John 14:1-3 (NIV) 1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father's house
are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to
prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a
place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be
where I am.
It would be an understatement to say
that Rio de Janeiro was unprepared for the Summer Olympics to begin. Consider
this July 28th report in the Washington Post…
“The
Summer Olympics are just days from opening, and organizers have been forced to
mount a ‘massive operation’ to fix a deluge of plumbing and electricity
problems at the Athletes' Village in Rio.
It was the latest upset for an Olympics taking
place amid a severe economic recession, a Zika epidemic, the impeachment
process of suspended president Dilma Rousseff and a spike in crime in Rio state
— which is so broke it needed a government bailout to pay police salaries in
arrears.
The
latest crisis began on Sunday, when the Australian team said
its building in the Athletes' Village was uninhabitable because of problems
with plumbing and electricity… Ilha Pura supplied
technical teams to help finish the work, the spokeswoman said, and its priority
was to offer athletes ‘the best hospitality infrastructure.’ That was not what the Australian
team found when it conducted a “stress test” of the apartments on
Saturday — turning on toilets and taps on several floors at the same time.
‘The system failed. Water came down walls, there was a strong smell of gas in
some apartments and there was 'shorting' in the electrical wiring,’ delegation
chief Kitty Chiller said in a statement. ‘In our mind, our building is not
habitable,’ she later told reporters.
Now, with
those issues resolved, the Australians have moved in. But other teams have
complained about conditions in many of their apartments. The Argentine
committee said that two of the five floors of its building were uninhabitable,
and it had to rent apartments nearby for some of its technical staff. The
Belarus Olympic committee published photos of dirty windows and blocked drains
on its official page. Egyptian athletes had no hot water and their toilets did
not flush, while a Kenyan wrote "Please fix my toilet" on
a notice board in the Olympic Village.
A squad
of 600 plumbers and electricians has been scrambling to repair everything.”
What do you suppose “conditions”
will be like in the place that Jesus is preparing for those who love Him? Paul,
when writing about Gospel hope, tells us (1 Corinthians 2:9 - KJV)
“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen,
nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God
hath prepared for them that love him.”
Though what the Scriptures tell us
of heaven is somewhat limited, there is enough to encourage us of its beauty,
glory, and perfection. It will be greater than the greatest of human
imaginings. But even so, heaven is not – in itself – the object of our desires
and the hope of our hearts. In all of its resplendence and magnificence, it
will be as nothing in comparison to the presence of Jesus Himself. Whatever
Jesus is making our eternal abode to be, we do not have to worry or be troubled
about it. As Fanny Crosby’s All the Way
My Savior Leads Me says, “Jesus doeth all things well.” I always found it
interesting that Jesus, who grew up the son of a carpenter, is the one
preparing a place for us in heaven. I think no matter what “materials” will be
in use in heaven, I will trust in the skills and wisdom of my Lord to prepare
something truly wonderful. And when I think, “Why should He do so for me?”… I
rejoice in the glorious Gospel of grace and say, “Thank You, Lord!”
2 Corinthians 5:1 (NIV) Now we know that if the earthly tent we
live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven,
not built by human hands.
Hebrews 11:8-10
(NIV) 8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he
would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not
know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in
the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as
did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For
he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and
builder is God.
1 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV) 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and
into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for
you,
Revelation 21:1-4 (NIV) 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no
longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully
dressed for her husband. 3 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. 4 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."
PRAYER: Father, thank you that Jesus does all things
well, including preparing eternity for me. In His mighty name, AMEN.”
Jesus
Christ is Lord!
Scott
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