Weekly Overview:
Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus we have been afforded an opportunity to live an incredibly abundant life here on earth. Our God is nearer, more tangible, and has a greater ability to make his presence known than we’ve yet realized. He longs to make his children more in tune and aware of the depths of his love, guidance, empowerment, and nearness. He longs for our days here on earth to be marked by unveiled communion with him. As we look at what it is to live an abundant life here on earth, I pray that your heart will be awakened to the reality of God’s presence and affection in your life.
Scripture:“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11
Devotional:
You and I are living in eternity—right now. Eternal life doesn’t start when we take our last breath here. You and I are currently experiencing eternal life in relationship with our Father. C.S. Lewis said in The Weight of Glory, “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 says it this way, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”
What does it mean for you and me to live in eternity right now? What would it look like for us to have a perspective that looks past the fleeting and temporal nature of this world to the never-ending line of eternity to which we truly belong?
Having an eternal perspective causes me to live drastically differently. My heart burns to live out of obedience to passages like Matthew 6:19-21 where Jesus teaches, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” The way we live right now impacts our eternity. The way we pursue the things of God impacts what our experience will be like when heaven and earth pass away and God ushers in the new age of true face-to-face communion with him.
The time has come for us to set aside that which entangles us to the fate of this age and live for that which is eternal. The time has come for us to stop seeking fulfillment from that which is fleeting and instead pursue true abundant life here on earth by giving our heart fully to the Father. Galatians 6:8 says, “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” Where are you sowing your time, energy, resources, and heart? What treasure have you stored up with your loving, good heavenly Father? What are you doing to impact eternity?
Psalm 102:25-27 says, “Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end.” We worship a God who sees all of eternity at a glance. He dwells within the whole scope of eternity seamlessly and fully. He is the God of your past, present, and future. To give your life to him and his will is to invest in that which will fully satisfy the desires of your heart for all time. The God who has formed you knows that which will make your heart truly happy, and he is calling you to step away from the fulfillment of this age and to pursue wholeheartedly the purposes and plans of his kingdom. May you invest your affections, time, resources, and heart with your loving and kind Father. May you live for eternity and rid yourself of the burden and weight of this world. And may you experience today the abundant life that comes from acknowledging the eternal nature of all you do.
Guided Prayer:
1. Meditate on the eternal destiny to which you belong. Think about what heaven will be like. Allow Scripture to stir up your desire to live for heaven rather than the things of the world.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” John 5:24
“In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” John 14:2
“But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” Hebrews 11:16
2. Where in your life could you adopt a more eternal perspective? Where are you living for the fleeting and temporal instead of the eternal?
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
3. Take time to rest in the presence of the God who dwells in eternity. Allow him to fill you, refresh you, and revive you. Ask him to fill you with a desire to pursue eternity with greater fervor.
“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.” Acts 3:19-21
May Isaiah 57:15 fill you with praise and wonder for the God you serve and love:
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
Extended Reading: Hebrews 11
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