Our New Home

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home…. I am going to prepare a place for you…. When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am” (John 14:1-3).

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Ramesh Richard in Soul Vision tells of a Friday afternoon, and his last appointment with one of his students. Wilfred was a focused, determined thirty-three-year-old Ghanaian student at his college. Wilfred was the first man in his village to go to university and translated the New Testament into his mother tongue. He opted to go home for several years before pursuing his doctorate degree. He wanted his professor to come and visit him once he got to Ghana. With a smile, he said, “See you at home!” Sadly, those were Wilfred’s final words. God had a different meaning for the word “home.” Wilfred was hit and killed by a drunk driver that same night.

The Church is in the eternal home preparation business.

There are two things that we can do on earth that we cannot do in heaven. We cannot sin in heaven. We cannot prepare people for heaven – witness or evangelize. This work must be done now.

“Jesus has gone away to heaven, and some day, just as he went, he will return!” (Acts 1:11, TLB).

Are You Having a Chippie Day?

I love this story. There are several versions on the Internet. Here’s one: Maybe you feel like “Chippie the Parakeet” in Max Lucado’s Eye of the Storm.

Chippie the parakeet never saw it coming. One second he was peacefully perched on his cage. The next he was sucked in, washed up, and blown over.

Problems began when Chippie’s owner decided to clean Chippie’s cage with a vacuum cleaner. She removed the attachment from the end of the hose and stuck it in the cage. The phone rang, and she turned to pick it up. She’d barely said “hello” when sssopp! Chippie got sucked in.

The bird-owner gasped, put down the phone, turned off the vacuum, and opened the bag. There was Chippie—still alive, but stunned. Since the bird was covered with dust and soot, she grabbed him and raced to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and held Chippie under running water.

Then, realizing that Chippie was soaked and shivering, she did what any considerate bird-owner would do. She reached for the hair dryer and blasted the bird with hot air. Poor Chippie never knew what hit him.

A few days after the ordeal, the reporter who’d originally written about the event contacted Chippie’s owner to see how the bird was recovering.

“Well,” she replied, “Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore—he just sits and stares.”

It’s not hard to see why. Sucked in, washed up, and blown over. That’s enough to steal the song from any heart. Maybe that’s the way you feel.

photo credit: hyper7pro via photopin cc