“If the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from death, lives in you, then he who raised Christ from death will also give life to your mortal bodies by the presence of his Spirit in you.”
Romans 8:11 (GNT) God never promised that life would be fair. Heaven is where everything is done God’s way; life on Earth just doesn’t work like that. We live on a broken planet. But what happens on Earth isn’t all there is to life. You’ll spend 60, 80, or maybe 100 years on Earth. You’ll spend trillions of years in eternity. If you’ve placed your faith in Jesus, the Bible says you’ll spend eternity with God in heaven. That’s one of the most important reasons Christians should be joyful—God has given us eternal life! And eternity will be amazing. The Bible promises: “If the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from death, lives in you, then he who raised Christ from death will also give life to your mortal bodies by the presence of his Spirit in you” (Romans 8:11 GNT). What will heaven be like? You’ll be reunited with people you love. You’ll get rewards. You’ll get rest. You’ll get responsibilities you love. And, as Romans 8:11 says, you’ll get a new body. That’s one of the things I’m most excited about in heaven—no more decaying old body. You were created because God wants a family. He wants to spend eternity with his family. He wants to spend eternity with you and me! And that truth can bring you great joy.
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“Let heaven fill your thoughts; don’t spend your time worrying about things down here.”
Colossians 3:2 (TLB) When you live in light of eternity, you don’t get discouraged as easily by trouble. You don’t give up because you know what is coming is the best gift you’ve ever been given. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, “That is why we never give up . . . These troubles and sufferings of ours are, after all, quite small and won’t last very long. Yet this short time of distress will result in God’s richest blessing upon us forever and ever! So we do not look at what we can see right now, the troubles all around us, but we look forward to the joys in heaven which we have not yet seen. The troubles will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever” (TLB). Whatever trouble you’re going through right now, here are three things about it:
When you arrive in heaven, you’ll be in awe of being in the presence of Jesus. But if you weren’t so overwhelmed by Christ’s presence, your first thought would probably be something like: “What was I thinking? Why did I spend so much time trying to impress people? Trying to be popular? Trying to pile up a bunch of money on Earth? I had no time to serve God, no time to give, no time to share, no time for relationships, no time for what matters most. I was doing all the seemingly right things. But why didn’t I make more time for what mattered most?” So much of what you do—even some of the good things—is not going to last. You need to realize that every second of your life has eternal implications. Every decision. Every thought. Every action. Every word. Every attitude. Every feeling. Every kindness. Every sin. Colossians 3:2 says, “Let heaven fill your thoughts; don’t spend your time worrying about things down here” (TLB). God is watching and testing you to see what you will receive in heaven. When you live a purpose driven life, you are constantly asking questions like: Will this last? Does it deserve my money? Does it deserve my time? Does it deserve my reputation? And most importantly, you need to ask: Does it make a difference for God’s forever kingdom? “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great.”
Luke 6:35 (NLT) Heaven probably already sounds pretty good to you. But did you know there are going to be rewards in heaven? You will be rewarded for everything you did in obedience to Jesus while on this Earth. God is watching everything in your life. You will be rewarded in heaven for your good actions, speech, and thoughts; for your character and good decisions; and for your generosity and sacrifices. You’ll be rewarded for loving your enemies and for not giving up when it was difficult to do the right thing. You will be rewarded for bringing other people to Jesus Christ. (Is anybody going to be in heaven because of you?) You will be rewarded for putting up with criticism for being a Christian and for being persecuted as a believer. That’s why Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12 NIV). God is watching it all and is going to reward it all. These rewards have nothing to do with your salvation. The only way you get into heaven is by faith in what Jesus Christ has already done for you. You can’t get into heaven by your good works. But the Bible says that when you get to heaven, you will be rewarded according to your good works. There are all kinds of verses about this. Matthew 10:42 says, “If you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded” (NLT). It seems like such a simple thing to give a cup of water to someone or to share a meal. But, every time you do that, it’s like God says, “I’m writing that one down. I’ve got them all recorded.” You get to decide where you want your rewards. Do you want them in this life, or do you want them in the next life? Jesus said, “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great” (Luke 6:35 NLT). If you choose this life’s rewards—like popularity, wealth, fame, success, and comfort—then you will enjoy them for only 80 years or so. But if you build up rewards in heaven, you get to enjoy those rewards forever. Don’t settle for the rewards this world has to offer. As a child of God, you have so much more to work for and look forward to! “For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.”
