God's Plan and Promises for His PeopleSample

God plans heaven as our Saviour's home.

Without question, however, thatWithout question, however, that which makes heaven is the fact that it is our Saviour's home. Jesus will be there—the One whose hands still bear the prints of the nails, the One whose side bears the scars of a severe wound, the One whose brow reveals the puncture wounds of a crown of thorns.

The bible has a lot more about going to be with the Lord than going to heaven. Jesus is the jewel of heaven. It is before His feet that we will cast our crowns. When the dying thief on the cross asked Jesus to remember him, Jesus replied, "Today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). It wasn't paradise the thief would cherish but being with Jesus. What makes our heavenly home so inviting is that it is also His heavenly home. Jesus makes heaven.

It is God's plan for our future to take us to live with Him forever in heaven. But we aren't there yet. Did God give us promises about heaven that would cheer us along the way? Indeed He did. Here are some of these promises.

"A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also" (John 14:19).

"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:3).

"[God] has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you" (I Pet. 1:3,4).

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Rom. 8:18).

"For the Lord, Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord" (I Thess. 4:16,17).

God's established His plan before the foundation of the world. His promises were made and recorded in His inerrant Word.

If you acknowledge God's plan for your life, allow Him to involve Himself in your life and set Him as the goal of your life. Then you are poised to claim His promises.

He has "given to us exceedingly great and precious promises that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature" (II Pet. 1:4). We cannot deny, underrate or forget God's promises. We need to claim, enjoy, believe, and cling to the only hope in a hopeless world. Claim God's promises for you today, and you'll see how they come true tomorrow. which makes heaven heaven is the fact that it is our Saviour's home. Jesus will be there—the One whose hands still bear the prints of the nails, the One whose side bears the scars of a severe wound, the One whose brow reveals the puncture wounds of a crown of thorns.

In the Bible we don't read so much about going to heaven as we do about going to be with the Lord. He is the jewel of heaven. It is before His feet that we will cast our crowns. When the dying thief on the cross asked Jesus to remember him, Jesus replied, "Today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). It wasn't paradise the thief would cherish; it was being with Jesus. What makes our heavenly home so inviting is that it is also His heavenly home. Jesus makes heaven heaven.

It is God's plan for our future that we be taken to live with Him forever in heaven. But we aren't there yet. Did God give us any promises about heaven that would cheer us along the way? Indeed He did.

"A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also" (John 14:19).

"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:3).

"[God] has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you" (I Pet. 1:3,4).

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Rom. 8:18).

"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord" (I Thess. 4:16,17).

These are God's plans and promises. His plans were laid before the foundation of the world. His promises were made and recorded in His inerrant Word.

If you acknowledge God's plan for your life, allow Him to involve Himself in your life and set Him as the goal of your life. Then you are poised to claim His promises.

He has "given to us exceedingly great and precious promises that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature" (II Pet. 1:4). God's promises are not to be denied; they are not to be underrated; they are not to be forgotten. They are to be claimed, enjoyed, believed, clung to as the only hope in a hopeless world. Claim God's promises to you today, and you'll see how they come true tomorrow.