Let's lift up 
So, I was reading Pastor John MacArthur's February 2021 letter to GTY (Grace to You) subscribers and found the words so true and comforting I wanted to share an excerpt in hopes it does the same for you. I also encourage you to check out GTY online. I receive their daily devotions by email, Strength for Today and Drawing Near, and more often than not they are full of wisdom and good counsel, and a great way to start the day, or finish the day...or just get through the day. 
And like the amazing resources on this website, they are FREE! How often are we out there in this world, striving to find that thing that will satisfy, that will make us "happy" and God's Word is sitting on the shelf or in cyberspace, waiting, getting dusty, waiting ... and waiting. All we have to do is pick it up, read, listen and pray for understanding and WOW. It will change your attitude, your outlook, and your trust in Him will grow, you will know how to please Him, how to serve Him, you will gain the wisdom and understanding you long for, and in the process you will also gain PEACE in your heart that no one can steal. A priceless treasure, that is totally secure, in your heart. Is cash going to fall from the sky? or instant healing from every malady? or Mr. Wonderful or Ms. Wonderful going to knock on your door, Most likely, NOT. But these are not the things that will satisfy. Oh, the world will try to make you think, they will. But nope. Check the source of all wisdom and knowledge, for the truth. Again, that FREE Bible sitting on the shelf. Enough said. Here's that excerpt I mentioned. Enjoy!
Thankfully, God’s Word not only prepares us to expect rials, but is also assures us He is accomplishing good and gracious purposes through them. God’s purposes aren’t incidental to the trials—His purposes are essential to the hardships. He brings us trials to test the strength of our faith, to wean us from earthly things, to reveal what we really love, to teach us to value His blessings, to enable us to help others in their suffering, to produce endurance and strength, and finally—and most central to the point of this letter—trials call us to an eternal hope. They cause us to look upward and long for heaven in a way we otherwise would not.
One of the unhealthy effects of living in a prolonged era of relative comfort, convenience, and acceptance is that it curbs our appetite for heaven. When the sailing is smooth, heaven loses some of its luster. People who are satisfied by temporal things and content with the here and now don’t find the glories of heaven very compelling. While we are right to preach against the prosperity gospel and the “your best life now” philosophy of Joel Osteen and others like him, believers sometimes slip into a similar mindset that views political, social, and economic stability as right guaranteed by God, expecting nothing less than heaven on earth.
But by His grace, God is using these unprecedented circumstances to correct and sanctify people’s thinking. As the moral decline or our culture accelerates, political foundations crumble, the fleeting nature of material wealth becomes more apparent, and cultural and social pressures against true Christianity mount, the world is losing its allure and heaven is becoming more and more appealing. If the trials of the past year accomplish nothing else in believers except to redirect our affections and hopes toward the eternal home God is preparing for us—and preparing us for—we should consider them a profound blessing.” Pastor-Teacher, John MacArthur
Here is a sermon you should check out for more about our eternal home!
www.gty.org
And like the amazing resources on this website, they are FREE! How often are we out there in this world, striving to find that thing that will satisfy, that will make us "happy" and God's Word is sitting on the shelf or in cyberspace, waiting, getting dusty, waiting ... and waiting. All we have to do is pick it up, read, listen and pray for understanding and WOW. It will change your attitude, your outlook, and your trust in Him will grow, you will know how to please Him, how to serve Him, you will gain the wisdom and understanding you long for, and in the process you will also gain PEACE in your heart that no one can steal. A priceless treasure, that is totally secure, in your heart. Is cash going to fall from the sky? or instant healing from every malady? or Mr. Wonderful or Ms. Wonderful going to knock on your door, Most likely, NOT. But these are not the things that will satisfy. Oh, the world will try to make you think, they will. But nope. Check the source of all wisdom and knowledge, for the truth. Again, that FREE Bible sitting on the shelf. Enough said. Here's that excerpt I mentioned. Enjoy!Thankfully, God’s Word not only prepares us to expect rials, but is also assures us He is accomplishing good and gracious purposes through them. God’s purposes aren’t incidental to the trials—His purposes are essential to the hardships. He brings us trials to test the strength of our faith, to wean us from earthly things, to reveal what we really love, to teach us to value His blessings, to enable us to help others in their suffering, to produce endurance and strength, and finally—and most central to the point of this letter—trials call us to an eternal hope. They cause us to look upward and long for heaven in a way we otherwise would not.
One of the unhealthy effects of living in a prolonged era of relative comfort, convenience, and acceptance is that it curbs our appetite for heaven. When the sailing is smooth, heaven loses some of its luster. People who are satisfied by temporal things and content with the here and now don’t find the glories of heaven very compelling. While we are right to preach against the prosperity gospel and the “your best life now” philosophy of Joel Osteen and others like him, believers sometimes slip into a similar mindset that views political, social, and economic stability as right guaranteed by God, expecting nothing less than heaven on earth.
But by His grace, God is using these unprecedented circumstances to correct and sanctify people’s thinking. As the moral decline or our culture accelerates, political foundations crumble, the fleeting nature of material wealth becomes more apparent, and cultural and social pressures against true Christianity mount, the world is losing its allure and heaven is becoming more and more appealing. If the trials of the past year accomplish nothing else in believers except to redirect our affections and hopes toward the eternal home God is preparing for us—and preparing us for—we should consider them a profound blessing.” Pastor-Teacher, John MacArthur
Here is a sermon you should check out for more about our eternal home!
Desiring Heaven Above All Else
If you’re going to have a conference on death, and dying, and heaven you have to have an old person, because you need a view from the hearse. Well, I got in on one session last night and it was real
www.gty.org
