PHILIPPIANS 3:20 LB
20 But our homeland is in heaven, where our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, is; and we are looking forward to his return from there.
Heaven is a real place. In fact, Heaven is ultimate reality. There are real people there, involved in real activities. But most importantly, our wonderful Lord Jesus Christ and our Father God are there.
Sometimes people talk of someone who has departed this life as "having gone to their reward."
Heaven is not a reward.
There will be rewards given out by God, but going to Heaven is not a reward. Heaven is a return to normal.
That's right. Heaven is the way life was supposed to be. Heaven is normal. What we have been experiencing on this sin-infested planet is sub-normal.
But part of the Good News is that Jesus will not leave this place, or us, sub-normal forever. One day, maybe soon, Jesus will return from Heaven and change things on Earth back to what God intended when He created this place.
Everything on Earth, as originally created, was a reflection of the home planet, Heaven. All the beauty and everything good that we enjoy on Earth is but a dim reflection of what Heaven offers.
What makes Heaven our home? Home is where your family is. Home is where you are comfortable. Home is where you have a place to live. Home is where you belong. For the believer in Jesus Christ, Heaven fits all those descriptions.
PSALM 103:11 NIV
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
If you understood how much God loves you -- your life would be different.
Fear and worry would have no power over you any longer. Fear has no torment for someone basking in the sunlight of Almighty God's love.
This passage in Psalm 103 attempts to picture the size or extent of God's love. It is not portrayed as simply big as the highest mountain. No, no -- far more. As high as the sky is above the earth. That is the picture God wants you to see when you think of how great His love is for YOU.
How do I know this? Just from what the Bible says. And from what God did in and through Jesus Christ to redeem you. He paid a mighty price for you -- because His love for you is so great.
But, you may ask, "Why is my life going so poorly if God really does love me so much?" That is a valid question, but not the same one as whether God loves you. The quick answer is that God has made provision for us -- but most of us are not taking advantage of the help He offers.
Put another way, we are not acting on God's instructions -- whether out of ignorance or for some other reason. When you don't follow a proven recipe you cannot expect a good outcome.
God has no desire to condemn us for our failure, but instead desires to invite us into His fellowship and His way of doing things. It is through His Word that this will happen in our lives. So, read the Bible to see how much God loves you, but also remember that it is because of His great love for you that He gave you the instructions found in the Bible. They are for your benefit -- not God's benefit.
PHILIPPIANS 3:20 NRSV
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
As a believer in Jesus Christ, you have a new citizenship. Your name is written in Heaven. Heaven is your homeland.
Because you are its citizen, Heaven is responsible for you. If necessary, Heaven will send its soldiers (angels) to assist you, and when necessary, to evacuate you.
Although we live on earth, we operate under the laws of our homeland, Heaven, as well as the laws of earth.
As a citizen you have certain rights and obligations. To understand them you need to read the Bible with the help of illumination by the Holy Spirit. You need to ask the Lord to teach you and give you understanding of these things.
COLOSSIANS 1:13 NRSV
13 He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son,
As believers, we are no longer under the authority or control of the devil. We have been transferred into a new kingdom.
One of our rights as citizens of Heaven is to resist the devil and all his works. Anything that is of the devil, we do not have to submit to.
GOD LOVES YOU
Do you know that God loves you more than you can imagine? Lets take a look into the Holy Bible to see how true it is.
-Jeremiah 31:3, The Word says, "The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: 'Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you'.
It also says in Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the thought that I think toward you, says the Lord, thought of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope".
Our God in Heaven never thinks negative about us. He always wants the best for His children.
"And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. We love Him because He first loved us". - John 4:16a, 19
"As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him". -Psalm 103:13
God loves us that He pities for us.
In Romans 5:8, God demonstrates His own love towards us. In that while we were sinners, Christ died for us.
God loves us so dear that in John 3:16, He sacrifies His only Son to die for us.
-Isaiah 38:17 reads, Indeed it was for my own peace that I had great bitterness; but You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
"The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you in His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." -Zephaniah 3:17.
The Lord God is happy, and rejoice that He loves you.
The Bible says, "I have loved you, says the Lord". -Malachi 1:2a.
"How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!" -Psalm 36:7a.
GOD LOVES YOU NO MATTER WHO OR WHAT YOU ARE.
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