Longing for Heaven
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Think Heaven
"And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God."
In his excellent book, Heaven, Randy Alcorn writes, "God is the only one we really long for. His presence brings satisfaction; his absence brings thirst and longing. Our longing for Heaven is a longing for God. . . ."
Heaven is the dwelling place of God himself. In a broad sense, God is everywhere. The psalmist wrote, "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?" (Psalm 139:7). God is everywhere, but in another sense, He dwells in heaven in all of His glory.
We long to be with God. We long to see God. But if God were to show himself to us today, we couldn't handle it, because God is perfect and flawless and holy, and we are imperfect and flawed and unholy.
One day Moses said to God, "Please, show me Your glory." God couldn't do that for Moses, because no one can see God and live. But He did say, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion" (Exodus 33:19).
There is coming a day when you will see God. Job said, "And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God" (Job 19:26). That will happen when you get to heaven. And seeing God will be like seeing everything else for the first time, because not only will you see Him, but He will be the lens through which you will see everything else: people, yourself, and the events of this life.
We long for heaven, but this longing is really a longing for God himself.
Heaven is the dwelling place of God himself. In a broad sense, God is everywhere. The psalmist wrote, "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?" (Psalm 139:7). God is everywhere, but in another sense, He dwells in heaven in all of His glory.
We long to be with God. We long to see God. But if God were to show himself to us today, we couldn't handle it, because God is perfect and flawless and holy, and we are imperfect and flawed and unholy.
One day Moses said to God, "Please, show me Your glory." God couldn't do that for Moses, because no one can see God and live. But He did say, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion" (Exodus 33:19).
There is coming a day when you will see God. Job said, "And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God" (Job 19:26). That will happen when you get to heaven. And seeing God will be like seeing everything else for the first time, because not only will you see Him, but He will be the lens through which you will see everything else: people, yourself, and the events of this life.
We long for heaven, but this longing is really a longing for God himself.
TODAY'S RADIO PROGRAM: "Wrestling with God — II"
BIBLE READING: 2 Chronicles 33
Copyright © 2010 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version.
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights
reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced
in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas
Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000
A Real Place for Real People
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