“Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings.” Psalm 17:8
When King David wrote Psalm 17, he was facing strong opposition from “the wicked who oppress” him and were seeking to kill him (17:9-13). Perhaps you have experienced similar opposition in your life. Many Christians around the world are experiencing life-threatening persecution for their faith. I cannot remember a time in my life where I have seen more hatred and violence against God’s truth in the USA as we are seeing right now.
In this one verse in Psalm 17, God’s Word offers us much hope and security. David prays to the Lord, “Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings.” (Psalm 17:8). Many people, Christians and non-Christians, have used this phrase, “the apple of your eye.” But what does it mean?
The Hebrew word for “apple” (ishon) means “little man.” The phrase “the apple of Your eye,” refers to the reflection a person sees of themselves in another person’s eye when they are looking at them. For your reflection to be caught in someone’s eye and for you to be able to see that reflection they must have their gaze fixed on you, and you must be standing close enough to them to see that reflection.
To say to someone, “You are the apple of my eye,” is to say “You are more special to me than anyone else.” If something is the apple of your eye, then this refers to all the things that your eyes behold which get your special attention, your complete attention.
David is asking God to keep him as the object of His affection, attention, love, and protection. Like a parent who keeps their loving gaze on their prized child, so God keeps His eyes on us.
Do we realize that we are the object of God’s affection and love? We are always in His vision because we are extremely special to Him! He is constantly paying attention to us even when we may feel alone and abandoned.
But there is more! David prays, “Hide me under the shadow of Your wings.” The word “hide” here means to carefully conceal. David is asking the Lord to hide or conceal him under the shadow of His wings much like a mother bird protects her young ones under the security of her wings where no predator can harm them.
Jesus Himself used a similar expression when He said in Matthew 23:37, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!”
When we see the word, “hide,” we may remember that Adam and Eve hid from the Lord when they disobeyed Him (Genesis 3:8-10). Because of their sin and shame, Adam and Eve were afraid, so they hid from the Lord Jesus Who would walk with them in the cool of the Garden.
But if we are believers in Jesus Christ, there is no need to try to hide from the Lord. Because of Jesus’ shed blood for our sins and His sufficient sacrifice on the cross (Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 9:11-10:18; Revelation 1:5; 12:11), we can now hide in Christ instead of hide from Him. “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3). We are forever safe and secure in Jesus Christ. Jesus’ death for our sins has removed our guilt and shame so we may hide in Christ rather than from Him.
Whether we know it or not, we all have enemies: our own sinful nature, Satan the accuser and deceiver, all the armies of fallen angels, and all the wicked men of this world who oppose the love of the truth. Despite this onslaught of evil, we can find protection and security in the constant loving gaze and covering of our Almighty God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I am so impressed with Your constant focus on me. I am constantly in Your line of vision because I am so special to You. Hence, there is no need for me to feel alone or neglected. I am constantly the object of Your love and affection. Satan keeps trying to deceive me into thinking You don’t care about me or love me. But Your Word brings me back to the truth that I am so special to You that You never take Your eyes off of me. Despite all the evil in this world, I can find rest and security under the shadow of Your wings. Thank You that I do not need to hide from You any more because You have forgiven my sins and removed my shame through Your shed blood. I can now hide in You, my Lord and my God. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
During this time of chaos and uncertainty, God has drawn me back to one of the greatest sources of comfort and hope that we have as Christians. It has to do with the next event on God’s Prophetic Calendar known as the Rapture or sudden removal of Christians from the earth to meet the Lord Jesus in the air to be with Him forever (Rev. 4:1-4; cf. John 14:1-3; I Thess. 1:10; 4:13-5:11).
When the apostle John, a member of the Church, was caught up to heaven, he saw “twenty-four elders” sitting on thrones around the throne of God. “Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads” (Rev. 4:4). These twenty-four elders represent faithful believers from the Church Age since “elders” in the New Testament are leaders of the local Church (Acts 14:23; 20:17, 28; I Tim. 4:14; 5:17, 19; Titus 1:5; James 5:14; I Peter 5:1).
The fact that these elders are already sitting on “thrones,” wearing “white garments” and “crowns” indicates they have already appeared before the Judgment Seat of Christ to receive their rewards (cf. I Cor. 3:8-15; 9:24-27; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 2:25-27; 3:4-5, 21; 22:12), which means the vision John describes in heaven takes place after the Rapture of the Church. This is supported further by the absence of the word “church” and any references to Christians on earth in Chapters 6-18 of Revelation, which describe the outpouring of God’s wrath on the earth. The reason the Church is not mentioned in Revelation 6-18 is because it has already been removed by the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver her from “the wrath to come” as taught by the apostle Paul in I Thessalonians 1:10.
The apostle Paul then explains how Jesus will deliver us from the coming wrath of the Tribulation period in I Thessalonians 4. “For if [or since] we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus” (I Thess. 4:14). The Rapture or Removal of the Church is just as certain as the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. At one point in time the death and resurrection of Christ were prophecy. But now they are history. We can believe the Rapture with equal certainty.
The apostle Paul expected the removal of the Church from the earth to take place while he was alive on earth and so should we. Paul wrote, “Then 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” (I Thess. 4:17). The words “caught up” are from the Greek word haparzo which means “to snatch up or away suddenly.”Paul describes it like this I Corinthians 15:52 – “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet… the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” In the time it takes you to blink your eye, the Lord will snatch all believers in Jesus off the earth to meet Him in the air – not one will remain behind.
