Day 4 - Week 22 - John 14:2 "In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."

Numbers 10:33; "And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them, to search out a resting place for them."

I think we can find many parallels between God bringing His children, the nation of Israel, out of the captivity of Egypt into their promised land to our own exodus out of this world where we are temporarily residing as aliens, into our promised land of eternal life with God.

In the verse above, the ark of the covenant went before the people, searching out a resting place for God's people.  God had told the people of Israel that His presence would reside within the ark.  Now Jesus tells His disciples that He will go ahead of us to prepare a place for us, in our promised land. 

Just as God led His people out of Egypt into their promised land overflowing with milk and honey, we are being led into a land of abundance and absolute provision.  The difference is that Israel still had to deal with all the earthly problems that confronted them---adversarial armies, famines, struggles with obedience---while in our new home, we will have nothing to cause us any problems.  We will be living in the true promised land of eternity....

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away . ~ Revelation 21:4

In our promised land, the former things will have all passed way and will have been replaced with everything that is good and beautiful and that reflects the love and glory of God Almighty.  I keep thinking of old hymns that talk about our heavenly home.  Tonight these are the words that came to my mind...

I've got a mansion just over the hilltop
In that bright land where we'll never grow old
And some day yonder we will never more wander
But walk on streets that are purest gold

~  Ira Stamphill

What a future we have - what a glorious life we have been promised.  And while we wait, what a wonderful betrothal gift we have been given.  The Holy Spirit of God living within us, leading us on, enabling us to have confidence as we walk through the pathway of this life toward our forever home.

Day 3 - Week 22 - John 14:2 - "In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."

I love the way Jesus just gets so frank sometimes..."if it were not so, I would have told you."

Can't you just see this conversation taking place between friends...today we'd probably say, "I'm telling you, there really are mansions up there!"  Jesus is kindly affirming to His disciples that He is being absolutely open and honest about their future home.  He is withholding nothing from them that they need to know.  In essence He's saying, "If you have a future that is bleak and grim with nothing to look forward to, I would tell you that, but that's just not the case."

Jesus tells us that we have a future that is glorious, and He is preparing our future home for us.  Many of you may know of the analogy between this verse and the Jewish tradition of engagement and wedding preparation, but it is just such a beautiful picture I have to share.

In the Jewish custom, once an engagement is made and vows to be married are said (a much more formal engagement process than what most of us are used to), the groom-to-be begins building the home for his bride.  He may leave the bride for quite a period of time to go back to his father's home, in most cases, to build a place for him and his bride to begin their life together.  He doesn't really know how long that will take, and the bride doesn't either.  She has to patiently wait for his return, so during this time she prepares herself for her wedding so that she will be a beautiful bride when her groom returns.  Because his return will be unannounced...he will come when all things are ready to claim his bride and take her back to the home that he has worked so hard to prepare for her.  And hear this, just prior to leaving he would give his bride to be a Matan ntm - or bridal gift, a pledge of his love for her. It's purpose was to be a reminder to his bride during their days of separation of his love for her, that he was thinking of her - and that he would return to receive her as his wife.

Now don't Jesus' words just make so much more sense to us?  He is the groom - we are His bride - He is going to prepare a place for us and He will return.  And He has left us a beautiful gift to remember our vows to each other, the gift of the Holy Spirit.

We have a God who loves us and a Savior who will come back for us - we are to be patiently waiting, preparing ourselves for that unknown day when we will be taken to our new glorious home!

"And the Spirit and the bride say , Come . And let him that heareth say , Come."  Revelation 22:17

Day 2 - Week 22 - John 14:2 - "In my Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."

I'm rescheduling my blog time to early morning for a while...I hope that doesn't throw any of you off...I know some of you probably get up earlier than I do, but I will try to have daily postings up by 6:30 or 6:45 a.m.

When I awoke this morning and started thinking about this verse again, I just started smiling.  Without really realizing it, I was smiling because I subconsciously was feeling so cared for and so secure.  My faith is in a God who cares for me so much that He is preparing my place for me for eternity. 

Randy Alcorn writes in his book, "Heaven",

Heaven isn't likely to have lots of identical residencies.  God loves diversity, and He tailor-makes His children and His provisions for them.  When we see the particular place He's prepared for us---not just for mankind in general but for us in particular---we'll rejoice to see our ideal home.

Isn't that a great thought to dwell on when we think about heaven?  I think many of us have a very foggy idea of what heaven will truly be like...a lot of our mental picture probably comes more from movies than from Scripture!  I think a lot of us have the idea that heaven may become rather boring...I mean it is for eternity...I'm not sure I really want to get that good at playing a harp!

Well from what I gather from Scripture and from what we know about God, I firmly believe heaven will be anything but boring!  I think all of eternity will bring about new knowledge, insight and experiences.  Just as there will be no limit to our time, there will be no limit to our mental capacities and all physical limitations will be removed.  I think heaven is going to be an absolutely amazing place far beyond our current imaginations!  Don't for a minute think that a God who has done all He has to create this amazing temporary earth will let our eternal home be anything other than "out of this world"!

Jesus is preparing a place for me, and for you, and for all who believe in Him and His saving power through His blood shed for us.  I can't wait to see my home...it will contain everything that will make it a perfect eternal dwelling place just right for me!

