Comfort Comes From Trusting Christ's Preparation (John 14:2-3 )

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/9/2016 10:42 AM

My Worship Time                             Focus:  Comfort Comes From Trusting Christ’s Preparation

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  John 14:2-3

            Message of the verses:  “2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

            I have to say before we start to dig into these two verses that there was a young man who I knew from the time when he was probably around 10 years old that grew up and became a Pastor and came to the church I was a part of for 32 years and spoke on these two verses and what he said about them made a lot of sense to me.  Now what I am about to write surely does not give the full meaning of these verses, but give a little different perspective that the traditional view of what these verses mean.  Jesus said that He was going to prepare a house for those who were His and this young man stated that was done through His sacrifice on the cross, and when you think about that it does make a lot of sense.  One of the things that I think about is that God created the entire universe that we see in six days and could have done it in six seconds if He desired, and now there are those who say that Jesus has been building a place for those who are His for the past 2000 years, now I know that Peter says that a thousand years is like a day to the Lord, so perhaps He has been working on this for two day the way time is seen in heaven.  This is a bit of a mystery to me.

            Now as we look at these verses we have to remember the discouragement that the disciples were going through at this time as Jesus told them that He was going away and so they receive comfort from Him in knowing that someday they will be with Him in a far superior place which He is preparing at this time, and this comfort given to all who are trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation too.

            Now as we look at the term “Father’s house” we understand that Jesus is talking about heaven.  Let us look at Hebrews 11:16 “But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”  This verse speaks of heaven as being “a better country.”  This is also showing that there will be a large number of people living there.

            John MacArthur writes “The dwelling places of which the Lord spoke must not be pictured as separate buildings, as if heaven were a giant housing tract.  The picture is rather of a father building additional rooms onto his house for his sons and their families, as was often done in Israel.  In modern terms, the dwelling places might be pictured as rooms or apartments in the Father’s spacious house.  The emphasis is on heaven’s intimacy, where ‘the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them’ (rev. 21:3).  That there will be many such dwelling places means there will be room for all whom God, in His infinite love and mercy, has chosen to redeem.  According to Revelation 21:16 ‘The city [The New Jerusalem] is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal.’ In terms of modern measurements, the base of the city alone is over two million square miles—more than half the size of the United States.  Its height adds exponentially to its living space.”

            In our next SD we will look more into the description of what Jesus is talking about.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Comfort is something that I need each and every day, and as I read these verses they not only give me comfort, but also they give me encouragement knowing that someday I will be in this wonderful home that Jesus Christ is preparing for me.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to work out His perfect will for my life, the life of those in my family, church and also our nation.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Because he did not prophesy good about him” (1 Kings 22:8).

Today’s Bible question:  “Paul requested prayer that he would be delivered from what kind of men?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/9/2016 12:33 PM