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Discovering the Home God Has for Me

This world is not my permanent Home

For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. HEBREWS 13:14 NLT

My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest. ISAIAH 32:18 NIV

Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world. 1 PETER 2:11-12 NLT

Jesus is preparing an eternal Home for me

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. JOHN 14:1-6 ESV

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. COLOSSIANS 3:1 NLT

I must prepare to live in the house Jesus is building

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. … I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children. “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” REVELATION 21:1-8 NLT

So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. For we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. 2 CORINTHIANS 5:6-10 NLT

My Notes

Personal Reflection Guide

Get away to a quiet place to spend some time reflecting on heaven and your response to this future reality for you. Wait until you sense you are reasonably still in your thoughts and feelings. Take a few deep breaths. When you are ready, invite God to guide your time. Read and reflect on Revelation 21:1-8. What feelings and thoughts surface? Ask God to use this passage and your imagination to picture what a day in heaven will be like. What comforts and excites you the most about this day in heaven? Have a conversation with God about how you can become more focused on your future home. Pray He will show you some things you need to remove from your life to be better focused and prepared to live with Him forever. Close your time by asking God to show you one action you can take this week to better focus on, and experience the hope of heaven. Ask Him if there is an action you can take to be better prepared for heaven by eliminating a belief, practice, or something else in your life that will not be acceptable in your future home. Ask God to impress upon you people you know who don’t have eternal salvation and pray for them.

Discussion Questions

Choose a couple of the following questions from each section that best fit your group. Or, have everyone read the questions, choosing which one(s) from each section that they feel led to respond to.

  1. START HERE: What do you think of when you hear the word “home”?
  2. START HERE: What are some of your favorite childhood memories of home?
  3. START HERE: Have you ever taken a trip and failed to pack the right clothes/items?
  4. KEEP GOING: What do you yearn for most about heaven?
  5. KEEP GOING: Read John 14:1-6 (NLT). How does it encourage you to know that Jesus is preparing an eternal home for you?
  6. KEEP GOING: Read Revelation 21:1-8 (NLT). How do you feel as you hear these verses?
  7. KEEP GOING: What are the things on earth that you have grown too attached to?
  8. LIVE IT OUT: Read Hebrews 13:14 (NLT). How can you live more as a temporary resident in this life?
  9. LIVE IT OUT: Read 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 (NLT). In preparing for heaven, what are some of the things you’re carrying that you need to let go of this week?
  10. LIVE IT OUT: Who in your life needs to hear that one day there will be no more tears, no more sorrow, no more death? Pray for them with your group, and be intentional about having a conversation with them about Jesus.