Our Eternal Home

Billy Graham wrote in his book Facing Death, Today we are told how to look young, stay trim, keep healthy, have a good image, think positively, make more money, and have more friends !ll these " indicate that we are trying desperately to cling to this present world The truth is, life is transitory #hat is your life$ %ou are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes& '(ames )*+)b, -f we want to make the most of life, we need to face the fact that it is going to end !s we look to God&s #ord for comfort today, - would like to focus our thoughts on the eternal home that God has prepared for ........... and the eternal home /e is preparing for all of us !s - get older - begin to think about this more and more with an understanding that life really is very short and eternity is forever John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. (2) in My Fathers house are many mansions; if it were not so, would have told you. !o to "re"are a "la#e for you. ($) %nd if !o and "re"are a "la#e for you, will #ome a!ain and re#eive you to Myself; that where am, there you may be also.& This is one of my favorite 0criptures, because it gives me so much hope and e1citement as - look towards eternity (ust think, the greatest carpenter that ever e1isted on earth and in heaven is building a dream home for you Think about some of the most beautiful homes you have ever seen and the talent that went into designing and building one of those homes -t is nothing in comparison to what (esus is preparing for you !ll of the greatest talents that have ever e1isted in designing and building homes came from /im Colossians 1:15-17 'e is the ima!e of the invisible God, the firstborn over all #reation. (()) For by 'im all thin!s were #reated that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or "rin#i"alities or "owers. %ll thin!s were #reated throu!h 'im and for 'im. ((*) %nd 'e is before all thin!s, and in 'im all thin!s #onsist. Jesus is the Door to this eternal home. John 10:9 am the door, f anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will !o in and out and find "asture.

2 Corinthians 5:1-2, 8 For we +now that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a buildin! from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2) For in this we !roan, earnestly desirin! to be #lothed with our habitation whi#h is from heaven. (,) -e are #onfident, yes, well "leased to be absent from the body and to be "resent with the Lord. The apostle 2aul had such a glorious vision of eternity and heaven that he was in great turmoil over a desire to depart and be with 3hrist or to remain in the flesh /e reali4ed that there was nothing in this life that offered any comparison to what eternity offered Philippians 1:23-24 For am hard "ressed between the two, havin! a desire to de"art and be with .hrist, whi#h is far better. (2/) 0evertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. This is the reality that must take shape in our lives if we are to be properly prepared to deal with, not only (uanita&s death, but others as well #hen this truth becomes reality for us death loses its sting !lthough5 !s - stated earlier for the 3hristian, death brings mi1ed feelings -n one sense we look upward and re6oice in the new found happiness and 6oy our loved one is e1periencing in the hands of the 7ord and in the reunion of those who have gone on before us 8n the other hand we look downward and weep 6ust as (esus did when his friend 7a4arus died, because there is a sense of loss and sad separation when a loved one has departed from our lives of whom we shall miss greatly This is why the writer of the Book of 9cclesiastes wrote* Ecclesiastes 7:1 % !ood name is better than "re#ious ointment, and the day of death than the day of ones birth. !nd why the 2salmist says* Psalm 116:15 1re#ious in the si!ht of the L234 is the death of 'is saints. #hy is death precious in the sight of God$ 3ould it be because /e knows the wonders and the glory of eternity$

Eternal and Heavenly Realities

1. Heaven and Eternity are beyond our Wildest Expectations. 2 Corinthians 2:9-10 5ut as it is written6 7ye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the thin!s whi#h God has "re"ared for those who love 'im.& ((8) 5ut God has revealed them to us throu!h 'is 9"irit. For the 9"irit sear#hes all thin!s, yes, the dee" thin!s of God. 2. Our Place in Heaven is created accordin to our o!n Desires. - believe the place that (esus is preparing for each one of us and the one /e has already prepared for (uanita, 0andy and Bill is according to our desires The Bible says, that /is intimately ac:uainted with all of our ways and that /e desires to give us the desires of our heart Psalm 139:3 :ou #om"rehend my "ath and my lyin! down, and are a#;uainted with all my ways. Psalm 37:4 4eli!ht yourself also in the L234, and 'e shall !ive you the desires of your heart. /ow many of us have been somewhere, maybe in some one else&s home and said, #ow5 This place is totally me -t&s like it was built for me 8r maybe you were shopping and saw something you really liked and said #ow5 This skirt or this outfit has my name written all over it - believe, when we arrive at our eternal dwelling place this is what we are going to say; /ow did %ou know$ This is great5 - mean this beyond my wildest dreams and desires5 %ou see, God knows all there is to know about us, even things we don&t :uite know or have grasped about ourselves The beautiful thing is< that when we see it and e1perience it, we will recogni4e it as us and our unspoken desires as well as our spoken desires This is an aspect of eternal life in heaven that is going to be awesome and wonderful beyond our wildest imaginations #e are going to have the opportunity to make all of these wonderful discoveries about who we are and what our true desires are

This is what ........... is now e1periencing This is what other loved ones who have passed away been e1periencing for :uite some time They have been e1periencing these wonderful discoveries ". Heaven is a Place o# $o %ore &orro!' Pain and (ryin . e!elation 21:4 %nd God will wi"e away every tear, from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor #ryin!; and there shall be no more "ain, for the former thin!s have "assed away.& ). Heaven is a Place o# Eternal *eauty. e!elation 22:1-2 %nd 'e showed me a "ure river of water of life, #lear as #rystal, "ro#eedin! from the throne of God and of the Lamb (2) n the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, whi#h bore twelve fruits, ea#h tree yieldin! its fruit every month. %nd the leaves of the tree were for the healin! of the nations. /ow can we help but re6oice with ............, who is now with the 7ord (esus 3hrist in this wonderful place of eternal beauty and rest, where there is no more pain, sorrow, death or crying +hey are in that special place that has been eternally prepared for them 7et his heavenly reality fill your hearts with hope and assurance in the midst of the grief you are feeling over her loss God will be there to comfort you and see you through this season of your life /e is faithful =emember* (esus is the Door to this eternal home There is no other way John 10:9 am the door, f anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will !o in and out and find "asture. - believe this is something ............ would say to us if he>she had the opportunity* Bury my body, but do not bury my beliefs, Bury my heart, but do not bury my love, Bury my eyes, but not my vision, Bury my feet, but not the path of my life, Bury my hands, but do not bury my efforts, Bury my shoulders, but not the concerns - carried, Bury me, but do not bury my life5 -f you must bury something, bury my sins and my weaknesses,

But let my love for each of you continue in (esus