Where Is Jesus Right Now?

God gives us some information that brings us great joy! Jesus, our resurrected, glorious Savior, is in heaven, at the right hand of God the Father. Right now!

1 Peter 3:22 -- "Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand -- with angels, authorities, and powers in submission to Him." 

And Mark 16:19, "After the Lord had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven, and He sat at the right hand of God."

Luke 24:51 and Acts 1:9-11 describe His bodily ascent into heaven - while the disciples gazed in wonder.

There are many other references to Jesus' presence in heaven, "seated at the right hand of God."

Acts 7:55 describes Stephen's vision of Christ in heaven as he is being stoned to death -- this one is a little different: Christ is "standing," not "seated," at God's right hand. 

(Maybe He is standing because, as Stephen is dying, Christ is getting ready to receive him into His glory and kingdom - personally greeting him, welcoming him  --- honoring him for his sacrifice.  ?)

Anyway, Jesus is in an actual place called heaven, a place of glory, surrounded by angelic hosts.

He is honored and glorified at God's right hand!

Our Savior, the tortured, mocked and crucified One, is now receiving cosmic glory. (We can only imagine!)

What joy we have! Our crucified Savior is now bring worshipped and adored -- and will be forever. 

And someday we will be there, too!

It's an Upside-Down World!

Things seem so upside-down now, so confused and mixed up. Donald Grey Barnhouse, in his book on Revelation, makes these comments --

  "There are four things out of place in the universe.

   The church is out of place. She should be in heaven.

   Israel is out of place. She should be occupying the land sworn to her and occupying every part.

   The devil is out of pace. He ought to be in the lake of fire.

   And Christ is out of place. He should be through with intercession and seated on His throne, reigning, instead of at His Father's throne, interceding.

   But in Revelation we begin to see all of these things that are out of place being put in their rightful place, right where they were meant to be.

   The church is in heaven.

   Israel is about to  be given back her kingdom and the promised land.

   The devil is going to be bound and cast into the lake of fire.   

   And Christ is about to reign."

And those in heaven know this. They are waiting, too.

And finally everything will be put back the way it was intended to be! 

And we will be where we were meant to be - with God  in our forever home!

Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!

My Heart - Christ's Home?

"Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.

 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with Me" (Revelation 3:20).

                      Thoughts from Charles Spurgeon --

 "Are you saying, 'I wish that He would live in my heart and make it His dwelling place forever'?

Open the door, beloved, and He will come into your soul. He has been knocking continually.  He wants to eat with you because you provide the home, your heart, and you with Him because He brings the meal.

You would have an empty table if He did not bring the food.

Fling wide then the doors of your soul. He will come with that love you long to feel, that joy you seek to revive your spirit, and that peace to restore your life. Only open the door to Him, drive out His enemies, give Him the keys, and He will live there forever. What wondrous love that brings such a guest to dwell in such a heart!"

     It's time to make your heart Christ's home! (Ephesians 3:17).

[Remember, you have to open the door yourself -- the latch is on your side -- and invite Him in....and there is only room for One - it is not a lodging house!]

The Real Challenge

Yes, The Real Challenge!

Psalm 19:14 -- "May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to You,  my Rock and My Redeemer."

  The first part, about my words (all of them?) seems really hard. But the second part seems almost impossible -- my secret thoughts, casual wonderings, mental impulses - how can we make them acceptable to our holy Father God? 

   I remember once someone shared a brilliant thought: 'You can't keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building nests in your hair'! 

   So simple! Yes, sinful thoughts, fueled by envy, anger, hatred and pride, can assault our thoughts. But we can stop them at their first appearance by immediately turning our thoughts to honor and glorify God. 

   Turn to Him with words and thoughts of praise and gratitude. Thank Him for His forgiveness, for His Spirit that is re-creating us into His image, for His righteousness that now covers us because of what Jesus did. (We can tell Satan to shut up and we can start talking to God!)

  Turn the negative unholy thoughts that dishonor God into positive holy thoughts that glorify Him!

   It works -- for sure -- but we have to be vigilant and move fast!

The Miracle We Already Got - Frederick Buechner

For what we need to know, of course, is not just that God exists, not just that beyond the steely brightness of the stars there is a cosmic intelligence of some kind that keeps the whole show going,

but that there is a God right here in the thick of our day-by-day lives who may not be writing messages about Himself in the stars

but in one way or another is trying to get messages through our blindness as we move around down here knee-deep in the fragrant muck and misery and marvel of the world.

It is not objective proof of God's existence that we want but the experience of God's Presence.

That is the miracle we are really after, and that is also, I think, the miracle that we really get.

                          -- From The Magnificent Defeat,
                                              by Frederick Buechner

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom His whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  

I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep in the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge

-- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

                                    Ephesians 3:14-19