Tag: My Identity is in my Heavenly Savior

A Comforting Question, Thought, For Today: Scripturally Speaking, What Do We Believe Heaven is Like? John 14:1-6

John 14:1-6Amplified Bible

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

14 “Do not let your heart be troubled (afraid, cowardly). Believe [confidently] in God and trust in Him, [have faith, hold on to it, rely on it, keep going and] believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and I will take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also. 4 And [to the place] where I am going, you know the way.” 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going; so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “[a]I am the [only] Way [to God] and the [real] Truth and the [real] Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Amen.

An experienced traveler knows the value of making hotel reservations.

They spend some time working on their itinerary – the quality of the hotel they will be staying in, the quality of the food from local restaurants, entertainment venues which will help them pass their time while they are away from family.

The very thought of a comfortable room, a comfortable bed, the possibility of a good meal waiting for us at your destination just makes one feel more relaxed.

If we have to be away from our families, we might as well know the best ways we will be able to relax, get our share of work and rest, enjoy that time away.

The trip goes ever more smoothly when you have those advanced reservations.

In our reading for today from John’s Narrative, Rabbi Jesus speaks of hospitable lodging at the end of a long trip.

To comfort his disciples then, He tells us, his followers now , not to be worried during our journey on the road to eternity, on the road to our heavenly abode.

We have to trust in the Father.

In his heavenly abode there are many rooms.

And the Son prepares a special place for us.

The best medicine for a heavenly travelers heart is to utterly trust in God.

As we study this passage, we discover two important facts.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/jhn/14/1-3/t_conc_1011002

First, Jesus promises us more than just temporary housing.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3438/kjv/tr/0-1/

The Greek words refer to “dwelling places,” and that implies permanence and stability.

Once we travel into that heavenly sanctuary, we won’t have to worry about finding new shelter again.

Second, we won’t have to look for that place on our own.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/jhn/14/1-3/t_conc_1011003

On this earth, it can be challenging to find an unfamiliar location, even with good directions.

But Jesus himself will return to show us the way.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2064/kjv/tr/0-1/

The reservation confirmation for this heavenly lodging is going to be very simple.

BELIEVE IN GOD …

BELIEVE ALSO IN HIS SON, JESUS …

BELIEVE It’s forever safe for us in the hands of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Have you trusted him fully?

But, I can imagine that such a complete level of trust should have come from Rabbi Jesus’ disciples in that Upper Room after they have been told their Rabbi was going away – was going to be arrested, humiliated, brutalized, and killed.

I can also probably safely guess that if we were the ones in that Upper Room, our hearts too would be greatly disquieted and visibly shocked, out of sorts.

Setting aside the indescribable shock of learning your Messiah is about to be [voluntarily] walking down the roadway into his own grave, from which there is no return, is the lingering question for them of exactly what comes afterwards.

A Place, A heavenly place, A heavenly Abode …. A Mansion with many rooms.

Prepared by Jesus Himself … who will return for us one day … take us “home.”

What About this “Heavenly Mansion, Heavenly Home?”

“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now…Come further up, come further in!” ― C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle

Everyone wants to know about heaven and everyone wants to go there.

Except, who has actually been there and will testify, paint that masterpiece everyone will automatically point to and believe is the true and actual place?

Recent polls suggest that nearly 80% of all Americans believe there is a place called heaven.

I find that statistic encouraging because it tells me that even in this skeptical age there is something deep inside the human heart that cries out,

“There has got to be something more, something better.”

Something more than the pain and suffering of this life.

Something more than 70 or 80 years on planet earth. Something more than being born, living, suffering an dying, and then being buried in the ground.

Sometimes we talk about a “God-shaped vacuum” inside the human heart.

I believe there is also a “heaven-shaped vacuum,” a sense that we were made for something more than this life.

Ecclesiastes 3:11-13Amplified Bible

God Set Eternity in the Heart of Man

11 He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end.

12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good as long as they live; 13 and also that every man should eat and drink and see and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.

God Himself, despite our own self-opinions, has made everything and everyone beautiful and appropriate in their own time, their own unique, individual place.

God has also planted eternity, a sense of divine purpose into our human hearts.

And then gifted us with an insatiable desire we always refer to as “curiosity.”

Considering this notion of “curiosity” and the always and forever lingering question “what comes next for us when Jehovah Ra’ah the shepherd comes?”

It is reasonable to say and then to believe that …

“We were definitely made to live forever somewhere.”

In a very real sense we were made for heaven.

There is another fascinating statistic I should mention.

