To be where Christ is -
Colossians 3:1 - 4
"(1)If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
(2)Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
(3)For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
(4)When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory."
I can't read those verses without feeling the certainty of promise leaping out at me. There isn't a line in there that says "If you think it will be, then it probably will....because you are smart and feel that way.". :) What a mess we'd be in if that were true!!
No, it says "your life IS hidden with Christ in God". IT IS.
It says "WHEN" Christ appears. It says "you also WILL appear with Him in glory".
and then there is the 1st verse:
"... seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God."
Where Christ is. Where He is sitting at the right hand of God. Where Christ is.
Doesn't that just make your heart yearn? Oh, peace. Oh, rest. Oh, sweetness of soul. Oh, joy!
Perhaps one contemplates Heaven more when a friend is headed to their grandmother's funeral this weekend, or when you constantly dream of Heaven in your night's rest. Or when you drive on a certain road that leads to the one where your adopted(by heart) grandfather is buried under the curly moss that dips down to fill the air under the oaks that stand in protection over where his name is written.
Maybe you think of Heaven more when your ipod plays sermons on Suffering and Sovereignty while your tennis shoes pound out the confusion and hurt on the path of crushed sea shells and sand. Maybe you think of Heaven more when you pass bushes that lift fragrances so sweet, you think you are young again and taking walks with your grandmother in the sweet city of Atlanta.
Perhaps you dream of Heaven more because you think about your friends laughing and seeing those joyful smiles on their faces again soon. Maybe you just think of Heaven because it's the sweetest possible place you can think of being in at that moment (except when I was in the sea today). ;) Maybe because thinking about Heaven so often is because we think about what our dear friends are doing right now, and it makes us joyful to know that they are sweetly dwelling in all fullness of joy with God.
I think about Heaven because I love it there. That sounds funny, doesn't it? How can one love a place if one has never been there? But we read in the Scriptures that Christ has prepared it for us, that it is our place of rest and joyful dwelling, and that the saints rejoice and live there. And we trust Christ, because He is Truth! I care not for anything in this world, I'd trade this world in less than a heartbeat's notice to live with Jesus.
And the Scriptures say that He is the light there. That He wipes away our tears. That He waits for us there. That He has made it for us. That He sits there in the Holy of Holies, at the right hand of God.
So I think about Heaven because I love it there, because the promise of Who is there makes it a place to run towards with all my energy and breath and strength and might. Running flat out. Straight to His Home.
The cry rings out in my heart "Jesus is there! Jesus is there! Jesus is there!!"!
Do not ever settle for anything less than Jesus Christ as your Savior, because you will never be satisfied.
He is all and more than anything we could ever dream or fathom, and He loves us more than life.
We are hidden in Him! "(3)For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." We are hidden with Him now, and then "(4)When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory." When Christ who is our LIFE appears.....we also will appear with Him in glory!
What?!! That can't be right!
We .... poor, unwanted, debtors, weak, wounded, pining, hungry, filthy, dirty, sinners? WE?!!!! I? You? We?
We, the purchased, beloved, washed clean co-heirs of Jesus and children of the Most High God.
We.
We will appear with God in glory.
Because of the Lamb Who is the Light of Heaven.
Because of the One Who loved us and desired a beautiful Bride, a Church.
Because this Savior was led as a Lamb to the slaughter to be slain for our debt once and for all.
Because He desired to live with us, fully, again. A joyfully redeemed people dwelling with God.
The story of Emmanuel, God with us, writes the story that begins mine, and when I cross that threshold into the Home prepared for the saints of the Savior, I will strike that keynote. I will strike that keynote to begin the song which I shall sing to all my eternity, and it will be the sweetest song I have ever heard, or ever will hear.
In my heart for now swells the tearful, sweetest song I know so far -
the thankful song of the redeemed of the Lamb.
Praise be to God. We shall one day soon be where Christ is.
With much love and prayers to all who long for Heaven,
~ Jean Marie ~
"(1)If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
(2)Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
(3)For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
(4)When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory."
