Jesus Calling - December 15th, 2024

Jesus Calling: December 15

Your longing for heaven is good, because it is an extension of your yearning for Me. The hope of heaven is meant to strengthen and encourage you, filling you with wondrous Joy. Many Christians have misunderstood this word hope, believing that it denotes wishful thinking. Nothing could be further from the truth! As soon as I became your Savior, heaven because your ultimate destination. The phrase hope of heaven highlights the benefits you can enjoy even while remaining on earth. This hope keeps you spiritually alive during dark times of adversity; it brightens your path and heightens your awareness of My Presence. My desire is that you may overflow with hope by the great power of the Holy Spirit.

RELATED SCRIPTURE:

Romans 8:23-25 (NLT)
23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. 24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)

Additional insight regarding Romans 8:23-25: Christians—God's children through faith in Christ (Romans 3:26)—can experience love, joy, peace, and hope in the power of the Holy Spirit. At the same time, we should also expect to experience suffering (John 16:33). This is not just the suffering of persecution (2 Corinthians 5:1–5). It includes the way we all suffer, along with all of creation, thanks to the consequences of sin. We live in a world subjected by God to futility and decay, as a way to bring about His perfect plan (Romans 8:20–22).

Hebrews 6:18-20 (NLT)
18 So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. 19 This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. 20 Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Additional insight regarding Hebrews 6:18-19: These two unchangeable things are God's promise and his oath. God embodies all truth; therefore, he cannot lie, and we can be secure in his promises. We don't need to wonder if he will change his purpose and plans. Our hope of heaven stands secure and immovable, anchored in God, just as a ship/s anchor holds firmly to the seabed. To someone truly seeing who comes to God in belief, God gives an unconditional promise of acceptance. When you ask God with openness, honesty, and sincerity to save you from your sins, he will do it. If this truth gives you encouragement, assurance, and confidence, grasp it. Don't let go no matter what happens around you. 

Additional insight regarding Hebrews 6:19-20: A curtain hung between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, God's inner sanctuary. This curtain prevented anyone from entering, gazing into, or even getting a fleeting glimpse of the interior of the Most Holy Place (also see Hebrews 9:1-8). The high priest could enter these once a year to stand in God's presence and stone for the sins of the entire nation. But Christ dwells in God's presence at all times - not just once a year - as the High priest who continually intercedes for us. 

Romans 15:13 (NLT)
13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.