On the Road Home: How to Journey SafelySample

Day 8 – At home at last. Revelation 21:1-4

Revelation 21: 1-4 describes the future home of the believer. Something really beautiful. Not just a beautiful city, but a superb dwelling and a heavenly company. It speaks of the deepest consolations and the greatest tranquillity that we can imagine: no more death, no more tears, no more pain, no more groans. Hallelujah! What a joy to know that our final home is full of God and His goodness! What a relief to know that we will be free at last, free from all evil!

Recently, I have discovered what it means to buy a house. My wife and I knew that we wanted to change our apartments for another one, but we did not agree on all the criteria of our new home. Finally, we bought an apartment. Although we are thankful to God for this opportunity, it is not our ideal house because that would cost more than we could afford.

This brings me to what I like least about my house: I still have to pay a high mortgage for it. For 25 years the house will also belong to somebody outside the family: the bank! The house was bought from the previous owner with the money of the bank, now I have to return to them not only the price of the house, but also the interest we agreed on, month after month.

Apart from the fact that this is not our ideal house and that we still have to pay for it, there is another problem. We are not exempt from bad things happening in it. We have been victim of burglary and of flooding. Our insurance company helps us out, but they cannot assure us that this will not happen again. The insurance was not sold with a no risk guarantee, nor did it include a total-happiness kit. Sometimes a house can be a difficult place to live in, with your family around you. Even when we follow God’s plan, even when we try and take pleasure in the house and make it a comfortable place for the whole family, we are not exempt from illness, injustice and terrible incidents.

Somebody might say that it seems impossible to live happily in this life! Are we condemned to always be exposed to some form of evil coming our way? When can we finally enjoy complete happiness? Is there an ideal place, all paid for, where bad things can never happen again? My answer to this question is: yes, my friend, there is! That place exists. It’s called heaven. It’s ideal, Jesus paid for it for you, and nothing bad will ever happen there.

That is the true home humanity has always longed for, without even knowing it. Since I accepted Jesus, I know that the heavenly home awaits me. As long as I still live on earth, I know that this world of suffering is only temporal. I will pass through it and arrive in my true dwelling place, heaven. That is the place where I ultimately belong.

Israel Montes

Thanksgiving

Thank You, Lord, for the home You have prepared for us when we arrive in heaven.

Our hearts are filled with gratitude and expectation, knowing that we will
contemplate Your glory forever.

We want to eternally thank You for the cross, for the sacrifice that Jesus made so
that we might believe in Him, follow His steps, and finally arrive where He is sitting on the throne, waiting for us.

Confession

We acknowledge with sadness that we easily despair when we are taken up by everyday struggles and do not value what you have given us. When we do not consider our true home where there will be no suffering

We regret the opportunities we have wasted when we had the occasion to speak about this place that awaits those who accept God’s offer of salvation – and we repent.

Requests

Help us to courageously proclaim to men and women around us that there is an eternal dwelling place for all those who believe in Jesus.

Oh Lord, may we be eager to shine like stars. Help us to show forth the hope that shines in our hearts ever since Jesus showed us the way which leads to that heavenly home.

As a church, as a bride that awaits her husband, we pray, "Come, Lord Jesus; return soon, Lord Jesus."