PASSING THROUGH ON OUR WAY HOME

ALTHOUGH WE MAY CALL THIS EARTH OUR HOME AND WE MAY SET UP HOUSE AT A PARTICULAR STREET ADDRESS , THE LORD REMINDS US IN HIS WORD THAT OUR TRUE RESIDENCE IS WITH HIM IN HEAVEN ........" PASSING THROUGH " IS A WAY OF DESCRIBING OUR LIFE HERE ON EARTH ........ DEFINITELY FILLED WITH A VARIETY OF TRIUMPHS AND TRAGEDIES WE ARE CONSTANTLY UP AGAINST CIRCUMSTANCES THAT LEAVE US AMAZED, BEWILDERED, CONFUSED AND EVEN FRIGHTENED.......AT TIMES "LIFE AS KNOW IT " CEASES TO BE , CHALLENGING EVEN THOSE MOST MATURE IN THEIR FAITH....... AS PROFESSOR AND THEOLOGIAN D.A.CARSON SAID , " THERE IS NOTHING IN SCRIPTURE TO ENCOURAGE US TO THINK WE SHOULD ALWAYS BE FREE FROM THE VICISSITUDES THAT PLAGUE A DYING WORLD. " ........ SO , HOW IS IT THAT WE ARE TO PERSEVERE WHEN THERE ARE NO WORDS ........ IN THE 2nd BOOK OF CORINTHIANS 4:17-18 GOD'S WORD DESCRIBES OUR TROUBLES AS SUCH , " For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far out weighs them all . So we fix our eyes not on what is seen , but on what is unseen . For what is seen is temporary , but what is unseen is eternal . " ........TO UNDERSTAND THIS SCRIPTURE WE MUST BELIEVE AND UNDERSTAND THAT THERE IS A HEAVEN ....... JESUS CHRIST RESIDES IN HEAVEN WITH GOD OUR FATHER AND HIS MOST HOLY SPIRIT ......... WHEN WE COME TO KNOW JESUS AS OUR SAVIOUR WE FIND OUT THAT WE SERVE A LIVING GOD WHO IS ALWAYS PRESENT WITH US IN TIMES OF JOY AND SORROW AS WRITTEN , " Be strong and courageous . Do not be afraid or terrified because of them , for the LORD your GOD goes with you ; HE will never leave nor forsake you . " DEUTERONOMY 31-6........ THEREFORE SINCE GOD HAS CREATED US WE WILL SOMEDAY RETURN HOME TO HIM ........ "Do not let your be troubled . Trust in GOD ; trust also in ME. In MY FATHER'S house there are many rooms; if it were not so , I would have told you . I am going there to prepare a place for you . And if I go and prepare a place for you , I will come back and take you to be with ME that you also may be where I am ." JOHN 14:1- 3 ......THE HOPE OF HEAVEN ALLOWS US TO PUT THE DARK TIMES OF LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE ....... AND ALTHOUGH THE BIBLE ENCOURAGES US TO ENJOY THE BLESSINGS THAT GOD BESTOWS UPON US AS SAID IN THE 1st BOOK OF TIMOTHY 6:17 , IT ALSO REMINDS US , " Do not love the world or anything in it . If anyone loves the world , the love of the FATHER is not in him . " 1st JOHN 2:15 ......... KNOWING JUST HOW MUCH GOD LOVES US GIVES US THE COURAGE AND THE STRENGTH TO OBEY HIM AS APOSTLE PAUL DID WHEN HE SAYS ," I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which GOD has called me heavenward in CHRIST JESUS . " PHILIPPIANS 3:14 ....... AND ALSO WHEN HE SAYS , "Rejoice in the LORD always . I will say it again: REJOICE! Let your gentleness be evident to all . The LORD is near . Do not be anxious about anything , but in everything , by prayer and petition , with thanksgiving , present your requests to GOD . And the peace of GOD , which transcends all understanding , will guard your hearts and your minds in CHRIST JESUS . " PHILIPPIANS 4:4-7 ........AS THE NEW YEAR BEGINS THERE WILL BE TRIALS AND THERE MAY BE TRAGEDY AND YES , THERE WILL BE JOY AS WE ARE PASSING THROUGH ON OUR WAY HOME ........MY PRAYER IS THAT THE LORD BE WITH YOU..........................SUMMER