This sudden removal of all Christians from the earth is intended to comfort believers in Jesus. That’s why Paul writes, “Therefore comfort one another with these words” (I Thess. 4:18). If the Rapture of the Church is at the middle or end of the seven year Tribulation period of intense and unusual suffering on earth (Rev. 6-18), there would be little comfort and encouragement in this. But the prospect of Christ coming at any moment is a much greater comfort. Jesus could come back today for His Church. Are you ready? If not, here is how you can prepare for Christ’s coming for His Church.
You must receive Jesus’ free gift of everlasting life to leave this earth with the Church to spend eternity with Jesus in heaven. Jesus said, “He who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47). You may ask “Why do I need everlasting life?” Because all people have sinned against God (Rom. 3:23) anddeserve death (Rom. 6:23) or separation from God forever in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:15). But Jesus Christ loved us so much He came to earth to die on a cross for all of our sins and rose from the dead, proving He is God (Rom. 1:3-4; I Cor. 15:3-6). Jesus now invites you to believe or trust in Him alone when He says, “He who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47). It does not matter how good or bad you have been. Jesus offers you everlasting life as a free gift if you would simply believe in Him alone for it.
When you believe in Jesus, He gives you everlasting life which can never be lost (John 3:16; 10:28-29) and He guarantees you a home in heaven when you die or when He returns, whichever occurs first (John 14:1-3). His Holy Spirit places you in the body of Christ, His Church (I Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:26-27; Ephes. 1:22-23). Christ wants to use you now to share this message of comfort and hope with those who are perishing without Him (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8).
Rather than focus on the chaos and social unrest of our unbelieving world which is trying to advance a cashless system and other ways to track people, let’s focus on the comfort of our Lord’s glorious coming for His Church. By doing so, we will be more motivated to share the gospel with the lost people of this world and prepared to face Jesus as our Judge at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:9-11; I John 4:17-19).
This is the eighth and final video in a series about the future as recorded in the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation. This video focuses on the Judgment Seat of Christ.
The Revelation Art is used by permission of Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992. To order art prints visit her “Revelation Illustrated” site, http://www.revelationillustrated.com. Other digital images are used with permission from Good News Productions International and College Press Publishing (www.FreeBibleimages.org) and GoodSalt (www.goodsalt.com). The video scenes in this video and most of the music are used with permission from the producers of the video entitled “The Free Gift.”
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
Every
Christ-centered church supports missions. When I speak of missions I am
referring to “the sending of authorized
believers to people of non-faith or other-faiths for the purpose of making
disciples of Jesus Christ.” Why does a local church have missions? Let’s
look at John 3:16. This is one of the most familiar verses in all the Bible. It
has been used by God to lead millions of people to Christ. It has sparked
revivals around the world.
This verse
falls in the middle of a conversation between Jesus and a religious ruler named
Nicodemus. Nicodemus thinks the way to heaven is by living a good life. But
Jesus confronts him with the truth that he must be born again by believing in
Christ alone for eternal life (John 3:1-15). It’s not what you do that gets you
to heaven, it’s what Christ has already done for you on the cross and simply
trusting Him to get you to heaven. Jesus explains further. “For God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him
should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).
Why does everyone need John 3:16?
BECAUSEGOD LOVED EVERYONE. Jesus said to Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world…” The first two words, “For God,” refer to the Creator of the heavens and earth (Genesis 1:1), the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End (Revelation 1:8, 17; 22:13), the Great I Am (Exodus 3:14), the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exodus 3:6).
“For God so loved the world.” No one has ever loved to the degree that God has loved. Look at the extent of His love. He loved “the world.” He did not limit His love to one country, culture or color. His love extends beyond Filipinos to Americans… Africans… Australians… Chinese… Russians… Europeans… Brazilians.
God loved
everyone. Red and yellow, black and white, we are all precious in His sight! No
one can love like God loves. His love is unlimited. His love is no
respecter or rejecter of persons. He loves black skin as much as white skin… tattooed
skin as much as freckled skin… shaven as much as bearded… long hair as much as
no hair… poor as much as rich… boxing fans as much as basketball fans… Rap
music fans as much as ballroom dancing fans.
This first
phrase, “For God so loved the world…” has motivated people to leave
their families and their homes to share God’s love on the other side of the
world. Why? Because God loves everyone. His love cannot be earned. God loves us
now, not when we get better. He loves us regardless of what we’ve done or not done.
Do you realize that nothing you do can make God love you any less? He
loves us even when we offend Him. God has designed us to be loved by Him. Only
His love can meet our deepest needs. Unfortunately, we often look in the
wrong places for this love, don’t we? We look for it in our occupation,
paycheck, in athletics, a bottle of
booze or a dose of drugs, or in a brief romantic relationship. God’s love isn’t
found in these things. His love is found in the Person of Jesus Christ.
The second
reason why everyone needs John 3:16 is BECAUSE GOD GAVE HIS PERFECT SON FOR
EVERYONE. Jesus said, “that He gave His only begotten Son.” God’s
love gives. It doesn’t take. It gives sacrificially. What did He give? He gave
what was most precious to Him – “His only begotten Son,” Jesus Christ. The phrase “only begotten Son” does not mean Jesus had
a beginning like a baby that is birthed by his parents, as many false religions
teach today. The compound Greek word translated “only begotten” is monogenḗs,
which literally means “one (monos) of a kind (genos).” Jesus Christ is
the only One of His kind. He is fully God (John 1:1-3) and fully Man (John
1:14). This is the message of the gospel of John.
