Day 24: From Here To Eternity
- Joni
- Jul 24
- 3 min read
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY
may be the title of a movie,
but it is
oh, so much more than that.
Because
IT is where
you and I are LIVING right now.
LIVING IN THE MIDDLE.
From your
ONCE UPON A TIME,
when
GOD
knitted you together in your mother's womb,
to
ETERNITY,
where you will live
forever
and ever
and ever
and ever...
Think about that.
YOU WILL NEVERCEASE TO EXIST.
From this moment to your last breath on earth,
your story does not end.
JESUS said,
"I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in ME will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in ME will never die.
Do you believe this?"
(John 11:25–26)
Do you BELIEVE THIS?
Because if you and I
WILL NEVER CEASE TO EXIST,
then how we live
FROM HERE
on our way
TO ETERNITY
matters.
For those who belong
to CHRIST,
there is a PROMISE~
"He who overcomes [the world through believing that JESUS is THE SON OF GOD]
will accordingly be dressed in white clothing; and
I will never blot out his name from the BOOK OF LIFE,
and I will confess and openly acknowledge his name before MY FAITHER
and before HHIS angels
[saying that he is one of MINE]"
(Revelation 3:5).
Oh,
what
GREAT HOPE.
What
GREAT PEACE.
Because
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY
doesn't mean we simply wait for heaven.
It means we
LIVE
in this moment,
right here,
right now,
with our eyes
FIXED ON JESUS.
Whatever may or may not be happening
in your life at this very moment,
there is
HOPE.
Because
JESUS
is not simply
THE ONE
who promises ETERNITY.
HE is ETERNAL.
"What a GOD we have! And how fortunate we are to have HIM, this FATHER of our MASTER JESUS! Because JESUS was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for,
including a future in heaven—and the future starts now!
GOD is keeping careful watch over us and the future.
The DAY is coming when you'll have it all—life healed and whole"
(1 Peter 1:3–5, MSG)
And we don't travel
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY
alone.
The ONE who is ETERNAL
walks with you right now.
Because ETERNITY is not merely
something ahead of us.
For GOD has
"...set eternity in the human heart"
(Ecclesiastes 3:11).
And JESUS PROMISES,
"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age"
(Matthew 28:20).
And that brings us back to
CHRISTMAS.
On that
SILENT NIGHT,
that
HOLY NIGHT,
something happened that changed
your ETERNITY
forever.
The ETERNAL ONE entered time.
THE ONE
who was there before the beginning
became
a BABY.
The CREATOR
entered
HIS creation.
The WORD became flesh.
HEAVEN came down to earth
so that one day
you could be
with HIM forever.
That is CHRISTMAS.
And that is why
CHRISTMAS IN JULY
is so much more than remembering
a BABY in a manger.
The MANGER points us to THE CROSS.
THE CROSS points us to the EMPTY TOMB.
And the EMPTY TOMB points us toward ETERNITY.
So here we are,
somewhere between
our
ONCE UPON A TIME
and our
FOREVER.
LIVING IN THE MIDDLE,
while walking
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY.
But never walking alone.
Because
JESUS IS HERE.
HE came.
HE died.
HE rose.
HE lives.
Because JESUS LIVES, are you really LIVING LIFE
to the fullest in this very moment,
even if
HOPE,
PEACE,
and JOY are far from seen?
For what you are experiencing in the here and now is
REAL to you,
and is REAL TO GOD.
HE sees it.
HE knows it.
HE is with you in it.
And that is exactly why
HOPE,
PEACE,
and
JOY
are still REAL
for you in every moment.
Not because your circumstances
aren't REAL,
but because
JESUS IS.
And when
JESUS is your REAL,
what you cannot see
becomes greater than what you can see~
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away,
yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving
for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen,
since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal"*
(2 Corinthians 4:16-18).
Therefore,
when
what you see tries to steal
your
HOPE,
PEACE,
and
JOY,
don't look around.
Have a CHRISTMAS of the HEART
and
"LOOK UP CHILD"
(listen to the song below)
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