Our Home in Heaven

 

Scripture: Philippians 3:20-21 (NIV)

²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Devotion:

            We see in these scripture verses our true hope is in heaven. We are called upon to live lives worthy of heaven. Even though we will never be perfected in this earthly life Jesus holds out to us a hope for a better future with him in heaven. Though we may be tempted into inaction knowing what awaits us in heaven we must not give in to this temptation. As Peter says in his 1^st Letter: “¹¹ Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. ¹² Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”

            So, we are to be working to show the watching world that we are actively working for the betterment of society. We are not to be lazy lay abouts. Rather we are to be diligent in performing our work. We should seek the welfare of the country where we are residing. Even though we know we have a better country to which we will eventually call our true home. We should be earnestly desiring this home for to live there is far better than to live here. As the apostle Paul says in 1^st Corinthians “But, as it is written,

                         “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

nor the heart of man imagined,

                        what God has prepared for those who love him”

           

            We can see here clearly our heavenly home will be better than our earthly one. This is because everyone there is of one mind and heart toward the Lord. There will be no more conflict or wars. No illnesses or epidemics to rob the body of good health. And yet heaven is greater still because we will be constantly in the undeniable presence of the Lord. We will worship God constantly in Spirit and in truth as God desires to be worshiped with no hindrances of any kind. The scriptures are full of promises of heaven. Even Jesus when he was about to depart from this earth made this promise to all who follow him. From the Gospel of John, we read: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

            Let us pray a prayer of Thanksgiving for these wonderful promises of heaven!

            Holy Lord Jesus Christ we come before you as poor broken people. We know that we can rejoice, however, because you have taken away our brokenness and made us whole. We give you our unending worship as we trust in these promises. We praise you for your goodness to us. We can never repay the debt of love we owe to you. Let us live in this world as ambassadors of your heavenly kingdom so that the world will see us and desire to live with us in your paradise. Amen.