Originally written by Charles H. Spurgeon, published in “Mornings & Evenings,” entry for January 29th, AM.
Updated to modern English by Darren Hewer, 2011.

“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 4:18

In our Christian journey it is good and proper, at most times and in most circumstances, to be looking forward. Forward lies the crown, and onward is the goal. Whether it be for hope, for joy, for consolation, or for the inspiring of our love, the future must, after all, be the grand object of the eye of faith.

Looking into the future we see sin cast out, the body of sin and death destroyed. The soul will be made perfect, and fit to partake in the inheritance promised to God’s saints.

Looking further yet, the believer’s enlightened eye can see death’s river passed, the gloomy stream bridged, and the hills of light attained on which stands the celestial city. We perceive ourselves entering within the pearly gates, hailed as more than conquerors, crowned by the hand of Christ, embraced in the arms of Jesus, glorified with Him, and made to sit together with him, even as he has overcome and has sat down with the Father on his throne.

The thought of this future can relieve the darkness of the past and the gloom of the present. The joys of heaven will surely compensate for the sorrows of Earth. Hush, hush, my doubts! Death is but a narrow stream, and you will soon have crossed it. Time, how short! Eternity, how long! Death, how brief! Immortality, how endless! The road is so, so short! I shall soon be there.

“When the world my heart is rending
With its heaviest storm of care,
My glad thoughts to heaven ascending,
Find a refuge from despair.
Faith’s bright vision shall sustain me
Till life’s pilgrimage is past;
Fears may vex and troubles pain me,
I shall reach my home at last.”

Question: How does looking forward to the future help is in the present?

Do you have a clear picture of what the end times will look like? Learn more in our online study End Times Events

“Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready”  (Revelation 19:7).

I’ve been photographing families for years and recently a couple asked me to shoot their wedding. After I pulled up to the gardens and gathered my gear, I made my way toward the bride’s chamber.

With no make-up, her hair a mess, and standing there in an oversized button down shirt, the bride-to-be beamed. As her closest friends and family gathered around her she gushed over details about the next few hours to come. After I sneaked out the door, I took shots of the empty chapel filled with white lace, tree branches, and temperature so low it felt like a winter wonderland.

It hit me at that moment. What did the writers of the New Testament mean when they said Christ represents the bridegroom and the Church represents the bride? In my early days of Sunday School my teachers never taught the meaning of the Second Coming. They never equated the excitement I should have for Christ’s return to the excitement of a new marriage.

When Paul mentioned that he desired to die to spend eternity with Christ, I always felt guilty for my apathy about the future. For some reason floating on clouds playing harps for eternity never appealed to me like I thought it should. But as I studied the Bible, I realized God never intended eternity to look like that. As Revelation 21: 1¬4 says, “Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth’, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’”

With truth like that how can we act apathetic about Christ’s return? As I entered into the bride’s chambers once again I saw her with her hair curled around her face, her make-up flawlessly done, and her lacy, white dress enveloped around her. Her preparation of meeting the bridegroom stirred my heart.

One day Christ will return and the Church adorned, as a beautiful bride about to walk down the aisle, will meet Him. We will enter into a place where death is no more and crying, sickness, and suffering will cease to exist. With this truth, I find the perseverance to live my life.

Questions: What do you visualize as you think about Christ coming again to take His people home?

If you’re lacking peace, contact an online mentor to today to talk about it.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

I love this scripture. This is a promise that I have held onto so many times in my life. I believe that this scripture so clearly describes the character of Jesus and His desire for our lives.

When we think about relaxing, we often think about a massage, a nice bubble bath, or a day at the spa. How many of us can say that when we think about relaxation, we think about Jesus? How many of us truly come to Him when we are burdened and allow Him to give us rest?

