Death is in Your Future: have you prepared for it?

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened--not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. (2 Corinthians 4:16-5:9)

There are many important events throughout our life that require a great deal of preparation: marriage, the birth of a child, moving to a new home, taking on a new job or business, etc. The most important event in our life, however, is our physical death – the end of our life when our physical body can no longer support our spirit. It is also an event that we have little or no control over. We cannot prevent it. At best, we might possibly delay it for a short period of time (although even that point is debatable, see Psalms 139:16). Death is a certainty, and it is not very predictable. After our body dies, we go on living into eternity. And yet an event as important as this seldom gets the attention in preparation that other less important major events in our life receive.

So have you made preparations for this inevitable future event in your life?

Unfortunately, we live in a day where the physical is exalted and the spiritual is denied. We have a multi-billion dollar economy built around trying to fix our decaying bodies and delay the most important event in our life. Our culture does just the opposite of what is written in the verses above, which states: “we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” Our culture worships “science” and the visible world, usually denying the unseen world, and ignoring anything in our future beyond the most important event in our physical life – our physical death.

But as we have written previously there is an unseen world, and in that world currently exists two kingdoms: the kingdom of darkness (Satan’s realm) and the kingdom of light, where Jesus rules. All of us are spiritual beings, and currently exist in one or the other of these two kingdoms in the unseen world. When we are born physically, we inherit the sin of Adam and Eve passed down to us through our parents, and are naturally part of the kingdom of darkness, separated from God. We can be reborn spiritually into the kingdom of light as God’s adopted children by accepting God’s Spirit in an act of faith, which pleases God.

So each person actually experiences two deaths in their life: a physical death of our body, and a spiritual death. Those who spend all their energy in this life concentrating on the physical world which can be seen, and ignore the spiritual world, will experience the spiritual death after their physical death. And it won’t be pleasant (see Revelation 20:14-15; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Matthew 13:40-42; Matthew 25:41-46). But those of us who are born again have already died the spiritual death, because Christ died it for us:

Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:3-11)

So for those of us currently in the kingdom of light, we should be looking forward to our physical death, knowing that physical death is a transformation to a better life, just as our spiritual death was: “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling…. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” (Quoted from the passage above - 2 Corinthians 5)

In last week's devotional we looked at Jesus’ teaching about our attitude towards our current life in this world, and the principle he instructed us to live by is a principle where we trust God for our daily needs. This principle is stated in Matthew 6:33: “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” In relation to the physical body he stated: “do not be worried about… your body, as to what you will put on. Is not… the body more than clothing? ... And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?” Jesus was addressing the physical life, and the physical needs of the body. We should not focus on this, because God knows it needs to be taken care of, and if we spend our time seeking out how we can please God and fulfill his purpose for our life, the purpose for which we were created, then he will take care of all these things, including the physical needs of the body.

But in the passage above in 2 Corinthians, Paul talks about the more important unseen things in life, and he addresses our “spiritual clothing”: “For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened--not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.”

When we die our physical death, which is an inevitable future event in all of our lives, those who have not already died the spiritual death with Jesus and have not been reborn through the Holy Spirit, will be unclothed (spiritually naked) before God. But if we have been born again spiritually and have already died the spiritual death, we will be “further clothed” with a new immortal body in the new kingdom (see 1 Corinthians chapter 15 for a lot more details about this.) The Holy Spirit in our lives today is our guarantee of this future event, which allows us to live today by faith in that future event!

So if our bodies are decaying and we have a new immortal body waiting for us in God’s eternal kingdom prepared especially just for us, why is it that those of us walking in the kingdom of light as God’s children are spending so much time and money supporting a “health care” system that has no eternal value?? Why don’t we share Paul’s sentiment as written in the passage above that “momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”? Why do we behave and value our current bodies so much that we are often willing to spend most of our time and almost everything we own during a health crisis to keep that body functioning just a little bit longer? Why do we act like physical death is something to be feared and avoided at all costs, rather than focusing our minds and energy on pleasing God and preparing for this most important event in our life? Why don’t we share Paul’s desire that “we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.”? Is it possible that if we concentrated our minds and efforts on pursuing God’s kingdom and righteousness that most of our health problems would not even be an issue, because God would be the one responsible for keeping us healthy enough to accomplish his purposes here on earth before we left?

