“And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Matthew 24:30 NLT)
My heart is deeply saddened by the fact that regardless of our worldwide efforts, relatively few will enter heaven. But why? Are our prayers not being heard? Does God not care? Yes, our prayers are being heard. And a thousand times YES, God deeply cares; otherwise, why would He have sacrificed His only Son on behalf of sinful humanity. The issue isn’t God, it’s man. It’s not Him, it’s me, it’s you, it’s us!
Solomon in his wisdom helped us to understand many years ago that God planted eternity in the heart of every person. What does that mean? It means at our core, if we allow Him, the Lord will reveal our great need of Him, because we all know, even perhaps at a subconscious level, that this life is not all there is. There must be more! Our hearts ache to know Him, we just don’t realize until His Spirit reveals it, that it’s Him.
Paul David Tripp helps to open our mind when he writes: “Our hearts were hardwired to only be satisfied when we commit to living for a glory greater than our own.” And please don’t be confused, there is no greater glory than to bask in the glory of our Savior. It’s ironic on many levels that the whole world won’t understand or see His glory until it is eternally too late for them.
The barriers, the strongholds Satan has erected in the hearts of each of us cannot be broken down by human effort, they must be divinely demolished through the dynamic power of God’s Holy Spirit. But how do we access that power? We ask Him for it! But how can we be sure He’ll answer? Because He promised in John 14:14: “You can ask for anything in My name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it!”
“Does that mean I can ask Him to give me 10 trillion dollars, a huge mansion, and a fleet of new Porsches?” Sure, ask away, but who will receive all the glory from those extravagant gifts? Certainly not the Father. What glorifies God, the Father, is obedience to His Son and glory to Himself. But why? Because He’s God and HE DESERVES ALL GLORY, HONOR, AND PRAISE! Not for anything He’s done, but simply for who He IS!
Jesus wasn’t inviting us to seek needless, worldly things for ourselves, He was inviting us to invade the kingdom of darkness with the authority of God and demand Satan to release our family, friends, co-workers, classmates, neighbors and others we meet in the powerful and holy Name that is above all names the Lord Jesus, the Christ!
My heart’s cry is that when my day to die comes that I won’t be burned out but worn out from holding on to the Lord in prayer. Like Jacob who held onto the angel, may we hold on so tightly to the Lord, He will boldly grant us our every wish, not to satisfy us, but to glorify Him and to fill Heaven with those who are hungering for Him.
Ultimately, that’s how we’re wired, so unless and until we get our heart right with our Creator, we’ll never know why we were born. We’ll never understand peace, hope, and living with a fire of passion to please and honor our Creator. Do you have that passion? Have you learned how your heart is wired?
If not, please tap ANewStory.com and learn firsthand how you can know the Creator of the Universe and begin the grand adventure of sharing Him with everyone you know!
Blessings, Ed 😊