A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN

" No eye has seen , no ear has heard , and no mind has imagined what GOD has prepared for those who love HIM . But it was to us that GOD revealed these things by HIS SPIRIT . For HIS SPIRIT searches out everything and shows us GOD'S deep secrets. " 1CORINTHIANS 2:9-10 ........ THIS SCRIPTURE IS WONDERFUL AND HAS A PROMISE WITHIN IT FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE AND LOVE THE LORD . AND ALTHOUGH ITS CONTEXT ISN'T SPECIFICALLY TALKING ABOUT HEAVEN , IT DOES REVEAL TO BELIEVERS THAT GOD DOES SPEAK OF THINGS IN HIS WORD THAT HE WANTS US TO KNOW ABOUT ........... WHEN HE SPEAKS OF HEAVEN HE WANTS US TO ANTICIPATE WHAT LIES AHEAD ........ ONE WOULD ASK IF HEAVEN IS BEYOND OUR IMAGINATION ? 2 TIMOTHY 2:7 TELLS US "Consider what I say, and may the LORD give you understanding in all things . " WE CANNOT ANTICIPATE WHAT WE CAN'T IMAGINE ................GOD GIVES US A GLIMPSE OF HEAVEN ; A GARDEN , A CITY , AND A KINGDOM ARE ALL DESCRIPTIONS OF GODS PLACE WHERE HE CALLS HOME ..........SOME WOULD SAY THAT THESE DESCRIPTIONS ARE ANALOGIES BUT THE SCRIPTURES MAKE IT PERFECTLY CLEAR THAT OUR LORD JESUS IS PREPARING A PLACE FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN HIM WHEN HE SPEAKS IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 14: 1-12 " Let not your heart be troubled ; you believe in GOD , believe also in ME. In MY FATHERS house are many mansions ; if it were not so , I would have told you . I go to prepare a place for you . And if I go and prepare a place for you , I will come again and receive you to MYSELF ; that where I am , there you may be also . And where I go you know , and the way you know . Thomas said to HIM, '' LORD we do not know where YOU are going , and how can we know the way ? '' JESUS said to him , ''I am the the way , the truth , and the life . No one comes to the FATHER except through ME . If you had known ME , you would have known MY FATHER also ; and from now on you know HIM and have seen HIM . " Phillip said to HIM , '' LORD show us the FATHER , and it is sufficient for us . '' JESUS said to him ,'' Have I been with you so long , and yet you have not known ME Phillip ? He who has seen ME , has seen the FATHER ; so how can you say , ' Show us the FATHER ?' Do you not believe that I am in the FATHER , and the FATHER in ME ? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on MY own authority ; but the FATHER who dwells in ME does the works . Believe ME that I am in the FATHER and the FATHER in ME , or else believe ME for the sake of the works themselves . " WE NEED TO ASK FOR GOD'S HELP TO REMOVE THE WAX PAPER FROM OVER OUR EYES SO THAT ANY FALSE INTERPRETATIONS ABOUT HEAVEN ARE REPLACED WITH SCRIPTURAL TRUTHS ..........IT IS TRUE THAT OUR ADVERSARY THE DEVIL IS ALWAYS TRYING TO DISTORT GODS WORD AND DEVOUR US 1PETER 5 :8 '' Be sober , be vigilant ; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion , seeking whom he may devour . " NOW IF THAT ISN'T A LINE OF SCRIPTURE TO KEEP US SOBER !! ...........SOME OF SATAN'S FAVORITE LIES ARE THAT HE NOR GOD NOR HEAVEN NOR HELL EVEN EXIST ........ A VERY CLEVER WAY TO ROB US OF OUR JOY ............ROMANS 8 :38-39 IS VERY CLEAR TO SAY , " For I am persuaded that neither death nor life , nor angels nor principalities nor powers , nor things present nor things to come , nor height nor depth , nor any other created thing , shall be able to separate us from the love of GOD which is in CHRIST JESUS our LORD . '' TODAY MAY BE A GOOD DAY TO PONDER ON WHETHER OR NOT WE WILL SPEND ETERNITY IN HEAVEN ......... JOHN 3 : 16 SAYS, " GOD so loved the world that he gave HIS one and only SON , so that everyone who believes in HIM will not perish but have eternal life . " JUST AS ROMANS 10 :9 STATES , " If you confess with your mouth that JESUS is LORD and believe in your heart that GOD raised HIM from the dead , you will be saved . " WHETHER WE AGREE WITH GOD OR NOT IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER BECAUSE HE HAS THE FINAL SAY BUT WHAT DOES MATTER TO HIM IS WHETHER OR NOT WE WILL ACCEPT HIS FREE GIFT OF SALVATION HENCE REMOVING FROM US OUR FEAR OF DYING JUST AS IN HEBREWS 2:14-15 SAYS, " Because GOD'S children are human beings - made of flesh and blood - the SON also became flesh and blood . For only as a human being could HE die , and only by dying could HE break the power of death . Only in this way could HE set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. " IS TODAY THE DAY ?? .........................................SUMMER