A CONFIDENT FUTURE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world, we are like Jesus.

1 John 4:17

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

How confident are you in your future?

It’s a question that will impact the person considering it in different ways.

For example, some people like to plan long range. They have a five, ten, or maybe even a twenty year plan with clear expectations as to what they want to achieve and how they’re going to do it.

A lot of people have future plans but they are much shorter. Like maybe the couple who are planning a wedding or a person who enrolls in college to get a degree or a woman who is either beginning or in the midst of pregnancy.

And there’s a large segment of the population who are not looking at the future in terms of months or years. They are just hoping to have tomorrow, each day being a great struggle in and of itself, whether because of finance, health, or some other major life struggle they might be up against.

One thing is for sure. When it comes to our worldly lives, almost everyone has their eyes on the future in one way or another.

But here’s the thing. When we are looking our future through the lens of the world, we do so with a very finite perspective because the truth is...no one lives forever in this life.

The life after that is an entirely different story.

Unfortunately, people are so focused on their future in this life that they fail to give attention to the matter of eternity and where they will be in it.

And everyone is going to live forever.  

This is the truth. Every single person will go to one of two destinations spiritually when this life on earth ends.

Those who have placed their belief in Jesus, God’s one and only Son, will be saved from their sins and go onto eternal life, abiding in Heaven with God and Christ forever.  

Conversely, those who decided in life to reject Jesus are destined for the everlasting damnation, torment, and suffering of Hell where they will be roommates with Satan.

With this as a backdrop, let’s look at our scripture verse for today, verse 17 of 1 John, chapter 4:

This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world, we are like Jesus.

Note here that all Christians can live in absolute confidence regarding their future, in the here and now as well as the eternity to come. For on the day of judgment, the day when Jesus Christ returns to earth, everyone who believed in Him will be saved because “we are like” Him. Go to the eighth chapter of Romans and you will find this in regard to the likeness to Jesus when it comes to the Kingdom of Heaven.

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory. Vv.14-17

The moment we believe in Jesus, we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and begin to be under His leading. The scriptures are clear that this makes us a child of God, adopted into sonship so we can call God “Father”. This joining in kinship with Christ makes us also a co-heir with Him, a co-heir to the greatest inheritance ever, the very Kingdom of Heaven.

Friends, in Christ Jesus, believers have a confident future no matter what life might bring, a victory over death and the penalty of Hell that no one can ever take away. My prayer today and every day is that you will join me in embracing a spirit of rejoicing and thanksgiving for all God has done to save us through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus. He has promised us that the best is yet to come.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.