Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

A Daily Devotional by Kenton Cheek

11 July 2024

Reading From Amos 6-9

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,

“when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman
    and the planter by the one treading grapes.
New wine will drip from the mountains
    and flow from all the hills,
    and I will bring my people Israel back from exile.

“They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.
    They will plant vineyards and drink their wine;
    they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
I will plant Israel in their own land,
    never again to be uprooted
    from the land I have given them,”

says the Lord your God.” 

–Amos 9:13-15

     When the people of the Lord sin against Him, He brings discipline, often in the form of allowing them to experience some of the consequences of their actions.  He does this because He loves us more deeply than we will ever know and He is our Perfect Parent who always knows what is best.  Part of the amazing aspects of His tender care and wise guidance is that even as we struggle through a season of chastening, He is there with us in the midst of it continuing to provide peace and insight and the comfort of His Presence.

     His correction is always with the goal of restoration.  God’s goal is never to drive away, but to continually woo us back to Him, teach us (sometimes we insist on learning the hard way, which is our choice), and to bring us into our destiny of being conformed to the likeness of His Son Jesus.  As His people are transformed from glory to glory, we as His eternal family are getting closer and closer to the New Eden where we will enjoy uninhibited, glorious and perfect unity with Him forever and ever. 

     The thrilling adventures that await us in the New Heaven and the New Earth are hinted at in the miracles experienced by men and women who have sought the intervention of the Lord in their lives throughout human history, as recorded in the Scriptures and the testimonies of millions of saints.  If Jesus restores sight to the blind, mobility to the disabled, life to the dead, and if Phillip could baptize the Ethiopian brother and then in a flash be transported by the power of God to another place to preach to others,  then imagine what God will do in a reality completely liberated from the corruption of sin?  Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

“This world is filled with strife, turmoil, struggle, disease, stress and all kinds of wickedness.  Help us to have hope even in the midst of disappointment.  Let us fix our eyes on You, for You are not only the Beginning but the End, not only the Author but the Finisher of our faith!  You are from everlasting to everlasting, all-powerful, all-knowing, and ever-present.  Though we falter, thank You for picking us up, cleansing us, healing us from the inside out, and leading us forward to our bright future in You.  Amen!”

“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
    I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people
    and a light for the Gentiles,
to open eyes that are blind,
    to free captives from prison
    and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

“I am the Lord; that is my name!
    I will not yield my glory to another
    or my praise to idols.
See, the former things have taken place,
    and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
    I announce them to you.”

–Isaiah 42:6-9