Reserved in Your Name

~~~ Acts of the Apostles 13:26-33 ~~~ Psalm 2 ~~~

~~~ John 14:1-6 ~~~ 

Do not let your hearts be troubled. 

There are times in our personal lives when

 our hearts are very troubled.

When was the last time your heart was troubled?

For those in our community it may be today 

as they clean up after the flooding of their homes.

If you lost everything this week your 

heart may be very troubled

The apostles were troubled because 

they did not know where Jesus was going

 or how they would find their way.

They were used to following him per his own invitation.

Come follow me.

I am the way and the truth and the life. 

Jesus assures all of those who are troubled

 that he is the way out.

He is pure truth in all that he is for all eternity.

He is everything...he is our life itself.

We need not be stuck in a state of trouble.

Jesus  provides for all of our needs.

He will bring people to us in our time of need.

He will use us for his own good.

We are given the way...

We are given the truth...

We are given life.

Jesus went before us to heaven

to prepare a magnificent place for us.

I am going to prepare a place for you

Jesus says 'I come to serve not to be served'

Jesus gave us evidence of this promise.

His whole life was in service...

this continues even into his heavenly home.

He prepares a place in heaven for you and for me.

He has a reservation made in your name.

He shows us the way...

make sure you make it to your reserved room.

Jesus assures us that we know 

the way because we know him.

Do not let your hearts be troubled.

We are Blessed in staying on the path

created for us by Jesus.

Your room is reserved by Jesus.

He waits for your return.

~~~ Peace ~~~

The Place of Beauty

~~~ Acts of the Apostles 13:26-33 ~~~ Psalm 2 ~~~ John 14:1-6 ~~~

Darkness lurked about freely in Jerusalem...

the leaders failed to recognize Jesus...they found
 no grounds for a conviction

...still they condemned him to death....

They laid his body to rest in the dark tomb,

but out of this darkness he was raised and glorified;

appearing to many in the following days.

The glory of his resurrection radiated to each one he met.
There is no darkness in Resurrection.
Jesus is the light of the world.

I will come back again and take you to myself,
so that where I am you also may be.

God sent Jesus to save us, we all know this,
but he also came to give us hope.
His death on the cross was not the end.
His death on the cross was the realization
 of his promise to come back for us.

Jesus had to leave so that it would be possible
for him to came back for us.
Three days after his death he came back to the apostles
giving them sufficient cause to have hope.

Hope is what keeps us moving forward in the right direction.
Without the possibility of Jesus
 coming back for us, can there be any hope? 

We have hope because Jesus gave it to us.
Hope gives us a reason...a purpose.
Our greatest hope is for Jesus to return, to take us unto himself.

It is a nice thought to think he has prepared a place just for us.

But in reality it is not the place that gives us hope,
it is the promise to be with him for eternity.

I would go to a landfill if that was where
I could spend all of eternity with God.

The place he prepares for us can be nothing less than a place of beauty,
because God is the creator of all that is good and beautiful.

Faith...Hope...Love
Notice that hope is in the middle...
between faith and love.

Faith leads us to hope, hope increases our desire to love more perfectly.

Inside hope lies the most beautiful place of all.
H..heartfelt...O...openness...P...possibilities...E...existence

He has prepared a place for you.
Blessed today with hope.

~~~Peace~~~