 I can't believe it is March 2020 already. I know it has been a minute since we last connected, but Happy New Year! I hope you are still excited about the possibilities this new year brings. New hope, new mercies, new grace and new areas of growth.
If you have been on the journey with us, you know we have been talking about being built up and not broken down from Acts 20:32: I commend you to God and to the word of grace which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among those who are sanctified. One way our faith gets rebuilt is by contemplating our future inheritance. Sometimes life can get tough, circumstances and people can weigh on us. Before we know it we are either frustrated with people, or discouraged and overwhelmed by our problems, or both. Peter encourages us to look past our present situation and to bless God because we have an inheritance that has been reserved for us in heaven: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you - I Pet 1:3-4. He encourages us to stop focusing on our present problems; but instead, consider and image our future. We have a future inheritance that won't fade, can't be squandered or stolen, is not at risk of decaying and is already reserved, and being guarded for us in heaven. I remind myself on a regular basis, especially when people start to work my nerves, that this is not my home. My real home is in heaven: But (we are different, because ) our citizenship is in heaven - Phil 3:20a AMP. When we get frustrated with this life, and things get on our last nerve, we have to remind ourselves, that this is not our home. Whatever we are going through or feeling is just temporary insanity. Have you ever worked for a temp agency? Sometimes you were sent to an assignment where the work environment was very unpleasant. I can remember thinking, I am so glad I will only be here a week. This life and the difficulties we face are only temporary: For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory - II Cor 4:17. We should engage our imaginations often to think about what the Lord is preparing for us. Jesus has not only gone to prepare a place for us, but He has reserved an inheritance for us that is being guarded in heaven. Sometimes I imagine angels trying to sneak a peek at what Jesus has reserved just for me. When our present circumstances are difficult, looking forward and thinking about what heaven might be like has tremendous power. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that , when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is - I John 3:2. I remember when I was in college and it was finals week. I would be exhausted and overwhelmed. I felt like I was not going to make it, and then I would start to think about what I would feel like when I took that last exam or turned in that last paper. Just the thought of what that would feel like would energize me and strengthen me to finish. We can look forward to seeing Christ in all His glory and we shall be changed to be like Him. I can only imagine, Diane |
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