God gave His only
begotten Son to die in our place on a cross for our sins and rise from the dead
(I Corinthians 15:3-6). Could you kill your child to save others? I
certainly would not. Our love is pale compared to God’s love for us. Somebody
might say to you, “I love you. Here’s my
house. I’ll give it to you.” But how do you know that person doesn’t own
ten homes so that giving up one is no sacrifice? Another person could say to
you, “I love you. Here’s a million dollars.”
But how do you know he does not have a billion dollars? When God says, “I love you. Here’s My perfect and only
Son,” that is love. The greatest proof of His love is that He would allow
His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to die for our sins.
Did Jesus die for one country…culture or color? Did He die only for the
elect? No, His death was for “all” nations of the world and all people
(Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15; John 1:29; 4:42; I Timothy2:3-6; I John 2:2). Jesus
died for all people groups everywhere. Does that include drug addicts and
prostitutes? Yes. Does that include Atheists, Buddhists, Catholics, Hindus,
Muslims, and Protestants? Yes. Jesus died for all of them.
The third
reason everyone needs John 3:16 is BECAUSE JESUS’ INVITATION IS FOR
EVERYONE. Jesus said, “that whoever…” When we hear that
God loves the world we may think, “Wow,
that’s over 7.8 billion people. God may lose sight of me among that many people
in the world today.” “Sure,” we say, “God
loves the world in general, but what about me? What’s to keep Him from
forgetting about me?” This is why God has placed the word “whoever” in this verse. When God looks at the
world, He sees individuals, including you and me.
Thank God for that word “whoever.” If this verse read, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that when Jeff Ropp believes in Him, he should not perish, but have everlasting life,” I might be inclined to think He was talking about some other Jeff Ropp because this Jeff Ropp is such a filthy sinner; but whoever means this Jeff Ropp and that Jeff Ropp, and all the other Jeff Ropp’s in the world, and everyone else, whatever his or her name may be. This invitation is for everyone. What is Jesus inviting everyone to do?
This leads to
the fourth reason why everyone needs John 3:16: BECAUSE EVERYONE NEEDS SUCH SIMPLICITY. Jesus
said, “believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”Jesus is inviting us to believe in
Him for everlasting life. He did not say, “whoever
… does good in the community… lives an obedient life… denies himself and
follows Me… confesses his sins… asks Me into his heart… promises to serve Me… or is baptized.” He simply says, “whoever believes in Him…” What does it mean to believe? To
believe simply to accept something as true and then trust in that something.
Jesus says a person “believes” and “have.” You have
what you take, correct? For example, if I were to say to you, “This $100
bill is yours if you will take it.” You cannot enjoy that $100 until you
take it. If you take it, you have believed my promise to give it to you. Jesus
asks us to take by faith the eternal life that He is freely offering to us. The
moment you believe His promise to give everlasting live to all who believe in
Him, you “have” everlasting life. Jesus guarantees that you will “not
perish” in hell, but “have” everlasting life both now and forever. This
is so simple that children often believe it much sooner than adults.
In John 3:16, Jesus is saying, “I love you. I
died for you and rose from the dead. Will you trust Me to give you the
never-ending life I bought for you with My own blood?” This is an
invitation to believe or trust in Christ and Him alone – not ourselves or our
good works. If you have just believed or trusted in Jesus Christ alone to give
you everlasting life, you can tell Jesus this through prayer. Praying
this prayer will not get you to heaven. Only believing or trusting in Jesus
alone gets us to heaven. This prayer is a way of telling God you are now trusting
in His Son.
Prayer: “Dear Jesus,
thank You for John 3:16 which tells me that You love me just as I am and that You
want to be in a relationship with me forever. Lord Jesus, I admit that I have
sinned against You and that I cannot save myself. I believe You died in my
place on a cross for all of my sins and rose from the dead. I am now trusting in
You alone, Jesus, (not my good life, my prayers, or my religion) to give me
everlasting life and save me from hell forever. Thank You, Jesus, for the
everlasting life I now have. Thank You for saving me from hell forever! Please
help me to share John 3:16 with others before it is too late for them. In
Jesus’ name. Amen.”
To grow in your new relationship with Jesus
Christ, please visit please visit www.seeyouinheaven.life or www.knowing-Jesus.com
or evantell.org. If you found
this article to be helpful, please share it with those you want to see in
heaven.Thank you and may Jesus richly bless you as you make Him
known to others.
The last two chapters of the Bible reveal many details of what you will and will not find in heaven. Focusing on these things can dramatically impact our lives in the weeks and months ahead.
I. WHAT YOU WILL FIND IN HEAVEN
“Then He who sat
on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’” Revelation 21:5
According to Revelation 21-22, here
are five things you will find in Heaven:
1. A REMARKABLE
CITY. “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and
showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.”
(Rev. 21:10). Heaven will
consist of a beautiful city that is illuminated by Christ Himself (Rev. 21:11).
Jesus’ presence will make this city look like a gigantic, glistening diamond. Instead
of there being one pearly gate, there will be twelve pearly gates – three gates
per wall. Look at the shape and size of this city (Rev. 21:12-13, 21a). This
will be a square-shaped city that is fifteen hundred miles long, fifteen
hundred miles wide, and fifteen hundred miles high (Rev. 21:16). This goes well
beyond Earth’s atmosphere and into space. If a building in the city is this
high and has a generous twelve feet per story, the building would be over six
hundred sixty-six thousand stories! The New Jerusalem will appear to shine as a
mass of pure gold with streets of gold (Rev. 21:18, 21b). The foundation of
this remarkable city consists of twelve layers of precious jewels, making up
the colors of the rainbow (Rev. 21:19-20).
