Notes of Faith May 24, 2024
Tomorrow, Saturday May 25 is the memorial service for William “Bill” Lawson, at Community Grace Brethren Church, 5885 Downey Ave. Long Beach, CA., beginning at 11:45 pacific time. We will have a graveside service at 9:45 (not live streamed) at the Westminster Memorial Park, 14801 Beach Blvd, in Westminster, CA. If you cannot attend but would like to view the service live, please watch on your computer or phone on either of the options below…
https://www.facebook.com/cgbclb
Click on the live picture to view full screen
Click the link below to join the zoom meeting
Zoom:
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/77612737885?pwd=lZ4zyZb2plUb9GWbYq0hYbflhciqdv.1
Today’s devotion is on heaven.
Putting On Hope
Hope is a golden cord connecting you to Heaven. This cord helps you hold your head up high, even when multiple trials are buffeting you. I never leave your side, and I never let go of your hand.
But without the cord of hope, your head may slump and your feet may shuffle as you journey uphill with Me. Hope lifts your perspective from your weary feet to the glorious view you can see from the high road. You are reminded that the road we’re traveling together is ultimately a highway to Heaven. When you consider this radiant destination, the roughness or smoothness of the road ahead becomes much less significant. I am training you to hold in your heart a dual focus: My continual Presence and the hope of Heaven.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. — Romans 12:12
But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. — 1 Thessalonians 5:8
God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. — Hebrews 6:18-19
I designed you to commune with Me face to Face
Grow strong in the Light of My Presence. As My Face shines upon you, you receive nutrients that enhance your growth in grace. I designed you to commune with Me face to Face, and this interaction strengthens your soul. Such communion provides a tiny glimpse of what awaits you in Heaven, where all barriers between you and My Glory will be removed.
This meditative time with Me blesses you doubly: You experience My Presence here and now, and you are refreshed by the hope of Heaven, where you will know Me in ecstatic Joy.
Many are asking, “Who can show us any good?” Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord. You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. — Psalm 4:6-8
The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. — Revelation 21:23
But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new Heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. — 2 Peter 3:13
Excerpted from Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, copyright Sarah Young.
There is within the heart of a believer in and follower of Jesus that gives them an eternal perspective. It is the promise of God to be with Him forever basking in His glory and wonder. The new heaven and earth He creates will be more beautiful and awesome than we could ever imagine. There will be no sorrow, pain, suffering, or death. We will have glorified bodies as the risen Christ, no longer captive to the law of sin and death. May you live today with the sure hope of heaven, expecting God to fulfill His promise of bringing you into His eternal home prepared for you.
Pastor Dale