My Hope Of Heaven by Edwin O'Hanlon

Imagine you’re taking a trip. You arrive at the airport check-in desk, but you’re the only passenger there. Security's a ghost town. So is your gate. You board an empty airplane and meet no one the entire flight. No captain. No stewardess. No one.

In many ways, this is death. We enter this world alone, and we leave just the same. But what if the person you loved most of all was eagerly waiting for you once you disembarked the flight? That ought to warm your heart and stop the trip from feeling like a Twilight Zone episode, right? Well, Jesus promises just this!

The joy of hoping on heaven purifies the lives of the redeemed. Paul says: If you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God (Col. 3:1). Paul toiled tirelessly for the Church’s sanctification because he knew heavenly eyes are the best shield against sin. 

We may be positionally righteous on this side of heaven, but none of us are practically perfect until we go to be with the Lord. We must look ahead to the sweet hereafter. And when our day of departure comes, may we share Paul’s desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better (Phil. 1:23). Amen and amen. Come Lord Jesus.

***

Edwin O'Hanlon

Christians celebrate both the Cross, where Jesus gave His life to rescue us, and the Crown, symbolic of His victory over sin and death. 

He died and rose again that sinners like me might forever know and love God. 

My mission now is to rejoice in Christ, explore Scripture, and magnify its loving author by publishing weekly articles at www.fromcrosstocrown.com

Our Thank-Yous Are From The Lord

...we remember, however, that what we do we do unto God,

Remember,

whatever you do unto God

does not require a thank you from man. 

Sometimes we do something for someone and forget about it. Whether it was voluntary or requested, when we remember what we did we may think so-and-so did not thank me for what I did. Maybe the person forgot to thank us, or maybe they were not aware that it was us who did it. Maybe it was done jointly with another person, and that person received a thanks, but we did not. We may feel left out, unappreciated or unacknowledged at the moment we realize that we were not thanked. 

It is nice to receive a thank you from others. It is good to be appreciated, for a job well-done or a gift given, by relatives, friends and others. When we remember, however, that what we do we do unto God, we don't feel so deprived when we are not thanked. When we remind ourselves that we are always aware of the presence of our God, and that he sees what we do with pure hearts, we don't have to solicit thank yous from others.

The Bible, that lamp unto our feet and that light unto our paths, reminds us that:

Whatever you are doing, let your hearts be in your work,

 as a thing done for the Lord and not for men. 

 Colossians 3:23 (WNT)

Whatever you do, do it readily, as to the Lord and not to men;

(BBE)

Whatever you do, do it from the heart for the Lord and not for people.

(CEB)

Whatever work you do, put yourself into it,

as those who are serving not merely other people,

but the Lord.

(CJB) 

Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men,

(CSB)

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,

as though you were working for the Lord and not for people.

(GNT)