A room with an amazing view

While reading my daily devotional I was struck with a verse that was totally off subject I thought. Today's verse came from the book of Hebrews 11:8-16 (⁸ By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; ¹⁰ for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.¹¹ By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child^[a] when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. ¹² Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.¹³ These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them,^[b]embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. ¹⁴ For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. ¹⁵ And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country.Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.) and spoke of Abraham and Sarah, how they left the land that they knew, the families that loved them and grew with them and travelled to a land that was unfamiliar, even potentially hostile...and then the verse of John 14:1-6 came to mind.14 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ² In My Father’s house are many mansions;^[a] if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.^[b] 3 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. ⁴ And where I go you know, and the way you know.”⁵ Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

I frowned at that thought, just for a brief second not fully comprehending the fact that these two verses, even though they are in separate books altogether worked so much in tandem with each other. Both verses talk about faith. Faith, as we know is the hope of that which is unseen...and knowing without a doubt that it is indeed a factual thing even though the actual hands on, see it with our own eyes proof is not there. Abraham and Sarah lived by faith...faith that a God that was totally foreign to their country was leading them to something that was so much more than they could ever comprehend; faith that every step of the way, even without the support of the extended family would be guarded and guided. Faith that when Abraham was commanded by God to sacrifice his only son Isaac, he did so without hesitation, knowing, again by faith, that God would supply the perfect sacrifice. Abraham lived out his life seeing the Hand of God over him and through each and every circumstance and lived to see his Promised Land spread out in glorious splendor before him and was blessed to hear the Promise of God that his descendants would be as many as the sands of the sea if they could indeed be counted. 

John 14, on the other hand speaks of a new home that will be more glorious than we could ever imagine. Even the most amazing home here on earth is a hovel compared to the Mansion that God is preparing for us. So, how are the two different passages the same? Part of the answer is obvious, I think. Both speak of faith actions, in other words, living and moving forward by faith that the God of all Eternity has your proverbial back. That He is preparing for your arrival and that your final destination is the most amazing place that you could ever imagine. 

The Bible talks about some aspects of the New Jerusalem, the New Heavens and the New Earth. It speaks of streets paved with gold so pure that you can see straight through them. It speaks of the walls of the City built with pearls, amethysts, diamonds....precious, precious jewels. It tells of the gates being made from one pearl....one pearl! Could you imagine the totally irritated oyster that coughs that one up? Actually, it would be twelve of them....these are GATES, folks, not jewelry! The big cats would be as docile as house cats and the bear and the dog would eat the grass of the field. I can't even begin to tell you the picture in my mind's eye of the vibrant and vivid colors that we will see, it would be so intense that I think that even now God sometimes allows us to see maybe just a hint in the hummingbird's chest or the skies at sunset.  But I think I ran a little off subject here, not much, but maybe a little. 

I believe that my point is that we maybe should be looking beyond the limits that this Earth and mortal shell puts on us and look forward to the release and relief of the New Kingdom that is oh, so close at hand. I'm not suggesting that one should go nuts, sell all they have and wait on top of a hill with an aluminum foil hat for the Mother Ship to come and scoop them up. No, far from it. Besides, unless you are saved, by grace by Jesus then even thinking albeit briefly about being in a new Home is pretty fruitless. It just ain't going to happen.

Now before all of y'all start going bonkers on me, I gave you fair warning about me in my first post...I'm a Christian and from time to time these kinds of posts would pop up. I just think that sometimes, its just proper to share these kinds of thoughts, and while you might disagree with my thought pattern, the fact that you've read this far means that something has piqued your interest otherwise you would have "click-ied the button" out of here after the first verse was read. I whole-heartedly believe, by faith in my Lord Jesus Christ that one day I will be walking those streets of gold, listening to my favorite Apostle, Peter talk about the time that he stepped out of the boat and walked on water; or my favorite President, Abraham Lincoln talk about the times that he prayed for wisdom during the Civil War. Or perhaps Lydia would show me how to dye fine linen with the purple dye that she gathered the ingredients for with her own hands. I look forward to meeting my little brother Andrew, seeing again my Papa, Nanny and Grandma, not to mention others in my family who have gone on before and will one day walk those streets as well because they had the faith of a mustard seed in Jesus, and I want to meet the thief who, with his last breath asked Jesus to forgive him and bring him Home. 

Faith. Faith that there is the Land that was Promised. Faith that moves mountains; calms the seas; heals the sick; raises the dead and creates flesh where once there was nothing but stone for a heart. Faith that what we are seeing and hearing and experiencing in the here and now is going to be gone, nothing but a fading memory. The pain, the anguish, the suffering. The wars, famines, terror; the governments that rise and fall; dictate and govern the citizens into despair. The tears, the grief, the anger and guilt...they will all be gone. These things will no longer be a part of our vocabulary, no longer a part of our thought process. Our hearts will no longer break over a lost loved one, a prodigal child or a parent who was stripped of all of the memories that they had cherished once before. No longer will there be crippled, mentally retarded, blind, deaf or dumb children for these will be things that they will never, ever have to experience again.

Am I a dreamer? You betcha. I don't know about you folks, but a room with a view of the New Jerusalem, The New Heaven and Earth, watching children that once were unable to communicate, walk or even see playing with the lion cubs as the lioness sleepily watches nearby and purrs so loud that I can hear it blocks away, watching the Ancient of Days sitting nearby, playing and laughing with other children. Watching those who once could not see wonder at the rose or become amazed at the sunset. Observing the deaf dance and laugh at the music that they hear and the joy in their voices as they lift up praises to God. Watching the Saints of Old walking and talking with those who perhaps put their faith in Jesus with their dying breath and taking in long, deep breaths of the pure, unadulterated simplicity and beauty of it all. If I am counted as a fool, then so be it....I would rather be a fool saved by grace than a woman of incredible wisdom who is condemned to an eternity separated from my Abba Father.