Category: Our Exceptional God

Heaven Is Our Eternal Home

Destination: Heaven 

Home sweet home

“Are we there yet?”

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who, as a child, asked their parents that question during a long family road trip.

Those road trips seemed to stretch on and on for miles, didn’t they?

Remember how happy we were when we finally got to where we were going?

Heaven is our Eternal Home  

How much more wonderful will it be when we, as believers who trust in Jesus Christ as Savior, will live in Heaven with Him forever.

Heaven is our eternal home

The main reason why I write this blog is because I love to encourage people about what’s in store for those of us who love Jesus.

Why should we delight in God?

Because Heaven is our eternal home.

We have so much to look forward to! 

Like this:

Most people know that we’ll worship God in Heaven. But they don’t grasp how thrilling that will be. Multitudes of God’s people—of every nation, tribe, people, and language—will gather to sing praise to God for His greatness, wisdom, power, grace, and mighty work of redemption (Revelation 5:13-14). Overwhelmed by His magnificence, we will fall on our faces in unrestrained happiness and say, “Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” (Revelation 7:9-12).1 – Randy Alcorn, Bible teacher and author.

And this . . .

I love these reassuring words from Bible teacher, Dr. Ed Hindson.

Dr. Ed Hindson

Heaven is Beautiful

Have you read some of the descriptions of Heaven in the Bible?

As beautiful and magnificent as Heaven is, now hold onto this, nothing will surpass  seeing Jesus face-to-face for eternity.

We’ll be in the presence of our Redeemer and King!

We can only imagine for now, right?

My hope is that we can all grasp the magnitude of the blessings in store for us.

Do you know who Fanny Crosby is?

She’s a well-known composer who wrote many wonderful gospel hymns back in the 1800s. A little research, and I found this jewel of a story about her.

hymn composer Fanny Crosby

# # #

1 Randy Alcorn quotation, best-selling author/ Bible teacher/Founder of Eternal Perspective Ministries. [Blog post]. Retrieved from Let’s Anticipate The Incredible Experience of Worshipping in Heaven with All God’s People/June 14, 2019., para.1.

2 YouTube. “The Believer’s Exciting Future.” Online video clip. Dr. Ed Hindson. Web. Accessed 7 August, 2019.  

3 Fanny Crosby quotation, courtesy of Grace To You. [Blog post]. Retrieved from Will We See God’s Face?/June 14, 2019., para.10.

Share

Sharing Your Faith

Sharing Your Faith

sharing your faith

Courageously Sharing Your Faith

To “share” or “not to share”, that is the question.

At least on this blog post. 🙂

Seriously though, does the idea of sharing a favorite Christian meme or Bible verse on social media give you pause?

If it does, I certainly understand.

Your “friends list” may consist of believers and unbelievers.

With that in mind, you just might get a negative reaction you didn’t expect. How should you respond?

If it were me, I would invite that unbelieving friend to take the discussion offline. It’s better to have a one-on-one conversation than to have it play out in a public forum. 

courageously sharing your faith

Why Not Be Prepared?

We have to be prepared for resistance to the true gospel message, both online and in person.

Fortunately, there are some online sources for you that are helpful.

Here are a couple of resources for you to consider:

Why not devote a portion of time each week to learning how to answer the hard questions?

You may get questions from someone like:

Why is there evil and suffering in the world? You can find the answer to that here.

Can a Christian lose his or her salvation? You can find the answer to that here.

I’m a student of Apologetics myself. I will never know all the answers, but my heart yearns to learn as much as I can. It’s an insatiable thirst.

The Courage to Share

Always use grace when sharing your faith, an encouragement well-expressed here by Christian apologist, Sean McDowell.

I hope it is helpful to you.

God bless

***

Share

We Are Loved

We Are Loved

Jackson Hole, Wyoming is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever had the opportunity to visit.

The view across the open prairie looking up towards the Teton Mountain Range is breathtaking.

we are loved

This unforgettable landscape is just one of countless stunning examples of God’s glory on display.

His creation is truly a miracle.

I stand amazed . . . and thankful.

The whole universe reflects His majesty. 

How extraordinary is it that Creator God, who made Heaven and Earth, thought the world needed you and me before we were even born?

It’s a powerful truth, the depths of which are beyond our human comprehension.

What’s even more amazing is that God cares for us.

He knows when we’re filled with joy, and He knows when we’re hurting.

God isn’t influenced or moved by anyone’s fame or status.

He knows exactly who we are and we are loved.

Lessons From Creation

God cares about every aspect of your life.

We were made in His image.

Remember the powerful words of Jesus during His Sermon on the Mount.

We are much more valuable than the birds of the air. One more magnificent reason we should delight in God.

Fellow Christian writer Louis Gander wrote a lovely poem about God’s grace that I wanted to share with you. The last line, for me, “God holds” is very comforting.