Harriet E. Buell was a hymn writer who lived from 1834 to 1910.  In 1877 she wrote a hymn called, "A Child of the King"...listen to her words from almost 150 years ago that reflect such a clear picture that she had of her future:

My Father is rich in houses and lands,
He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands!
Of rubies and diamonds, of silver and gold,
His coffers are full, He has riches untold.

My Father’s own Son, the Savior of men,
Once wandered on earth as the poorest of them;
But now He is pleading our pardon on high,
That we may be His when He comes by and by.

I once was an outcast stranger on earth,
A sinner by choice, an alien by birth,
But I’ve been adopted, my name’s written down,
An heir to a mansion, a robe and a crown.

A tent or a cottage, why should I care?
They’re building a palace for me over there;
Though exiled from home, yet still may I sing:
All glory to God, I’m a child of the King.

Refrain

I’m a child of the King,
A child of the King:
With Jesus my Savior,
I’m a child of the King

Day 1 - Week 22 - For some reason....

....I'm having a harder time with memorizing the more recent sets.  Is that happening to any of you?  It seems they just aren't sticking like those first sets did.  Is it the accumulation of material, or do you think it's just a mental slump?  Whatever it is, I'm determined to get past it and make these verses just as comfortable in my heart as those first few sets!  So let's start off again with our Romans Road and end where we currently are with our Promises of Assurance:

Romans Road to Salvation
Romans 3:23  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 5:8    But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 10:9  If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord" and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 
Romans 12:1  Therefore, dear brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.

The Gift of Scripture
2 Timothy 3:16        All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting and for training in righteousness.
Joshua 1:8               This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to recite it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.
Psalm 119:11           I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against You.
Deuteronomy 6:4-6  Listen O Israel: The Lord your God, the Lord is One.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength.  These words I am giving to you today are to be in your heart.
Deuteronomy 6:7     Repeat them to your children.  Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Hebrews 4:12          For the Word of God is living and effective and sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide soul, spirit, joints and marrow.  It is a judge of the ideas and thoughts of the heart.

The Gift of Prayer
Hebrews 4:16 Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.
1 John 5:14     Now this is the confidence we have before Him: whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
1 John 5:15     And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for.

And now....

The Gift of God's Assurance
1 John 5:11  And this is the testimony:  God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
1 John 5:12-13 The one who has the Son has life; the one who doesn't have the Son of God does not have life.  I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know you have eternal life.
John 14:1 Your heart must not be troubled.  Believe in God; believe also in Me.
John 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare place for you.  (KJV)

I don't know about you, but some verses are just the easiest for me to remember in the way I first heard them, and that is in the King James Version.  This is one of those verses that I remember hearing as a child and what a comfort it was.  To think of Jesus preparing my place in heaven and in a mansion!  That's a sweet thought, isn't it?  No matter where you live now, whether in a shanty or a multi-million dollar estate, the place that God has prepared for us will make everything we have known pale in comparison.  It will truly be a glorous day when we finally see our new home that Christ has been preparing for us! 

Day 7 - Week 21 - John 14:1 "Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me."

In Beth Moore's study, "Believing God", she makes a special point in stressing the importance of not only believing IN God, but simply BELIEVING Him - everything He says, everything He has done and everything He will do.

But in Jesus command (yes, it is worded as a command)to us, He specifically states, "Believe IN God....believe IN me."

When we believe IN someone, we have complete confidence in them---no doubt about their ability, capability or trustworthiness. That's what we're told to do...are we actively believing in our God?

Are we continually confident of God's ability, capability and trustworthiness to carry us through every aspect of this life and then into the next? If so, the natural consequence of such confidence will be a heart that is anything but troubled.

That's the kind of heart I want! One that causes the life surrounding it to reflect the peace that is contained within...a peace that truly surpasses human understanding.

Day 6- Week 21 - John 14:1, "Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me."

If belief in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ, brings peace to our troubled hearts, then what kind of life can we expect if we abandon faith?

Has there ever been a time in your life when the doubts became so strong that you felt there was a chance that you could fall away from faith?  I had a very brief span of time one summer probably ten or twelve years ago when I believe I was in a time of real oppression by Satan.  It seems I was being confronted on many sides by people of non-belief who seemed very comfortable in their theological (or lack thereof) viewpoints and made some fairly good arguments for their stance. Along with that, I was not arming myself adequately to counter these attacks and for a period of a few days, I felt the weight of the "what ifs...."

"What if what I have believed all my life isn't true?"
"What if this earth was formed by a gaseous explosion and everything else evolved over the next kajillion million years?"
"What if there is no higher purpose?"

The effect of even the consideration of non-belief for me was hopelessness.  I saw no hope, and no reason for this life.  I saw no joy, because there would be no real purpose.  If everything we do and do for others is of no eternal significance, then it really is of very little significance at all.  I found that that was not the life I would want to embrace and I quickly found myself pulling out my Bible and burying myself in it until all of the promises it contains became life to me again.  I praised God that my gift of faith was still intact and that I could know that His truth is the truth that I can rely on forever.

I believe my time of doubt is well behind me and I hope to never experience such a time again, but I am almost glad that I did experience that time.  Since I came to knowledge of Jesus as my Savior at a very early age, there's really never been a time in my life that I didn't believe, and I think God knew that I needed to have a taste of the emptiness that a life void of faith in Him would feel like.  If that same time would occur to me now, or if it should come to you, it would be a good time to recite The Four Corners of the Bible over and over in your head to combat the enemy, the planter of doubt.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.  We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Believe in God - believe in Jesus Christ - let not your heart be troubled!  Believe!