BBD 05.04.05 Will You be Surprised?
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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05.04.05
Will You be Surprised?
Today's devotional was written by my son, Clark Wrather, who is the pastor
of the First Baptist Church of Broken Bow, Oklahoma. The church is building
a family life center with additional classroom space. The title and
Scripture have been added.
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or
think, according to the power that works in us.. - Ephesians 3:20.
Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. - Revelation 21:2.
And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God
Himself will be with them and be their God. - Revelation 21:3.
If you have driven by the church lately, you may have noticed a few changes
to the grassy area. Actually, it should probably not be called the grassy
area any longer. The grass has mostly been removed. A section of the chain
link fence has been taken away. A large strip of the sidewalk next to the
Fellowship Hall has been eradicated. The bell tower has disappeared as well.
I imagine that many of you had thoughts similar to my own when I first saw
what had happened in the grassy area. I thought, I can't believe it! They
are actually doing something! The builders are getting started on our new
building! You could summarize my general feeling as one of surprise.
If you were surprised, like me, that the first initial stages of
construction had begun, why were you? We have known it was going to happen
for several weeks. We have been preparing for our new building for several
years. We prayed, planned, worked through our problems with the city, worked
with an architect, raised money, accepted bids, and took pledges. Yet when
things seem to be getting started, we are surprised.
I think Heaven is going to be very similar. We spend our lives preparing
ourselves to be there. If you have believed in Jesus Christ, you know that
you will be in Heaven some day. You know that it is going to happen. You
know that there is no person or power that can keep you from going.
We have an idea of what Heaven will be like from the Bible, but most of us
will be surprised by what Heaven is like. We will be surprised to be
standing before the throne of God. We will be surprised by some of the
people that made it. Sure, we know these things will happen in an abstract
way, but when we experience them first hand, we will be surprised.
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