2. REUNION with
Other BELIEVERS. “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled
with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, ‘Come, I
will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit
to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem”
(Rev. 21:9-10a). Note the connection between the New Jerusalem
and the Church (bride of Christ). Jesus promised the apostles of the Church,
“I go to prepare a place for you…that where I am there you may be also” (John
14:2-3). This remarkable city is being carefully prepared by God’s Son for
His bride, the Church (cf. I Cor. 11:2; Ephes. 5:22-24).
The New Jerusalem will have twelve gates. “Also, she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel” (Rev. 21:12-13). Gates in ancient cities were often named with reference to where they led. For example, in ancient Jerusalem, the Benjamin gate led to the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. The names of the twelve apostles, whom Jesus promised would rule over the twelve tribes of Israel, are on the twelve foundations of the city (Rev. 21:14). What this suggests, is that King Jesus and the Church will rule Israel and the entire new earth from this city. So, every believer in Jesus during this Church age will live in the New Jerusalem and all other believers before and after the Church Age will live outside the City on the new earth. But these other believers will have access to the New Jerusalem: “But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (Rev. 21:27b). How do you get your name written in the Lamb’s book of life? By grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8-9).
3. RESPONSIBILITIES.“And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.” (Rev. 22:3). The Bible says you will have the responsibility of serving the Lord in heaven. And there will be many different jobs. For example, Isaiah 65 tells us: “17 For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. [bad memories will be erased] … 21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.” (Isaiah 65:17, 21). There will be construction work in heaven and gardening. I believe the greatest inventions will be made in eternity. If people can put men on the moon and build skyscrapers in their fallen state, think of what they will be able to do in their perfect resurrection bodies!
Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992 www.revelationillustrated.com
4. REWARDS. There is so much teaching on this in the New
Testament, but for now we’ll just look at one verse. “Blessed are those who
do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may
enter through the gates into the city.” (Rev. 22:14). Believers whose lives
are characterized by obedience to God’s commands now will enjoy access to the
tree of life in the New Jerusalem and the privilege of being able to enter the
city through its twelve main gates. The tree of life was in the original
Paradise, the Garden of Eden, and it will flourish in God’s eternal kingdom,
providing a different fruit each month and enhancing the lives of those who eat
it. In the Middle East today, some cities have special VIP entrances into the
city. The New Jerusalem will have twelve such gates. While all believers will
be able to enter the city, only faithful believers will enter by the twelve
gates of pearl. In the Old Testament to be “in the gates” was an honor
reserved for the elders of the city. To enter New Jerusalem through one of its twelve
gates of pearl, will be a great honor reserved only for those Christians who
overcame in this life.
5. REJOICING. What I mean by this is we are going to worship in heaven. We will honor the Lord Jesus Christ forever in Heaven. We will celebrate who He is and what He has done throughout eternity! “And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.” (Rev. 21:24). In heaven, there will be different nations perhaps much like today. The leaders of these nations (overcomers) will reenact what the wise men did almost two thousand years ago, when they brought their gifts to baby Jesus. In eternity, the kings of the earth are going to bring their glory (treasures) to King Jesus year after year in the New Jerusalem to worship and glorify Christ. This new earth is going to be a glorious place where everyone brings glory to God. All the curses that came as a result of the fall in the Garden of Eden are going to be removed. There will be no more pollution… no animals that we need to fear… no people we need to fear – no criminals because no one will sin on the new earth. It will be like the Garden of Eden revisited. It will be paradise on the new earth, not in heaven. So, contrary to what many people think – we are not going to spend eternity floating on some cloud playing a harp in a colorless place. Instead we will spend eternity on the Garden of Eden revisited– the new earth.
Knowing what
heaven will be like can motivate Christians to prepare for this wonderful
place. While all believers in Jesus Christ
will enter or occupy the new earth (Kingdom of God) through childlike faith
alone in Christ alone for His free gift of eternal life (Matt. 18:3; Mark
10:14-15; Luke 18:16-17; John 3:5-16; Rev. 21:6), only those who faithfully
trust and obey Christ until the end of their life on earth will inherit (Matt.
5:3; Rom. 8:17b; 2 Tim. 2:12; James 2:5; Rev. 2:26-27; 3:21; 20:4, 6; cf.
Exodus 12:48-49; Numbers 18:20-24; 36:7-9; Deuteronomy 21:15-17; I Cor. 6:9-11;
Galatians 5:19-21; Ephes. 5:5-6) or possess all that is promised to the
overcomer in Revelation including wearing special white garments (Rev. 3:4-5),
ruling with Christ (Rev. 2:26-27; 3:21; cf. 2 Tim. 2:12), eating the fruit of
the tree of life (Rev. 2:7), eating hidden manna (Rev. 2:17), receiving a white
stone engraved with your own special name that only the Lord and you will know
(Rev. 2:17), and receiving a special entrance into the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:7a;
cf. 22:14).
II. WHAT YOU WILL
NOT FIND IN HEAVEN
“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there
shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain,
for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4
Here are five things you will not find
in heaven according to Revelation 21:
1. No SADNESS.“And
God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Rev. 21:4a). No more
broken hearts … rejection… loneliness… grief. No more heartache. That is
heaven. God will wipe away every tear from your eyes. You will not have sadness
or grief again. Those of you who are grieving the loss of a loved one or maybe
you’ve been going through a period of depression, one of the things that does
in our lives is it just makes heaven seem a little bit closer. We want to go to
heaven when we are in pain. Why? Because there is none there.
