to see darkly as through a smoked glass, but where we can see our Lord and Redeemer face to face. He promises that forever, "They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God." (Rev. 21:3) What a fabulous promise!
In Matt. 6:33 Jesus says, "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
Jacob dreams of a ladder to heaven
Gen. 28:11 When [Jacob] reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it." He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven."
Who may dwell with God?
Ps. 15:1~~~
LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?
He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman, who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD, who keeps his oath even when it hurts, who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things will never be shaken.
Isa. 35:1~~~~
The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God. Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you."
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness.
The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that
Way; wicked fools will not go about on it.
No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the LORD will return.
They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Isa. 66:1 This is what the LORD says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?" declares the LORD. "This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.
"For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.
And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
Do you feel like you can hardly wait? Are you excited? What a glorious day it will be when my Jesus I shall see!
Heaven!!! What a wonderful word. When the word "heaven" is spoken or read, many wonderful images come to mind. Streets of gold, imposing walls, glorious homes for each of God's people, all in a city of fantastic light. No more tears, pain, sorrow or death.
But we know that heaven is much more than a place to spend eternity. It is also the place where God and Jesus Christ the Lamb live. Where we don't have to see darkly as through a smoked glass, but where we can see our Lord and Redeemer face to face. He promises that forever, "They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God." (Rev. 21:3) What a fabulous promise!
In Matt. 6:33 Jesus says, "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
Jacob dreams of a ladder to heaven
Gen. 28:11 When [Jacob] reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it." He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven."
Who may dwell with God?
Ps. 15:1~~~
LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?
He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman, who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD, who keeps his oath even when it hurts, who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things will never be shaken.
Isa. 35:1~~~~
The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God. Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you."
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness.
The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that
Way; wicked fools will not go about on it.
No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the LORD will return.
They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Isa. 66:1 This is what the LORD says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?" declares the LORD. "This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.
"For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.
And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
1 comment:
In the dark days of depression, the mindfulness of “Heaven” has the operation to keep us true to the Lord under adverse circumstances. This seems to be the point of my wife’s current devotional.
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