Eternal life

Packing a Suitcase For Heaven

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments

Cast your burden on the Lord , and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
Psalms 55:22 ESV

Some burdens feel like an overweight suitcase dragging behind us as we run through the airport of life.  But God promises us that if we ask Him, He will carry it for us. In God’s calendar He has marked a day for our departure from our planet and like every other trip we must pack our suitcases. We have a close friend who has traveled so often that he joked that he could pack for overseas in 15 minutes. The reason for his boast was that he had learned the secret not only of what to bring, but also what to leave behind. When we pack for heaven that is doubly true. First be sure to include lots of mercy. Mercy takes up almost no space at all and considering how often we mess up here on earth I need plenty! 

Second be sure to include the portion of faith that God has given you. Remember that in heaven we will still walk by faith because even after we see His face we still need to trust in His goodness. And don’t forget to stuff in so much love, joy and praise that you may need to sit on your suitcase to get it closed. The way to have enough room for all these is learning what to leave behind. The first thing to take out is bitterness because it will make our luggage way too heavy. And as you are tossing that out you can put complaining back on the shelf as well. God won’t be interested to hear from us about our brother or sisters faults. He will instead show us how much it cost Him to forgive ours. God is so good and any day one of us will stand before Him. What we choose to pack or not pack for our most important journey will stay with us forever. Be sure to travel light!

 

 

Our Future Hope

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

This month I made a new friend. His name is Marcos and he is a resident at a local nursing home.  His room-mate can’t remember any family coming to visit and the aide who helps bring people in to our church service asked if I would have time to stop in. People like my  friend Marcos are everywhere. What hope do we have to offer them?

“How sweet to hold a newborn baby – And feel the pride and joy he gives”

Go the lines from the Gaither song “Because He Lives” The sweetness of holding a baby is nowhere seen more powerfully than in a nursing home. Sadly there are few people willing to bring their babies in so the staff provides lifelike dolls for the residents to cradle. They gently rock their baby and their faces light up with smiles. It is almost as if God has built into us a response of hope for the future every time we see a tiny baby.

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Whether sitting in a nursing facility or standing in a cap and gown waiting to graduate from high school our future hope is always in the love of God. His plans for us are to give us hope. His plans for our future are always for our good. We can trust Him till our final breathe here on earth, knowing that in a moment we will be breathing in our first breathe of heaven!

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.     Jeremiah 29:11

 

Hope of Victory

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ                       1 Corinthians 15:57 ESV

Sometimes when we are facing a crisis the whisper comes in the dark of night that there is no longer any hope. We feel like a rowboat caught in the tidal wave of serious illness, family turmoil or the death of a loved one. That is exactly the situation which the disciples faced as they accompanied Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus had asked them to pray with him for one hour but the Bible tells us that

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And when He rose from prayer He came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow. Luke 22:45

They were overcome by sorrow, but not their master. Jesus had prayed till His sweat fell like drops of blood. Jesus had continued interceding even when they felt defeated. In the same way He is interceding in heaven for you and I today. Neither our sorrow nor our despair will cause Him to abandon us. He will come and awaken us. He will carry our burdens. He chose in that dark garden to pay the full price for our sin to give us hope. It is that hope which lies behind the cry:

O Grave where is your victory? Death where is your sting? 1 Corinthians 15:55