Sunday, July 01, 2007

Joy in God's Presence

"You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand" (Psalm 16:11, NIV).

Christians have much to anticipate. Someday, maybe today, we will see our Lord face-to-face. We will see the one who died for us, who returned to life, who ascended to his Father in order to prepare a home for us, who sent the Holy Spirit to live with us, and who filled us with hope when he promised to return for us.

When that day comes, everything will change. The new heavens and new earth will come into existence. Evil will be eliminated. Satan and his agents will be gone. The fight will be over.

Christians will join with the saints of the past to enjoy the presence of God forever. "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day---and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:8, NIV).

While we wait for his appearing, we experience a taste of the joy that will go on for eternity. We live in gratitude for the one who walked the "path of life" ahead of us, the one who embodied life, Jesus Christ. We receive encouragement from the Holy Spirit's presence and from the words that he inspired in the Bible. We enjoy the company of fellow believers who share our hope that a great day is coming.

But we know that the blessings of this life are just small tastes of what is to come, the eternal pleasures of being with God our Savior.

2 comments:

preacherman said...

Great post.
I really enjoyed reading your blog and look forward to reading more. I also liked the way your church reaches out to others at pot lucks that you mentioned on Phil Wares blog. Great way to reach out to others. You are so right when you say, "We know the blessing of this life just a tastes of what the eternal pleasures with God our Savior." Amen brother!

Terry Laudett said...

Thanks for the comment, Preacherman. I appreciate the kind words.