2. No DEATH. “There shall be no more death.” (Rev.
21:4b). There will be no funerals in heaven…
no more cemeteries. Why? Because in that heavenly city no one ever dies. You
won’t ever have to be concerned about losing a loved one because death will be
gone forever!
3. No SUFFERING.
“There shall be no more pain” (Rev. 21:4c). No
more bad hair days ladies and gentlemen. Everything about us will be perfect.
This will be a glorious time. We will have glorified bodies. There will be no
eyeglasses, no braces, no wheelchairs, no hearing aids, and no crutches. There
will be no more hospitals, no ambulances, no CPR. COVID-19 will not exist, aspirin
will be gone, accidents over, heart attacks banished, AIDS a distant memory,
cancer done away with. No more chronic pain.
4. No SHADOWS.
“The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory
of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.” (Rev. 21:23). There will be no need for the sun, moon or
stars in heaven because the glory of Jesus will be its light. This will be the
heavenly version of “the city that never sleeps.” We will not need to
sleep because we will have glorified bodies that never grow tired. No need for
caffeinated coffee! No sadness, no death, no suffering, no shadows…
5. No SIN. “But
there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an
abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
(Rev. 21:27). Nothing that is
sinful or leads to sin will ever be a part of the New Jerusalem. Unbelieving
people and their evil ways will be confined to the Lake of Fire (21:8). I’m
looking forward to the moment that I no longer have any temptations or sin in
my life. No more hang-ups. Think about it – no more fears. Can you imagine what
it’ll be like to live with no fear, no guilt, no shame, no resentment, no
worry, no bitterness, no envy, no jealousy, no loneliness. But you’re still
going to be you. You will still have your personality only without any
weaknesses.
Heaven is going to be an incredible
place! God loves you so much that He wants you to live with Him there for
eternity. To do so, you must receive His free gift of eternal life. Why?
Because the Bible says we are born with sinful hearts – “Surely, I was
sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” (Psalm 51:5).
From the moment of conception, we possess a sinful nature that causes us to
break God’s rules. Because all of us have sinned (Romans 3:23), we deserve to
be separated from God forever in the Lake of Fire (Romans 6:23a; Rev. 20:15).
But God’s love for those who don’t possess eternal life is so great that in the
final two chapters of the Bible He offers eternal life (“the water of life”)
as a free gift (Revelation 21:6; 22:17). “The water of life” is eternal
life and Jesus offers it “freely” to those who believe in Him. You don’t
work for eternal life because it has already been paid for when Jesus died on
the Cross for our sins and rose from the dead.
Jesus said, “He who believes in Me has everlasting life.” (John
6:47).
What is Jesus asking you to do that is hard for you to trust Him with? Is He asking you to trust Him for eternal life, but it’s hard for you to let go of your works and trust Him alone? It’s so simple that children get it and adults miss it. None of us are promised tomorrow. If you were to drop dead in the next minute are you absolutely certain you are going to heaven? If you are not, you can make sure right now. Why would anybody put it off? You need to settle this issue right now and you need to put your trust in Jesus for eternal life. When you trust Him, He gives you everlasting life (John 6:47), He forgives all your sins (Acts 10:43; Colossians 2:13-14), He places you in God’s family forever (John 1:12; 6:37), and He comes to live inside of you through His Holy Spirit (John 7:39a; Galatians 4:6). He guarantees that you will live with Him forever in Heaven when you die or are removed from the earth through the Rapture of the Church, whichever occurs first (John 3:16; I Thessalonians 1:10; 4:13-5:11; I John 5:13).
If you just believed or trusted in
Jesus alone for His gift of everlasting life, you can tell Jesus this through
prayer. But praying this prayer is not what gets you to heaven. Only
trusting in Christ alone gets you to heaven. This prayer is a way of
telling God you are now trusting in His Son.
“Dear Jesus, I
come to you now as a sinner who cannot save himself. I believe You died in my
place on the cross for all of my sins and rose from the dead. I am now trusting
in You alone, Jesus (not my good life, my prayers, or my religion) to give me everlasting
life and a future home in heaven. Thank You Jesus, for the everlasting life I
now have and the future home I will have in heaven. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
When you believed
in Jesus, He gave you everlasting life which
can never be lost (John 10:28-29). He forgave all of your sins (Acts 10:43;
Col. 2:13-14) and placed you in His family forever (John 1:12; 6:37). Christ’s
Spirit now lives inside of you to comfort, guide, and teach you how to
follow Jesus as you read and apply the Bible (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13-14; 2
Timothy 3:16-17). To help you grow in your new relationship with Jesus,
please visit www.seeyouinheaven.life or www.knowing-Jesus.com or www.evantell.org.
If you found this article to be helpful, please share it with those you want to see in heaven. Thank you and may Jesus reveal more of Himself to you as you learn to follow Him.
*Note: The Revelation Art is used by permission of Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992. To order art prints visit her “Revelation Illustrated” site, http://www.revelationillustrated.com.
As conditions worsen with regard to the coronavirus, many people
are panicking. In large part, it seems to me that the media is highly
responsible for a lot of fear-based decision making. God does not want His
children to be driven by fear. He wants us to be driven by faith (cf. 2
Corinthians 5:7). With so many negative reports in the news today, it is
challenging to maintain a life of faith. We may succumb to this bombardment of
sensationalism and begin to doubt if God is really on our side. A lie that the
enemy likes to whisper in a Christian’s ear when bad things are happening is, “God
is against you.” Do you ever have thoughts like that? I certainly do.
