When We Get to Heaven ...
April 1, 2002 - Do you ever get frustrated with the habits of sin in your life? I do! Even though I have been to the cross and received forgiveness for all my sin, I still sin. I don't want to. I try not to. But I still sin. The reality of sin is the single most discouraging, defeating, depressing fact in my life. But I can look forward with hope. Because one day, when I get to my Father’s House, all of my sin ...
by Anne Graham Lotz
my sinful tendencies
my sinful thoughts
my sinful actions
my sinful attitudes
my sinful habits
my sinful words
my sinful feelings ...
all my sins will fall away. What will be left will be the character of Christ that has developed in me during my life on earth.(1)
When I obeyed Him in the midst of suffering ...
When I trusted Him with unanswered prayer ...
When I loved Him without having seen Him ...
When I believed in Him even though all evidence was contrary to His Word ...
When I focused on Him in the darkness of depression and discouragement ...
When I hoped in Him alone to bring me through ...
... His character was being formed in me.(2)
When I chose to be patient instead of frustrated ...
When I chose to love instead of hate ...
When I chose to hold my tongue instead of lash out in anger ...
When I chose to instruct gently instead of harshly correct ...
When I chose to be gracious instead of rude ...
When I chose to be kind instead of mean ...
When I chose to be unselfish instead of selfish ...
When I chose to give up my rights instead of insisting on them ...
When I chose to tell the truth instead of lie ...
... His character was being formed in me.(3)
When I chose to submit to the pain ...
When I chose to accept the pressure ...
When I chose to bear the burden ...
When I chose, every day, to deny myself and take up the cross of His will for my life that includes suffering ...
When I chose to follow Him and not the crowd ...
When I chose to live by His Word and not by the opinions of others ...
... His character was being formed in me.(4)
And it's His character, revealed in and through me, that will be reflected throughout my Father's House!
As we yield our lives totally to the control of God’s Spirit within us, He uses:
the responsibilities and relationships and ridicule,
the opportunities and obstacles and obligations,
the pressures and pain and problems,
the success and sickness and solitude.
He uses all things to work for our ultimate good, which is increasing, progressive, glorious conformity to the image of Jesus Christ!(5)
As you and I lay up for ourselves living, lasting treasures in heaven, we come to the awesome conclusion that we ourselves are His treasure! We are the Father's priceless gift of love to His Son!(6) And one day, before the universe, He will display His priceless treasures—in my Father's House!
(5) Romans 8:28. (6) John 17:6,24.
PRIVACY
