Pastor’s Thoughts – 10-12-2025

For most people home is a significant and important place. No matter our circumstances, the factor of going home is dear to us.  A person may have their own room, their own bed, familiar personal items around, and no matter how meager it is, it has importance as something personal and special. Yet, in addressing this, we know that all places in the present only have relative importance because everything in this life is both tainted and temporary. I have many fond memories of my childhood homes. Those places once so important, now belong to others. Some of them are in a radical state of decline. We know that our time in our present physical bodies and temporary locations are all subject to change and will not last. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:1, “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” This is such a wonderful and powerful promise for those in Christ Jesus. I have often thought of Abraham, who lived in tents as a person never experiencing even what most of us have had with a home, at least for a time, as a roof over our head. It says of him, “For he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb. 11:10).

We know that our time of living in our fallen world is short, and that here we have no lasting place. If we are in Christ, our citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20). We also know that God has appointed our exact time, place, and purpose here (Acts 17:26). This brings us great comfort to know all things are in His infinitely wise hands. And among the greatest and most significant of all promises directly related to our future well-being comes from the very mouth of Christ Himself. In speaking to His disciples, who were in distress because they had been told the Lord was about to leave them, our Lord said to them, “Let not your heart be troubled” (John 14:1). He was not saying this as some pep talk with no substance, but in the context of what He would give by reason as something far more significant than their immediate short-sighted circumstance. He goes on to say, “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places.” Then He informs them, this is where He will be, and ultimately where we, those in Christ just as they His disciples were in Christ, will reside. We will be in glory where God the Father is, and where the Son is, and be neighbors to precious dear ones who love the Lord. If I personally attempt to grasp this, I find myself inadequate to even begin to comprehend all that this promise entails.

If that were not enough, what is repeated twice by our Lord is this statement; “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2-3). I hope we can begin to grasp the magnitude of this promise. He then tells them and us in Him, that He will come and take us to reside in this promised place. Once in my life I personally had a home built where Jan and I selected a builder and oversaw its construction. It made the home very personal, and yet it was limited by our budget, our location, and our creative abilities. Consider for a moment who is preparing for those of us in Christ a place to reside in glory. What limitations does He have? He has none in any sphere of consideration. He has no budget constraints. He has no creative constraints. He knows us personally so that the dwelling He is creating for each of us is not a tract home but is, “for you.” The you He addresses are the disciples and by extension those of us who believe through their witness. It is very personal for each individual, and because of who is preparing and promising, it is something perfectly unimaginably wonderful. We will never feel more at home.

We who have the blessings of living in this century, and in America where there are so many nice homes and material things that make our lives more comfortable are subject to being distracted. As nice as these conveniences are, they are temporary. They reside in a fallen world that is always in a state of decline and trouble leading to failure. There is no ultimate resolution no matter what man invents. Christ continues to stand alone as the only true hope for any person. The issue with this as with all issues is a matter between faith and sight. Will we like Abraham, look for a city not made with hands, or will we attach ourselves here and become engrossed in loving the world? The passage I often consider as being so significant are the words of our Lord, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul” (Mark 8:36). We should all have hearts of gratitude to God for every blessing that He provides us. We are all undeserving, yet we possess so many blessings daily they cannot be counted, and to have a home to come to, be it even temporary, is a great blessing! But our real focus must be upon Him who has redeemed us to live for Him, and to be with Him eternally. There are no words to adequately express our thankfulness to our Lord. David perhaps comes the closest; “Bless the Lord oh my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name” (Ps. 103:1).