The truth God has given us to combat this lie is found in Romans
8:31 where the apostle Paul writes: ““If God is for us [and He is],
who can be against us” (8:31)? When we think someone is against us, God
says, “Since I am for you (and no one is greater than Me), no one can
successfully oppose you!” This includes the coronavirus, those in authority
over us, family, friends, and even the devil and his demonic armies. As a
preacher once said, “One plus God is always
a majority.” Does it always feel this way? No. But our feelings do not
always tell the truth.
You may respond, “But God, how do I know You are for me?” Paul writes, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things” (8:32)? When we were enemies of God, He gave us His own Son to die in our place (Romans 5:6-8). If God gave us His best when we were at our worst, how much more will He give us now that we are His beloved children!?!
God the Holy Spirit wants to apply these truths beyond our
thoughts to the depths of our soul and spirit so that even when bad and painful
things happen to us, we will still know deep down inside that God is for us. He
is on our side. God is our biggest fan despite what we hear from our
antagonists, including our own flesh. Therefore, there is no longer any reason
to live in fear.
How do we replace
this lie (and others) with God’s truth? Second Corinthians 10:3-5
instructs us. First, we must rely on God’s power, not our own. This battle for
our minds is not “according to the flesh” (10:3). Nothing in our own
flesh will help us to live victoriously or draw us closer to the Lord. Since
the weapons of our warfare are “mighty in God,” then we must rely upon the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome
Satan’s lies (10:4).
Second, recognize
the erroneous thought. This battle is located in our minds because it involves “strongholds,”
“arguments,” “knowledge,” and “every thought” (10:4-5). The word “strongholds”
pictures a fortress with high walls and towers surrounded by a moat. God
says these strongholds must be destroyed which means that God did not build
them. A “stronghold” then, is a negative, destructive pattern of
thinking that Satan has built in our minds through repetition, trauma, or
circumstances. Satan does not put thoughts in our minds. He uses other people’s
voices to insert thoughts in our mind. Ungodly thoughts come from us. Christ
lives inside us and He does not give us these ungodly thoughts (Galatians 2:20).
We will not get very far in this battle for our minds until we acknowledge
these satanic strongholds.
Third, release
the lie. “Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself
against the knowledge of God” (10:5a). Dismiss the lie and say, “This
is not true, therefore, it is a lie and I am not going to pay attention to
this. I am not going to entertain these thoughts that say God is against me.”
Fourth, reprogram
your mind with the truth, “bringing every thought into captivity to the
obedience of Christ” (10:5b). How do we bring every thought into captivity
to the obedience of Christ? Jesus told us: “And you shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). The devil is a liar by
nature and he cannot handle the truth (John 6:44). This is why the devil tries
to distract us from the truth so that it never gets deep down into the areas
where he has a stronghold in our lives.
Persevere in this truth:“God is for me and not against me. The proof? He gave me His best on the cross when I was at my worst.” Review this truth daily. Say it out loud. Find a picture or image that represents this truth and review it throughout the day. This will help download the truth of God’s Word into your right brain where lies are attached to wounds from your past.
Neuroscience
teaches us that it takes 2-5 years to develop new neurological pathways in our
brain that contain the truth. So keep telling yourself the truth even when you
don’t feel like it or see it so you can create and strengthen the new pathway
in your brain. Our bodies create new brain cells the more we tell ourselves the
truth. The more we tell ourselves the truth, the stronger the pathway becomes
between brain cells. When we ignore the lie, the old pathway weakens – those
brain cells containing Satan’s lies have less power and strength. You can
continue to create new brain cells throughout your life by speaking the truth
to yourself. When Paul said, “do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:2), perhaps he not only
had a spiritual transformation in mind, but a physiological transformation in
mind as well.
Prayer: Father
God, by Your Spirit, please heal my soul of the wound that has the lie attached
to it that says, “You are against me.” I cannot heal this wound myself.
No doctor, pastor, or therapist can heal me. Only You, Lord God, can heal me. I
will need Your grace to replace this lie with Your truth that says, “You are
for me. And since no one is greater than You, no one can successfully oppose
me.” When I doubt that You are for me, please remind me of the cross that
says You gave me Your best when I was at my worst. And since You gave Your best
to me when I was at my worst, how much more will You give me through Your Son
Jesus now that I am Your beloved child through faith in Him!?! Thank You that I
no longer need to live in fear. I can awaken each morning expectant of Your
best for me through the Lord Jesus Christ. In His name I pray. Amen.
“26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27
As we face the many challenges
presented to us by the coronavirus, we may not know how to pray to God. And we can
lose that sense of hope that says things will get better. Maybe you are feeling
that way now. Maybe you have an ache in your heart over a loss of some kind. It
may be the loss of connections with people through social distancing. Or your
loss may revolve around finances… a job… a friendship … your own health… or the
loss of a loved one.
Romans 8:26-27 tells us, “26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our
weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the
Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be
uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of
the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the
will of God.” These verses are telling us that if you are a Christian,
you can have hope through the indwelling Holy Spirit Who “helps us in our
weaknesses” (8:26a). When we encounter pain and suffering (Rom. 8:18-25),
we may not know exactly how to pray to God, so the Holy Spirit helps us by
praying on our behalf (“makes intercession for us”) to God the Father
(8:26b).