An Amazing Miracle

by Louis Gander
04/01/09

Creation.
An amazing miracle.

A miraculous life as faith in God grows.
The greatest forest withstands the storms –
but when an acorn falls, God knows.

Creation.
An amazing miracle.

A miraculous life of piloted prayers.
A flock of birds protect each other –
but when the sparrow dies, God cares.

Creation.
An amazing miracle.

A miraculous seed crushed under strife.
The tomb was dark, the stone was sealed –
but God delivers eternal life.

Creation.
An amazing miracle.

A miraculous life as grace unfolds.
A family weeps, kisses, and loves –
but when their father sleeps, God holds.

# # #

Poem copyright 2019 by louis gander. Poetry for sermons, story poems and more…If you love story poems, then you’ll love ganderpoems.org / no ads, no sign-up, no tracking.  Just free inspirational poetry.

Share

He Parted The Sea

respect for GodRespect For God

It really upsets me when I hear people make irreverent comments and spew curse words using the name of God and Jesus.

We are His “new creation.”

The growing lack of respect for God in today’s reality show culture should bother us.

Look I get it – we can’t expect unbelievers to act like believers.

That’s why it’s so important to remember the lost in our prayers.

Either they don’t know (or don’t care) that they are mocking the glorious Creator of Heaven and Earth.

Some day in the future, if unrepentant, they will know the gravity of what they have done.

He parted the seaHe Parted The Sea

Jesus, our Righteous Redeemer and King, is worthy of all our reverence and praise.

His holy name is sacred.

The following verse from Philippians is just one of many verses in Scripture that validate this gospel truth.

9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:9-11, NASB.1

When I heard Hannah Kerr’s latest song, “Split The Sea,” it immediately struck a chord with me. The lyrics are a beautiful reminder of God’s awesome power.

He is, and always will be God of miracles, the one true God who parted the sea.

# # #

1 Scripture quotation is from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.

Share

Where Is God?

Where is God?

Where is God?

Your heart may be breaking right now over a seemingly impossible situation.

Where is God?

You cry yourself to sleep every night, but your prayers aren’t being answered.

Where is God?

Does that question weigh on your heart?

Please know that you’re not alone.

People are searching, searching, searching all over the internet for answers that mostly fail to satisfy.

Here’s the truth:

God is still on the throne.

Skeptics would say that’s “not good enough.”

Or, “God can’t fix this.”

What they don’t want to accept is that God allows circumstances in our lives that we won’t like.

We may get hurt, ostracized, blamed for things we didn’t do, lose some friends, called names, or feel the wrath of someone else.

We can’t sugarcoat the lives of Christians. 

The fact is, all of us will experience suffering and loss at one time or another. It’s a part of life and Christians are not immune to it.

Trust His Character

One of the hardest things to go through in life is to say goodbye to a loved one. I’ve been through it way too many times.

The loss of someone special cuts through to your very soul, leaving you with a heavy heart and memories of what you should have said if you’d just had more time.

Dear Ones, God cares for the brokenhearted.

With this in mind, please don’t turn away from Him in the midst of your sorrow. Ask Him for strength and comfort and He will give those blessings to you through His Word, and sometimes, through other people in your life who have experienced the same grief that you’re going through.

Dying Words That Bring Hope

My thanks to fellow Christian writer, Ken Barnes, who captures the essence of trusting God through our grief with the article below.

God Is Still on the Throne
by Ken Barnes
12/08/2018 / Christian Living

The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation. (Psalms 33:10-11 NASB)

Many things happen in this life that seems to be incomprehensible. Christians die seemingly too young in what appears to be in the midst of their usefulness. Occurrences transpire that do not look to fulfill God’s purposes, yet God is still on the throne.

I once heard a story about a Pastor in Hawaii. The Pastor’s wife fell ill and went into a coma.  After some time, she was confined to a nursing facility.  The Pastor, before he went to his church in the morning, would go by and visit with his wife.  He would comb her hair and talk to her, with no response.  In the evening after work, he sat and spoke to her, without ever even a slight reaction from her.  This went on for an extended period of time.  Suddenly, one day she regained consciousness.  It was only for a few moments.  One of the few things that his wife said in those brief seconds was, “God is still on the throne.”  God wanted this Pastor to know that he was still in control.

Things happen in this life that we may never be able to comprehend.  It is in these times that we trust in the character of God.  God is just in all his ways and kind in all his doings (Psalms 145:17). Bible tells us that the just shall live by faith (Hebrews 10:38).  It is in times of immense loss that by faith we remember that God is still on the throne, and at his return will restore all things.

I worked for seventeen years as a missionary with Youth With A Mission. My missionary work has taken me to Mexico, Canada, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Spain, and the Ukraine. I hold a Masters of Education in curriculum and instruction from Virginia Commonwealth University.  kenbarnes737@gmail.com

# # #

 

Share
1 … 53 54 55 56 57 … 99