Thursday, October 04, 2007
Hope has a powerful effect on our lives, not only spiritually but physically as well. Someone said you can live without food for a while but you can't live without hope. As we've been focusing on heaven it's my prayer that it infuses our lives with new hope.
1 John 3:2-3 reads, "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he (Jesus Christ) appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure."
There are some certainties in this two verses that we can bank on. 1) We are children of God - because everyone who believes that Jesus is Christ is born of God (1John 5:1). 2) We can be certain that Christ will come again. 3) When we see Him we will be like Him. And I might add that we will live with Him. 4) This hope in us will purify us. What does that mean? We tend to imitate the people we admire most and desire most strongly to be around. Kids tend to walk and talk and dress like the ones they admire. Adults do this too, however, we tend to be less blatant about it. A person who hopes intensely in Jesus Christ, who longs to be with him in His City will think and act and feel like Jesus. Strong hope to be with Jesus has a spiritually purifying quality. So let your hope soar as you think about a new heaven a new Earth and New Jerusalem! Hoping in Jesus will make you more like Him. The more we are like Him the more we glorify our God.
Randy Alcorn writes in his book Heaven (page 455), "What will last forever? God's word. People. Spending time in God's word and investing in people will pay off in eternity and bring me joy and perspective now. Following Christ is not a call to abstain from gratification but to delay gratification. It's finding our joy in Christ rather than seeking joy in things of this world. Heaven, our assurance of eternal gratification and fulfillment, should be our North Star, reminding us where we are and which direction to go."
Keep setting your minds and hearts on things above and be filled with purifying hope!
Pastor Tim
1 John 3:2-3 reads, "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he (Jesus Christ) appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure."
There are some certainties in this two verses that we can bank on. 1) We are children of God - because everyone who believes that Jesus is Christ is born of God (1John 5:1). 2) We can be certain that Christ will come again. 3) When we see Him we will be like Him. And I might add that we will live with Him. 4) This hope in us will purify us. What does that mean? We tend to imitate the people we admire most and desire most strongly to be around. Kids tend to walk and talk and dress like the ones they admire. Adults do this too, however, we tend to be less blatant about it. A person who hopes intensely in Jesus Christ, who longs to be with him in His City will think and act and feel like Jesus. Strong hope to be with Jesus has a spiritually purifying quality. So let your hope soar as you think about a new heaven a new Earth and New Jerusalem! Hoping in Jesus will make you more like Him. The more we are like Him the more we glorify our God.
Randy Alcorn writes in his book Heaven (page 455), "What will last forever? God's word. People. Spending time in God's word and investing in people will pay off in eternity and bring me joy and perspective now. Following Christ is not a call to abstain from gratification but to delay gratification. It's finding our joy in Christ rather than seeking joy in things of this world. Heaven, our assurance of eternal gratification and fulfillment, should be our North Star, reminding us where we are and which direction to go."
Keep setting your minds and hearts on things above and be filled with purifying hope!
Pastor Tim
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