Thinking About Home

The thought of there being a better place for the saints of God to live after their time on earth has cheered the hearts of God’s people for thousands of years.

John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Jesus calls Heaven “My Father’s house.” Heaven is special because it’s where God lives. A place like that would have to be holy, filled with glory, a place of peace, blessing, joy, and love.

Those are characteristics of our Heavenly Father, and anyplace that is called the “Father’s house,” would have to be a place like Him. 

I counted twenty-six homes I lived in during my life time. Lately, I’ve been thinking about my  Heavenly home. Nothing compares. Jesus gave me the title years ago when I believed in Him. Many of my family and friends are already there. 

Believers, don’t let your heart be troubled. Be assured, there’s a better place awaiting.  

— Ideas for this unprofitable blog are taken from The Sermon Notebook—Biblical resources for preachers and teachers of the word of God. They allow these sermons to be used as the Lord leads but not for profit without their expressed written permission.—

What A Delight!

When we focus on our problems we tend to get depressed. At all times of life believers are challenged to focus on the Lord—who He is to us, what He has done for us, where He is taking us, and how much He loves us. 

Before we know it, we are praising God. We are lost in Him.  What a delight!

When we are lost in Him, our will and our desires will be lost in Him as well. When this happens, He will lift us out of our sadness and fill us with His glory.  

Psalm 37:4-5 Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

In the midst of our struggles God is looking for faith and obedience in us.  His promise is that our faith will never be in vain. Trust Him 

— Ideas for this unprofitable blog are taken from The Sermon Notebook—Biblical resources for preachers and teachers of the word of God. They allow these sermons to be used as the Lord leads but not for profit without their expressed written permission.—

One Glorious Day

One day believers will either be raised from the dead or caught up (raptured) in the clouds. Either way, we will be changed in a “moment, in a twinkling of an eye”, 1 Corinthians 15:51-54. 

Many believers call this the rapture. The word “rapture” is the Latin translation of the Greek word “harpazo”, which is translated in verse 17 as “caught up”.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

On that glorious day we will look on Jesus - the One who loved us so much that He left the glory of Heaven and endured countless sufferings to redeem us from sin. We will meet the One who conquered death, Hell and the grave - the One who loved us in spite of our sins. 

This stirs my heart. Imagine seeing His face - hearing His voice - feeling His touch. Imagine bowing at His feet and thanking Him for the cross, the blood, the empty tomb the Bible, the Holy Ghost, the church, and the blessings of life, 

1 Thessalonians 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

— Ideas for this unprofitable blog are taken from The Sermon Notebook—Biblical resources for preachers and teachers of the word of God. They allow these sermons to be used as the Lord leads but not for profit without their expressed written permission.—

Saved Be Grace Through Faith

The most important thing in life is knowing that you are right with God—saved. 

It isn’t enough to be good or religious, to join the church, to be baptized or to stop doing some things that are wrong, 

To be saved, there must be a time when you turn to Jesus Christ in absolute faith for salvation. 

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

As surely as the stars, planets, sun and moon declare the existence and power of God; nothing declares His glory, His power and His existence any more than a life that has been redeemed from sin - saved by grace -  grace because we don’t deserve it. 

Every child of God who walks, talks, acts, thinks, and lives differently because of grace, is a bold, powerful witness to the power of our great God. Thank you, Jesus, for your blood sacrifice on a cruel cross so we can be saved. 

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

— Ideas for this unprofitable blog are taken from The Sermon Notebook—Biblical resources for preachers and teachers of the word of God. They allow these sermons to be used as the Lord leads but not for profit without their expressed written permission.—