The word “groanings” expresses feelings
of compassion for our weak condition. The Holy Spirit requests the Father’s
help for us with deep compassion (cf. Eph. 6:18). However, we should not
confuse these “groanings” with praying in tongues. These “groanings
… cannot be uttered” by the Hoy Spirit. This is not an audible prayer
language to the human ear. Besides, this passage promises all Christians God’s
help, not just those who had the gift of tongues. Furthermore, the Scriptures
never connect the gift of tongues with intercessory prayer. The main point of
verse 26 is that even when “we do not know what we should pray for,” the
Holy Spirit prays to God the Father on our behalf, telling Him exactly what is
on our hearts (8:26).
Even though we cannot hear the Holy Spirit’s intercession for us, God the Father can hear and understand Him. So not only does the Holy Spirit pray on our behalf, but we have a heavenly Father “who searches” our hearts and “knows what the mind of the Spirit is” (8:27a).The Holy Spirit makes our hearts understandable to the Father. We can be assured that the Holy Spirit’s prayers for us are effective in securing God’s help for us, because the Spirit prays on our behalf “according to the will of God” (8:27b).
For example,
when our children were infants, my wife would tune in to each child’s wordless
cry. She learned to distinguish a cry for food from a cry for attention, an
earache cry from a stomachache cry. To me the sounds were identical, but not to
their mother who instinctively discerned the meaning of the helpless child’s
cry. The Holy Spirit has resources of sensitivity beyond those of the most
discerning mother. The Spirit of God can detect needs we cannot articulate.
So as the Spirit prays for us, He gives content and expression to our heavenly
Father as to the deep things of our hearts. He makes us understandable to the
Father. When we do not know what to pray the Holy Spirit fills in the blanks.
I remember
visiting a church member in his home several years ago after he had battled an
illness that made it difficult for him to put his thoughts into words. He told
me there would be times with the Lord that he would be unable to finish his
prayers and this greatly disturbed him. So I turned to Romans 8:26-27 and
explained to him that
even when he was unable to finish his prayers, God the Holy Spirit would
finish them for him. The Spirit would pray to God the Father on this man’s
behalf, telling the Father exactly what was on his heart. The Holy Spirit made him
understandable to the Father. And not only that, the Spirit prayed on his
behalf according to the will of God. These truths gave this man hope
that God truly did understand his deepest longings and needs that he was unable
to put into words.
So when we feel uptight about our inability to pray about a particular need or situation, we can rest in the promises found in Romans 8:26-27. We are assured that God will help us in our weaknesses because the Holy Spirit makes our needs and longings known to the Father by praying to Him on our behalf. During difficult times, we need to know that God understands us. Even if we can’t express ourselves well, our compassionate Father in heaven will understand how we feel and what we need because of the work of the Holy Spirit in us. When we feel understood, we really begin to experience hope. Because if God understands our hearts and our needs, then He can do something about them.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, during these uncertain times, it can be difficult for me to find the words that express my deepest longings and needs to the Father in prayer. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for praying to the Father on my behalf according to God’s will even when I do not know what to pray. Knowing that You make my heart’s desires understandable to my compassionate Father in heaven gives me hope in the midst of these difficult times. Because when my heart’s deepest longings and needs are understood by You, then You can do something about them. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus
(SARS-CoV-2), continues to spread around the world, with an increasing number
of cases here in the United States. The World Health Organization has declared
that we are in the midst of a global pandemic. This virus is shutting
down political campaign rallies, professional sports leagues, schools, Broadway,
Disneyland, and even travel on planes and cruise ships. Some states in the USA
are banning
mass gatherings for organized events for the next month.
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THESE TWO PANDEMICS
There is another global pandemic that is much older and deadlier than
the coronavirus. The Bible calls this lethal and widespread virus sin. “Therefore,
just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus
death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). Just as the coronavirus
does not respect ethnic boundaries or national borders, neither does sin.
While the elderly and those with chronic conditions appear to be more at risk for the coronavirus, all people are infected by sin. No exceptions. No matter what your age, appearance, color of skin, or language, you are infected by this spiritual disease. The Bible tells us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Sin is when we disobey God’s laws (I John 3:4). When we hate, lie, lust, or steal, we sin against God.
Those exposed to or infected by the coronavirus are being
separated or even isolated from others. Likewise, our sin separates us from God.
“For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). The word “death”
in the Bible means separation. Sin separates us from God because He is holy,
righteous, and perfect (Isaiah 59:2). He cannot be around sin. The final
punishment for our sin is separation from God forever in a terrible place
called the Lake of Fire or Hell (Revelaion 20:15). Please understand that God
does not want any of us to die forever in Hell.
THE MAIN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE TWO PANDEMICS
One of the reasons the coronavirus is causing such great panic around the world is because there is no known cure. But there is a cure for the deadlier pandemic of sin. The Bible tells us that God entered the world infected by this virus called sin. He lived among sick people, not wearing a chemical protective suit, but breathing the same air and eating the same food as we do. Out of love for the world, including you and me, He died in isolation on a cross, excluded from His people and separated from His Father, and then rose from the dead so He might provide this sick world with an antidote to the virus (I Corinthians 15:3-6).
Jesus is alive today and freely offers you the cure for this
deadlier virus. Listen to what He said to a woman whose brother died from the virus,
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may
die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do
you believe this?” (John 11:25-26). Christ guarantees a future resurrection
and never ending life to all who believe in Him. No amount of our good works or
efforts can save us from the deadly virus of sin (Isaiah 64:6). Only Jesus has
the cure.
