In the midst of all the galaxies in our universe, God singled out the planet earth to inhabit with His people. He will bring New Jerusalem, His 1500 mile cubed city, down out of heaven and dwell with us here for eternity (Revelation 21:2).
This city, paved with streets of
gold, shows us that what we value more than anything in this world in which we
now live will be common place in the city of God (Revelation 21:21; 1
Corinthians 2:9).
We revel in nature as we see it
on earth; yet, God will give us a new heaven and earth which resemble Paradise
before Adam and Eve fell into sin. This is something else which we cannot
imagine.
Even more awesome than any of
this, however, is that God gives His Saints the gift of His divine presence
abiding in our life now and forever.
There is no longer any separation
between God and humanity, because Jesus bridged the gap by His death and
resurrection.
He left the glories of heaven to include
us in His inheritance of God's Kingdom.
Yet, we take this illustrious
fact for granted, and spending time with God is the least of our priorities. We
know He will always be there for us, so we only visit Him when we have a
problem we cannot handle on our own.
God is jealous for our time and
attention (Exodus 34:14). He created us as His own special people. He calls us out
of the world to abstain from the evil desires of sin and to seek only His will
and way for our life (1 Peter 2:9-12; Proverbs 3:5-6; Ephesians 2:10).
Daily Bible devotion, Christian
fellowship, hearing the Word of God preached and singing the high praises of
God all bring us into fellowship with God Himself (Psalm 95:2, 100:4; Romans
8:29).
We walk in His presence
continually; and even at night, our spirit communes with the Spirit of God as
we sleep (Psalm 16:8). We pour out our heart to Him daily; not only with our
needs, but primarily with our praises in both good times and bad (Psalm 62:8).
Prayer:
Father God, in Your presence is
fullness of joy and in Your right hand are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11).
There is nothing which we need that You will not provide for us (Matthew 6:33).
You have our best interest in Your heart and You love us faithfully. We
continually abide in Your love (John 15:9).
Forgive us for foolishly running
after the things of this world to improve our station in this fleeting life (James
4:14). We get new homes, cars, clothes, hobbies and expensive toys that take even
more of our time away from You.
Yet, You continually call us back
to Your presence; to spend more than an hour of devotion, and to abide in You
all day and night long. There is nothing worthy of our attention beside You and
we desire nothing on earth except Your presence in our life (Psalm 73:23-26).
Thought for the Day:
The Spirit of our awesome God
goes with us always and He gives us continual rest for our weary soul. - Exodus
33:14
