Submitted by Curtis Tucker
Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Are you worried about your future? (part 4)
This week we are discussing the fact that it is easy to worry about the future. We get caught up in the circumstances of life...our current situation...and we begin to believe it will always be this way. Or, there is so much uncertainty in our world that we feel no security about the future. It seems to be the custom of our world to worry about the future and we get caught up in it. But, as followers of Jesus Christ we have more than next week or next month, or even next year to look forward to. We have eternity!
Scripture encourages us in several places to focus our attention on the eternal. Paul wrote to the Colossian church,
"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." (Colossians 3:1-2, NLT)
Think about heaven! Though it may seem hard to imagine, for the Christ follower, heaven will someday be reality. The New Testament is filled with scriptures that encourage the believer with the assurance of heaven. As we ask God to transform us and change the way we think, one area we can ask for help with is to recognize that this world is not the end of the story. No matter how difficult the struggles of this life, we have heaven in our future. Here's a couple more scriptures to help you think about heaven.
For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. (2 Corinthians 5:1, NLT)
Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:12, NLT)
What do you feel God is speaking to you about the future and about heaven? When you think about the future, does heaven enter into your thinking? Today, ask God to help you have a healthy focus on heaven, and the future He has planned for you in eternity.