Death is in your future. Are you preparing for this event? The first step is to make sure you die the spiritual death before you die physically, so that you do not stand spiritually naked before God on that day! The next step is to “seek first his kingdom” and “make it our aim to please him” in fulfilling God’s purpose in the rest of our physical life here on earth. Yes, death is in your future, and it is a certain event that is NOT under your control in terms of the timing! So readjust your priorities and passions in this life to prepare for this event and your future life in eternity.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)

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Where is Your Financial Security?

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:24-33)

These words of Jesus best sum up the biblical teaching on finances. As the Creator of the universe, Jesus knew what made people tick. He knew where their passions and motivations were held. And he knew that people could not both pursue financial security and pursue God’s purpose for their life. There is only room in life for one devotion; one master. And if you are pursuing financial security and wealth, your life is backwards. Wealth and finances are given to us as a blessing while pursuing God’s purpose for our life, as stated in verse 33 in the passage above. Unfortunately, too many people have it backwards, and feel like they need to pursue wealth and finances in order to fulfill God’s will for their lives.

When reading the opening two statements of this passage by Jesus: “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” – it would seem that he is addressing the rich and wealthy. And while this principle certainly applies to the wealthy, in this context he was not addressing the wealthy, but instead the poor. Probably the most common motivation in pursuing finances among the poor is the desire to have “security.” If you don’t have a lot of money like a lot of the people in Jesus’ time, you are probably worried about where you next meal is going to come from, or how you are going to cloth your growing children, etc. You want the peace of mind and security to know you have enough money for the basic necessities of life, so you pursue at least some measure of financial security. For others, they may want the security of knowing that they will have funds to live off in their time of retirement, when they are not sure if there is going to be someone around to take care of them. Or some may seek funds for their children’s future education. So they seek financial security for their future by building up wealth for the future.

But Jesus doesn’t want us seeking our security in wealth or finances! He wants us to depend on our loving heavenly Father and his care for us day by day. He created us for a purpose, and he loves us very much. As we pursue knowing God and his purpose for our lives, he supplies the financial means we need to fulfill that purpose.

Co-heirs with Christ

When we are born again into the Kingdom of light where Jesus rules, we become co-heirs with Christ in his Kingdom. This inheritance is the same inheritance promised to Abraham and his descendants.

And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:29)

This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. (Ephesians 3:6)

As heirs, our inheritance makes us instantly wealthy, as we inherit all the blessings promised to Abraham. Jesus was the ultimate seed of Abraham, and he was from the line of David in order to fulfill all of the promises, but his physical rule over the earth is still in the future. His way to the fulfillment of the Abrahamic blessings was the way of the cross – a way of pain and suffering. As we are now co-heirs with Christ, we not only inherit the all blessings, but also the sufferings of Christ in this life.

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:16-17)

Because we are members of the Kingdom of Light which is currently a spiritual kingdom with its source in Heaven, and the predominate kingdom here on earth that we clash with is the kingdom of darkness ruled by Satan, we may often be delayed in receiving all the material blessings that will eventually come our way. But our purpose in this life is to seek first God’s Kingdom and rule. We are not to pursue wealth. We are already wealthy in the spiritual realm – the inheritance is already ours. Material wealth in this world is not that important, since it is all decaying anyway. It only has value if it aids us in promoting the Kingdom of God.

Therefore, we are to live a life worthy of our calling as co-heirs with Christ, serving him honorably as we manage the resources God may send our way to accomplish his purpose in our life and in the Kingdom. Our road in this life may be paved with wealth that needs to be managed to accomplish God’s purposes in advancing his Kingdom. At other times the road may be paved with pain and suffering where we seek God’s purpose in our lives as we sow spiritual seeds that will reap a harvest in due time. No matter what financial condition we are in currently, the ruler of the opposing kingdom will always attack us and try to destroy us, and the one area he works hard in is trying to get the heirs of the Kingdom to get side-tracked and start pursuing wealth. Don’t be tempted! Don’t start running backwards pursuing wealth! Jesus’ words are clear: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Look ahead to the future that awaits you in God’s eternal kingdom and press on ahead to fulfill the calling of God on your life and the purpose for which you were created.

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. (Colossians 3:1-2)

I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me... And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:12-13; 19)

This devotional is adapted from the article: The Creation of Wealth

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Do You Have Heart Disease?

