Tag Archives: heaven

October 22

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Luke 17:20-18:14; John 7:1-52

Jesus is becoming more and more clear about his purpose on earth. In Luke 17:21 he spells out the following:

…the kingdom of God is within you.

He goes on to tell them the Son of Man will suffer and be rejected by “this generation”. Yet the people still expected that material kingdom.

For centuries, tradition looked forward to the Messiah who would sit on a throne after conquering Israel’s enemies. They were in no way ready to give up on that dream.

Even Jesus’ brothers didn’t get it. They may have believed Jesus could be that conqueror because they tried to push him into showing himself to the world ( John 7:1-5). And wouldn’t the flesh and blood brothers of the king have positions of royalty in the new government? They may have believed that, but John tells us they did not believe IN Jesus.

Jesus went so far as to tell his followers that where he is going they won’t find him. His disciples thought maybe he was talking about Greece. Again, they weren’t ready to give up on their hope of a material kingdom.

This subject is not over. It will be repeated and reinforced many times throughout the New Testament. My question is: Are you a citizen of the Kingdom of God? Have you bowed before him, accepted Jesus as your Savior, and made him King of your heart? Do you live your life with the knowledge that relationships, trials, successes, sin and disease, are temporary and bound to life on earth? 

Jesus said the kingdom of God is within us. It’s a spiritual kingdom with God himself on the throne. You are invited to be a part of this glorious kingdom and walk with God in this life and live with him forever when this life is over. If Jesus is Lord of your life, I rejoice with you. If you haven’t as yet confessed your sins and accepted his grace, becoming a citizen of the kingdom of God, I am praying that you’ll do that today. 

Your Majesty, we bow before your throne today as citizens of your kingdom. Thank you for Jesus who gives us access to your throne room, who went before us to prepare a place for us, and who wants to welcome each of us home when this life is over. May all who read this blog today know you as Savior, may we realize the joy of sins forgiven, the strength you provide for the challenges of life, and the assurance of eternity with you. You are Lord. You are our King. And you reign forever and ever. Amen.

June 24

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2 Kings 14:7-14, 5:1-7:2; 2 Chronicles 25:11-24

God continues to perform miracles through Elisha. Naaman is healed of leprosy, an axe head floats, a famine ends. But miracles don’t always happen, do they? What do you do when prayers aren’t answered like you believe they should?

My life change drastically one year ago today. A sunny Sunday afternoon turned into the darkest day of my life in an instant. My twenty-two year old nephew lost control of his pickup and was killed, leaving us with broken hearts and a grief that is unspeakable.

We had been praying for Geoff. Some of his life choices concerned us. Geoff was a Christian but ran with young people who had no interest in the Lord. We prayed God would intervene, would bring Christian friends into his life, that he would tire of that life style. His mom prayed that God would bring him through this season of life.

We didn’t get our miracle that day. God didn’t take over the controls of that truck and steer it away from the trees. 

We didn’t get our miracle that day. But Geoff did. We are living with death. Geoff is living life. We grieve. He praises God. We mourn. He rejoices.

We are a family of faith. And I can honestly say that we don’t blame God. We’re not angry that we didn’t get our miracle. We know God loves Geoff more than we ever could. But people of faith still hurt when a loved one dies. That void, that empty chair will always be there this side of heaven.

But we don’t grieve like those who have no hope. Because, one day I’ll see those sparkling big brown eyes again and I’ll see that ornery grin. My hope is built on Jesus and he promised he was preparing a place for us in heaven. Geoff is there because he knew Christ as his Savior. 

Can I ask you to pray for us today? Geoff’s mom, dad and sister, his aunts and uncle, cousins who loved him like a brother. We are hurting today. The memory of what happened one year ago is still so fresh. My prayer is that we will honor God in our time of grief. May we still choose to praise God for the privilege of having Geoff in our lives. I wish you’d known him. You would have loved him, too.