Good morning everyone! Happy Friday!! I’m heading out camping this weekend with my family one last time before the rain and colder temperatures set in during the fall and winter months. We are going to the same campground as pictured above. I love getting outdoors and resting in the peace and serenity of God’s Creation–so restorative and beautiful.
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Have you ever considered the thought that all the work God is doing through you and in you is not just for today, but for eternity?
In all honesty, these two testimonial quotes really broadened my thoughts, perspective, and hope in light of all God is allowing me to go through here in relation to my spending eternity there with Him in Heaven. Take a look:
Dr. Billy Graham writes, “I have a friend who lost his job, a fortune, his wife, and his home. But he tenaciously held to his faith–the only thing he had left. One day he stopped to watch some men doing stonework on a huge church. One of them was chiseling a triangular piece of stone.
“What are you going to do with that?” asked my friend. The workman said, “See that little opening way up there near the spire? Well, I’m shaping this down here so it will fit up there.”
Tears filled my friend’s eyes as he walked away, for it seemed that God had spoken through the workman to explain the whole ordeal through which he was passing, “I’m shaping you down here so you’ll fit in up there.”
After you have “suffered a while, make you perfect…settle you,” echo the words of the Bible (Graham, Dr. Billy 154-155).
While I was reading that testimony, it opened up my heart and mind to ALL God is doing not only in my life but to those around me as well. I’ve got to admit oftentimes I think only of what God is doing through me today, and how, through Him, I can make a difference in this world. I never gave much thought to the fact that He is shaping me down here to fit in in Heaven!! Amazing!
Consider, also, this quote that Victor Hugo said of death:
“When I go down to the grave I can say, like so many others: I have finished my work, but I cannot say I have finished my life. My day’s work will begin the next morning. My tomb is not a blind alley. It is a thoroughfare. It closes in the twilight to be open in the dawn” (Graham, Dr. Billy 104).
I find so much hope in these testimonies. They assure me that, because I have salvation through Jesus Christ, all that I am going through has a purpose, even though I may not know it here on earth.
Joy is coming and nothing is wasted!! Can you imagine it?! What will YOUR first morning be like with Jesus?
Running and skipping around pain-free? Hugging loved ones you haven’t met yet or seen in a very long time? Finally, shaking loose from the bondage of addiction? Eating foods/meals that disease has prevented you from having? Yes, I imagine good food/meals in Heaven, after all, Jesus ate a piece of fish with some of His disciples after His resurrection (Luke 24: 40-43), right?? 🙂
Oh, the Glory to be revealed that day!! Until then, keep using me, Father, for Your Glory!!
All the Glory to God,
Shanon
Graham, Dr. Billy. “Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional.” March 27, pg.104. May 3, pgs. 154-155. WORD Publishing. Print.
Image of Romans 8:18 Pinterest. Hope for tomorrow’s counseling. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/50806302026658068/?nic=1
Heaven Sent Sentiments 