"But Then..."

(Thanks to my dear brother and friend Fred C. for inspiration on this one.)

One day we shall see Him "face to face" (I Corinthians 13:12).

The vision will perhaps cause all that the Lord Jesus Christ did for us and was for us during our earthly sojourn to be compressed into a moment of clarity and brightness that will cause us to fall to our faces in a gratitude such as we have never felt before. A holy and glorified "Thank You!" will burst forth from our grateful lips, and we will join the millions upon millions of human and angelic voices that throng the throne of God to express adoration, praise, and gratitude (Revelation 5:11-14).

But then...

But then the realization will descend upon us, or perhaps arise from within our perfected hearts that the compressed moment is merely the beginning of a long eternity wherein the infinite reservoir of God's goodness will be known by us, in us, and through us. The Apostle Paul wrote of "the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" being our portion for "the ages to come" (Ephesians 2:7). Such realization blesses us now, but again, in that heavenly moment when we shall know as we are known, our hearts would burst were they not glorified. The "reservoir of God's goodness" will never be exhausted because His person, nature, character, and way are all infinite in their measure and expression.

Our minds and intellectual capacities will be forever stimulated and illuminated because "His understanding is infinite" (Psalm 147:5).

Our abilities and capacity to fulfill our particular callings will be forever superadequate because "the power that worketh in us" is "exceeding, abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20).

Our holy pleasure in being God's sons and daughters will be forever heart-filling and thrilling because "joy unspeakable and full of glory" will fill our cups to the degree that they perpetually "runneth over" (I Peter 1:8; Psalm 23:5).

The tranquility of our redeemed hearts will forever grace us with "peace, which passeth all understanding," bestowing upon us an existence for which we presently have no frame of reference (Philippians 4:7). No sense of worry, trepidation, or fear will ever have any place in our hearts and minds. We shall be internally free in a liberty that cannot yet be contemplated or imagined. "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:36).

And we shall be loved, and love in response, with a devotion of otherness that "passeth knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19). The heart of God is an ocean without shore, a view without horizon, an expanse without limit, and depths that can never be fully plumbed. The Lord Jesus prayed that we would know the same love He had known "before the world was," and His request will be perfectly and eternally fulfilled (John 17:5; 24-26). We are presently knowing the firstfruits of such glory. However, in that moment when we see Him face to face, an experience of God's love will begin that will overwhelm our hearts with the awareness that regardless of how far we have journeyed into His heart, the Holy Spirit beckons us to come ever further and ever onward into the goodness of the Lord Jesus.

Forever's Journey

There is no end to the quest we know, forever beckons on.

For our spirits soar in skies so blue, above all clouds of storm.

Yes, we fly into the heart of God as in His Son we trust,

and earth will soon be nothing more than long forgotten dust.

So spread your winds and catch the wind, o journeyman of hope,

and race toward horizons blessed with those who also know

That the quest of hearts is Jesus, He is our shining sun,

it matters not how far we've come...

The Journey's Just Begun.

"God is the strength of my heart,
and my portion for ever."

(Psalm 73:26)