[Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: A heavenly perspective

By Oke Chinye

Read: Hebrews 11:1-16

Meditation verse:

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but. Having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13).

I watched a Christian documentary several years ago. In it were scenes of different individuals in desperate situations. There was the story of a teenage mother with a 2-year-old son who had lived a rough life and had no income of her own. She was suffering from sickle cell and had been bleeding for two months. And she was asking why God would do this to her. In another scene a plane full of passengers was shaking violently and about to crash. And the movie focused on a man shouting hysterically “help us oh God”. Several other scenes were shown were people in desperate situations cried out to God.

Hebrews 11: 13-16 (NIV) says “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own… They were longing for a better country- a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them”. These people died without receiving all that God promised them, but they never lost their vision of a better place- Heaven.

The Christian life and our walk of faith is not always a bed of roses. Bad things happen to sinners and believers alike. We live in a fallen world where loss and pain abound. God did not promise us a hassle-free life here on earth, what He promised us was a better place in Heaven. Too many Christians become discouraged, frustrated, and eventually give up, when we feel God did not show up as we expected Him to. We must keep our eyes on Him and adopt a heavenly perspective. Life may be hard now, but someday, we will be in a place where there will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain. For the former things would have passed away (Revelation 21:4). Hold on to this hope today and never lose sight of it again.

IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Dcns Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

For Prayers and Counseling email rockteachingministry@gmail.com

or call +2348155525555

For more enquiries, visit: www.rockteachingministry.org.