TGIF
““Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”
(John 14:1-3 NLT-SE)
““No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.””
(1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT-SE)
When my old friend Smokey died, my chosen family knew that I had lost a friend that meant the world to me.
They also knew that even if Smokey was irreplaceable,I still needed a friend like him.
They decided that Liam would move in with me… he wasn’t playing well with others at their house and I had always joked about stealing him anyway…it was a good solution to both problems.
When I knew Liam was coming, I started preparing.
The more I prepared, the more joy started to return after losing the Big Smoke.
I bought a big bag of his favorite food, a bunch of different treats, toys a tracker and on and on…I wanted this to be a special place for him.
After he arrived and since, I’ve learned what he likes and what he doesn’t, what brings him joy and what doesn’t.
I try to make every day in this home the best it can be…I want him to love his home…and me.
You know where I’m going with this…but you need to go there with me.
Jesus went to prepare a place for you.
The same joy I felt when preparing a place for Liam is magnified beyond measure in the joy Jesus feels in anticipation of the place He is making for you.
It’s a limited analogy, but the Lord delights in the fact that you are going to be with Him forever the way I delight in knowing I’ll have Liam for now.
The Lord delights in you, my friend.
The place He’s preparing for you isn’t exactly the same place He’s making for me.
Within the new heavens and new earth there will be plenty of space to design things for the individual to make sure they love their eternal home.
My space will be furnished in cat hair with a moat…
I’m kidding…kind of…
The Lord is preparing a place for you complete with all you loved here…plus things you could never imagine that you could love so much….no eye has seen, no ear has heard…how good it’s going to be.
I can hear Him through the Spirit…”wait till she/he sees this”…
Imagine if you can for a moment the fact that your Creator and God is waiting to share the joy of what He’s done for you, with you.
For me…I believe in the resurrection of the body and the communion of the saints and the restoration and redemption of the whole creation.
For me…that means that when I meet Jesus He’ll be carrying Smokey, Miss Kitty, Chester, Grandma cat, and all that I have loved and who loved me will be there to greet me.
Me and the cats will need a place to live, though…
He went to prepare a place for me… and them…
I can’t wait.
Now…imagine what He’s making for you.
Make your own application….
I had a vision and several of these were in your eternal home:
https://www.amazon.com/Go-Pet-Club-Climber-Furniture/dp/B00ZDGUGMS?th=1
KevinH,
A few…already assembled…because otherwise it would be hell… 🙂
Wonderful 🙌
Michael,
What a delightful post! I know that heaven will be safe, and so many people I have loved will be there. What I’m personally most excited about is being in the presence of the Triune God. I can’t even imagine what that will be like!
Thank you, Vera!
Thank you, Linn…I amen what you said about the presence of the Lord…
This makes the grumpy Ol’ captain smile!! Thank you, Michael!
Thanks, CK!
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”
I have a client who is a special needs refugee. They come from Eastern Africa where they spent an inordinate amount of time at home or in an institution, traveling through UN refugee camps in various countries, seemingly wasting away and most likely facing abuses I don’t even want to imagine. Incredibly violent. This verse reminds me of the first time they made dynamic relational bonds with me, just over some play with shaving cream in my other classroom I set aside for their introduction to my school room. After a week there was this moment when this look came across their face – it seemed to tell me it was like one of the craziest things they had ever experienced. They went all wide eyed with brow furrowed slightly and reared back for a moment, then gut busting laughter! Perhaps the idea that a teacher would take them into deep and abiding consideration – that someone would care that they like something they like, would smile at their smile, would not hurt them back or yell or restrain them unduly… That is something like what He does for us, I think.
Jared, As a former teacher, I love that story!
Keep the great applications coming!
Encouraging words on this Saturday afternoon!