Heaven

Our Great Hope

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That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, He Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses Matthew 8:17 KJV

Did you know that God is so intimately concerned with our physical needs that He has even counted the number of hairs on our head? We have a great hope that whether in this life or in the next; God will heal every disease, restore all that is broken and renew our youth like the eagles!

Whether sitting in a wheel chair in a nursing home or confined to a bed with a tracheotomy tube in order to breathe, Jesus offers the hope of complete and entire healing as one part of His promise of eternal life. That promise may be overlooked or forgotten by those in perfect health, but God does not forget. The same Jesus who was moved with compassion for lepers, the blind and the lame has promised to wipe every tear from our eyes. He not only has compassion for our aches, pains and disabilities but the Bible tells us that He took all of these onto his shoulders and carried them.

If we continue reading in the chapter of Isaiah that Matthew quotes we see in the very next verse that it is by His stripes that we are healed. God is so very concerned for every one of our pains and infirmities that He allowed a whip to fall across the shoulders of Jesus. As He was wounded again and again we were being healed. Weak arms will be lifted, failing voices will sing again and deaf ears will hear the shepherd’s voice! When the things of earth have passed we will stand strong and eternally young in the presence of our ageless King!

Preparing a Home

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The only thing I knew about my surgeon was His name. I never had so much as sat with him for coffee or met his family. But on date I was given for surgery I obediently came and allowed an anesthesiologist to put me under. When I awoke the procedure was over.

Though I had my fears and questions I decided that getting my vision back was worth the risk. How much more can we trust in Jesus who gave His life for us. He risked His own life to give us the message of God’s gift of eternal life. He healed the sick became the friend of sinners and washed the feet of even His betrayer. Then knowing we would fear what lay beyond our earthly horizon He gave us His promise to prepare a place of safety and love. The eternal world He tells us about is not just a place of mansions and golden streets. It is the address of the house He lives in. He has promised and He has prepared and He is coming to bring us home!

Barefoot on Holy Ground

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Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” Exodus 3:5 ESV

I know that I have written twice on foot washing lately but the Lord gave me one more small truth to share.

Did you know that when God spoke to Moses, the first thing He asked him to do was to take off his sandals.? Holy ground is strange for us to think of but it is a place we should not walk in our own power. We could no more walk with muddy shoes into an operating room during surgery than to tromp into heaven with our shoes on.

But for us to walk barefoot before the Lord we must have our feet washed. And the soil from where we have walked can only be washed away by Jesus. Only He can prepare us to walk from this earth into His holy heaven. Simon Peter was horrified at the thought that Jesus wanted to wash his feet.

Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” John 13:8 ESV

Did you ever stop to think how amazingly humble our Savior is that He could choose to do such a thing? Has He washed your feet today? Would you humbly bow for a minute to pray and ask Him? Only He can make us ready to walk barefoot on His streets of gold!