I've been thinking about heaven the last couple of days. Heaven is a place that we all have an idea about and think about, probably based mainly on what we know from God's Word...and from the Bible there are a lot of songs that speak of the day we will stand before our God. At my church, lately, we have been singing a lot of songs that have a verse about the day when we will stand before Jesus. We will worship Him for all eternity, we will exalt Him on His holy throne, and cast crowns at His feet, and if ever He was the center of our world, it will be when we are in heaven and have nothing to steal our attention from His perfect Holiness and Righteousness. What an incredible day that will be.
Well the last couple of days, I've been thinking about the other aspect of heaven. The thought that we will stand before our God and He will count US as faithful. He will say, "well done my good and faithful servant," to we who have strived and walked the sinful earth for what seemed so long. All that we had sowed we will finally reap...And like the song that we've been singing a lot of says, we will be "dressed in His righteousness alone; faultless to stand before the throne!"
In a book I've been reading, I began to think of this approval, this pleasure, this praise that we will receive from the living God! I often get so excited about getting to heaven that I don't think about how excited my God is to get me home to heaven! Zephaniah 3:17 says, "The Lord Your God in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; He will exult over you with loud singing!" Seriously! The God of the universe will be overjoyed when we finally make it home to His presence and perfection! I can't imagine Him singing over me...It's probably the most mind-blowing melody the universe will ever hear.
But think about this approval in your earthly state. It doesn't take much to receive praise today and let it go to your head. I mean, in our prideful, sinful state, we are so quick to jump to our own defenses as to why we should deserve the praise or approval. But in heaven we will be free of all of that. Listen to the thought and quote I jotted down as I have been reading through "The Weight of Glory," by C.S.Lewis:
In heaven, our God will tell us well done good and faithful servant. He will show His approval, like a Father shows approval to his child...Think about that day, "when our redeemed soul will understand that she has pleased Him whom she was created to please. There will be no room for vanity then. She will be free from the miserable illusion that it is her doing. With no taint of what we should now call self-approval she will most innocently rejoice in the thing that God has made her to be, and in that moment which heals her old inferiority complex forever will also drown her pride deeper than Prospero's Book."
This is such a motivating, awe-striking picture to me...That the God of the universe will show His approval toward me, His servant, and in that moment there will be no struggle with pride, no trying to be something I'm not, no need to try to make myself look better...nothing. Without fault we will receive the praise of our Master, only to more perfectly, naturally, and righteously respond in worship to His Majesty!
In Mark 10:30 we see Jesus saying, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or fathers, or mothers, or land for my sake and for the Gospel, who will not receive a hundred fold now in this time...with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life." To our finite minds, sometimes it seems so hard to follow the Lord's plans, and remain faithful. But to sacrifice the things of this world, however hard it might seem, and to live unashamed of the Gospel, no matter what persecution may avail, is to gain the treasures and inheritance of heaven, as well as the approval of our God.
Fight the good fight!
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God is Faithful
Today we remembered all of God's faithfulness over the last 5 years at my church. We worshiped God for his constant grace, and we lifted high His name together
I've been at Harvest almost all of these 5 years. I came about 2 months in.
There have been bumps, learning curves, and as a church, we are far from perfect...But in the midst of everything, we've been dedicated to the faithful upholding of God's Word, and the unashamed adoration of Jesus Christ. We pray expectantly, and believe firmly in the power of going boldly before the Lord in prayer. And we are striving to be unashamed of the Gospel, giving it's message unapologetically both in our walls and outside our walls.
It is really is hard to believe that 5 years ago this church was just getting started in a gymnasium at a local elementary school. I have so much to be grateful for, and I'm excited to see the Lord continue to move in our church, however he may choose. Such great stories, and memories of God's faithfulness today...Watch the Story of Harvest Granger:
Sell Your House, Or Burn In Hell
Today I sat in my office. The receptionist at church knocked on my door and said, "there is a man on the phone who has been calling churches trying to find out what the Gospel is. Would you like to talk to him?"
I said, "well sure I'll talk to him."
Moments later I found myself in a conversation with a Mr. Robertson. He sounded like a small, older gentleman, who had probably lived on the bayou or some sort of red-neck swamp area (not to be confused with a Duck Dynasty member)...I seriously thought someone was trying to fool me by the sound of His voice, but he was legit and calling from Jacksonville, FL.
So Mr. Robertson explained that he'd been calling churches all over and no one can seem to tell Him what the real Gospel was.
Soon into my explanation, I realized Mr. Robertson wasn't very concerned about hearing the "real" gospel as he was about giving it. He quickly began going on and on that the bible says you must forsake your house and your land in order to be saved...
Our conversation ended when I told him I had to go, but I wanted to pray for Him. He responded, "I need to pray for you." So I said okay, and he prayed that I would find the courage to leave my home and land, lest I burn in the Lake of fire for eternity.
It was an interesting conversation to say the least. I laughed afterwards. I pray that Mr. Robertson can come to grips with the true Gospel, as I'm sure he's heard plenty of times, as he's called churches from the USA to Africa he said.
Only reason I write about this conversation is because I'm reminded that the Gospel is not some sort of hoop of moral doing or qualification that I have to complete in order to be saved. This man was trying to make the Gospel accessible to only those who were willing to be dirt poor and live on a street, with no sense of earthly security at all...While it is true, in Christ we should not store up our treasures on earth, God is the giver of every good thing. He loves his children, more than the birds of the air, or the flowers of the fields. He provides, He gives good gifts, and He saves all those who call upon the name of the Lord, repent of their sins, and believe in their hearts that God raised Christ from the dead.
The Gospel is the fact that Christ died on a cross, in my place, as a substitute for my sins, and all who repent and believe will be saved. In essence, I explained:
God is Holy, righteous, and just. He created me in His image, that I might be His creation, in relationship with Him.
Man broke this by choosing the things of this world over communion with God. Thus sin entered the world separating us from a Holy God, and causing all who enter into this world to be depraved, wondering sinners, in need of something this world cannot offer.
But in God's perfect mercy, He sent Jesus to live a perfect, sinless life, and die a death on a cross that He did not deserve in order to pay the penalty of sin, and absorb the wrath of God for mankind.
And finally, our response is to call upon the name of the Lord, believing that God raised Jesus from the dead, making Him the only way back into a relationship with God. In repenting of our sins and confessing our need for a savior and Lord, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cause us to walk in His ways.
When my home, land, money, or whatever becomes the object of my worship, I have a problem. Because God is the object of my worship, I praise Him for the security and blessings that he supplies for me and my family out of His perfect love.
Praise God for the Gospel.