See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. As has just been said: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion." Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. (Hebrews 3:12-19)

We have an epidemic of heart disease in our society today. Unfortunately, it is seldom diagnosed properly, and the cure is a very simple remedy. Yes, while an entire medical empire exists today armed with expensive drugs and equipment to manage high blood pressure and heart problems in the physical realm, a far deadlier disease rages out of control threatening to destroy your very existence: the disease of an unbelieving, hardened heart.

We saw in previous devotionals how this disease wiped out an entire generation within the nation of Israel, as their dead bodies were buried in the sands of the desert outside of the “promised land.” These former slaves who had been miraculously rescued from the mighty King Pharaoh and his army just could not overcome their hardened hearts of unbelief to receive all the good things God had in store for them in the Promised Land, a land flowing with “milk and honey” rich in natural resources that did not exist in Egypt. They continued to act like oppressed, miserable slaves, and their heart disease eventually led them to their graves in the desert. They could never accept the remedy for their disease, which was to simply believe that God had rescued them and delivered them out of slavery, and had made them into a nation more blessed and more prosperous than the nations that were currently living in the Promised Land. Their hearts were too hard, and the heart disease was too advanced, so that they missed out on being able to enter the land that God had already promised to them.

This same condition of heart disease exists today, as the writer of Hebrews warns us: See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. (Hebrews 3:12) Today, it is not the Promised Land that God is offering to us. It is a place in His eternal kingdom, currently setup in the spiritual realm where Jesus rules. The physical kingdom will be established later, after the current earth and heavens are destroyed. But we can enter the spiritual kingdom right now, by being born again spiritually through faith. Once we are reborn, we receive a new heart: “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26) The prophets in the Old Testament looked forward to our day, the day when Christ would come and redeem God’s people through his sacrificial death on the cross and setup the new kingdom.

They referred to this time as the time of the “New Covenant.” The “Old Covenant” was given through Moses, and included the extensive written law as recorded in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The New Covenant, by contrast, allows us to have a direct relationship with God through the Holy Spirit, where God’s laws are now written on our new hearts and in our minds:

For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. For he finds fault with them when he says: "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more." In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. (Hebrews 8:7-13)

So the remedy for this current epidemic of heart disease is the same as it was for the Israelites who came out of Egypt: faith. An unbelieving and hard heart must be replaced by a heart that trusts and believes in God. We learned in the devotional last week that without faith, it is impossible to please God. We please God by believing in him (and having a healthy view of God as was written about in this devotional), and by believing that he rewards all who sincerely seek him. The difference under the New Covenant is that we can have a new heart – a heart transplant that gives us new life! This spiritual heart transplant is MUCH more valuable than a physical heart transplant, because a new physical heart (or repaired heart) will still wear out. But a new spiritual heart will live forever! Fixing physical hearts is big business today, and people are often willing to spend all they have to fix their physical hearts which will only prolong physical death for a very short moment in the eternal scope of things. How sad that spiritual heart disease is much more epidemic today, and with much greater consequences. Unfortunately, so few are willing to spend the time to fix their spiritual hearts which will have eternal benefit as opposed to momentary benefit. Expensive man-made medicines and technology cannot heal a spiritually hardened heart. Faith is the cure, and it is free.

What is the condition of YOUR heart today? Is a spiritual heart transplant your last hope?

"Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:7-12)

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

How Can We Please God?

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

Is it possible to please God, to make him happy? Are God’s feelings toward me affected by anything I can control? Yes! Starting with the truth that God exists and that he created us, the way we think and the way we live our lives, most certainly do affect the way God feels about us. So how can we please God?

To answer this question positively, it is important to first review what we can NOT change about God by anything we think or do. We can NOT change God’s love for us by anything that is within our power to think or do. This may seem like a contradiction to the opening statements in the first paragraph, but that is probably because of the limited understanding we have in modern culture around the word and concept of “love.” It is most often associated with a “feeling” of love.

