Issue 1501 – Road Trip – July 18, 2024
I’m sorry, but there was no Gleanings yesterday. We had to fly back to British Columbia, and there just wasn’t time.
There was only a little time for visiting as it was a quick in-and-out visit. We couldn’t let people know in advance because the goal was a surprise birthday party for Mom, and she is connected with many people we know. I didn’t want to risk an accidental social media slip. So, please don’t feel slighted if we didn’t call or visit you. The trip was about Mom. There are so many people we would have loved to get together with, but it just wasn’t possible this time.
It was a short, busy few days and a real blessing. On this trip, there were the usual minor inconveniences associated with travel, such as being directed to the wrong baggage carousel, less-than-stellar restaurant food, expensive hotel laundromats, road construction, and the like, but all in all, things went very smoothly.
Still, nothing can favorably compare with getting home to your own space and bed.
Life, in general, can be compared to a road trip in many ways. We are moving forward, experiencing all the speed bumps that the world can throw at us. Some of those bumps can be pretty painful and last a long time, but when we hit our final destination and know we will be home there forever, the pain will lessen, and the bumps, cuts, scrapes, and scars will fade into insignificance.
We often wonder what it will be like when the Lord takes us home to glory. John paints some incredible word pictures in his revelation. John did his best to describe what he saw through his words.
Yet, how do you describe the perfect and the indescribable? Words fail. He could have spent the next 1,000 years using every superlative and descriptive word he could come up with and still not describe things.
The Scriptures were written by John but overseen by the Holy Spirit. In addition to John’s limitations, the Holy Spirit limited John to describing what the Spirit allowed.
Whatever it will be like in glory, it will be much better than John could have described.
John speaks of a beautiful, massive New Jerusalem. Yet, glory will be more than that. Jerusalem was always a special place for the Israelite people, but their world extended beyond the city. I can only assume Glory is more than a beautiful city.
God created people to live in the country and the city. I have a farmer friend whose idea of heaven is to be with the Lord and to farm where there are no weeds, and the weather is perfect. My one sister hates anything outdoors. It would be torture for her to live on a farm. Jesus promises that there are many rooms in His Father’s house.
I’m pretty certain that we won’t spend eternity in heaven floating on clouds, playing the harp, and eating cream cheese. (For my non-Canadian friends, that is a reference to a television commercial that ran for years advertising Philadelphia cream cheese. If you search Philadelphia Cream Cheese Angel, I’m sure you can find at least one of the many ads.)
Of course, the most wonderful thing will be seeing the Lord we love face-to-face and being in His presence. Secondly, we will worship with all the other believers. People from every culture and language and every era of history will be there, and we will be united in the Spirit. What a worship service that will be!
The settings for our daily lives will be way down on the list, but God is not only a God of the big picture. He cares about every detail, so we know He will have prepared our place perfectly.
And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Luke 12:22-26
We can speculate about what God has planned for us, but we needn’t worry. He will provide a better place for us than we can imagine.
We can trust that since He created us for the purpose of being in Glory with Him forever, He knows exactly what our hearts truly desire and will have that ready for us.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)
Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. Your value in God’s eyes is so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that his plan for heaven will not be complete without you.
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the English Standard Version (ESV)