It Changes Everything!

(From John Eldredge's Hope in the Coming Kingdom CDs:)

"If you honestly thought that your life was going to be utterly restored, you would be okay.  Really.  If you believe that life is about to get gloriously good, then you don't have to work so hard trying to make life happen now.  You're actually free to love.  You're free to fight for others!  If you know that every dream you've ever had is about to come true, you're free.  The enemy can't touch you!  ...And meanwhile, you can bring the Kingdom - you can help rescue people!"  ~John Eldredge

The coming of the Kingdom is "the renewal of all things."  (Mt. 19:28)

And, friends, that Kingdom is coming.  IT IS COMING.

If this hope we are talking about is the anchor for our souls, then of course it will be attacked!  Of course the enemy will come against it.  But the Kingdom of Christ is coming, and with it, the life that you are longing for!

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What are the first three things you want to do when you enter the Kingdom?

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"This isn't poetry.  This isn't metaphor.  Do you believe the Kingdom is coming or not!?  And if you do believe it, it changes everything!  It's not harps and halos; we are not going to sing forever... that is a wretched hell lie.  Yes, of course there will be worship!  But there will be a lot of other things too...

We have some time on our hands coming to us.  This is why I hate the concept of a bucket list.  People say, "Oh, I just hope before I die that I get to see Rome."  And I'm thinking, why?  You can go there... literally, you can ask Paul to show you around!  Do you think I'm joking?  But that's the crazy thing about this bucket list idea.  Do you think this life is your only life?  This life is a moment, it's a wisp.  It's nothing compared to the life in the Kingdom.

This is the only reason that Paul can say the audacious things he says like, "our momentary, light afflictions are obtaining for us a weight of glory..."  I want to go, time out - it doesn't feel momentary, and they sure as hell don't feel light.  
But it is... by comparison.

You don't have to pine away for those things now - you don't need a bucket list.  You could make a heaven list, a Kingdom list, dreams that you can start now and go on and on!

It frees you to live with the partial.  The goals and things you dream of... the friendships you long for... these things are coming.   It's not like it's over.  There is no 'over.'  When Jesus said "eternal life," you are given a life that has no end.  It's not singing forever, it's not religious, but it is LIFE, fully restored!!

Continue to reflect on this, to press into this and allow your heart to go there."
~John Eldredge

"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." 

~Revelation 22:12-13

"No, I will not abandon you as orphans--I will come to you."

~Jesus, John 14:18

"You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the Lord's coming is near."  

~James 5:8