Prayer
– Lord God—You’ve said that we don’t know the hour or the day of Christ’s
return…and it will be when we least expect it. “You also must be ready all the
time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.” Matthew 24:44 NLT.
Give us wisdom and grace to be ready…and to share Your Good News with others
now so they will be with You for eternity, too. We look forward to that day of
freedom as You’ve promised. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
Yet
what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.
For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal
who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to
God's curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it
will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know
that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to
the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy
Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to
be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day
when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the
new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If
we already have something, we don't need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don't
yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.) Romans 8:18-25
New Life - Hope
Mama Goose and baby goslings.
Waiting patiently.
Meditate.
Consider God’s plan with hope.
Hope. The
Holy Spirit in us—as Christians—teaches us, just as Jesus explained to His
disciples in John 14. Paul tells the Christians at Rome that we look forward and
have an eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his
adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. New bodies.
These old sinful bodies with sick dying cells will not be our forever bodies,
just as Paul described in his second letter to the Corinthians.
For we know that when this earthly
tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly
body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God
himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we
long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on
heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these
earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it's not that we want to die and get rid
of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so
that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared
us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 NLT
Do you
like putting on new clothes? Just think how much better it will feel to not
only have new clothes…but new bodies?! Will we be dancing with joy? God has such
a marvelous plan. The best part is being adopted as His children—joining His
family along with people from around the world…and all throughout history! Yes,
heaven will be an amazing place. We just need to wait patiently and confidently
for that. What is your choice in this? Do you have hope for a future with God
forever? We have no other choice than to wait patiently and confidently for that
God’s promise of this future glory. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
Verse
of Salvation ~ For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to
all people. Titus
2:11
© 2024 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All
rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless
otherwise noted.
New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale
House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream,
Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.
Books by Mickey M.
Hunacek
Available as e-books or paperbacks at Amazon.com
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