Post by Cindy on Jul 1, 2015 9:11:28 GMT -5
As I was studying this morning, it hit me like a ton of bricks...we always seem to want to know what our future holds. People go to psychics, have tarot cards read, get astrology charts done, read horoscopes, etc. all to find out something about their future. Those who love God and know those things are wrong don't do that, but we still want to know our future and we still try to figure it out somehow. If nothing else we try to mold our present so that our near future will be what we want, and we plan for our future too. It may be saving for retirement, saving for a child's college days, or wedding, or even our own. There's really all kinds of things we do to try and manipulate things and people so that we can have the future we think we want. Some Christians even believe the false teachings and people who've bought into them where they supposedly hear words of knowledge or wisdom, or prophecies about someone's future or their own. Sadly that's no different then the psychics, it's just been given a Christianized name.
We want to know anything we can find out about our future. Even though we should know better if we've read God's Word, we'll even buy books about trips to heaven and hell to try and find out what that will be like. We'll devour those and read all we can get our hands on, and discuss them at great length with others. Just as we'll discuss all the other things I mentioned above that we use to try and discover our future.
What really amazes me though is that God tells us what our future is going to be and we totally ignore it! Often, because we haven't read His Word, we don't even know it's there! Those who do read His Word often miss it when they're only reading out of "duty" and not because they love His Word and want to know what He has to say to us. That's actually amazing too because it's not easy to miss. It's not like it's just a short sentence or two here and there. There's many chapters about it all through His Word. He tells us what our life will be like once we've been saved, and what life will be like for those who aren't saved. yes, some of that is "in general", but some is also quite specific. He tells us what our life will be like during the Millennial Kingdom, and in Heaven, the New Jerusalem. What's funny is that while we will devour books that supposedly go into detail about our future, we get bored reading about our future in His Word. For example, when God goes into great detail describing what His temple will look like during the Millennium, we tend to groan and skim over it, instead of being wide eyed and amazed, realizing that one day we'll be able to walk through that Temple and see it in all it's glory! The Lord even goes so far as to tell us who the main rulers will be during that time and what they'll be doing day to day, yet many don't have a clue who it might be other then the Lord Jesus. But one day soon, those who were obedient and are really saved, will be interacting with them regularly. We take care to plan our vacations, and if we're going to another country to know the rules there so we won't have any problems. Yet we don't do any of that for the very future we think we want to know about!
There's quite a bit about our future in His Word that we need to know. He tells us for a reason, and He expects us to know it. Oh how I wish the blinders would fall from everyone's eyes and that they could finally see the wonder of God's Word and know what a great privilege and honor He's given us in it! That they could read it with the wonder of a little child hearing their Daddy tell them what life will hold for them, and how very much He loves them.....
We get so caught up in what's going on in the world right now and forget that no matter what is happening now; no matter how bad it gets, our future is still as sure as the sun's rising was this morning. We need to do what the Lord tells us to do at times like this and stop focusing on the bad that's happening now and instead look to our future and know that we will be actually living it very soon. The things He tells us about in His Word, are things we will see with our very own eyes! The banquet He tells us about we will experience and taste, we will sit at the table and talk with Him and our brothers and sisters who we will recognize and know by name! We will see the angels and the living beings and join them in worship. We will eat, play, work, laugh, and worship together without anymore trials or sin to mar our days or nights. God has a glorious future awaiting for us and He wants us to know all about it. He wants us to day dream about it and reflect on it, so it will be a help to us to get us through these few days remaining. Here are a few scriptures to help get our hearts and minds in the right place.
“This is what the LORD says: “Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,” declares the LORD. “They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your future,” declares the LORD. ...” (Jeremiah 31:16–17)
“Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am going to put an end to this proverb, and they will no longer quote it in Israel.’ Say to them, ‘The days are near when every vision will be fulfilled. For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations among the people of Israel. But I the LORD will speak what I will, and it shall be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, you rebellious house, I will fulfill whatever I say, declares the Sovereign LORD.’ ” The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies about the distant future.’ “Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: None of my words will be delayed any longer; whatever I say will be fulfilled, declares the Sovereign LORD.’ ”” (Ezekiel 12:23–28)
“On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken. In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”” (Isaiah 25:6–9)
“No one living in Zion will say, “I am ill”; and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.” (Isaiah 33:24)
““Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the LORD and serve him shoulder to shoulder.” (Zephaniah 3:9)
“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:14)
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”” (Revelation 21:3–4)
““Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. The LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem. Be still before the LORD, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.”” (Zechariah 2:11–13)
“The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.” (Zechariah 14:9)
“The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.” (Revelation 11:15–17)
“Then the man brought me to the gate facing east, and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory.” (Ezekiel 43:1–2)
““Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”” (Luke 12:35–40)
“It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.” (Luke 12:43–44)
“The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”” (Revelation 22:6)
Amen! Come Lord Jesus!
