DEVOTIONAL BY BILLY GRAHAM – HOPE FOR EACH DAY

A Prepared Place

In my Father’s house are many mansions. JOHN 14:2

As much as our homes mean to us, they are not permanent. Sometimes I look at my own adult children and can hardly believe they are all grown and on their own. The house that once rang with the laughter of children now seems empty.

Those disciples who for Christ’s sake gave up houses and lands and loved ones knew little of home life or home joys. It was as if Jesus were saying to them, “We have no lasting home here on earth, but my Father’s house is a home where we will be together for all eternity.”

The venerable Bishop Ryle is reputed to have said, “Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people, and those who enter shall find that they are neither unknown or unexpected.”

Even life’s happiest experiences last but a moment, yet Heaven’s joy is eternal. Some day we will go to our eternal Home—and Christ will be there to welcome us!

DEVOTIONAL BY CHARLES STANLEY – ON HOLY GROUND

Heir To An Immeasurable Fortune

So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. – Acts 20:32

If only I were a Rockefeller or a Vanderbilt, my future would be secure.” Most of us have probably dreamed what our lives would be like if we were heirs to such massive fortunes.

How would your thinking and living change if today you understood that you are the heir of treasures beside which even the wealthiest earthly estates pale?

The amazing truth is that God has named you an heir of His holdings: “And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able… to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32 NASB).

What does He own? He owns it all. As Creator of heaven and earth and all that is in them, God is the sole proprietor of the universe. It is in His hands to bestow His unspeakable wealth upon you.

God is your Father. You are His son or daughter. All that is His belongs to you. You have an inheritance that will never fade or tarnish because you are an heir of the Father’s immeasurable fortune.

DEVOTIONAL FROM POSTCARDS FROM HEAVEN – CLAIRE CLONINGER

Now You Belong!

My Own,

Once you were on the outside, looking in.  You were like a child whose nose is pressed against the window of a beautiful shop full of toys and candy, with no money to buy.  You were like a child on the playground who longs to take part in the game but never gets picked to be on a team.  You were like the foreigner who can’t understand the language or traditions of the strange land he is traveling through.  How lonely and lost he feels!

But now everything has changed.  My Son has come for you.  Now you belong; you are a part; you are on the inside!  Jesus Christ has opened the door to the beautiful shop and has paid the price for your purchases.  Jesus Christ has stopped the game and come over to you on the sidelines and has chosen you to be on his team.  Jesus Christ has welcomed you into a new land where he is the King.  He has taught you the language and the customs and made you a citizen.  Now, at last, you are a member of the household of God!

Welcome, my child! – God

MATTHEW 7:7-12

Ask, Seek, Knock

⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

⁹ “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! ¹² So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

PSALM 91:9-16

⁹ If you make the Most High your dwelling— even the LORD, who is my refuge— ¹⁰ then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. ¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; ¹² they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. ¹³ You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

¹⁴ “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. ¹⁵ He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. ¹⁶ With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

DEVOTIONAL BY OSWALD CHAMBERS – MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST

What You Will Get

I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go —Jeremiah 45:5

This is the firm and immovable secret of the Lord to those who trust Him— “I will give your life to you . . . .” What more does a man want than his life? It is the essential thing. “. . . your life . . . as a prize . . .” means that wherever you may go, even if it is into hell, you will come out with your life and nothing can harm it. So many of us are caught up in exhibiting things for others to see, not showing off property and possessions, but our blessings. All these things that we so proudly show have to go. But there is something greater that can never go— the life that “is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).

Are you prepared to let God take you into total oneness with Himself, paying no more attention to what you call the great things of life? Are you prepared to surrender totally and let go? The true test of abandonment or surrender is in refusing to say, “Well, what about this?” Beware of your own ideas and speculations. The moment you allow yourself to think, “What about this?” you show that you have not surrendered and that you do not really trust God. But once you do surrender, you will no longer think about what God is going to do. Abandonment means to refuse yourself the luxury of asking any questions. If you totally abandon yourself to God, He immediately says to you, “I will give your life to you as a prize . . . .” The reason people are tired of life is that God has not given them anything— they have not been given their life “as a prize.” The way to get out of that condition is to abandon yourself to God. And once you do get to the point of total surrender to Him, you will be the most surprised and delighted person on earth. God will have you absolutely, without any limitations, and He will have given you your life. If you are not there, it is either because of disobedience in your life or your refusal to be simple enough.