Lately, there have been plenty of outward circumstances and events to cause me to loosen my grip on the world and fasten my eyes on the future. Truth be told, I’ve been very busy with work, home, and church but also very depressed — even despondent. At one point, as I fought through, and I know it was the enemy, I felt condemned. “Your acting like an escapist!” I told myself. Or, “You can’t live in the future and pretend like all of this doesn’t exist.” But, like I said, I know that was not the voice of Truth speaking.
The fact is, every Christian should be absolutely preoccupied with heaven! The whole reason Jesus came to save us from our sins was so that we could be with Him in heaven. Heaven is our real home.
Colossians 3:1-4 says, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set you minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
I don’t know about you, but that is a blessed hope for this weary soul who so longs and aches for the return of her Saviour.
1 John 2:17 says, “And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
Imagine the taste of glory that Martin Luther had to have to be able to say, ” I would not give one moment of heaven for all the joy and riches of the world, even if it lasted for thousands and thousands of years.”
This life is like a breathe, a mist, a vapor, a passing breeze that does not return, a fleeting shadow. All the joys and all the sorrows are all so transitory! As Matthew Henry says, “So short, unreal, and fading is human life, and all the prosperity or enjoyment that attends it…” Oh, our time in this world is so short!
Let us therefore take great heart and not grow weary! This is good news! This is our hope! This is what will keep us! The Son of Man, the Son of God, our Jesus, is seated at the right hand of God and one day, He is coming back to get us and we will be with Him forever and ever!
Let us fix our eyes on this! Let us bathe all our thoughts in this glorious truth!
“Heaven is not here, it’s There. If we were given all we wanted here, our hearts would settle for this world rather than the next. God is forever luring us up and away from this one, wooing us to Himself and His still invisible Kingdom, where we will certainly find what we so keenly long for.”
– Elisabeth Elliot, Keep a Quiet Heart
***The beautiful photo in this post was taken, with blessing, from my friend Becky’s new photo blog. I couldn’t have asked for a more appropriate picture! Please take a moment to see her work! Becky has never produced anything that has not pointed me, in some way or another, to Jesus! For that alone, I love her! ***
I’m with you, Christina. Life can get so wearisome, but then we look up and see that our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. Maranatha! Even so come, Lord Jesus!
Praying for you Christina! AMEN! My Pastor always says the older he gets the more he longs for Heaven, HOME to us Pilgrims here. I get so worn down and some days it’s so difficult. I am so thankful God gave us all each other to lean on, but always with the knowledge that our home, our family is with our Father. We have no idea what he has prepared for us there, and we need to keep a constant focus on Heaven. Thank you for this heartfelt post! And for sharing your thoughts and emotions with us, I know sometimes that is hard but we can all relate. It saddens me to think of you being despondent, but I know God can use that too! love you!
I can’t imagine not having the hope of Jesus coming and our future in heaven with Him for eternity. Some days this life gets too heavy to bear but we have hope, I couldn’t make it another step if I didn’t have that hope. I am amazed at people who believe this life is all there is, if this was all there is I wouldn’t get out of bed. It’s so comforting to know that our savior will return, oh what a glorious day that will be! Not that I don’t appreciate every day that God gives me to live, but I am homesick.
Every night I say to Robert, “Well dear, we’re another day closer to glory”. And yet Christ is very much here now, and is a very present help in time of trouble. Ps. 46:1
Much love to you my sweet sister!
Dear Christina
When God can take our depression and despondency and turn it for His good, to use it to fix our eyes on what is to come and not what we see now, then we can be thankful that He is growing His fruit in our lives. Such biblical perspective here, thank you! I join you in longing and aching for His return, the return of “our” Jesus – I love how you said that! And who can imagine that Day when there will be NO MORE SORROW? Hope indeed! I pray you have a blessed Christmas.
John in 1 John 3:2-3 insists that our future hope impacts our present walk!
And, like John, other biblical figures understood the importance of maintaining a forward focus (Heb. 12:1-3; Rom. 5:3-5; Phil. 3:12-14). At the expense of sounding simplistic I would offer: If our daily lives were governed more by the anxious expectation of Jesus’ return and the hope of heaven, there would be far less depression and therapy going on and far more hope-filled believers who delight in their identity as God’s children.
“See what great loveg the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! AND THAT IS WHAT WE ARE!”
All I can say is amen to your thoughts, Christina. I am truly there! Wanting to go to be with the Lord-but knowing my work here is not quite done yet.
I truly understand those 2 big D’s that are hounding you. I am praying for you now-as all of you have prayed for me.
We are not home yet-I am glad not to be happy here-but to have the joy of the Lord-in the midst of the pain of life.
I left this wonderful verse at Persis blog the other day-the Lord has really comforted my heart with it “For our light affliction-which is but for a moment-works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”
God bless you sister–and the witness you have for Him in that great dark City where He has placed you as His ambassador!
Not only in my waking days;
But also when I sleep.
Brand to my eyelids heaven’s praise
Christ’s grace and love to reap.
My heart longs for the same! That sacred day in…Heaven!
Much love for you today,
Beautiful words of encouragement, Christina! I am praying to you, sweet friend, too. God has used my darkest times to loosen my grip on this world and work in my heart a deeper longing for Him. God bless you for always speaking the truth in love.