Not only do most Americans believe in heaven, most people expect to go there when they die.

If you took a microphone to the streets of where ever you live and asked, “Do you think you will go to heaven when you die?”

the vast majority of people would answer, “I hope so,” or “I think so,” or perhaps “I think I’ve got a good chance.

Not very many people would say they aren’t going to heaven.

Perhaps one modest point is in order.

Whenever you talk about living forever somewhere, it would help to know for sure where you are going.

After all, if you’re wrong about heaven, you’re going to be wrong for a long, long time.

With that background, I now consider some what I believe are some of the most frequently asked questions about heaven.

But before I jump in, I should make one preliminary point.

The only things we can know for certain about heaven are the things revealed in the Bible.

Everything else is just speculation and hearsay.

The Bible tells us everything we need to know and I believe it also tells us everything we can know for certain about heaven.

Where is Heaven?

There are three things I can try to tell you in answer to this question.

John 14:1-3Easy-to-Read Version

Jesus Comforts His Followers

14 Jesus said, “Don’t be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me. 2 There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back. Then I will take you with me, so that you can be where I am.

1. The most important fact is that heaven is a real place. 

Twice in three verses Jesus calls heaven a place.

He means that heaven (“my Father’s house”) is a real place, as real as New York, London or Chicago.

The place called heaven is just as real as the place you call home.

It’s a very real place which is why the Bible sometimes compares heaven to a mansion with many rooms (John 14:1-3) and sometimes to an enormous city teeming with people (Revelation 21).

2. The Bible also tells us that heaven is the dwelling place of God.

His throne is there, the angels are there, the Lord Jesus Christ is in heaven.

Philippians 3:20 says very plainly that “our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

That’s why Jesus told the thief on the Cross, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

3. Third (and I find this fact fascinating), the Bible hints heaven is not as far away as we might think.

Because heaven is a real place, we will sometimes think it must be outside our present universe – which would mean billions and billions of light years away.

However, it’s very clear that the early Christians understood that they would pass immediately from this life into the presence of Christ in heaven.

How can that be possible if heaven is “beyond the farthest universal bounds?”

Hebrews 12:22-24Amplified Bible

22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels [in festive gathering], 23 and to the general assembly and assembly of the firstborn who are registered [as citizens] in heaven, and to God, who is Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous (the redeemed in heaven) who have been made perfect [bringing them to their final glory], 24 and to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant [uniting God and man], and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks [of mercy], a better and nobler and more gracious message than the blood of Abel [which cried out for vengeance].

Hebrews 12:22-24 tells us something amazing about what the gospel has done for us:

“But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

The writer is here comparing Mt. Sinai with Mt. Zion.

Under the old covenant no one could come near God except under very strict conditions – and then only by one person – the High Aaronic High Priest .

That’s why the mountain shook with thunder and lightning.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/heb/12/22-24/s_1145022

[Note: three times the writer of Hebrews uses a Greek word that means “to come near” or “to approach closely.]

But now in Christ, we have been brought near to heavenly realities.

Think very carefully and very prayerfully of what the author is saying:

  • We’re not that far from heaven.
  • We’re not that far from the angels.
  • We’re not that far from our loved ones in heaven.
  • We’re not that far from God.
  • We’re not that far from Jesus himself.
  • Heaven is a real place, it’s where Jesus is right now, and it’s not far away from us.
What is Heaven Like?

I would have to answer this by saying that the Bible doesn’t give us a great deal of information.

By the Word of God for the Children of God are images and pictures and visions of heaven and comparisons with life on earth.

What is heaven like? Here are seven biblical facts about heaven. It is …

  1. God’s dwelling place (Psalms 33:13).
  2. Where Christ is today (Acts 1:11).
  3. Where Christians go when they die (Philippians 1:21-23).
  4. The Father’s house (John 14:2).
  5. A city designed and built by God (Hebrews 11:10).
  6. A better country (Hebrews 11:16).
  7. Paradise (Luke 23:43).

Most of us have heard that heaven is a place where the streets are paved with gold, the gates are made of pearl, and the walls made of precious jewels.

Those images come from Revelation 21, which offers us the most extended picture of heaven in the entire Bible.

If you ask me if I believe those things are literally true, the answer is yes and no.

Yes, they are literally true but no, heaven won’t be anything like we imagine.

It will be infinitely greater.

When John writes about a street paved with gold, I do not doubt his words.

He simply reports what he saw in his vision.

Thus, I believe his words are literally true.

They are also meant to tell us that the things we value so highly in this life will be used to pave the roads in heaven.