Hebrews 13:14 (NLT) Heaven is the place God is preparing for his family. When God started thinking up Earth, he also started thinking up heaven. Why? Because he knew you were not meant to live here forever. This is not all there is! That’s a good thing—because you don’t want to live in an imperfect place forever. You want to live in a perfect place that was made just for you, as a member of God’s family. God’s plan for eternity is such an amazing expression of his love. The Bible tells us that God created the entire universe because he wanted a family that would live with him forever. It wasn’t because he was lonely—because God is fulfilled in himself. He wanted to express his love by creating human beings in his image, so that he could adopt us into his family, and we could live with him forever. Ephesians 1:5 says, “[God’s] unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. And he did this because he wanted to!” (TLB). There’s a word for God’s family: church. The only thing in this world that’s going to last is the church—the people who have chosen to be part of God’s family in faith and obedience. As the Bible says, “We have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay” (1 Peter 1:4 NLT). Because you were made to last forever, you can choose to spend eternity in one of two places: heaven or hell. When you make Jesus the Lord of your life, you accept your inheritance as God’s child and your forever home in heaven. That inheritance can never be taken away from you! It is God’s amazing gift to you. It changes not just where you spend eternity but how you live life now. The Bible says in Hebrews 13:14, “For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come” (NLT). Once you become part of God’s family, there’s a whole lot more to life than just the here and now. You realize that this world really is not your home. You’re just passing through! “I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.”
1 John 5:13 (NLT) You probably have a picture that comes to mind when you think about what hell must be like. Your image likely has some red and black tones in it, a lot of fire, and maybe the devil looming over everything. Hell is described in the Bible as a place of torment. Matthew 13:42 says it is a “blazing furnace, where the people will cry and grind their teeth with pain” (NCV). That description sounds terrible, but do you know what the worst part of hell is? Hell is total separation from God, which means hell is the exact opposite of everything God is. The Bible says in 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear” (NIV). The opposite of love is fear. Living without love means you’re scared to death all the time. That’s hell. God is love, so there is no love in hell. God is light, so hell is complete darkness. God is good, so there is absolutely nothing good in hell. God is life, so that means hell is eternal death. God is gracious, so that means there’s no grace in hell. Just think what eternity would be like without the joy of knowing God and being loved by him—an eternity without any joy at all. It would be terrible—unthinkable, really. But that is the reality for anyone who does not choose to love and follow Jesus in this life. The Bible says, “If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be separated from God—lost forever!” (1 Corinthians 16:22 NCV). If you go through your entire life saying, “I don’t want God in my life,” then that means you will also spend eternity without God. Whatever you choose on Earth is your forever choice. But there is good news! There is a way for you to be absolutely certain you’re going to heaven and not hell. The Bible tells you how to settle your destiny: “I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13 NLT). You don’t have to guess or wonder about something that is inevitable and could happen at any moment. You can know for certain today that when you die, you will spend eternity in God’s presence. Don’t put it off any longer. Settle your future today. “I am now giving you the choice between life and death, between God’s blessing and God’s curse, and I call heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Choose life.”
Deuteronomy 30:19 (GNT) People ask all the time, “How could a loving God send people to hell?” Let’s suppose you’re addicted to drugs and living on the street. Your life is falling apart because of addiction, and you don’t have a home or even a place to eat or bathe. Then someone comes along and says, “Let me help you out. I will take you to my house and help you get cleaned up and give you a new set of clothes and a good meal. And you can live at my house. You can become part of my family. In fact, I’m going to adopt you. You can take my name! I’m going to pay off all your debts. You can even have my credit card and access to the entire resources of my family. You don’t have to earn it or work for it. I’m doing this simply because I love you and want to show you grace. “However, if you live in my house as a part of my family, there are some house rules that you have to follow. We respect each other and help out with responsibilities around the house. And we don’t do drugs in this house.” Is it reasonable to expect you to abide by the family’s house rules? Of course. If they’re extending an offer like that, the least they can expect is for you to respond to grace by showing respect. You may choose to say, “Thank you, but I’m going to choose to live on the street because I don’t want to walk away from the drugs. I’m not willing to give them up to be part of your family.” If you turn down the offer, the fault is on you for the effects of your choice, not on the person who extended grace. That person did the loving thing to offer to help you get out of the situation. You cannot say that they were being unloving. God doesn’t send people to hell. People choose to go there. When you choose to follow Jesus, there is only one house rule: Jesus has already paid for your ticket into heaven. He’s already forgiven you! All you’ve got to do is accept it. If you want to do your own thing and reject God’s offer of grace, then he is not being unloving. You are choosing to ruin your life. God has the right to make house rules for his home in heaven. The choice to follow is up to you. “God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing.”
Ephesians 2:10 (NCV) No two people are the same. You are unique in every single way. You have a unique voice, eye color, and thumbprint. Even your heartbeat is unique. God doesn’t clone anything. No one in all of history—and in all the future—is like you. God uniquely shaped you to fulfill a unique purpose on planet Earth—to make a unique contribution. If you’ve been reading Daily Hope for a while, you’ve likely seen SHAPE, the acronym I use to describe the unique way God shaped you to serve him. Here’s what makes up your SHAPE:
No two people have the exact same SHAPE. God has made you unique, and he has unique ways he wants you to serve other people. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:10, “God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing” (NCV). You’ll spend all of eternity serving God in heaven. God wants you to practice by serving other people on Earth through your good works. The Bible calls these good works your ministry. God calls every Christian to be in ministry—not just pastors and missionaries. You can use whatever you’re good at—and all the unique ways God has SHAPEd you—to minister to others. “From the very beginning God decided that those who came to him—and all along he knew who would—should become like his Son."
