Triumph of Hope – The Presidential Prayer Team

Having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. – Acts 24:15

How do you picture yourself in heaven? Cartoonists and others often depict a person with angel wings and a halo sitting on a cloud, playing a three-stringed harp, with others in the same white-robed attire on other clouds doing the same thing. Others, like those in John Eldredge’s book The Journey of Desire, see eternity in Heaven as an unending church service, a never-ending sing-along in the sky, one great hymn after another. A more accurate view, however, can excite and motivate believers as they hope for that day of rapture or resurrection to forever be with the Lord.

Jesus twice called Heaven a place. Hebrews 11:16 says it is a “better country… a heavenly one” where God has prepared for them “a city.” So, it is a place being prepared for you. Are you preparing yourself for Heaven?

The first and most important step is establishing a right relationship with God through accepting the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Next, open yourself to the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. Then you can align your priorities on Earth with the priorities of Heaven by cultivating a life of worship now, and of discipleship, service, and fellowship with God’s family. The Eighteenth Century revivalist and preacher Jonathan Edwards put it this way: “It becomes us to spend this life only as a journey toward heaven, to which we should subordinate all other concerns of life. Why should we labor for or set our hearts on anything else, but that which is our proper end and true happiness?”

The hope of your triumph is found in life with the King of the universe. You will experience more than your mind could possibly conceive, both here and in the hereafter. Invest your time today in Kingdom work, and pray for others to secure that hope for themselves through faith in Jesus.

Today’s Verse: Acts 24:15

having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.

All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Recommended for further reading: John 14:1-6; Revelation 22:1-5

14 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ²In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. ⁴And you know the way to where I am going.” ⁵Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” ⁶Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ²through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. ³No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. ⁴They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.