Eternal life

Mansion Over the Hilltop from Sunshine Memory Care

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Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:1-2 KJV

While Jesus spoke these words things might have seemed a little chaotic for the disciples. They had just finished a Passover meal at which Jesus spoke of giving them his body and His blood, told them one of them would betray Him and then washed all their dirty feet! We cannot be sure of the exact scene, but as they listened, they were probably making their way through the dark streets of Jerusalem on their way towards the Garden of Gethsemane. As they walked, they would have been passing all kinds of homes – small homes overflowing with large families – rough looking hovels where the working poor slept and candlelit mansions of the wealthy merchants and the Pharisees. Jesus turned to the worried disciples saying, “Don’t let your heart be troubled. In my Father’s house are many mansions…and I am going to prepare a place for you!”

Questions whizzed through the disciples’ minds in a mixture of hope and puzzlement. “What kind of home? – How would they get there? – When would it all happen?” That same chaotic mixture of faith and puzzlement walks through the scene every week at the nursing homes where I visit. You will see in the video a nurse passing by the camera to check someone, hear the sounds of the intercom calling for people and people moving about and yet they sing. They sing, they smile, and they believe. Their faith lifts me every week as I get the chance to share a half hour of worship with friends who I will meet one day on the other side. There we will have all our hair, nothing will hurt and no one will sit in wheelchairs. Instead, we will find out just what the mansion that Jesus has prepared will be like and we will get to live in it forever with our blessed Lord Jesus Christ!

Forgiveness – The Greatest Legacy of All!

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Then said Jesus, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do!” And they parted His raiment and cast lots. Luke 23:34 KJV

What if Jesus had died for us and yet not forgiven? What if He gave us Heaven but not His heart? What if angels were sent to dry our tears instead of Him or if when we sat at His banqueting table, that His chair was empty? What if we were restored and given an eternity of mansions of delight but never saw His face?

But the greatest prayer and the greatest legacy of Jesus Christ is that He looked at the soldier’s and the thieves, the self-righteous priests and the mocking crowd and prayed Father forgive! And every time we receive the bread and drink from the cup, we are reminded of what this cost Him until He comes again. He has given us a legacy greater than miracles, more powerful than the armies of Heaven and more precious than all the rest of God’s creation. We are forgiven and we are loved! We are received and welcomed and embraced and He has given us HIs own Spirit of adoption by which our hearts cry out to Him – “Abba Father!” 

Jesus what a friend for sinners
Jesus lover of my soul
Friends may fail me foes assail me
He my Savior makes me whole

Hallelujah what a Savior
Hallelujah what a friend
Saving - Helping - Keeping - Loving
He is with me to the end!

Our Great Savior by William Chapman 1910

The Picture Frame of Life

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 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. John 11:25 ESV

Somewhere between “I Am the Resurrection and the Life.” and “Yet shall He live” each of us must live in the picture frame of life given to us by God. Yesterday I preached at a memorial service for my friend Mary ay one of the nursing homes I visit. It reminded me that even our best plans matter far less than the people with whom we are passing through this life. While we have sorrow when a friend’s life is suddenly gone it makes us realize how just much what they did to touch our life matters. The limits of each of our years on earth give meaning to the things we choose to paint inside our frame.

Our friend Mary was quite a character and a memorable lady at Life Care Center. Almost everybody knew Mary because she talked with anyone who would listen, from the cleaning lady to the facility director and they all showed up for her memorial yesterday. What I remember most about her is how she not only participated in singing hymns, but she also wanted to give and would slip a few dollars into my hand on occasion. We remember how she wore bright red hats and gave her opinion on everything, but most important was that because Mary put her faith in Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior, He became her resurrection and life. His grace painted what mattered most inside the picture frame of Mary’s life. How appropriate that after our service, we joined in the courtyard to plant a Purple Glory Tree. Now, when it flowers, we can catch a glimpse of the glory the life she is experiencing in the presence of Jesus today. Are you struggling with the limits in your life? Do you wonder what will matter at its end? Why not simply allow the hands of Jesus to take control of your life and ask Him to paint the picture that He had in mind for you? God bless and keep you always in the palm of His hand!