But when we read the English translations of the Bible and read the English word “love”, there are actually many Greek words (Greek was the language the New Testament was written in) that are translated by our English word for “love.” The three most common ones are: philia, eros, and agape. “Philia” describes a “brotherly” love one has for family and friends. “Eros” describes a passionate or romantic love such as exists between a husband and wife. But the word used for “love” most often in the New Testament is “agape”, which often represents an unconditional love that is completely independent of feelings. It is the word that is used, for example, when Jesus tells his disciples to not hate their enemies, but to love them (see Matthew 5:43-44). Such an act of love is done independent of feelings (who “feels like” loving their enemies?!) It is an act of the will. When Jesus went to the cross to die for our sins as an act of the most supreme love ever demonstrated, the Bible records that he prayed to God to remove that hour of darkness from his life in the moments leading up to that event. He didn’t really “feel” like going through with it. In fact, he was in agony and sweated drops of blood. But he prayed “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42) That is an example of agape love, which is a love shown and done independent of “feelings” of love. God loves us with this kind of love, and nothing we do can change that: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

So how do we affect God’s feelings towards us? How do we please him? The verse quoted above in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews states it as plainly and simply as it can be stated: And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6) This chapter in Hebrews is full of examples of men and women who pleased God through their faith.

As this verse states, faith starts by believing that God exists. This is in contradiction to the foundations of modern culture which are based upon a belief in evolution. Secondly, after we believe that God exists, we must have a proper belief about the way God acts towards us. This is what trips up most people. We must believe that God rewards those who sincerely seek him out. We are dependent and needy creatures created by God, and God is our provider and sustainer. Every breath that we breathe, every drop of blood that our heart pumps, is a gift of life from God who sustains us with his Word. When we need or want things, we must believe that he loves us and is going to give us what we ask and need. When we need things and don’t seek him out, it affects his feelings towards us. We break his heart, just as any child breaks the heart of their parents when they go their own way and trust in people and things that cannot help them, instead of going back to their parents who have the authority and ability to give them everything they need.

One of the best stories Jesus told, as recorded in Luke 15:11-32, is the story of the prodigal son. The story clearly illustrates the principle of love and faith, and how a son can please his father. The prodigal son took his part of his father’s inheritance and left to go spend it in “reckless living,” while the older son stayed home working for his father. Was the father pleased when his son left home to squander his inheritance? No. Did the father ever stop loving his son, even though he was living a sinful life? No! So how did the younger prodigal son end up being able to please his father? He returned to his senses and went back home, having faith that his father would accept him back, even if only as a hired servant. What was the father’s reaction?

And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate. (Luke 15:21-24)

The father of this prodigal son was pleased that his son came back. The only thing the son had to do to make his father pleased, was to come back home – an act of simple faith. The son believed that his father existed, and that he would reward him if he came back to him. He came back home with nothing! He had squandered all of his inheritance on reckless living, but his position in his father’s family was secure. He could not stop being his father’s son, and he had the benefit as a son to enjoy all the good things of his father’s house. All he had to do was to go back home in faith, believing that his father would receive him and take care of him. I can think of no clearer picture painted in the Bible that illustrates Hebrews 11:6 than this simple, yet profound story that Jesus told.

Now, imagine if the son had first thought to himself: “I cannot go home empty handed! I need to find a better job somewhere so I can pay my father back for all things I took from him.” – and then proceeded to stay away from home for several years until he could earn enough money to pay his father back. Would his father have been pleased with that? No! He just wanted his son to come home!!

Or what if after the son came home, he would have taken off the best robe his father had put on him, and taken off the ring and shoes, and had refused to eat the feast prepared for him, because he wanted to follow through with his plan of living like a slave in his father’s house, because he felt so unworthy of all the nice things his father was doing for him. Would his father have been pleased with that? No! His father would only be pleased with his son if he came back home, and accepted all the wonderful things he wanted to give and do for his son. Nothing else would have pleased the father more.

And yet, that is just how most of us treat God. Some of us don’t believe God would accept us because of certain things in our life, so we don’t come back home to him. Or we come home and try to “make it up to God” for our past mistakes, and we refuse to believe that God would actually just give us good things when we don’t deserve them. We “believe in God,” but we act like slaves instead of his privileged children. The result is that we do not please God, and in fact we break his heart and make him very sad. Not because we are bad people (even though we are!), but because we simply refuse to believe that God could be that good to us, and we refuse to receive what God wants to give us.

So do you want to please God? Do you want to make him happy? There is only one way to do that: go to him and receive everything he wants to give you with simple faith! It does take repentance (a change of mind) and humility. Remember the story of the prodigal son. He became so humiliated that he ended up feeding pigs for a living, and was so hungry he ate the same food he was feeding the pigs. And during that whole time, all he had to do was change his mind (repent), swallow his pride, and run back home to his father to receive all the wonderful blessings that his father had for him in his house. How about you? Do you want to please God? His heart yearns for you…

"What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him"-- (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (Jesus in John 14:1-3

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