Scripture

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

~Revelation 1:4, NLT

Quote

Sinners we are and sinner we will be until we draw our final breath. Our absolute perfection is yet to come but the expectation of it is one reason why we should long for heaven.

~John Charles Ryle

Some may view heaven as a place where we get what’s coming to us. I am talking about the mentality of the prodigal, “Give me what is coming to me.” I don’t see it that way at all. I don’t have anything coming to me. I never dream about living in a mansion or walking on streets of gold. These things have no appeal to me. John said the walls of heaven are decorated with precious stones, jasper, sapphire, emerald, etc. Personally, I favor rubies and emeralds and I would prefer them over diamonds but I really don’t care that much for precious stones and I have no desire to have jewelry and any sort. I don’t think about an inheritance or wealth of any sort when I think about heaven. I do think about fullness and no needs. I guest to be honest, my primary reason for wanting to go to heaven is to avoid hell. I still want to avoid hell but my growing affinity for heaven is to be with Jesus. Where ever Jesus is, that is where I want to be. Heaven itself is not a secure place, the devil was in heaven at one time. Our security is in Jesus. He is our ARK. A heaven without Jesus is no heaven at all; it would be the opposite. The Pearl I am after is the priceless Pearl, the Pearl of great value mentioned in Matthew 13:46.

There are some things that excite me about heaven. First, I want to be free of sin and self. I will never be fully sanctified here because I live in a body of sin. A body that is cursed. In spite of the fact that I love the word of God, and I do want to please Him, I do the very things that I hate. I want to be perfect but I am not. I am also anxious about getting away from sin in general and temptation. To be honest with you, I don’t like trials and tribulations; I long for peace and rest. I am really tired of suffering and I am not referring to my personal suffering which has been minimal, but the suffering I see around me. No cancer in heaven. No funeral homes in heaven. No prisons in heaven. No hospitals in heaven. No missions of mercy in heaven. No wars, no poverty, no marxism, no political parties, no elections, no deceitful campaign ads, no media, because there is no lying in heaven. To quote John in the Revelation, He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

Extra

Another cool morning as I walked to the office. The ground is very dry: we could use a little rain but I am not complaining. Jesus is Good! LORD willing, I will be in Psalm 149 tonight. We started this series in 2019 and have served some 180 sermons. We spent 22 weeks on Psalm 119 and a month on Psalm 139. If my math is right, we will finish are seventh year at Grace Point next Easter. I am telling you folks, time is flying for me. It seems more like two or three. We have been blessed and I do praise the Lord Jesus for a flock to feed.

Grace Point family: we ordered the fish, shrimp, potatoes and chicken yesterday for our fish-fry September 27 at 5:30. Our cooks are on board and we are looking forward to our celebration of finishing the Psalms. A couple of other things: LADIES, we host the MBA Pastor’s conference on October 9th. The meal will be served at 11:30 and we are to prepare for about 20. TEX-Mex for Senior Adult luncheon on September 22. I think all the assignments have been made. If you didn’t get one, your option is a dessert but you don’t have to bring anything. Bring a neighbor or a friend.

I hope you have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.