Oftentimes we focus only on what is happening or not happening to us now. Doing so can cause anxiety, discontentment, hopelessness, and depression. What would happen if, instead of focusing on the present, we focused on what our future is in Christ? We would be tremendously encouraged in the midst of it all.
Christ-followers may not have a pleasant present, but they have a marvelous future that is literally out of this world. Christ has prepared the way for them to spend eternity with Him. At the cross, the power of sin was broken. At the resurrection, death was defeated. At the ascension, a promise was given—Jesus will return for His faithful followers, so they can be with Him forever.
Beloved, your future in Christ is secure and utterly astounding. You are being saved from the power of sin. When Jesus returns, you will be saved from the presence of sin. Can you imagine? We will be living where there is no presence or trace of sin, spending eternity with the One we follow—Jesus Christ. We can focus on that, knowing the best is yet to come!
SCRIPTURE:
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, NIV).
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, I choose today not to focus on what is temporary, focusing on what is eternal instead. Some things we go through in this life are not pleasant, but they are temporary. The life we have with Christ is abundant and it is eternal. I thank you for the promise of Christ’s return to take us out of this world. Help me as I live, watch, and wait with expectation. I pray in Jesus’s name. Amen.
Excerpted from the book, Be Encouraged: A Daily Devotional, Volume 3 by Gregory A. Johnson. Copyright © by Gregory A. Johnson. All rights reserved.