Daily Devotionals
Tuesday, July 16, 2024 (Aminta)
My family recently moved, so I’ve been thinking about the idea of “home.”
Honestly, it’s taking me awhile to adjust to our new place. The house we moved out of was so special. We thought it was going to be the home we grew old in and rocked grand-babies in… so we dreamed and designed and remodeled every inch of that place, investing our time, talent and treasure.
These days, HGTV calls it a “forever home.”
Turns out, God had other plans for us.
He moved our family right out of that house and into a new one that needs love and attention. It makes me tired just thinking about all the work and I’m having a hard time calling it mine. I’ll get there, it’s just an adjustment.
I’ve been thinking about “home” because this move has helped me realize and better understand an important truth:
If we love Jesus, our forever home is heaven. The “home” we reside in on earth is always temporary!
We are only here for the blink of an eye compared to the eternity we get to spend in heaven.
2 Corinthians 5:1 explains:
“For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.”
Heaven is going to be amazing! And I want to spend my time in this temporary “home” preparing for my forever home. Instead of only focusing and building a house I enjoy right now, I want to focus on building up my heavenly house. So often, I get caught up in ONLY building my earthly home and I forget to focus on the things God has asked me to do.
2 Corinthians 5:11,18-21 continues:
“Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too.
And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, "Come back to God!"
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
Today, I encourage you to invest in your forever home by sharing Jesus with your favorite people. Spend time loving and serving those around you!
You can ask someone to come to church with you, or invite your neighbor to come over for coffee. Serve at the local food shelter or text someone and let them know they matter to you.
Let’s do what we can so our forever home is full of all our favorite people.
We are better together.
Mint
Honestly, it’s taking me awhile to adjust to our new place. The house we moved out of was so special. We thought it was going to be the home we grew old in and rocked grand-babies in… so we dreamed and designed and remodeled every inch of that place, investing our time, talent and treasure.
These days, HGTV calls it a “forever home.”
Turns out, God had other plans for us.
He moved our family right out of that house and into a new one that needs love and attention. It makes me tired just thinking about all the work and I’m having a hard time calling it mine. I’ll get there, it’s just an adjustment.
I’ve been thinking about “home” because this move has helped me realize and better understand an important truth:
If we love Jesus, our forever home is heaven. The “home” we reside in on earth is always temporary!
We are only here for the blink of an eye compared to the eternity we get to spend in heaven.
2 Corinthians 5:1 explains:
“For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.”
Heaven is going to be amazing! And I want to spend my time in this temporary “home” preparing for my forever home. Instead of only focusing and building a house I enjoy right now, I want to focus on building up my heavenly house. So often, I get caught up in ONLY building my earthly home and I forget to focus on the things God has asked me to do.
2 Corinthians 5:11,18-21 continues:
“Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too.
And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, "Come back to God!"
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
Today, I encourage you to invest in your forever home by sharing Jesus with your favorite people. Spend time loving and serving those around you!
You can ask someone to come to church with you, or invite your neighbor to come over for coffee. Serve at the local food shelter or text someone and let them know they matter to you.
Let’s do what we can so our forever home is full of all our favorite people.
We are better together.
Mint
