He has prepared a city for them.
If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. § An inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you. § Here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.
This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven. § Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. § You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. § Yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
We who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Heb. 11:16; John 14:3; 1 Peter 1:4; Heb. 13:14;
Acts 1:11; James 5:7–8; Heb. 10:37; 1 Thess. 4:17–18
Base things of the world . . . God has chosen.
Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
You He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, … among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.
According to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
1 Cor. 1:28; 6:9–11; Eph. 2:1–3; Titus 3:5–6; Isa. 55:8
As wonderful as my loved ones are and as much as I miss them, they are not perfect! And if your loved ones are like mine, your relationship with them on earth has not been perfect either. To think of living forever in the same home with my brother would give one pause! But when we get to Heaven, the joy of seeing our loved ones once again is immeasurably increased when we realize that all of us will indeed be perfect! There will be no more . . .
disagreements or cross words,
hurt feelings or misunderstandings,
neglect or busyness,
interruptions or rivalry,
jealousy or pride,
selfishness or sin of any kind!
There will be nothing at all to mar our full enjoyment of being with our loved ones forever and ever!
The Lord will not cast off forever. Though He causes grief, yet He will show compassion.
Do not fear … ,” says the Lord, “for I am with you; … I will not make a complete end of you. I will rightly correct you.” § “For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer … “For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has mercy on you. “O you afflicted one, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, and lay your foundations with sapphires.”
I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me forth to the light; I will see His righteousness.
Lam. 3:31–32; Jer. 46:28; Isa. 54:7–8, 10–11; Mic. 7:9
God has chosen the weak things of the world
to put to shame the things which are mighty.
When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud … a left-handed man … After him was Shamgar … who killed six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad; and he also delivered Israel.
The Lord turned to [Gideon] and said, “Go in this might of yours. Have I not sent you?” So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
The Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me … lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’”
“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the Lord of hosts. § My brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
1 Cor. 1:27; Judg. 3:15, 31; 6:14–15; 7:2; Zech. 4:6; Eph. 6:10
All around us we see lives collapsing with broken hearts and broken homes and broken hopes – with shattered minds and shattered emotions and shattered bodies. What has gone wrong? The foundation on which the majority of people are building their lives is cracked and flawed.
The Bible tells us there is only one foundation for individual or national life that will last, regardless of the crisis or pressure, and it is the foundation of Jesus Christ: “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
Jesus Christ never changes. (Heb. 13:8) He will never leave you nor forsake you. (Heb. 13:5) Nothing can ever separate you from His love. (Rom. 8:35-39) So make sure you are prepared for the storms of life because your life is built on the Solid Foundation of Jesus Christ.
That through death He might destroy him who had the power of death.
Our Savior Jesus Christ … has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. § He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken. § When this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. § Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
Heb. 2:14; 2 Tim. 1:10; Isa. 25:8; 1 Cor. 15:54–57; 2 Tim. 1:7; Ps. 23:4
Where is the way to the dwelling of light?
God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. § As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. § The Father … has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. § You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden … Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Job 38:19; 1 John 1:5; John 9:5; 1 John 1:6–7;
Col. 1:12–14; 1 Thess. 5:5; Matt. 5:14, 16
