Tag Archives: home in heaven

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Belonging

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Our Daily Bread

John 14:1-11

In my Father’s house are many mansions . . . . I go to prepare a place for you. —John 14:2

My dad was full of stories about his hometown. So you can imagine how excited I was as a child when he took our family there every summer. We fished the St. Joseph River together and visited his boyhood farm where all of his stories came to life. Although that place was never really my home, whenever I visit that town—now with grown children and grandchildren of my own—it fills me with a nostalgic sense of belonging.

Jesus talked with His disciples about His home in heaven, which He left to come and live among us. What a joy it must have been for Him to tell His disciples, “In my Father’s house are many mansions . . . . I go to prepare a place for you, . . . that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2-3). No doubt Jesus, “who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross” (Heb. 12:2), was looking forward to returning to His heavenly home and taking His Father’s sons and daughters there to be with Him.

The thought of Jesus taking us to His Father’s home fills us with great anticipation and compels us to tell others the good news about the Son who came to rescue us from this fallen place. —Joe Stowell

Now I belong to Jesus;

Jesus belongs to me—

Not for the years of time alone,

But for eternity.

—Norman J. Clayton.

© Renewal 1966. Norman J. Clayton Company

Only Jesus can fill us with a sense of belonging like we’ve never known before.

Bible in a year: Psalms 77-78; Romans 10

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The Greatest Gift of All – Charles Stanley

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John 3:15-21

Even children understand that unless a present is opened and explored, its value will remain unknown. Yet many people neglect “unwrapping” God’s gift of salvation through Jesus. They receive His forgiveness but fail to discover the marvelous treasures made available to them as children of God.

When God the Son came to dwell on earth, He took on human flesh. This mystery is known as the incarnation. Jesus, who was fully God, lived a sinless life. Yet He was also fully human. Without Christ, we would be eternally separated from God the Father. The sin we all inherited through Adam does not allow fellowship with the perfect God. So the Savior took our iniquities upon Himself and endured the death penalty in our place. And then He rose from the dead.

In doing this, Jesus redeemed us and opened the door for eternal fellowship with the Father. Any who so choose can accept mercy instead of punishment. It is God’s free gift, which includes an eternal home in heaven. We will live forever with Christians from every generation and can look forward to reuniting with loved ones who have already died in the Lord. A small baby in a manger was truly the greatest gift of all time.

Do you have a relationship with Almighty God? Jesus came to redeem you. If you haven’t accepted His salvation, take this opportunity: admit your need for forgiveness, and ask Christ to be your Savior. The gift is wrapped and ready, waiting for you to open and enjoy all God has given.

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God’s Gift to Us (Part 1) – Greg Laurie

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For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  – John 3:17

When you’re a child, Christmas is all about receiving gifts. In December, your head is swimming with nothing but images of your favorite toys.

But the true message of Christmas is not the presents we give to one another. The true meaning is the gift that God gave to us, His Son Jesus Christ.

During the next two days, I want to point out to you three things about the gift God gave to us in that tiny manger in Bethlehem.

The first thing we want to realize about God’s gift to us is that it came in simple wrapping. Some people will go to great lengths to wrap presents beautifully. But God’s gift came to us not in beautiful, ornate wrapping, but in a dirty manger found in a cold cave in a little-known town called Bethlehem.

That’s the beauty of the Christmas event. Jesus took His place in a manger so that we might have a home in heaven. The Savior was not wrapped in satin sheets, but in common rags. There in a manger rested the greatest gift in the plainest of wrapping.

The second thing I want to point out about God’s gift to us is that we don’t deserve it. Consider this: God gave us the ultimate gift of His Son Jesus Christ while we were still sinning against Him (see Romans 5:8).

We did nothing whatsoever to merit or deserve His gift. That is the amazing truth of Christmas. Despite who we are, God sent His Son so “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

With Christmas just days away, begin to prepare your heart for the celebration of the birth of our Savior. Meditate on the fact that Jesus was born to die so that we might live.