~Daily Devotion 17th~

DO YOU HAVE CLEAR TITLE?

Author: Unknown

John 3:16

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Some years ago radio evangelist Charles E. Fuller announced that he would speak the following Sunday on "Heaven." It was to be broadcast on radio. During that week he received a letter from an elderly gentleman who was very ill. Here is part of that letter:

"Next Sunday you are to talk about 'Heaven.' I am interested in that
land because I have held a clear title to a bit of property there for
over 55 years. I did not buy it. It was given to me without money and with out price. But the donor purchased it for me at a tremendous sacrifice. I am not holding it for speculation since the title is nontransferable. It is not a
vacant lot. "For more than a half-century I have been sending material out
of which the greatest architect and builder of the universe has been building a
home for me, which will never need to be repaired because it will suit me
perfectly, individually, and will never grow old. "Termites can never undermine its foundation for it rests upon the Rock of Ages. Fire cannot destroy it. Floods cannot wash it away. No locks or bolts will ever be placed upon its doors, for no vicious person can ever enter that land where my dwelling stands, now almost completed and ready for me to enter it and abide in peace eternally without fear of being ejected.

"There is a valley of deep shadow between the place where I live in
California and that to which I shall journey in a very short time. I
cannot reach my home in the City of God without passing through the dark
valley of shadows. But I am not afraid, because the best friend that I have ever had went through the same valley alone, a long, long, time ago and drove away all the gloom. He has stuck by me through thick and thin since we first met and became acquainted 55 years ago, and I hold His promise in printed form, never to forsake nor to leave me alone. He will be with me as I walk through the valley of shadows, and I shall not lose my way when He is with me. "I hope to hear your sermon on "Heaven" next Sunday from my home, but I have no assurance that I shall be able to do so. My ticket to heaven has no date marked for the journey... no return coupon... and no permit for baggage.

Yes, I am ready to go and may not be here while you are talking next
Sunday, but I shall meet you there some day."--author unknown to me
"Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a
building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,
because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is
mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing
what is to come. Therefore we are always confident and know that as long
as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the
body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him,
whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all
appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." II

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Assurance of the Resurrection

¹ For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

² For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven,

³ if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked.

⁴ For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.

⁵ Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

⁶ So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.

⁷ For we walk by faith, not by sight.

⁸ We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

⁹ Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.

¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.