Home, Sweet Home
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 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? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.”
John 14: 1-4
Everyone needs a place … needs some place to call home. Whether we live in a 3rd-floor walk-up with a shared lavatory down the hall or a mansion in Beverly Hills, we need our space. Sometimes on Facebook, someone will post a unique dwelling, such as a huge nest made out of willow withes, or a hollowed-out tree trunk. Thank you, I will stick to my apartment!
I think often of the homeless population and their struggles to have their own space—a cardboard box on a city street doesn’t really count as a home, but many thousands of men and women are grateful for even that. Homeless shelters help, but even that means sleeping on a cot in a church basement or a bunk in a converted warehouse or crowded homeless shelter.
I am delighted with my apartment, and I’ve been working at getting my space to be home. It suits me, yet there are glitches: a blinking light under the kitchen cabinet, a derailing dishwasher rack, a stuck closet door, dents and scratches on vintage furniture, a surprise “pet” cricket … All is well. I have a comfortable place. Home, sweet home.
I am looking for my heavenly home sooner than later. I long for the Day when He shall come to claim His Redeemed Church. But … Given the centuries passed awaiting His return, chances are that my death will serve to summon me to my new home. No surprise. A year ago, God summoned my sweet husband, as He had summoned billions of Christians to await the rest of us. They will be there at the Throne of God awaiting us:
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb …
Revelation 7: 9
Still, I can say with the Apostle Paul:
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”
Philippians 1: 21-23
Meanwhile, here on earth …
How do we live?
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Galatians 5: 22-24
What does it mean to live by the Spirit. Spiritual life is made up of motives, attitudes, and actions based upon the fruit of the Spirit:
If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
Galatians 5: 25
Keeping in step with the Spirit means to walk with knowledge of the Word of God and allow His direction in obedience to the Word:
- Reading the Bible
- Meditating on what has been read
- Prayer: Honoring God, confession of sins, thanksgiving for all He has done, petitions
- Worshipping with God’s people
- Sharing the gospel with others who do not know Him
Challenge: No matter the place you call home, make sure you have a Home in heaven by trusting Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord; Live out the fruit of the Spirit.
Prayer: Our Father in Heaven, “Thy Kingdom Come…” We long to be with You for all eternity. Meanwhile, until You call us home, may we show the world around us what heaven is like by the way we live. “Even so, Come! Lord Jesus.”
Plan of Salvation: (click link below to how to become a Child of God)
(Note: There will be no journal for September 27, but I’ll be back, Lord willing, October 4. Don’t hesitate to comment on these journals and share them with others.)
