Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

A Daily Devotional by Kenton Cheek

9 July 2024

Reading From Isaiah 5-8

 “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. ³ And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
    the whole earth is full of his glory.”

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’”

–Isaiah 6:1-8

     When I was a little boy, barely old enough to read but certainly not able to study eschatology, I was worshipping the Lord on a Sunday morning with our church family when one of our church members began to deliver a message spoken in a heavenly language.  When he finished, our pastor explained what had happened and asked if anyone had the interpretation. 

     While the brother was given utterance by the Holy Spirit, God gave me a vision.  I was standing on the shore of a bay that opened to a sea.  The water was so clear that I could see the bottom which was shiny like it was covered with thousands of mirrors.  The water was to my left and to my right was a massive amphitheater.  The upper seating levels stretched so high into the sky that I could not see the top.  The amphitheater was filled with thousands of angels singing praises.  Their voices thundered like waterfalls.

     The angels were worshipping around a giant throne the size of a mountain.  Green rainbows encircled it and on the seat was a Lamb who looked beat up but was still very much alive and well.  Half of the height of the throne was shrouded in bright mist and flashes of light came from it.  I was so overwhelmed by the sights and I was too young and scared to share what I had seen with the congregation.

     One by one, several believers came to the platform and shared that they had seen the same vision as I had.  I was too little to come up with something like that on my own and as I grew up and was able to learn more about what the heavenly throne room of God looks like, I became convinced that God Himself gave me that vision, that He is real and that Heaven is my destination.

“God, I worship You because You alone are worthy.  Thank You for revealing glimpses of Your glory by Your Word and the power of Your Spirit.  I am grateful for Your Presence in my life.  The reality of the spiritual realm is every bit as real as what my physical senses can perceive.  Amen.”

After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spiritsof God. Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

 –Revelation 4:1-6