The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Wonders of Forever, Along the Pathways of Today"
How much of this present life will carry over into Heaven for born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ? The answer lies in the Biblical truth that we already possess eternal life in our blessed Savior.
"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life" (I John 5:13).
Note the present tense: "ye have eternal life." This means far more than the fact we will live forever. It rather refers primarily to our relationship with God through Christ. "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3). Born again believers already know God to one degree or another. Of course, it pales in comparison to how much we will know Him in the forever to come. But we do know Him by His Spirit's presence within our hearts and His illumination of the living God. "The Spirit beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:16). We therefore have eternal life already because knowing our Lord comprises the essence of such living reality. "To live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21).
This being true, we can be confident that much of what our Lord presently accomplishes in our hearts and lives bears great significance for our Heavenly existence. Things of Him we learn here will surely remain with us There. Blessings He grants here will forever linger in our hearts as gratitude There. Challenges and difficulties we face here will be realized for their necessary preparatory nature There. And associations begun here with fellow believers must surely initiate the paving of a path we will walk together There. Our Father wastes nothing in His redemptive process in our lives. We can therefore be supremely confident that our todays will play a powerful role in the limitless tomorrows of forever in Christ. ""I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it" (Ecclesiastes 3:14).
What will our Lord do today that will be with us forevermore? Far more than we can presently realize as he does "exceeding, abundantly above all we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20). Such blessedness fills the heart with grateful wonder. However, it also presents its challenge. We play a role in forging our forever as we respond to God in faith and faithfulness. We must therefore decisively realize and respond to our Lord's working as He graces our moments of time with eternal glories of the risen Lord Jesus. This is indeed life eternal, which has already begun and will bless us in this day as we open our eyes to wonders of forever, granted along the pathways of today…
"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."
(II Corinthians 4:17-18)
Weekly Memory Verse
"What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee."
(Psalm 56:3)
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