I have to admit that allowing myself to rest in Him is not as easy. I often find myself treating Jesus as my best friend. I tell Him everything and ask for His wisdom and counsel. But, once I have told Him everything, I continue to worry about or try to control the situation. You see, in order for Jesus to give us rest, we have to take His yoke upon us and learn from Him. We have to stop trying to control everything that happens in our lives, and give all of the control over to Him.

There are so many things in our world today that can make us weary. Many of us worry, some deal with issues of obsession and control, others have exhausting relationship issues. We allow our circumstances to burden us and we become tired and stressed.

This is not the life that Jesus has for us. He does not want us to be weary and longs to give us rest. His gentleness and humbleness can be refreshing and renewing. Just the thought of sitting with Jesus and allowing Him to take on my burdens brings peace to my soul.

When we come to Jesus broken and upset, He longs to show us how small our lives really are when compared to eternity and the life we will have with Him when we leave this world.

However, while we are here, we can find joy in knowing that our Savior has promised rest from the world in Him. He is waiting for us to come and rest in His arms. He is longing for us to sit at His feet and find peace that surpasses our understanding.

Are you living the life that you have been called to live? Do you allow Jesus to bring rest and peace to your life? Or do you spend every moment of your life searching for a way to find rest and relaxation?

Ask God to remind you that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. When you begin to feel tired and stressed, stop and come to Him. When you come, don’t just come, but come and unload. He promises that He can take it and is more than willing to give you the rest and relaxation you need and deserve!

Questions: What do you do when you find yourself weary, anxious, or lacking peace?

Are you considering divorce? We want to pray for you.

“Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass and He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples and the disciples gave to the multitudes. Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children” (Matthew 14:19, 21, NKJV).

Recently I was part of a small team of ladies who put on a square dance and auction to raise funds to donate a water well to Africa. We thoroughly enjoyed the organizing process, found our community to be very generous in donating auction items, and had a lot of fun at the actual event.

We raised enough money for a water well that would impact the lives of 1000 people providing clean water and improved health for both people and animals, strengthening their economy, and opening the way for the girls to go to school rather than spending their days walking miles for water.  It also meant that we could plant a church in the village that would change lives for eternity.

I was so overwhelmed by the small thing that we had done. How little of my actual time and energy it cost, and yet what a HUGE impact it had on a whole village for now and for eternity. I began to realize that this is what the story about the fish and the loaves is about. It’s the little thing that we have to offer, and if we are willing to give that little thing, God can take it, multiply it, and use it to bless thousands.

We can often feel inadequate and that we have so little to give, but this miracle tells us that if we will just be obedient and give the little we have, we can have a major impact in the lives of others. What are the fish and loaves in your hand? What little thing is God asking you to do or give that has the potential to bless multitudes?

It is said that “there are those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who say what happened???” Let’s be those who MAKE THINGS HAPPEN to the glory of our God!

Questions: What little thing is God asking you to do or give that has the potential to bless multitudes?

Philippians 1:12-30.

It is very easy to be caught up in our daily activities that we forget that this is not all there is…eternity is ahead! When we are conscious of eternity, it changes our view of the troubles of today, the interpersonal challenges which we face, and our purpose on earth. Take this second session in the Bible study in Philippians to consider what difference it makes to live with eternity in view.

Struggling in your marriage? Talk to a mentor.

It sounds so easy, doesn’t it? And yet…I pray for God to provide financially for my mounting school debt, but my heart flips when I receive that credit card bill in the mail. I pray for God to keep my family healthy, safe, and happy, but when the phone rings I dread bad news. I try to cast my anxieties on Him, but they stick to me like my last doughnut.

Most people can quote the verse above by heart, but few know what comes just before it. “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time” (1 Peter 5:5-6).

What does pride have to do with anxiety? Why did Peter link these two ideas? For some pride looks like an upturned nose and a downward glance. For others pride oozes out of an ‘I’m not good enough’ attitude. One teacher defined pride in this way. “Pride is not thinking too much of myself. It’s thinking of myself too much.”

