Can we dare to imagine heaven on earth?
What would that look like?
It might include no fear, no pain, pride washed away, people living in harmony, loving each other purely...honoring God and spending ever waking moment bringing glory to the King and worshiping Him.
It's not that this mentality is one of "not" or "avoiding" sin. Rather, I think heaven on earth is going to be a proactive love and full worship of Jesus.
I went to a Hillsong concert about 3 weeks ago, and the pastor who shared a message put it very well: we should yearn and be led by the Spirit to live out and fulfill the bringing about of Christ's reformed Kingdom here on earth.
When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He said "This, then, is how you should pray: " 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven..." (Matthew 6:9-10 NIV)
Did you catch that?
Jesus' own words: "your kingdom come!! your will be done on EARTH as it is in heaven"
I keep replaying this prayer in my mind over and over since the Hillsong pastor talked about it in his message. And the other day, 2 Chronicles 7:14 popped into my life. These are God's words, Him speaking, so I'm pretty confident that they're long-lasting, as in eternally TRUE words worth counting on.
"if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land..."
How I long for that day when Christ's kingdom is all we know on this earth! God desperately wants to heal our land...to bring about the fulfillment of that promised earthly Kingdom...
And both these verses remind us and point to prayer as a fundamental starting point for that to happen.
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