Feeling A Bit Homesick

You know...the longer you live the more you become aware of exactly how far away you are from home.
Not your current address or the place that you rent, but the place where your heart is drawn to.
For like Paul, I too realize that I am not a citizen of this world.
I am only passing through.
Heaven is my home.

Such understanding could be ground that would only produce a harvest of depression and sadness, given the current state of our nation and the world....
But it only makes me lean into the wind and rain and push forward. I am painfully aware of the darkness I encounter on a daily basis.
Heaven is my home.
Such thoughts makes me very grateful for those days when the sun warms my face and God warms my heart.
But I am never faraway from the eternal homesickness that tugs at my heart from time to time.
A yearning....
A longing to shake off this mortal coil and be free from the battles and strife of this world.
Do not despair for me.
I am not contemplating suicide on any level.
I am simply sharing what is on my heart.
Every time I find myself in thought concerning heaven and my heavenly Father, I see faces of people.
I see one young man who still doesn't know my God. I see the pain on his face as he wanders around living a life of misery and self inflicted pain. I see needles and bottles. I see yellowed fingers from too many cigarettes. When I look into his eyes..........I see nothing. Dead, lifeless eyes that have seen too much of this world. And I think to myself..."How selfish can you be? You want to leave this old world and this young man needs to hear, once again, the good news of who Jesus is.

I see the face of a young lady. Once full of hope and dreams for the future, she confused the act of sex for love. Her heart longed to be loved by someone. Longed to be courted and favored by someone who truly loved her for who she was. But such love never transpired. Instead, she moved from relationship to relationship, and along the way she became a punching bag for every insult and fist of the men she gave herself to. Oh they told her that they loved her, but the outcome was the same. She gave...and they took. She was beaten down so bad that she could not find any worth or value as a person. How could anyone ever love her.She was damaged goods.  No one would ever want to be with her. In my mind, when I see her face, I know that I've got to tell her about the ultimate love. The love of a Father that transcends all love. That in His eyes, she had worth and value. So much in fact that Jesus gave His life so that she could experience this love. She needs to hear this good news called the Gospel.

The world and the system created by the devil and the kingdom of darkness produces all manner of substitutes for the Love of God.
Drugs promise to take away the pain and make you feel good. "You don't need this God love. Haven't you read the Old Testament? God kills everyone. He has a divine mad-on for anyone who cross's Him!" Such is the mantra spoken over and over into the hearts of those who don't know my Jesus.

Sex....
"Yeah, God created it...but He really doesn't want you find any pleasure in the act."
"This God is a selfish God who gives you a gift and then doesn't want you to enjoy it!"
"C'mon! If it feels good.....then do it!"

Money.....
"You can buy happiness! You should expend yourself on the pursuit of riches. Riches mean real happiness. Money means power. Power means control and respect."

And the promises of our enemy goes on and on about what he has to offer us that is better than the love God has offered. Such are the lies that manipulate this world. Maybe that's why I need to hang around a bit longer. I need to share the truth and demonstrate the Power of God to anyone who would listen. You see, there are a lot of people who need to hear the truth. There are a lot of people who need to feel the presence and the power of God in their own life.

So while I am missing my home.....
I will stay the course.
I will go Saturday night and share the story of Jesus.
From the cross to the tomb....
But thank God that the story didn't end there.
There was that thing called the Resurrection that totally changed the dynamics of this world..
Now that's what I'm talking about.

He is risen!
mb