Each of the stones and gems mentioned in the chapter represent something to the readers, have very well known and very specific spiritual qualities to them.

They are also meant to tell us that the things of this earth we value so highly in this life will be used to pave the roads in heaven.

https://biblehub.com/commentaries/revelation/21-19.htm

You may also google each stone individually … Educate Yourself.

Jesus Has Our Eternal Travel Itinerary Already Prepared For Us

John 14:1-7 The Message

The Road

14 1-4 “Don’t let this rattle you. You trust God, don’t you? Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would I have told you that I’m on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I’m on my way to get your room ready, I’ll come back and get you so you can live where I live. And you already know the road I’m taking.”

5 Thomas said, “Master, we have no idea where you’re going. How do you expect us to know the road?”

6-7 Jesus said, “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You’ve even seen him!”

Believe in God the Father …

Believe in God the Son …

Believe in God the Holy Spirit …

Believe in the Word of God for the Children of God …

Believe in the Life, Death, and Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Loving Father, thank You for Christ’s wonderful words of comfort, “Let not your heart be troubled…” Thank You that God the Son came to earth as the Son of Man to bring comfort to my heart, healing to my soul, and live in my spirit. Enable me, in the power of the Spirit, to hold fast to this wonderful truth in Your Word, and I pray that You endow me with the wisdom, the words, and the grace, to pour forth Your great comfort to others who are facing their own difficult trials. Our Father, what a total joy it is to know that Jesus has prepared a place for us in your presence! Help us to overcome our worries and to trust in you fully as we journey with you. Amen.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Servanthood in God’s Neighborhood: Heavenly Economics. Proverbs 11:24-28.

“The world of the generous gets larger and larger;
    the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.”

“The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed;
    those who help others are helped.”

There’s a profound lie in our society today that tells us that if we get more, we will be happier. If we had more friends, we would be happier. If we had a better car, we would be happier. If we got those new shoes everyone else seems to have besides us, we’d be happier. We see it all around us. So many people are wearing themselves out pursuing “things” in a vain effort to make themselves happier.

About those two quotes above, (Actually from Proverbs 11:24-25 Message) God gives us a different perspective here in those verses. Basically, He’s saying that if we are primarily focused on serving only ourselves and keeping us happy and getting more “things” for ourselves that our world will be indescribably small.

When your focus is on yourself, your world will be small. And the reality is, the more you focus on yourself the unhappier you will be. God wants to use you. He wants to do big things through you and use you to bless the people around you.

However, in a worldly economic sense, if your main focus is on yourself, your world will be indescribably, impossibly, intolerably small.

Instead, in a heavenly economic sense, if you choose to invest your time in the people around you, in your “economic sphere of influence,” focusing on others, meeting the needs of those around you, you’ll not only be happier, but you’ll be more fulfilled, more heavenly rich and more earthly and worldly poor. You will know you are blessed being used by God to help those around you in a big way.

Proverbs 11:24-28 Amplified Bible

24 
There is the one who [generously] scatters [abroad], and yet increases all the more;
And there is the one who withholds what is justly due, but it results only in want and poverty.
25 
The generous man [is a source of blessing and] shall be prosperous and enriched,
And he who waters will himself be watered [reaping the generosity he has sown].
26 
The people curse him who holds back grain [when the public needs it],
But a blessing [from God and man] is upon the head of him who sells it.
27 
He who diligently seeks good seeks favor and grace,
But he who seeks evil, evil will come to him.
28 
He who leans on and trusts in and is confident in his riches will fall,
But the righteous [who trust in God’s provision] will flourish like a green leaf.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

In the mindset of this world, our economics is often about quickly making the greatest profit at the expense of others. It is based mainly on selfish greed and an unwholesome “me first, you last” attitude. Though it is sometimes called “the pursuit of happiness,” it will never satisfy our deepest needs and longings.

However, are we also aware that there is also something we might choose to call “heavenly economics.” It gives free rein to investing in generosity, in love, and in goodwill. It turns the selfish, vicious cycle of greed upon its head, and flashes of heavenly sunshine beam through, showers upon showers of blessings on us.

We can hear clear echoes of contrast between worldly economics and heavenly economics from deep within our ancient text from Proverbs 11:24-28 today.

In a Heavenly economic system, Generous people forgive debts, as they have been forgiven, ripples of love and service spread outward. That’s an example of God’s amazing grace amid worldly economics, building up treasure in heaven.

Maybe you have seen the old movie “It’s A Wonderful Life.”