If pride means looking at myself, then humility means the opposite. Humility looks at God. When I feel anxious about my school debt, pride tells me I have to provide for my own needs. Humility says “God owns the cattle on a thousand hills—trust Him to provide for the future as He has the past.”

When I dread bad news with every phone call, pride tells me I need to protect my family.  Humility says “God is good! God is strong! God does not make mistakes.” When I focus on God, I cast my cares and they stick. But when I focus on myself, my cares hit the ceiling and bounce right back.

What cares are stuck to you right now? Make a list. Then go to God’s Word. Some truth or promise or story will speak to each item. Find those truths and ask yourself, “Do I believe this?” Train yourself to focus on the God who keeps all His promises. This takes practice, but when we focus on God and cast our anxieties on Him, we discover that God really does care for us. He wants to take our burdens upon Himself if we’ll just let Him.

Dear God, help us to trust You. Help us to deem Your promises true, Your character good, and Your love real. Teach us to focus our thoughts on You so that we can cast our cares into Your capable hands. Amen.

Questions: What cares are you facing right now? How can God help face these cares?

About the Author Rebecca Sample

Is Christmas time a time when days are filled with loneliness? Talk to us.

Christmas is coming!  Loved ones to see, gifts to give, baking to share. We prepare our homes for the celebration. Yet even more important than this outward preparation is the preparation of our heart. The Advent season is a beautiful reminder to prepare our hearts, as we prepare our homes, to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus! This week we light the first of the four candles in the Advent Wreath, the candle of HOPE.

Is your heart filled with hope? Do you have a confident expectation of your tomorrow? What happens when the road ahead is filled with loss and stress weighs your shoulders down? When confident expectation in life’s tomorrow dwindles, what can you do? How can you walk in hope when you feel hopeless inside? The God of Hope is your answer.

“May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace, as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).
• Hope for H elp.
We are invited to come to Him and confidently ask for help. Hebrews 4:16 tells us “to come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in our time of need”.

• Hope to O vercome
Things that leave one feeling powerless and hopeless come in many forms. With Christ’s strength you can overcome great obstacles. 1 John 5:4 says “and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith”. Faith in Jesus gives hope and help to overcome.

• Hope for P ower
Sometimes in life we find ourselves with a task that simply looks too big for us.  We do not just need a cup of God’s strength added to our own; rather we need His strength in us to do what we need to do. He will give it! 2 Cor. 12:9 says, “My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness”. Seeing our weakness as the entry point of God’s strength gives access to His power!

• Hope for E ternity
When we put our faith and hope in Jesus, it not only gives us help, strength and power where we walk today but it also gives us hope for life after death. It is a confident expectation of the ultimate “tomorrow’.

The God of Hope sent His son to be our Savior. He is only one prayer away. If you want the confident expectation of His strength and wisdom in your today and His help and hope for your tomorrow, you need only ask. Just tell Him…

Dear God, I have gone my own way and have put my hope in so many things that have disappointed me. Thank you that You sent Jesus, that first Christmas long ago, to be my Savior. I believe He came for me. Forgive me and come into my life today. Show me how to live in the confident expectation of how You can impact my life, my character and my circumstances. I place my hope in You right now and ask You to make Yourself known to me in my life right where I walk. I thank you. I pray this in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Questions: Is you heart filled with hope or do you have a heart filled with anxious thoughts? How can you live in the confident expectation of how God can impact your life, your character and your circumstances?

About the Author Gail Rodgers

Are you afraid to ask for help? Talk to a mentor.

Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30 am EDT.

“He will stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God. And they will live securely, for then His greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.  And He will be their peace” (Micah 5:4, 5).

Micah prophesied about the coming Messiah: He would come from the tribe of Judah (5:2), He was present for all eternity (5:2), He would lead His people and they would be secure in Him (5:4), He would be peace for His people (5:5).

Stop and think about that for a moment.  The Messiah would not simply bring peace, but He would BE peace.  Before Jesus – the Messiah – came, we were separated from God, unable to be in relationship with Him.

