WEEKLY DEVOTION

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Jesus is preparing a place for us in heaven

“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2-3

Jesus’ disciples were troubled over His words that He was about to go from them to a place where they could not yet come (cf. John 13:33, 36). Jesus spoke words of comfort to them, telling them of the many mansions (dwelling places) in the house of His Father in heaven. Jesus was going to prepare a place for them, and He would come again and take them to be with Him forever in heaven.

To prepare a place for His followers to be with Him in heaven, Jesus had to go to the cross, suffer and die for the sins of the world, and then rise again and ascend to the right hand of God the Father (cf. Luke 24:46-47). From there (this exalted position of power and authority), He rules and fills all things for the good of His church; He intercedes for believers and leads and guides them by His Spirit (cf. Ephesians 1:20-23; Romans 8:34; John 14:16-18,26). Jesus continues to work for our eternal salvation; and He is preparing a place for us, that we might be with Him in the mansions of His Father’s house.

And Jesus will come again and take us to be with Him where He is! When He comes to judge this evil world, He will gather up all who have trusted in His name and take them to be with Him forever in heaven!

The Scriptures say: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).

O dearest Jesus, cleanse away our sins with Your shed blood and prepare us to meet You on that glorious day when You come again to gather up Your elect and take them to be with You forever. Amen.

[Devotion by Randy Moll. Scripture Quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.]

For The Record, Pages 4 on 05/19/2010