It’s a story about George Bailey, whose savings and loan business lends out money at low interest so that low-income people can buy a home. But then something goes wrong: one day George’s uncle loses track of a bundle of money on the way to the bank, and that puts George in danger of going bankrupt.

In the end, George is rescued by the townspeople, who give him all the cash he needs because he always served from the heart and treated them with goodwill.

God’s Gospel in a nutshell:

Jesus’ Selfless Servanthood in God’s Neighborhood!

Matthew 27:38-44Amplified Bible

38 At the same time two robbers were crucified with Jesus, one on the right and one on the left. 39 Those who passed by were hurling abuse at Him and jeering at Him, wagging their heads [in scorn and ridicule], 40 and they said [tauntingly], “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself [from death]! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, mocked Him, saying, 42 “He saved others [from death]; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him and acknowledge Him. 43 He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 The robbers who had been crucified with Him also began to insult Him in the same way.

They gathered by the hundreds, if not the thousands, watched Jesus dying on the cross. They could see Him suffering but could not understand His actions.

They expected that He would want to do anything to escape the pain and agony.

These observers assumed that Jesus was exactly like other people.

Like themselves.

Only interested in His own personal pleasures and well-being.

That, if He could, if he wanted what everybody else would want – long life, He would have freed himself, escaped the cross, saved Himself from certain death.

To them, the fact that He hung on a cross proved that He was an utter fraud and failure, precisely because, from their perspective, He would not save Himself.

How wrong they were!

He could have saved Himself. Before going to the cross, He had asked the Father to “remove this cup from Me” (knowing that all things were possible for Him). But, in the end, He knew that the cross was the Father’s will (Mark 14:35-36).

So, hanging there, totally vulnerable, in indescribable agony, dying, Jesus was demonstrating why He came to earth. He was showing us that He was totally selfless, willing to obey the Father, regardless of the consequences or cost.

He was not the least bit motivated by self-interest, pride, or self-preservation. He came to give UP His life, not to save it. To serve, not to be served. To die.

He achieved victory and success because for the JOY which was before Him, He freely died for each of us that we might be forgiven of our sins. He represented something totally new, totally heavenly:

Total absolute selflessness, total absolute sacrifice and total absolute service.

Completely, utterly seeking first, the Kingdom of God, quite literally, quite graphically, even to the point of death – only to be raised, to be resurrected!

His accusers represented the opposite:

Pure self-interest.

By their “economic” standards, He could only be successful by saving Himself.

In that exact moment, their “utter selfishness” was all they could understand.

In the world today, many are like those accusers.

Living for self.

Surviving for self.

Self – Preservation

Survival of the “strongest and the fittest, the quickest and the richest.”

Focusing nearly exclusively on their personal economic interests and pleasures.

But God calls us to be like Jesus.

Heavenly Economics – To surrender our lives to Him.

Selfless Servanthood – To die to self and serve Him in His neighborhood.

The Gospel in a Nutshell – Selfless Servanthood in God’s Neighborhood!

Totally committed to entering into our communities and our neighborhoods.

Heavenly Economics: Let our selfless servanthood follow God’s leading and live with His generosity and goodwill.

Our Worldly Economic view: our greed and selfishness can only lead to our ruin.

God is a giving and generous God.

He longs for his children to be like him in this grace.

Our place on earth is not to fill our barns and our silos with our grain, be hoarders or collectors of blessing, forgiveness, wealth, and opportunity.

No, following the lead of our Eternal Father, we are to be conduits of blessing, forgiveness, wealth, and opportunity.

As we are generous like our Heavenly Father God, we trust that he will in turn make sure we are heavenly blessed and refreshed in the ways that will draw us more and more into HIS character and more able to help others in the future.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Holy God, I thank you for all the great examples of heavenly generosity which have blessed and graced my life. Whether rich or poor, these conduits of your grace have taught me that I, too, can be .01% more like you in this way. Bless my heart with trust and faith as I seek to be more generous with others in my grace, forgiveness, finances, encouragement, and time. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

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Turn your Eyes upon Jesus. Look Full into His Wonderful Face. The Things of this Earth will Grow Strangely Dim in the Light of His Glory and Grace.

Colossians 3:1-4 New American Standard Bible

Put On the New Self

3 Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 [a]Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Human beings will all tend to agree that different people have different styles. Different style for our dressing, our getting work done, schedules, you name it.

The daily routine for the average adult is sleep, eat, work, exercise and relax and occasionally a minute or two when they remember to pray. Is this how God expects us to live? This is the world’s prescription that promises to improve your live style but is this really true. If not, why do we even continue doing it?

