December 1, 2020 UCB Word For Today Devotional : Topic – Facing death without fear (1)
Facing death without fear (1)
01 DECEMBER 2020
‘In your presence is fullness of joy.’
Psalm 16:11 NKJV
Ask twenty people to describe heaven, and chances are you’ll get twenty different answers. But there’s one thing that’s not open to speculation: ‘To leave this life and be with Christ…is much better’ (Philippians 1:23 NCV) than anything we can imagine. Recalling a conversation with her mum before she went to heaven, Billy Graham’s daughter Anne writes: ‘I told her about my recent visit to Westminster Abbey, where kings and queens are crowned and royalty are married.
The door for tourists that leads to the cathedral entrance is a dark, cramped space. Opposite is another door that opens into the magnificent, glorious, cavernous sanctuary of Westminster Abbey. The dimly lit narthex is just a place to purchase your ticket and guidebook before transitioning to the cathedral. I can’t imagine anyone clutching a ticket or leafing through a guidebook being satisfied with staying in the [entrance hall]…We pick our ticket to heaven when we’re born again through faith in Jesus.
And we familiarise ourselves with the “guidebook” to heaven – the Bible…My mother left the narthex and moved into the sanctuary on June 14, 2007…It’s unimaginable that I can no longer see the sparkle in her eyes, or hear the wisdom of her words. Yet despite my aching heart, I know her whole purpose for being – and ours – is to transition into heaven.
The psalmist said, “In your presence is fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” One day I too will move, to live forever in the sanctuary. In the meantime, I want to show others a glimpse of our Father’s house, so they’ll look forward with hope to moving there.’