Welcome Home

A good summer Saturday morning at the Summers house. A leisurely start to the day enjoying coffee, pastries and strawberries from our garden patch. I  tried to trimmed some rose bushes and some of our other bushes as much as possible. Yard work can be more challenging sitting down than I expected.

This afternoon we invited the Grizzels to come by  with their grandchildren, Levi (5) Eliana (7) and Victoria (10) (I think I got it right) to pick some strawberries. I believe the children enjoyed their experience and went away with enough strawberries for grandchildren and grand parents. (see picture)

This evening Debbie and I went to Berthoud for a gathering with some of her co-workers. It was an enjoyable evening with good food and an opportunity for many to meet me for the first time who had heard of my illness.

BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…  I saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and earth had disappeared, and the sea was gone. Then I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, dressed like a bride ready for her husband.I heard a loud voice from the throne say, “God lives with humans! God will make his home with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God.He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There won’t be any more death. There won’t be any grief, crying, or pain, because the first things have disappeared.”  Revelation 21:1-4

It is easy to become engrossed in all of the when, how and why’s of the Lord’s return and what heaven is all about. These verses above are some of my favorite in Revelation if not the Bible. This is because they describe the final home for those who place their faith in Christ.

Peter said it well when he said, “we according to His promise look for a new heaven and a new earth, the home of the righteous.”  2 Peter 3:13 It is not God’s judgment that we anticipate, it is not what we question but don’t understand that we focus on. Our hope and focus is on the sure promise that the Lord is preparing a place for all eternity for those place their trust in Him. It will be a new day, a new order, a new home, our real home; that place God has intended for us to be all along.

So often we focus our attention and try to figure out what we don’t or can’t comprehend and we miss that which is plain and simple. I would call to your attention the following about heaven:

1 – God is making everything new – New heaven and a new earth. It is of His doing, His design

2 – God lives in the midst of His people – God is and always has been the “with them”  God. In heaven our faith becomes sight. We see God, He is with us; His ultimate plan and purpose for our lives comes to a completion. In John 17  Jesus prayed, “…Father I pray that those you have given me be where you are…” Heaven is the answer to that prayer.

3 – God is reversing the curse – no death, no pain, no tears, no grief.  The tends that characterize our life in this world we know,  will be distant memories if remembered at all!

“There will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and the lamb will be in the city. His servants will worship him and see his face…There will be no more night, and they will not need any light from lamps or the sun because the Lord God will shine on them.” Revelation 21:3-5

Do you recall watching one of those “home make over” shows and when the new home is revealed to the owners they often say, “it is more beautiful than I could have imagined!”  Perhaps that will help you understand how it is impossible to comprehend the full extent of the glory of our home for eternity. That is why we don’t cling to this world as if it is all we have. Instead the cry of those who place their faith in  Christ is simply, “even so come quickly Lord Jesus.”