“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior” (Colossians 1:21).

Therefore, Micah was predicting a time when the people would not just be freed from strife and conflict, but a time of reconciliation with God.  The New Testament declares that Micah’s prophesy was fulfilled by Jesus.

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1, 2).

“Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Romans 5:11).

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:18)

Heavenly Father, thank you that we have peace with You through Jesus. Thank you for Your Word which reminds me of this great truth. Amen.

Questions: How is the difference between Jesus bringing peace and Jesus being peace significant to you? What benefits have you reaped by being reconciled to God?

About the Author Suzanne Benner

Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30 am EDT.

Restlessness is not always a bad thing. That sense that there is better somewhere, that the grass is greener elsewhere is part of the eternal call of God on our hearts.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

As believers we know that we are just passing through this world. Our restless spirit is often the call to focus on more eternal things.

Faith is a steadfast refusal to seek ultimate things – ultimate pleasure, ultimate fulfillment, ultimate purpose, ultimate understanding – where God has not laid them.

We know God calls us to a greater value system. Let that realization anchor your heart with hope.

Rest is mixed with restlessness. Vacations are always too short and less than ideal. Dream homes have problems, some nightmarish with leaky pipes and cracking foundations. Good health is hard to maintain and can be snatched by sudden mishap or stray virus. Community is fragile and even amid close friends we can feel a little lonely.

Delight in the rich things of today that the Lord blesses your life with. Know that when they cannot satisfy you entirely, it is His call upon your heart to look upward. Look homeward to Him and know that the richest treasures are not kept in an earthly bank.

Heavenly Father,
Right now I ask You to train my restlessness in Your ways and help me find the deep treasures of Your Kingdom today. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Inspired by “The Rest of God” Chapter 14 by Mark Buchanan

Questions: How do you analyze your restless spirit? How can that restless spirit be satisfied?

About the Author Gail Rodgers

For if you forgive men when they sin against you,
Your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men their sins,
Your Father will not forgive your sins …
Matthew 6: 14-15

Some time ago I was speaking about anger at a men’s gathering. I described resentment as a prison and pointed out that when we put someone in our jail cell of hatred, we are stuck guarding the door. After the message a man introduced himself as a former prison inmate. He described how the guard at the gate of a prison is even more confined than a prisoner. The guard spends his day in a four-by-five-foot house. The prisoner has a ten-by-twelve-foot cell. The guard can’t leave, the prisoner gets to walk around. The prisoner can relax, but the guard has to be constantly alert. You might object and say, “Yes, but the guard of the prison gets to go home at night.” True, but the guard of the prison of resentment doesn’t.

A couple of weeks after I returned home I received this letter from a man named Harold Staub.

Max,

Thank you so much for speaking on forgiveness at Promise Keepers in Syracuse, NY, on June 7 and 8. I was there. Just want you to know I went home, talked to my wife on many subjects about forgiveness—the best two weeks of my life. You see, she went home to be with the Lord on June 24, totally forgiven. How wonderful is his love. Thank you so very much.
When we called Harold to ask his permission to print his letter, he shared the touching details of his final days with his wife. He didn’t know she was near death, nor did she. He did know, however, that some unresolved issues lay between them. Upon arriving home, he went to her, knelt before her and asked forgiveness for anything he’d ever done. The gesture opened a floodgate of emotions and the two talked late into the night. The initial effort at reconciliation continued for two weeks. The marriage enjoyed a depth not yet known. When Harold’s wife died suddenly of an embolism, he was shocked. But he was ready and now he is at peace.

What about you? Would you like some peace? Would you like assurance that God forgives you? I think you know what you need to do.

From From The Great House of God
Copyright 1997 ( Thomas Nelson Publisher) Max Lucado
Used by permission.

Question: Would you like some peace? Would you like assurance that God forgives you?

About the Author:  Max Lucado