Category: Hope of Heaven

Let’s watch again the message video from this Sunday (click below):

Hope of Heaven

Colossians 1:3-6 NIV – We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.

Let’s pray in these ways:

– Thank God for faithful servants of the Lord like Billy Graham, who have loved and followed Jesus ahead of us. In this same thanksgiving for our church, let’s ask God that we would love and serve him in faithfully, living in the hope of heaven, in our generation.

– Pray for the revelation of God’s heart in our churches’ outreach efforts and groups. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to fill our gatherings with his presence, and for the true message of the gospel to be made known. Let’s pray for salvations among us.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the message of the gospel, by which we have come to receive hope in heaven. Pour out your Spirit on your churches, that others may also understand God’s grace and be saved. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

– BR

Psalm 23:5-6 (NASB)
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Certainly goodness and faithfulness [commitment] will follow [chase] me all the days of my life,
And my dwelling will be in the house of the LORD forever.

“The implication will be that these personified attributes of [the LORD – good and commitment -] and thus [the LORD] in person as the good and committed one – will indeed make sure that we get to [his] house, and do so in order that we may stay there. They imply that goodness and commitment will keep doing that, for they imply that we will keep needing to be chased in this way. Being in danger of not finding provender or of being attacked by enemies is a [recurrent] experience for people who belong to the LORD. But so is being chased and enabled to dwell with [the LORD]. Through our life, [the LORD]will ensure this.” [Goldingay, John. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament, Psalms, Volume 1, p. 353.]

Let’s worship the Lord with this song, “By the Grace of God,” by Bethel Music (Click here).

Prayer: Lord, thank you for your goodness and faithfulness that chase us and enable us to dwell with you. We trust in you afresh to lead us today and for all our days. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

– BR

Psalm 23 NASB-
1 The LORD is my shepherd,
I will not be in need.
2 He lets me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For the sake of His name.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
6 Certainly goodness and faithfulness will follow me all the days of my life,
And my dwelling will be in the house of the LORD forever.

Read again David’s confession in v. 4. The “valley of the shadow of death” is a good description of life as a whole on this side of eternity. Death has been defeated by our Lord Jesus. Yet it casts shadows on this life: We still experience sin, sickness, brokenness, and injustice.

When these shadows are cast on us, fear seems like a natural response. But by the shepherding work of the Spirit of Christ in us, may our response instead be – “I fear no evil, for you are with me.”

Prayer: Lord, please fill me and your church today with your Holy Spirit. May we tangibly experience your presence and may our heart’s response as we walk through this valley be to trust in you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

– BR

Revelation 5:1-5, 6, 9-10 NIV – Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll… And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy…Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll…”

Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne…
And [the elders] sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
…with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.”

There is only one who is worthy to open the scroll, who is able to purchase us for God, who can usher in this new heaven and new earth that God has planned. He is the one who leads us there, from beginning to end: our Lord Jesus, the Lamb who was slain.

Today, let’s come before the Lord in reverence and awe and amazed joy like that of Revelation 5, as we worship to this song – “Is He Worthy?” by Chris Tomlin (Click here).

Prayer: Lord, Jesus, you alone are worthy! We worship you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

– BR

John 14:1-7 NIV/NLT – “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

“[Jesus] is going away, and the disciples are naturally anxious about where he’s going and whether they will be able to follow him. So he speaks of ‘his father’s house.’ Heaven and earth will meet again when God renews the whole world.
Thomas, in character, [asks,] ‘What d’you mean, we know the way? We don’t even know where you’re going!’
Jesus reply has haunted and confronted the world’s imagination ever since. ‘I am the way.’ If you want to know how to get to the father’s house, you must come with me.”
[Wright, NT. John for Everyone, Volume 2, p. 58-59]

Let’s declare our worship and trust in Jesus as we sing “Let it be Jesus” by Passion (Click here) –

Prayer: Jesus, we believe in you and what you have promised. We give ourselves to trust and follow you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

– BR