Open Heavens Sunday 20 November 2016:- The vision of Heaven
THE VISION OF HEAVEN – Sunday November 20th 2016
Memorise: He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. Revelation 21:7
Read: Revelation 21:1-7 (KJV)
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Bible in one year: Genesis 35:1-37:11, Psalms 106:13-31
MESSAGE
You cannot overcome the trials and temptations of life, if you have not caught the vision of heaven. It is the vision of heaven that will encourage, stimulate and empower you to forge ahead as you violently take the Kingdom of God (Matthew 11:12). There is a popular saying: “What you see is what you get”. The underlying truth in this statement is that you cannot aspire for what has not been introduced into your consciousness. I told some of my children in a meeting many years ago, that the reason my father did not struggle to build a house with bathrooms and toilets was that he had never seen a house with toilets and bathrooms.
One of the secrets of the dogged determination of the early disciples to make it to heaven was that most of them saw a vision of heaven. This is the reason why Stephen for example, prayed that his executioners’ actions won’t be counted against them. He caught a vision of heaven with Jesus Christ giving him a standing ovation for being a hero of faith (Acts 7:55-56, 60)
In our Bible reading for today, another prominent leader of the early Church, John the beloved, saw the vision of heaven and narrated what he saw and heard. In heaven, there shall be no more death, sorrow, crying and pain. Having seen all these and heard a great voice out of heaven saying such pleasant things that shall soon come to pass, the Church was determined to lay down their lives for the sake of the Kingdom. As if that was not enough, Jesus Christ in Revelation 21:6-7 said:
“…. It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”
When a child of God sees a vision of heaven, he will not need much persuasion to do more than he is currently doing in the Kingdom business of soul-winning and holy living. The reason is that it is only those that overcome that shall inherit the beautiful heavenly Jerusalem. My life never remained the same ever since I started seeing my heavenly home. This is why I cannot be persuaded to slow down in the Kingdom business. Like Apostle Paul, I am still pressing towards the mark of the high calling of God. What about you?
Prayer Point
Father, open my eyes to see a vision of heaven today in Jesus’ name.
Open Heavens Daily Devotional, written by Pastor E.A Adeboye
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