1 CORINTHIANS 2:9-12 – But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. “
THEME OF THE DAY: LET HIM IMPRESS HEAVEN UPON US. Have we ever considered praying for God to impress upon us the reality of heaven? Or to put it another way, prayed what the Apostle Paul writes in today’s scripture – But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. Now what I am not advocating is praying for the Lord to take us on a literal journey to heaven or give us some night vision, then send us back to earth. He could. He did the Apostle Paul, but we are not Apostle Paul. Such a trip is not something we should be planning as an answer to our prayer (2 Corinthians 12:1-4). However, what I am encouraging is for us to seek the Lord, through prayer and His Word, to impress upon us how quickly we are passing through this life, headed to the time we exchange our faith in Jesus Christ to sight of Him. And this type of praying isn’t some “pie in the sky” mystical experience detaching us from the world. It empowers Christian living.
The more the reality of heaven grips our thinking the more effective for Christ we will be in our living. The more our affections are rooted in seeing Christ, the less we are attracted and attached to the felt and seen pleasures in this life. Heavenly thinking always leads to holy living and aligns us with God’s will for us in this life.
When we consider this type of praying about the reality of heaven, in addition to today’s scripture, another great place is the Apostle Peter’s first letter. Take some time soon to ponder, or incorporate into our prayer lives, these references pointing us to heaven – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:3-5). Should God open our understanding of the reality of heaven, the practical implications in our Christian lives will be dramatic. It will bring not only the reality of heaven to our hearts and minds, but the reality of what heaven is all about – the Lord Jesus.
PRAYER: “Father, illuminate my mind through Your Word on the glory that awaits me with You in heaven.”
QUOTE: “The more the reality of heaven grips our thinking, the more effective for Christ we will be in our living.”
Because of Him,
Pastor Jim