Good Morning Friends,
People long for a taste of heaven on earth but too often look for it in all the wrong places. Thankfully, we, like Paul, can have dual citizenship. No we are not both Roman and a Jew as Paul, but we can be both citizens of heaven and earth. Heaven is a subject that is greatly debated in and outside of the Christian community. Some believe it is a literal place, while others believe it is “in the heart”. For the Christian, Heaven should be considered one of the most important subjects of faith, but we know so little about it really. That is why today we are spending a little time exploring the purpose of Heaven on Earth and our belief in the resurrection and our work in the church. You see, there is a theology of place…the mountains and the seas and the city on a hill, but it is not so much in these places of grace, but in the people of grace… that I find a home … .a community of love that knows the power and peace of Jesus. Here in the middle of relationships we discover that this peace is a gift from God that reconciles us. Here on our journey of obedience one step at a time, alternating faith and reason, we recognize that we too can be filled with the Holy Spirit and the Words of Jesus….It is here we discover that abiding in Jesus we grow the fruit of peace…That we too can keep the faith by believing in the resurrection of the Body and that we too will rise again. So, Do You Find Bold Strength In The Name Of Jesus And The Promise Offered?
Scripture: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
John 14:15-27 (NRSV)
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.” Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.
Acts 4:13-22 (NIV)
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
Romans 6:5 (NRSV)
In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
John 14:2 (NRSV)
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Revelation 21:4 (NRSV)
You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:14-16 (NRSV)
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
Philippians 3:20-21 (NRSV)
Message: We do so to look for places of peace and grace to behold the coming of Jesus. We look for the perfect place to live and work and we seek relationships of peace as well, but peace seems so elusive for most of us. We look at the world and have to wonder if peace is really possible, if salvation is really possible, if the resurrection is assured. Then in today’s scripture we remember the words of Jesus that He shared with his disciples on their last night before the crucifixion. Then we hear the words of Jesus, saying in His risen body to the disciples…”Peace.” Then we read in Acts about how the disciples acted on these words as they faced trials and persecution in the tension of change and became strong. Friends, peace grows and thrives where respect and love of other believers are present. Peace grows and thrives when we become clear witnesses of God’s power in our lives. Peace grows when we obey the Lord. Peace grows in us when God’s peace takes us over. Here in this place of peace we discover God’s purpose and our potential through acts of faith and salvation comes. That is why today we reflect on how our belief in the resurrection might better shape a better understanding of Heaven…a better understanding of our salvation. Surely we should think more about Heaven than we do. Surely we should think more about our mission of loving God, loving others, and making disciples than we do. Really we should be spending more time finding out as much as we can about this place we expect to live throughout eternity and how it is reflected in the place we are living now. It is natural that we should look and listen to the words of those we expect are already saved and understand the missional route they took to get there. And in the searching on the journey we might just begin to grasp this idea of heaven and kingdom that Jesus shared in the Sermon on the Mount and in part made manifest at Pentecost. Now you may ask why the church? And that is a very good question. For if we are really honest, much of the time church seems too normal, so mundane, so unexciting. After all, if you know the facts about Jesus and salvation and you know you are in good standing with God, so why do we need church? Should we look for something that will meet our needs a little better or stimulate our senses a bit more?We often miss the point of church because we expect it to be exciting and stimulating. Of course, that is the pattern of our culture. We do very little that fails to meet our needs or entertain us. Our story is the story of consumption and the story of the church as a delivery system. And day-by-day we consume, so much so that we don’t even realize that we consume. It is impossible not to carry this mentality into the church. We consume church. We consume small groups when what we really need to be doing is investing in them. Friends, there is no earthly sorrow that heaven cannot heal. If we aim for heaven we get the good things for earth too. If we aim for better things on earth we might well get neither.
And So, maybe we should rethink what heaven is now. Paul in the book of Romans is telling us that we have already died to sin in our baptism and so have the hope of resurrection with him now and at his return as well.This is a peace that gives us a new identity that assures us that we will arise and go to Jesus and he will embrace us in his arms. You wonder what this means. I am glad you asked. For here our union with Christ, this consequence of our faith means we have been grafted and have grown together to share an identity where our spirit becomes capable of intimate fellowship with God’s Spirit through his son Jesus Christ. We still retain who we are and do not lose our distinctive qualities while still sharing an identity yoked in love. And since Christ’s death was in opposition to evil and was decisive in its nature and had a once and for all effect this means that since our old self was crucified, when we believed and repented of our sins, believing in Jesus, so too our sinful self was destroyed. And if you have not done this, do so now and know that Christ’s physical crucifixion has its moral equivalent in our death to sin. This means that our risen life will be where sin no longer reigns supreme. God’s love and mercy has been declared so believe and repent. Our ability to identify ourselves with what Christ died for,as a body of believers, means that we can have confidence in our fuller participation in the victorious and abundant life both now and in the future. Sure we may have moral struggles but sharing in Christ’s passion means putting to death within us those things that war with God’s will so we might no longer be enslaved to sin. Here salvation…heaven is emancipation. Death has no claim on a dead person. The realm of experience into which we have been saved is the new life, being alive to God. So by faith we are identified with Christ , so that we are able to die to sin as he died on the Cross and to live to righteousness as he rose for the dead. This is a peace worth sharing. The Good News is that if we repent and accept Jesus’ offer heaven comes to earth.
Pray that in every difficult situation in life we find peace and courage in the words of Jesus.Pray we know we can live without fear because Jesus lives. Pray we realize that the Creator’s activity is not limited to our understanding for as Paul says in 1 Corinthians, no eye has seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him. Pray we speak boldly because Christ is in us. Praythat we shine with the light of heaven. Pray we confront the image of being consumed by death. Pray we find a specific place to be a colony of heaven. Pray we not consume church as a place to get fed but embrace it as a place to invest and love. Pray we participate in the resurrection. Pray we admit we are sinners and in need of a Savior. Pray we abandon self-effort and realize that we cannot be saved by our works but we can love. Pray we realize we need Jesus. Pray we pray so hard that we not only know the blessings received from heaven but also that through these blessings we experience heaven on earth. Pray we employ the power of the Spirit. Pray we experience the spiritual life of Christ in our hearts. Pray we enjoy the love of Christ connected with others. Pray we expect to be filled with the Holy Spirit when we empty ourselves. Pray we are faithful in the midst of discouragement for we are still in the world. Pray we pray as the Lord taught us for the kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. Pray we claim our citizenship in heaven today.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 