We want to know anything we can find out about our future. Even though we should know better if we've read God's Word, we'll even buy books about trips to heaven and hell to try and find out what that will be like. We'll devour those and read all we can get our hands on, and discuss them at great length with others. Just as we'll discuss all the other things I mentioned above that we use to try and discover our future.
What really amazes me though is that God tells us what our future is going to be and we totally ignore it! Often, because we haven't read His Word, we don't even know it's there! Those who do read His Word often miss it when they're only reading out of "duty" and not because they love His Word and want to know what He has to say to us. That's actually amazing too because it's not easy to miss. It's not like it's just a short sentence or two here and there. There's many chapters about it all through His Word. He tells us what our life will be like once we've been saved, and what life will be like for those who aren't saved. yes, some of that is "in general", but some is also quite specific. He tells us what our life will be like during the Millennial Kingdom, and in Heaven, the New Jerusalem. What's funny is that while we will devour books that supposedly go into detail about our future, we get bored reading about our future in His Word. For example, when God goes into great detail describing what His temple will look like during the Millennium, we tend to groan and skim over it, instead of being wide eyed and amazed, realizing that one day we'll be able to walk through that Temple and see it in all it's glory! The Lord even goes so far as to tell us who the main rulers will be during that time and what they'll be doing day to day, yet many don't have a clue who it might be other then the Lord Jesus. But one day soon, those who were obedient and are really saved, will be interacting with them regularly. We take care to plan our vacations, and if we're going to another country to know the rules there so we won't have any problems. Yet we don't do any of that for the very future we think we want to know about!
There's quite a bit about our future in His Word that we need to know. He tells us for a reason, and He expects us to know it. Oh how I wish the blinders would fall from everyone's eyes and that they could finally see the wonder of God's Word and know what a great privilege and honor He's given us in it! That they could read it with the wonder of a little child hearing their Daddy tell them what life will hold for them, and how very much He loves them.....
We get so caught up in what's going on in the world right now and forget that no matter what is happening now; no matter how bad it gets, our future is still as sure as the sun's rising was this morning. We need to do what the Lord tells us to do at times like this and stop focusing on the bad that's happening now and instead look to our future and know that we will be actually living it very soon. The things He tells us about in His Word, are things we will see with our very own eyes! The banquet He tells us about we will experience and taste, we will sit at the table and talk with Him and our brothers and sisters who we will recognize and know by name! We will see the angels and the living beings and join them in worship. We will eat, play, work, laugh, and worship together without anymore trials or sin to mar our days or nights. God has a glorious future awaiting for us and He wants us to know all about it. He wants us to day dream about it and reflect on it, so it will be a help to us to get us through these few days remaining. Here are a few scriptures to help get our hearts and minds in the right place.
“This is what the LORD says: “Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,” declares the LORD. “They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your future,” declares the LORD. ...” (Jeremiah 31:16–17)
“Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am going to put an end to this proverb, and they will no longer quote it in Israel.’ Say to them, ‘The days are near when every vision will be fulfilled. For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations among the people of Israel. But I the LORD will speak what I will, and it shall be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, you rebellious house, I will fulfill whatever I say, declares the Sovereign LORD.’ ” The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies about the distant future.’ “Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: None of my words will be delayed any longer; whatever I say will be fulfilled, declares the Sovereign LORD.’ ”” (Ezekiel 12:23–28)
“On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken. In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”” (Isaiah 25:6–9)
“No one living in Zion will say, “I am ill”; and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.” (Isaiah 33:24)
““Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the LORD and serve him shoulder to shoulder.” (Zephaniah 3:9)
“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:14)
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”” (Revelation 21:3–4)
““Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. The LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem. Be still before the LORD, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.”” (Zechariah 2:11–13)
“The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.” (Zechariah 14:9)
“The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.” (Revelation 11:15–17)
“Then the man brought me to the gate facing east, and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory.” (Ezekiel 43:1–2)
““Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”” (Luke 12:35–40)
“It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.” (Luke 12:43–44)
“The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”” (Revelation 22:6)
Amen! Come Lord Jesus!
Cindy, what a wonderful post!! 