Why do we not accept God’s prescription to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” (Matthew 6:33) Seeking first the kingdom of God is what really benefits the soul, and the human soul is a priceless treasure that is more valuable than the whole world. “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

Unfortunately, many today are more concerned about the world than about their souls. Is that not the reason why a person would swallow cocaine pellets knowing that it could lead to death? Is that not the reason why a person would risk his or her life to steal a pair of sneakers or a mobile phone? These people give God little place or visible identity in their daily lives, are more concerned about pleasing themselves rather than pleasing God. They set their hearts on “lethal” earthly temporal things rather than “set their hearts on things above”.

Lifestyles will certainly go a long way to define a person, because other people can watch that person in action. Clearly the lifestyle of worldly values would be different from that of Christian values. Does wearing a necklace with cross on it, make you a person with Christian lifestyle? Instead of asking the question, what is the lifestyle of any particular Christian denomination, it would most certainly be far better for us to ask ourselves the question, what is the lifestyle of faith?

God has not called you and Me to live just for ourselves. Rather, God has called you and me to be some measure of blessing to others. God wants you and me to sacrificially use our hands and feet and gifts and talents to point others to Him.

So, if you’re good at music, begin to look for ways to use that gift to show others the grace, mercy, forgiveness of Jesus. If you’re good at baking, make cupcakes, sell them and use the money to give to missions. Do not let your life be simply all about yourself. Instead, look for any opportunity to be a blessing to others.

You might not feel like you have anything of any worth or value to give. Perhaps you even feel like you are going through something really hard and can’t help someone else in this moment. However true, don’t let those things be excuses. Pray! Strive to not allow your perceived “limitations and challenges” limit God! Beyond “yourself” You are infinitely more powerful than you can ever imagine!

Instead, purpose each day to look to opportunities. All around you, there are people who are in need of comfort. You can take two minutes out of your day and quietly pray for someone. God has placed opportunities all around you. Believe in yourself with the same measure of passion and purpose you believe in God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit as they believe in you!

Determine today to be the day you refocus your priorities and your mindset and deliberately see all the opportunities around you. As you begin to look for them, you will undoubtedly be surprised how many genuinely exist. Pick one and then choose to quietly act on it today. See God doing something great through you!

I am reminded, The Hymn “Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus” was written by Helen Lemmel, but the real story is about two remarkable women who had much in common; they were contemporaries; both with amazing artistic talents that merged to create one of the most loved spiritual songs of the 19th century. The other woman, her contemporary, was named Fannie Crosby, the blind hymnist.

In 1907, at the age of 43, Helen went to Germany for four years of intensive vocal training, where she met and married her husband. They moved back to the United States in 1911 and she continued singing in the gospel music circuits. Eventually, she became the vocal music teacher at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois.

But then tragedy struck. She developed an affliction that resulted in blindness. Her husband could not cope with the thought of a blind wife, so he abandoned her. She had nowhere to turn but to wholly trust her whole life unto the Lord.

She retired from Moody Bible Institute and then moved to Seattle, Washington where she continued to spend her time to write poems and set them to music. In complete blindness, she would pick out the notes on a small keyboard and call on friends come to her home to record her melodies before she forgot them.

Along the whole long concourse of her years, whenever her friends asked how she was, her frequent reply was, “I am fine in all of the things that count.”

She continued eyes on Him who was sent from heaven, inspired to write her poems until she died at age of 97 years. In all, she authored about 500 hymns.

There are some fascinating similarities between Helen H. Lemmel and Fanny Crosby. Both ladies were very prolific hymn writers and, being totally blind, both used the imagery of looking at and seeing their Savior through the eyes of faith. They could both literally no longer see the world except through Jesus!

Pease pray over living a lifestyle of faith over a lifestyle of “It is no big deal!” Please pray over loving a lifestyle of faith over a lifestyle of “It is no big deal!”

Please pray over living a lifestyle of faith over a lifestyle of “I am no big deal!” Please pray over loving a lifestyle of faith over a lifestyle of “I am no big deal!”

O soul are you weary and troubled
No light in the darkness you see
There’s light for a look at the Savior
And life more abundant and free.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace. Helen Howarth. Lemmel, 1922

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us pray,

Loving Father, help me to understand the precious relationship I have with Christ and what it means to be in Christ and to be seated with Him in heavenly places. Help me to set my heart on the wonderful things that You have prepared for those that love You, and, more and more, may I be a visual and visualized reflection of Savior Christ to all those I meet today. In His name I pray, AMEN.

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