Hebrews 11:16 they were longing for a better
country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God,
for he has prepared a city for them.
If you never have, I encourage you to
read through Hebrews chapter 11. This chapter of the Bible is commonly referred
to as the hall of faith, and the people discussed demonstrated, in various ways, their trust in God and His promise of future salvation. Consider the line up:
Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Moses, and the list goes on. When an
entire chapter dedicated to a group of people who trusted God for
deliverance is written we do well to carefully search for the qualities that
are pointed out in their lives. Specifically after discussing Abel, Noah,
Abraham, and Sarah we see verse 16 shows the unusual outlook they had on life. They
were longing for heaven, for redemption, and it changed the way they lived here
on earth. They considered God faithful and trusted His promises and confessed
that they were temporary residents on the earth. They also were willing (like Moses) to pass up the temporary pleasures of sin in this life in order to do the will of God.
Here is
a list of 7 different ways that heaven is described in the Bible.
God's
dwelling place (Psalms 33:13).
Where Christ is today (Acts 1:11).
Where people who have trusted Jesus for forgiveness go
when they die (Philippians 1:21-23).
The Father's house (John 14:2).
A city designed and built by God (Hebrews 11:10).
A better country for citizenship (Hebrews 11:16).
Paradise (Luke 23:43).
Are you longing for your heavenly home today?
Colossians 1:3-6
We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth
Colossians 1:3-6
We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth
I am so glad you did a devotion on this topic!! It further convicts me personally of how I must, day to day, remember that I am not to conform to this world.... my eternal home is in heaven, and I need to invest in things that will last forever. It's so hard to go against the grain of culture, even the American Christian culture. But God is showing me every day that in the long run, it's so, so worth it.
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