Recently I have spent some time reading Ps. 139. It has always been one of my favorite passages of scripture and I have often taken great comfort in the promises that are found there. In particular verses 7-10 have been a great comfort to me:
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
As someone who has settled and resettled on “the far side of the sea” many times during my life these words have special meaning to me. Now, more than ever before, I find myself clinging to these words – His right hand will hold me fast. There are times, living here, when I have become lonely and wonder what I am doing here. It can be frustrating learning a new language and customs and building new relationships. And still, in the midst of any doubts and questions about what I am doing here I am reminded that my King knows where I am – I cannot flee from his Spirit!
I have also been reminded lately that my citizenship is a heavenly one and that I am here to work for an eternal kingdom, not one that is fleeting. It is often so easy to become preoccupied with how things appear on the outside by worldly standards. I can easily see what my hands have built or done but the real question is not about what I can see but rather about what I have built or done for the Kingdom. I want to be building an eternal reward, not an earthly one. Today I was reading in Philippians and was particularly challenged by chapter 3 where Paul talks about considering everything garbage compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ. He considered everything a loss compared to knowing and following King Jesus. And he goes on to say that he was pressing on toward the heavenly prize that awaited him. Chapter 3 ends with the following:
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
It is exciting for me to think that my citizenship is an eternal one. One that is not constrained by human lines drawn on a map or by the color of my skin. It is a citizenship given to me by the King of Kings – an undeserving gift which certainly demands a willingness to give up this earthly life but a gift that cannot be stripped away. I long for that better country – the heavenly one (Heb 11).
As I get to know people here, I long to be a part of building the Eternal Kingdom, and not just an earthly one. Each day I have the opportunity to work with people who need more than just the material help that I am able to offer – pray that “I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Phil 1:20)
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
As someone who has settled and resettled on “the far side of the sea” many times during my life these words have special meaning to me. Now, more than ever before, I find myself clinging to these words – His right hand will hold me fast. There are times, living here, when I have become lonely and wonder what I am doing here. It can be frustrating learning a new language and customs and building new relationships. And still, in the midst of any doubts and questions about what I am doing here I am reminded that my King knows where I am – I cannot flee from his Spirit!
I have also been reminded lately that my citizenship is a heavenly one and that I am here to work for an eternal kingdom, not one that is fleeting. It is often so easy to become preoccupied with how things appear on the outside by worldly standards. I can easily see what my hands have built or done but the real question is not about what I can see but rather about what I have built or done for the Kingdom. I want to be building an eternal reward, not an earthly one. Today I was reading in Philippians and was particularly challenged by chapter 3 where Paul talks about considering everything garbage compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ. He considered everything a loss compared to knowing and following King Jesus. And he goes on to say that he was pressing on toward the heavenly prize that awaited him. Chapter 3 ends with the following:
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
It is exciting for me to think that my citizenship is an eternal one. One that is not constrained by human lines drawn on a map or by the color of my skin. It is a citizenship given to me by the King of Kings – an undeserving gift which certainly demands a willingness to give up this earthly life but a gift that cannot be stripped away. I long for that better country – the heavenly one (Heb 11).
As I get to know people here, I long to be a part of building the Eternal Kingdom, and not just an earthly one. Each day I have the opportunity to work with people who need more than just the material help that I am able to offer – pray that “I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Phil 1:20)
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