I can't read those verses without feeling the certainty of promise leaping out at me. There isn't a line in there that says "If you think it will be, then it probably will....because you are smart and feel that way.". :) What a mess we'd be in if that were true!!
No, it says "your life IS hidden with Christ in God". IT IS.
It says "WHEN" Christ appears. It says "you also WILL appear with Him in glory".
and then there is the 1st verse:
"... seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God."
Where Christ is. Where He is sitting at the right hand of God. Where Christ is.
Doesn't that just make your heart yearn? Oh, peace. Oh, rest. Oh, sweetness of soul. Oh, joy!
Perhaps one contemplates Heaven more when a friend is headed to their grandmother's funeral this weekend, or when you constantly dream of Heaven in your night's rest. Or when you drive on a certain road that leads to the one where your adopted(by heart) grandfather is buried under the curly moss that dips down to fill the air under the oaks that stand in protection over where his name is written.
Maybe you think of Heaven more when your ipod plays sermons on Suffering and Sovereignty while your tennis shoes pound out the confusion and hurt on the path of crushed sea shells and sand. Maybe you think of Heaven more when you pass bushes that lift fragrances so sweet, you think you are young again and taking walks with your grandmother in the sweet city of Atlanta.
Perhaps you dream of Heaven more because you think about your friends laughing and seeing those joyful smiles on their faces again soon. Maybe you just think of Heaven because it's the sweetest possible place you can think of being in at that moment (except when I was in the sea today). ;) Maybe because thinking about Heaven so often is because we think about what our dear friends are doing right now, and it makes us joyful to know that they are sweetly dwelling in all fullness of joy with God.
I think about Heaven because I love it there. That sounds funny, doesn't it? How can one love a place if one has never been there? But we read in the Scriptures that Christ has prepared it for us, that it is our place of rest and joyful dwelling, and that the saints rejoice and live there. And we trust Christ, because He is Truth! I care not for anything in this world, I'd trade this world in less than a heartbeat's notice to live with Jesus.
And the Scriptures say that He is the light there. That He wipes away our tears. That He waits for us there. That He has made it for us. That He sits there in the Holy of Holies, at the right hand of God.
So I think about Heaven because I love it there, because the promise of Who is there makes it a place to run towards with all my energy and breath and strength and might. Running flat out. Straight to His Home.
The cry rings out in my heart "Jesus is there! Jesus is there! Jesus is there!!"!
Do not ever settle for anything less than Jesus Christ as your Savior, because you will never be satisfied.
He is all and more than anything we could ever dream or fathom, and He loves us more than life.
We are hidden in Him! "(3)For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." We are hidden with Him now, and then "(4)When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory." When Christ who is our LIFE appears.....we also will appear with Him in glory!
What?!! That can't be right!
We .... poor, unwanted, debtors, weak, wounded, pining, hungry, filthy, dirty, sinners? WE?!!!! I? You? We?
We, the purchased, beloved, washed clean co-heirs of Jesus and children of the Most High God.
We.
We will appear with God in glory.
Because of the Lamb Who is the Light of Heaven.
Because of the One Who loved us and desired a beautiful Bride, a Church.
Because this Savior was led as a Lamb to the slaughter to be slain for our debt once and for all.
Because He desired to live with us, fully, again. A joyfully redeemed people dwelling with God.
The story of Emmanuel, God with us, writes the story that begins mine, and when I cross that threshold into the Home prepared for the saints of the Savior, I will strike that keynote. I will strike that keynote to begin the song which I shall sing to all my eternity, and it will be the sweetest song I have ever heard, or ever will hear.
In my heart for now swells the tearful, sweetest song I know so far -
the thankful song of the redeemed of the Lamb.
Praise be to God. We shall one day soon be where Christ is.
With much love and prayers to all who long for Heaven,
~ Jean Marie ~
To be with Christ will crown it all! Love, mcd
ReplyDelete