I paid the balance due for our vacation rental this morning. Only one more month! We’re looking forward to a few days at the beach during my granddaughter’s birthday week. It’s the gift her parents requested. She has enough toys already and she only turns one once. Lord willing, we’ll digitally capture some firsts and make some great family memories together.
My son married the perfect girl. Of course, she’s human like the rest of us, but she complements him in so many ways. He’s always been the one who lived so far in the future he often missed the joy of the moment. He’s a planner. He’s always thinking about the next ten things. She likes to take life one day at a time, and of course there’s a place for both. Solomon penned one of my favorite verses to quote to my son in his impatient moments. Consider these words from God.
“You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.”
Proverbs 19:21 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/pro.19.21.NLT
“We humans keep brainstorming options and plans, but God’s purpose prevails.”
Proverbs 19:21 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/pro.19.21.MSG
“A person may have many ideas concerning God’s plan for his life, but only the designs of God’s purpose will succeed in the end.”
Proverbs 19:21 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/pro.19.21.TPT
This promise of God gives me such comfort in this life that is so full of unknowns, but the very same words are laughable or terrifying to others because they either can’t imagine an infinite God or despise the thought of someone other than themselves in control. I’ve made enough mistakes in my life to know better than to trust my own judgement or understanding. I am grateful that the weight of the world does not, in fact, rest on my ability to make right choices in every situation. I am also keenly aware that my choices have eternal impact, so I choose to be in the Word of God regularly, keeping my eyes on what’s real rather than what’s temporal.
“Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord.
I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.
For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ.
They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth.
But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives.
And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.”
Philippians 3:1, 18-20 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/php.3.1-20.NLT
“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.
Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.
It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance.
He went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents.
And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise.
Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.
All these people died still believing what God had promised them.
They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it.
They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth.
Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own.
If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back.
But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland.
That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”
Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-10, 13-16 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.11.1-16.NLT
So “don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.
Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.
Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”
Matthew 6:19-21 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.6.19-21.NLT
“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.
For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.”
Colossians 3:1-4 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/col.3.1-4.NLT
“There is more than enough room in my Father’s home.
If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.
And you know the way to where I am going.”
Jesus told him,
“I am the way,
the truth,
and the life.
No one can come to the Father except through me.”
John 14:2-4, 6 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.14.2-6.NLT
Jesus spoke as God, at once making promises and fulfilling them. He pointed his first followers and all who would believe because of the word of their testimony- that includes you and me- to a future day when His kingdom will come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (John 17:20, Matthew 6:10)
“I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying,
“Look, God’s home is now among his people!
He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.”
Revelation 21:3 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rev.21.3.NLT
“But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved.”
2 Peter 3:13-15 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2pe.3.13-15.NLT
“Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.”
Hebrews 13:15 NLT
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