Romans 8:29 (TLB) Jesus is the only perfect human being who ever lived. He was God in human form and lived a perfect life. Jesus showed us exactly what it means to be fully human. That’s why God wants you to learn to think like Jesus, act like Jesus, and value what Jesus does. God wants you to grow up and become more like Jesus. You’ve probably spent a lot of time trying to determine what you want to do in life. But God is far more interested in who you are than what you do. You’re not taking your career to heaven. You are taking your character. The Bible says, “From the very beginning God decided that those who came to him—and all along he knew who would—should become like his Son” (Romans 8:29 TLB). God’s plan has always been for you to become like Jesus. It was God’s plan from the very beginning, even before Adam sinned. The fruits of the Spirit are the perfect picture of who Jesus is and how he acts: “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23 NLT). So how does God produce this kind of fruit in your life? He puts you in situations that are opposite of the fruit he’s growing in you. It’s easy to love people who are lovely; God will teach you love by putting you around unlovely people, so you have to learn love. During periods of grief, you’ll learn joy. You’ll learn patience when it’s tested. God wants to build character in your life. You might want the process to be quick and easy, like a vending machine. A vending machine gives you what you want immediately, but much of what it offers is just junk that will harm you in the long run. How God works is the opposite of a vending machine. It’s slow and sometimes difficult, but over time it will build strong character in you. Remember that growing up spiritually is a lifelong journey. Be patient. The Bible says, “God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again” (Philippians 1:6 NCV). You can count on that promise! “The Lord takes pleasure in his people."
Psalm 149:4 (GNT) God created you to love you. The Bible doesn’t say God has love. The Bible says, “God is love” (1 John 4:8 ESV). Love is the essence of his nature. The Bible says, “For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased” (Revelation 4:11 NLT). Everything was created because God gets enjoyment out of it. He wanted to love it. God loves every rock, every plant, every animal, every star, and every human being. As Psalm 149:4 says, “The Lord takes pleasure in his people” (GNT). God takes pleasure in you all the time. Why? He created you. He’s your heavenly Father. Some people think God is only smiling at them when they’re doing something “religious.” Nothing could be further from the truth. God gets pleasure in watching you be you because he made you you. God planned you for his pleasure, and he wants you to learn to love him back. Jesus gave the ultimate summary of the Bible when asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” (Matthew 22:36 NIV). Jesus said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38 NIV). Life is all about love. If you don’t get that, you’ve missed the first purpose of your life—to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Before your feet touch the ground each morning, you might pray this: “Dear God, it’s another day. And if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know you a little bit better, and I want to love you a little bit more.” If you find yourself at the end of an awful day—full of your own mistakes, sin, grief, and pain—but you recognize that you’ve learned to love God just a little bit more, your day isn’t a waste. You’re doing exactly what God made you to do. “It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others."
Ephesians 2:10 (TLB) God calls you to a service far beyond anything you could ever imagine. You were put on Earth to make a contribution. God designed you to make a difference with your life. You weren’t created just to consume resources—to eat, breathe, and take up space. You were created to add to life on Earth, not just to take from it. God wants you to give something back—to help other people. The Bible says, “It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others” (Ephesians 2:10 TLB). Whenever you serve others in any way, you are actually serving God. As Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Do your work willingly, as though you were serving the Lord himself, and not just your earthly master. In fact, the Lord Christ is the one you are really serving, and you know he will reward you” (CEV). In one of his parables, Jesus said, “The king will answer, ‘Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me’” (Matthew 25:40 CEV). And the apostle Paul shared the same message: “Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people” (Ephesians 6:7 NLT). God said it this way to the prophet Jeremiah in the Old Testament: “Before I made you in your mother’s womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work” (Jeremiah 1:5 NCV). When most people think of this “special work,” they think of elders, preachers or professional clergy. But God says that he expects every member of his family to minister. In the Bible, the words “servant” and “minister” are synonyms; “service” and “ministry” are synonyms too. If you are a Christian, you are a minister. And when you’re serving, you’re ministering. Have you ever wondered why God didn’t just immediately take you to heaven the moment you accepted his grace? Why does he leave his children in a fallen world? He leaves you here to fulfill his purposes. Once you are saved, God intends to use you for his goals. God has a ministry for you in his church and a mission for you in the world. |
AuthorTaken from Daily Hope by Rick Warren. Categories
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