Our Eternal Destiny

Life is full of trials and opposition. We come out of one trial and slide right into another one, which is just waiting to engulf us in discouragement, loss and often physical, mental, emotional or financial ruin.

Jesus may send us into a trial, but He is right there with us - sleeping in the same boat or walking out to us on the choppy waves. He draws us close to Himself and calms the raging seas.

He sends us into the storm to prove our faith as genuine and to give us opportunities to praise, glorify and honor Him through it all. He refines our faith as gold in the smelter's pot (1 Peter 1:7).

As we look at life from God's perspective, rather than our lowly human viewpoint, He showers us with continual revelations of His love, care and provision.

His eternal plan will bring every Born Again person, as well as nature back to Himself; and restore our union with Him such as Adam enjoyed in Paradise.

We abide in Him through Christ in us and find our true identity in this personal relationship with the Trinity (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3-4). We have an eternal perspective and walk in God's will for our life.

We are spiritually alive through Christ in us, and we abide in Christ. Nothing can every pluck us out of His hand (John 10:28). He is eternal in the heavenly realm, and we dwell there with Him even now.

We possess eternal life by knowing God intimately and Jesus Christ whom He sent (John 17:3; 1 John 5:12). We will never die. Our last breath on earth is followed by our next breath in Heaven (John 11:25-26).

He gives us His divine life in exchange for our carnal one (1 John 5:11-12), His Spirit to guide us and His love to envelop us so that we may rejoice through every circumstance.

Prayer:

Father God, our glorified body will be ours when we see Jesus, either in eternity or when He returns for His Bride. Just as Jesus ate, spoke and was recognized by His disciples, we too will look very much like our self now. Our glorified body will be like His. He could walk through walls and rise into heaven unassisted. His new body was no longer subject to death.

We look forward to that immortal, resurrection body and to serving You for all of eternity. We cannot even fathom the wondrous world You prepared for us, which we know is even better than the majesty of this universe in all of its splendor. Remind us to keep a Kingdom focus through all of the trials we experience now here on earth and to look forward to spending eternity with You.

Thought for the Day:

As we live each day with eternal values and viewpoint, we mature spiritually until we come to the fullness of the stature of Christ in us. - Ephesians 4:13

God of Comfort

God is our comfort no matter what we are experiencing in life. When we persevere through a trial, we conquer the test and receive the crown of life promised by God to those who love Him (James 1:12).

I am not really motivated by rewards, but I am motivated by the thought of casting our crowns, which God gives us, at the feet of Jesus, our King and Lord (Revelation 4:10-11). After all, He deserves them.

When we lay our life down for the cause of Christ, working tirelessly in the service which He calls us to do, we receive His eternal crown of life - the carnal traded for the eternal (Ephesians 2:10; 1 Corinthians 9:25).

When we go through trials, we change our focus from the suffering in this present world, knowing that our tested faith provides us with patience; and patience makes us perfect and complete, lacking in no good thing (James 1:2-4).

Through each test, God comforts us. We are faint, our bones are in agony, our soul is in anguish, we are worn out from groaning, we toss and turn and cry into our pillow all night long, our eyes grow weak with sorrow.

Yet, God hears our cries and accepts our prayers. He gives us mercy, delivers us and showers us with His unfailing love (Psalms 6:2-10). He keeps all of our tears in His bottle and will avenge every one of them (Psalm 56:8).

We simply admit our helplessness to our Helper (Psalm 10:12, 40:17). He guards our life, as we devote it to Him, call on Him and trust Him all day long (Psalm 86:1-4). We lift up our soul to Him and He comforts us.

Prayer:

Father God, You are our refuge and strength. You provide us with an ever-present help in times in life when trials seem to pursue us. They come in waves, one right after the other (Psalm 46:1). We take refuge in the shadow of Your wings and You save us and deliver us (Psalm 7:1, 57:1-3).

You are gracious to us in our loneliness and affliction, even when our troubles, infirmities and distress multiply one upon the other (Psalm 25:16-18). As our soul grows faint, we call on You and You lead us to the Rock of Christ, our firm foundation on which we can stand; our strong tower against any enemy (Psalm 61:1-4; Matthew 7:24-27).

Thought for the Day:

God gives us relief from our misery and shows us mercy as He listens to our prayers. - Psalm 4:1

Proof that God Exists

 

God reveals His thoughts to His people just as surely as He formed the mountains, named the stars and makes night follow each day (Psalm 42:8, 90:2, 147:4). He stretches out the heavens over the foundations of the earth, which He set in place (Job 9:8-10).

God created mankind and all of the universe. Nothing is too challenging for Him (Jeremiah 32:27). He always existed and He will remain forever throughout eternity.

God thought about every contingency before He created humanity, the heavens and the earth. We have the sun to light the day and the moon and stars to light the night.

His reign over the universe continues throughout every generation (Lamentations 5:19; Daniel 4:3). God creates the winds in their seasons (Amos 4:13).

He even has fun with the waves of the sea by stirring them up into mountains of mighty water (Jeremiah 31:35). He gives us signs of His existence in the mighty wonders He created (Romans 1:20; Daniel 4:3).

If we could ask the earth, animal, fish or birds, they would teach us that the hand of the Lord created us all, and in His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind (Job 12:7-10).

Each day, the heavens declare the glory of the Lord and the wondrous works of His hands. In every land on the earth, everyone can hear the heavens and earth declaring the existence of God (Psalm 19:1-4; Romans 1:20).

The great creatures of the ocean depths; the rain, snow and hail; the stormy winds; mountains, fruit trees and firs, wild and domestic animals, and even the rodents and birds all do God's bidding (Psalm 148:7-10).

The heavens and earth rejoice, the seas roar, the fields exult, and the trees of the forest sing for joy, because the Lord is coming again to earth in His righteousness and faithfulness (Psalm 96:11-13).

Prayer:

Father God, You tread the high places of the earth and the earth is Your footstool (Micah 1:3; Zechariah 12:1). Although You are involved in every detail of nature around us, You also formed Your Spirit within each and every Born Again Believer (Zechariah 12:1).

We can never thank You enough for sharing Your Kingdom with everyone willing to surrender to Your love. We pray that You will draw all of our loved ones to Your heart, until they stop resisting Your love and grace.

Thought for the Day:

If people fail to praise God, even the rocks will cry out to honor and praise Him. 
- Luke 19:40; Habakkuk 19:40