Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

May 24
Friday


HEAVENLY
COUNTRY

READ:
Hebrews 11:8-16
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Our citizenship
is in heaven.
__Philippians 3:20
_______________________________________________________________________________________

During high school, my closest friend and I took a pair of horses out for an afternoon ride. We slowly roamed through fields of wildflowers and wooded groves. But when we nosed the horses in the direction of the barn, they took off toward home like twin rockets. Our equine friends knew that it was time for dinner and a good brushing, and they could hardly wait.

As Christians, our true home is heaven (Phil. 3:20). Yet sometimes our desires tether us to the here and now. We enjoy God's good gifts__marriage, children, grandchildren, travel, careers, friends. At the same time, the Bible challenges us to focus on "things above" (Col. 3:1-2). Things above may include the unseen benefits of heaven: God's enduring presence (Rev. 22:3-5), unending rest Heb. 4:9), and an everlasting inheritance (1 Peter 1:4).

Recently I read, "Believers desire the heavenly inheritance; and the stronger the faith is, the more fervent [the desire]." Several Old Testament believers mentioned in Hebrews 11 had strong faith in God that enabled them to embrace His promises before receiving them (v.13). One such promise was heaven. If we too put our faith in God, He will give us a desire for that "heavenly country" (v.16) and will loosen our grip on this world. __Jennifer Benson schuldt

````````````````````````````````When we all get to heaven,```````````````````````````
```````````````````````````What a day of rejoicing that will be!````````````````````````
`````````````````````````````````When we all see Jesus,```````````````````````````````
````````````````````````We'll sing and shout the victory. __Hewitt```````````````````````
___________________________________________________________________________________________

For the Christian, heaven is spelled H-O-M-E.

*********************Today's Bible Reading __ Hebrews 11:8-16****************************

8 By faith Abraham obeyed
when he was called to go out
to the place which he would
receive as an inheritance.
And he went out, not
knowing where he was
going. 9 By faith he dwelt in
the land of promise as in a
foreign country, dwelling in
tents with Isaac and Jacob,
the heirs with him of the
same promise; 10 for he
waited for the city which has
foundations, whose builder
and maker is God.

11 By faith Sarah herself
also received strength to
conceive seed, and she bore
a child when she was past
the age, because she judged
Him faithful who had
promised. 12 Therefore from
one man, and him as good as
dead, were born as many as
the stars of the sky in
multitude__innumerable as
the sand which is by the
seashore.

13 These all died in faith,
not having received the
promises, but having seen
them afar off were assured
of them, embraced them and
confessed that they were
strangers and pilgrims on the
earth. 14 For those who say
such things declare plainly
that they seek a homeland.

15 And truly if they had
called to mind that country
from which they had come
out, they would have had
opportunity to return. 16 But
now they desire a better, that
is, a heavenly country.
Therefore God is not
ashamed to be called their
God, for He has prepared a
city for them.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

True saving faith expresses itself in obedient action. In Hebrews
11, often referred to as the Hall of Faith, we read examples of
how authentic faith leads to life-change. Then and now, belief and
action based on an unseen reality (v.1) produce acts of courage and
perseverance.