Thursday, February 22, 2024 3:53:39 AM
Eternity Right Now
~ Let us explore where we’re placing our priorities, hopes, fears, and affections. God doesn’t want us to spend our days waiting for heaven, but instead wants to shift our perspective to see that eternity has already begun.
You and I are living in eternity — right now. Eternal life doesn’t start when we take our last breath here. You and I are currently experiencing eternal life in relationship with our Father. C.S. Lewis said in "The Weight of Glory", “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations — these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 says it this way, “God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”
• What does it mean for you and me to live in eternity right now?
• What would it look like for us to have a perspective that looks past the fleeting and temporal nature of this world to the never-ending line of eternity to which we truly belong?
Having an eternal perspective causes me to live drastically differently. My heart burns to live out of obedience to passages like Matthew 6:19-21 where Jesus teaches, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” The way we live right now impacts our eternity. The way we pursue the things of God impacts what our experience will be like when heaven and earth pass away and God ushers in the new age of true face-to-face communion with Him.
The time has come for us to set aside that which entangles us to the fate of this age and live for that which is eternal. The time has come for us to stop seeking fulfillment from that which is fleeting and instead pursue true abundant life here on earth by giving our heart fully to the Father.
Galatians 6:8 says, “Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.”
• Where are you sowing your time, energy, resources, and heart?
• What treasure have you stored up with your loving, good heavenly Father?
• What are you doing to impact eternity?
Psalm 102:25-27 says, “Long ago You established the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure; all of them will wear out like clothing. You will change them like a garment, and they will pass away. But You are the same, and Your years will never end.”
We worship a God who sees all of eternity at a glance. He dwells within the whole scope of eternity seamlessly and fully. He is the God of your past, present, and future. To give your life to Him and His will is to invest in that which will fully satisfy the desires of your heart for all time. The God who has formed you knows that which will make your heart truly happy, and He is calling you to step away from the fulfillment of this age and to pursue wholeheartedly the purposes and plans of His kingdom.
May you invest your affections, time, resources, and heart with your loving and kind Father. May you live for eternity and rid yourself of the burden and weight of this world. And may you experience today the abundant life that comes from acknowledging the eternal nature of all you do.
May Isaiah 57:15 fill you with praise and wonder for the God you serve and love:
"The High and Exalted One who lives forever in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts."
_________________
~ published by: First 15
https://www.first15.org/devotionals/eternity-right-now-2023/
•
~ Let us explore where we’re placing our priorities, hopes, fears, and affections. God doesn’t want us to spend our days waiting for heaven, but instead wants to shift our perspective to see that eternity has already begun.
You and I are living in eternity — right now. Eternal life doesn’t start when we take our last breath here. You and I are currently experiencing eternal life in relationship with our Father. C.S. Lewis said in "The Weight of Glory", “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations — these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 says it this way, “God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”
• What does it mean for you and me to live in eternity right now?
• What would it look like for us to have a perspective that looks past the fleeting and temporal nature of this world to the never-ending line of eternity to which we truly belong?
Having an eternal perspective causes me to live drastically differently. My heart burns to live out of obedience to passages like Matthew 6:19-21 where Jesus teaches, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” The way we live right now impacts our eternity. The way we pursue the things of God impacts what our experience will be like when heaven and earth pass away and God ushers in the new age of true face-to-face communion with Him.
The time has come for us to set aside that which entangles us to the fate of this age and live for that which is eternal. The time has come for us to stop seeking fulfillment from that which is fleeting and instead pursue true abundant life here on earth by giving our heart fully to the Father.
Galatians 6:8 says, “Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.”
• Where are you sowing your time, energy, resources, and heart?
• What treasure have you stored up with your loving, good heavenly Father?
• What are you doing to impact eternity?
Psalm 102:25-27 says, “Long ago You established the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure; all of them will wear out like clothing. You will change them like a garment, and they will pass away. But You are the same, and Your years will never end.”
We worship a God who sees all of eternity at a glance. He dwells within the whole scope of eternity seamlessly and fully. He is the God of your past, present, and future. To give your life to Him and His will is to invest in that which will fully satisfy the desires of your heart for all time. The God who has formed you knows that which will make your heart truly happy, and He is calling you to step away from the fulfillment of this age and to pursue wholeheartedly the purposes and plans of His kingdom.
May you invest your affections, time, resources, and heart with your loving and kind Father. May you live for eternity and rid yourself of the burden and weight of this world. And may you experience today the abundant life that comes from acknowledging the eternal nature of all you do.
May Isaiah 57:15 fill you with praise and wonder for the God you serve and love:
"The High and Exalted One who lives forever in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts."
_________________
~ published by: First 15
https://www.first15.org/devotionals/eternity-right-now-2023/
•
Where will you spend ETERNITY?
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