If you are not certain you will go to heaven when you die, believe
in Jesus for His gift of everlasting life and He guarantees you will live with
Him forever in Heaven. He said, “16 For God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not
perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not
send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through
Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17; cf. 3:36;
14:1-3). If you trusted in Jesus just now for His gift of everlasting life, you
can tell God through prayer. Remember, praying this prayer will not get you to Heaven.
Only trusting in Christ alone gets you to Heaven. This prayer is a way of telling
God you are now trusting in His Son.
Prayer:“Dear Jesus, I come to you now infected by this lethal virus called sin. I cannot save myself from this virus. I believe You became infected by this virus and died on a cross and rose from the dead to save me from sin and death. I am now trusting in You alone Jesus (not my good life, water baptism, or church attendance) to give me everlasting life and save me from this pandemic of sin forever. Thank You for the everlasting life I now have. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
When you believed in Christ, He gave you everlasting life which can never be lost (John 10:28-29). God became your Father and you became His child forever (John 1:12). And Jesus now lives inside you through His Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11-13). He promises never to leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). Christ’s resurrection guarantees you a new resurrection body in the future that will not be subject to disease or death (I Corinthians 15:35-57). Please help others to escape this deadly pandemic of sin by sharing this good news of Jesus’ cure.
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11
As we close out
2019 and prepare for the New Year, we may feel that there is little hope for
our future. Recent circumstances or past painful memories may leave us feeling
alone and discouraged. We may ask ourselves, “Is there any hope?”
This question is asked
everyday by thousands of people in thousands of different ways. When your home
is destroyed by flood waters or a Typhoon, you ask, “Is there any hope?” When you are sitting in the doctor’s office
waiting for test results, you ask, “Is there any hope?” When you feel stuck in
your marriage, you ask, “Is there any hope?” When you are unable to find a job,
you ask, “Is there any hope?” When you keep struggling with an addiction, you
ask, “Is there any hope?” When people keep rejecting you because of your
commitment to Christ, you ask, “Is there any hope?”
I believe this
was a question the people of Judah probably asked when they were taken into captivity
in Babylon. The prophet Jeremiah sent his first letter to them while they were
in captivity and wanted them to realize that God “caused” them “to be
carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon” (29:1, 4) so they would trust that
He is in control. He advised them to make the most of their time during their
70 years of captivity by building “houses,” planting “gardens,” marrying,
having “sons and daughters,” and anticipating grandchildren (29:5-6). They were
to “seek the peace of the city” where they now lived and “pray to the
Lord for it” so they would be blessed as God blessed the city (29:7). God
warned them not to let their “prophets and diviners who are” with them to “deceive”
them into thinking their time in captivity was short (28:8-9) because He had
already said it would be for 70 years (29:10; cf. 25:11-12).
God’s ultimate
plans (“thoughts”) for His people were “of peace, not of evil, to
give” them “a future and a hope” (29:11). At the end of their
captivity, God’s people would “call upon” Him and He “will listen”
to them and bring them “back” to the land He promised them (29:12-14).
Listen carefully
to what God is saying in verse 11. “For
I know the thoughts that I think toward you.” God is thinking of you. When believers
feel hopeless, they may feel that God has lost their address. They conclude
that God does not care about them nor pay attention to them. But God is saying
that you are important to Him, so much so, that He is thinking of you.
But you may wonder, “What kind of thoughts does God have toward me?” If you have unresolved trauma in your past, you may fear that God’s thoughts toward you are “evil,” and He is plotting to harm you. God assures us that His “thoughts” or plans for us in the future are filled with “peace, not of evil.” God is not making plans for you that are filled with chaos and evil. He is planning a quiet and tranquil “future” for you that is filled with “hope.” Hope is the confident expectation of good from God.
God may have led you to read this article today so He could say to you: “Don’t give in to discouragement or despair. Don’t give up, look up. Don’t despair, turn to Me prayer.” If you have believed in Jesus Christ for His gift of everlasting life, you need to know that Jesus Christ is thinking of you and believes in you. He is on your side and nothing can separate you from His love (Rom. 8:31-39). He wants you to see yourself through His eyes so that you can live a victorious Christian life that is filled with confidence and hope!
If you do not
have Jesus Christ in your life,
He wants you to know that He has been thinking of you before you were ever
born. He longs to be in a personal relationship with you. But we all have a
problem that separates us from God. Our problem is called sin. Sin is when we disobey
God with our thoughts, our words, and our actions. But God does not want any of
us to be separated from Him, so He provided a solution to our sin problem. The
Bible says, “But the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus
our Lord” (Rom. 6:23b). God loved us so much that He
sent His only Son, Jesus Christ to take our punishment on the cross and rise from the
dead so we could receive everlasting life as a free gift by believing or trusting in
Christ alone (I Cor. 15:1-6). Jesus said, “He who believes in Me has
everlasting life” (John 6:47). Christ now invites you to trust in Him alone
(not your good life, baptism, or church attendance, etc.), and He will give you
everlasting life as a free gift which can never be lost (John 10:28-29).
After you put your trust in Christ alone to give you everlasting life, you can be assured that God has a future for you that is filled with peace and hope! You can now talk to the Lord through prayer at any time and at any place about anything.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for showing me
that I am important enough for You to think of me. Sometimes I feel forgotten
and unimportant to You, but the truth is You are always thinking of me. Please
help me to believe that Your thoughts or plans for me are filled with peace and
hope, not chaos and evil, so I can trust You to do what is best for me. Each
day when I awake, I can now anticipate good from You through the Lord Jesus
Christ. Thank You for renewing my sense of hope through Him. In Jesus’ name I
pray. Amen.
