Whole Heart Devotional - PassionSample

HEAVEN 

Often we think of heaven as the place we hope to go when we die. It is the place where God will wipe away every tear, where there will be no more death or crying or pain. If we are honest, most days the hope of heaven is seemingly so far away. But not to Jesus. 

Jesus prays in Matthew 6:9-10, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” For Jesus the Kingdom of heaven was not only a future promise but a present reality. If that is the way Jesus prayed, maybe the gap between heaven and earth is not as wide as we think. Maybe Jesus came not just to get us into heaven, but to get heaven into us. 

John Wesley says the moment we believe in Jesus and come to know His unsurpassable love for us unveiled on the cross, “heaven is opened in the soul.” To know this love is simply a “foretaste of heaven now.” One day we will experience, face to face, Jesus in the perfection of heaven, but right now we live with the peace, assurance and hope that the power of heaven is inside of us now. The Holy Spirit is bringing that future life into the present, awakening us to God’s love revealed in Jesus. 

The closer we grow to Jesus and the more we know Him and His love for us, in that same proportion will we see the Kingdom of heaven around us. We’ll see tides begin to change, walls begin to fall and darkness shake! And we won’t be able to keep that immeasurable love and joy to ourselves! 

Father, as Jesus prayed, so too do I pray. My Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Open up my eyes to see beyond the natural today. Help me remember that I have been stamped with your seal of love over my heart and filled with Your Holy Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Heaven is open, so let Your kingdom come!